[Air-l] The Pope is Onside.
Lachlan Brown
lachlan at london.com
Thu Feb 28 17:47:42 PST 2002
Airs, good to read the two cases in the
Ethics committee section. Goldsmiths wavered
a bit, but The Pope seems interested, I'll
be in touch.
Lachlan
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/pccs/documents/rc_pc_pccs_doc_20020228_ethics-internet_en.html
I
INTRODUCTION
1. Today's revolution in social communications involves a fundamental reshaping of the elements by
which people comprehend the world about them, and verify and express what they comprehend. The
constant availability of images and ideas, and their rapid transmission even from continent to
continent, have profound consequences, both positive and negative, for the psychological, moral and
social development of persons, the structure and functioning of societies, intercultural
communications, and the perception and transmission of values, world views, ideologies, and religious
beliefs.1
The truth of these words has become clearer than ever during the past decade. Today it takes no
great stretch of the imagination to envisage the earth as an interconnected globe humming with
electronic transmissionsa chattering planet nestled in the provident silence of space. The ethical
question is whether this is contributing to authentic human development and helping individuals and
peoples to be true to their transcendent destiny.
And, of course, in many ways the answer is yes. The new media are powerful tools for education and
cultural enrichment, for commercial activity and political participation, for intercultural dialogue and
understanding; and, as we point out in the document that accompanies this one,2 they also can serve
the cause of religion. Yet this coin has another side. Media of communication that can be used for the
good of persons and communities can be used to exploit, manipulate, dominate, and corrupt.
2. The Internet is the latest and in many respects most powerful in a line of mediatelegraph,
telephone, radio, televisionthat for many people have progressively eliminated time and space as
obstacles to communication during the last century and a half. It has enormous consequences for
individuals, nations, and the world.
In this document we wish to set out a Catholic view of the Internet, as a starting point for the
Church's participation in dialogue with other sectors of society, especially other religious groups,
concerning the development and use of this marvelous technological instrument. The Internet is being
put to many good uses now, with the promise of many more, but much harm also can be done by its
improper use. Which it will be, good or harm, is largely a matter of choicea choice to whose
making the Church brings two elements of great importance: her commitment to the dignity of the
human person and her long tradition of moral wisdom.3
3. As with other media, the person and the community of persons are central to ethical evaluation of
the Internet. In regard to the message communicated, the process of communicating, and structural
and systemic issues in communication, the fundamental ethical principle is this: The human person
and the human community are the end and measure of the use of the media of social communication;
communication should be by persons to persons for the integral development of persons.4
The common goodthe sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as
individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily5provides a second basic principle
for ethical evaluation of social communications. It should be understood inclusively, as the whole of
those worthy purposes to which a community's members commit themselves together and which the
community exists to realize and sustain. The good of individuals depends upon the common good of
their communities.
The virtue disposing people to protect and promote the common good is solidarity. It is not a feeling
of vague compassion or shallow distress at other people's troubles, but a firm and persevering
determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say to the good of all and of each
individual, because we are all really responsible for all.6 Especially today solidarity has a clear,
strong international dimension; it is correct to speak of, and obligatory to work for, the international
common good.
4. The international common good, the virtue of solidarity, the revolution in communications media
and information technology, and the Internet are all relevant to the process of globalization.
To a great extent, the new technology drives and supports globalization, creating a situation in which
commerce and communications are no longer bound by borders.7 This has immensely important
consequences. Globalization can increase wealth and foster development; it offers advantages like
efficiency and increased production... greater unity among peoples... a better service to the human
family.8 But the benefits have not been evenly shared up to now. Some individuals, commercial
enterprises, and countries have grown enormously wealthy while others have fallen behind. Whole
nations have been excluded almost entirely from the process, denied a place in the new world taking
shape. Globalization, which has profoundly transformed economic systems by creating unexpected
possibilities of growth, has also resulted in many people being relegated to the side of the road:
unemployment in the more developed countries and extreme poverty in too many countries of the
Southern Hemisphere continue to hold millions of women and men back from progress and
prosperity.9
It is by no means clear that even societies that have entered into the globalization process have done
so entirely as a matter of free, informed choice. Instead, many people, especially the disadvantaged,
experience this as something that has been forced upon them rather than as a process in which they
can actively participate.10
In many parts of the world, globalization is spurring rapid, sweeping social change. This is not just an
economic process but a cultural one, with both positive and negative aspects. Those who are
subjected to it often see globalization as a destructive flood threatening the social norms which had
protected them and the cultural points of reference which had given them direction in life....Changes in
technology and work relationships are moving too quickly for cultures to respond.11
5. One major consequence of the deregulation of recent years has been a shift of power from national
states to transnational corporations. It is important that these corporations be encouraged and helped
to use their power for the good of humanity; and this points to a need for more communication and
dialogue between them and concerned bodies like the Church.
Use of the new information technology and the Internet needs to be informed and guided by a
resolute commitment to the practice of solidarity in the service of the common good, within and
among nations. This technology can be a means for solving human problems, promoting the integral
development of persons, creating a world governed by justice and peace and love. Now, even more
than when the Pastoral Instruction on the Means of Social Communications Communio et
Progressio made the point more than thirty years ago, media have the ability to make every person
everywhere a partner in the business of the human race.12
This is an astonishing vision. The Internet can help make it realfor individuals, groups, nations, and
the human raceonly if it is used in light of clear, sound ethical principles, especially the virtue of
solidarity. To do so will be to everyone's advantage, for we know one thing today more than in the
past: we will never be happy and at peace without one another, much less if some are against
others.13 This will be an expression of that spirituality of communion which implies the ability to see
what is positive in others, to welcome it and prize it as a gift from God, along with the ability to
make room' for our brothers and sisters, bearing each other's burdens' (Gal. 6, 2) and resisting the
selfish temptations which constantly beset us.14
6. The spread of the Internet also raises a number of other ethical questions about matters like
privacy, the security and confidentiality of data, copyright and intellectual property law, pornography,
hate sites, the dissemination of rumor and character assassination under the guise of news, and much
else. We shall speak briefly about some of these things below, while recognizing that they call for
continued analysis and discussion by all concerned parties. Fundamentally, though, we do not view
the Internet only as a source of problems; we see it as a source of benefits to the human race. But the
benefits can be fully realized only if the problems are solved.
--
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