There is currently a trial going on which is getting a fair bit of coverage in the Herald – about a neurosurgeon (Suresh Surendranath Nair) standing trial against allegations of the murder of a prostitute who overdosed on cocaine while she was engaged for services in his apartment in November 2009 (see e.g. this report from today). The stories are horrifying to read, and I think the thing that disturbs me most is the cool way in which the events of the evening are described: as if engaging a number of prostitutes is pretty run of the mill, but the use of large amounts of cocaine is a bit dodgy and the fact that the woman died is really problematic.
Sure, the guy is blamed for failing to recognise the lethal symptoms of cocaine overdose (and especially as he has medical training), as that's what he's on trial for really, but where is the recognition that ordering prostitutes to your apartment, encouraging them to take huge amounts of drugs, and paying them extra to dispense with STD/contraceptive protection demonstrates moral depravity? Of course newspapers are supposed to provide 'objective' reports and avoid passing explicit judgement on people, but in reality this ideal of objectivity is not always upheld. I've seen it in, for example, a report of a housefire in Wyong in 2005 in which a number of children from the same family died. There were some subtle (and not so subtle) expressions of judgement of the adults in the family involved, e.g. these descriptions of Wayne Shepherd, the boyfriend of Lisa Forde, the children's mother:
"Mr Shepherd - who was outside the house yesterday drinking a long-neck as reporters milled around - said Ms Forde had gone to check the children when the fight ended."
"Mr Shepherd, who said he had served two years' jail after being convicted on drugs charges, said Ms Forde had children by four men, two of whom were in jail."
In this case, the details about the Mr Shepherd and the children's fathers' are quite irrelevant to the fact that their house caught on fire and the children were killed. They are presented as observations or 'factual' information, but since they are most likely irrelevant to the occurrence of the fire, the function of their inclusion is to guide the reader to lay blame on the mother, Ms Forde, by suggesting a link between her choices in men and her ability to care for her children properly and preserve their lives.
But back to the original story... Being a neurosurgeon, Nair is a highly educated person insofar as he has completed one or more degrees of tertiary education. Once upon a time, universities were an institution of the church, following on from the monastic traditions of learned enquiry. Going to university didn't just involve learning knowledge and skills for vocational application, but it also (in theory) prepared students to think constructively about the world and develop at least some degree of moral awareness. Macquarie University's Vice Chancellor, Steven Schwartz, has written a number of blog posts touching on the role of universities in delivering holistic education rather than vocational training, e.g. these posts on idealism, practical wisdom (also this one). I don't agree with everything Schwartz says (for example, in another post, it's clear that he thinks most people are fundamentally good) or does, but I'm glad that, at least in his public persona, his view of the university includes more than just vocational training.
As a Christian, I know that good morality (or righteousness) is the fruit that grows out of salvation in Jesus Christ, through the internal work of the Holy Spirit and through knowledge of God's word, the Bible. It's not something that secular institutions can bring about in and of themselves. But I think there is a role for Christians working within secular education to help people to think constructively about the world and eternity, and point them to the one who is Lord over every idea, every molecule, every cell, every language, every people group: Jesus (Matthew 28:18). This is something I think we all agreed on at Cite in the week just gone. More reflections from Cite to come in the near future. I have resolved to update this blog more often in the year to come!
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