Who is responsible? A moral question
Submitted by Aguanomics Blog
I met a nice family of church-going Christians in the campgrounds the other day. The father, mother and four kids were on vacation from his work at Boeing.
He works on aircraft maintenance for the C-17, a cargo plane that the Australian (and US) airforces use in Afghanistan.
I’ve long thought about the role of the individual in supporting causes that may conflict with that individual’s moral stance. In this case, I was interested to know if the guy felt a conflict between his Christian beliefs (thou shalt not kill) and his job (supporting an army in war).
Unfortunately, I did not discuss this topic with him, but perhaps we can here.
So, does an individual have a responsibility for the actions of his employer (as a cog in the machine) or is s/he excused (”I just work here”)?
I have a lot to say on this topic, but I want to hear what you all have to say.
(As most of you may know, I have issues with working for the government or as a professor where my time may be wasted on regulations and “useless” research, respectively. That said, I am a postdoc at UC Berkeley who’s considering running for Congress, so I am tipping back and forth.)
Right — so what’s your opinion? Your personal experience?
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