Rachel Mackay
You have likely already come across hot cross buns in the supermarket, since apparently they’ve decided to start selling those in January now. Lent is hardly halfway done and already we are hurtling towards a chocolate cacophony, an avalanche of bunny-and-chick related decorations, and a decent long weekend (even if we can’t nip to the supermarket). Somewhere lurking behind the collective attitude toward Easter is the understanding that these are the holiest days on the Christian calendar, a story we all know, at least in passing.
After a betrayal by his disciple Judas, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man, was crucified on the orders of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. On the hill of Calvary, outside the historic walls of Jerusalem, he died alongside common thieves. After his death his body was tended and placed reverently in a sealed tomb. On the third day that followed, the same women returned and found the stone that had sealed it was rolled away and the tomb was empty. An angel revealed to these loyal women that Jesus had risen from the dead. After this, Jesus appeared to the men who were to inherit his Church, despite the fact that they had fled and hidden in fear, and to the crowd of five-hundred, to prove that he had died and returned to them in advance of his ascension to the Kingdom of Heaven, having paid the penalty for human sin, reconciling humanity with God and offering Eternal Life to believers.
Great, Rachel, awesome and snappy recap, but why are we talking about this in the CEDI Circle?
Easter is an absolute cornerstone of a Christian worldview, regardless of which denomination you may fall into. The atonement of sin, sacrifice, and love are the lens of understanding of everyone who holds them in their heart. It forms the foundation of how you construct the concept of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ in your day-to-day life, including what behaviours you find acceptable. In this world of data acquisition, management, manipulation, storage, analysis, and sovereignty, it also asks you to take this moral basis and use it to understand your ethical interactions with data.
The CEDI Human Values for Data Ethics might not be constructed in a foundation of Christian thinking, but I would argue that the Easter story holds at its core many of the same values.
Informed and Included
At the Last Supper, Jesus tells his disciples exactly what is going to happen to him. He outlines the immanent betrayal, the expected suffering, the inevitability of his death on the cross, and his return to life. Christ is also often portrayed as a teacher and a guide, explaining the Scripture to his followers so that they can fully understand what is asked of them, and to provide a relevant lens on information to ensure that it is understood in a meaningful and useful way. Te Ora o Te Whānau from the SPPU is a clear representation of this value.
Responsible Protection
Protection, security, and absorbing risk are key to the purpose of Easter. Jesus absorbs the injustice of his trial and death in order to protect his followers as he atoned for their sins. Protection from misuse is also core to Christian ethics, as Sarah Mulcahy’s piece touches on.
Fair and Just
The Crucifixion is an example of an institutionally sanctioned but ethically and morally corrupt outcome. In our practice, we must ask ourselves not only what is lawful, but what is right and just for us to do to people in pursuit of their data, and with that data when we have it.
Empowered Choice
After the resurrection, Jesus is confronted by Thomas who doubts he died at all. He invites him to see and touch the wound of the crucifixion, actively provided evidence to go alongside the claims in order for him to make the decision to believe.
Collaborative Value
Jesus could have revealed himself to his male followers, to powerful leaders, or to the Roman governor. Instead, he revealed himself to the women, those who were least among society. He shares with them his power in giving them the news of his resurrection and ensures that their participation in the miracle cannot be ignored. David Hanna’s discussion on Warm Data Labs touches on the value of collaboration, between hemispheres of the mind and between streams of data, for a fuller picture of the world.
Respected and Understood
Too much to fit into one post could be written about the nuances that can be extracted from a reading of the Easter story when its wider cultural context is better understood. The contribution by Bonnie Robinson is the best reflection of this value and how it enriches our understanding.
Any reading of the Easter Story can generate discussion, and I hope this lens adds to your understanding of it and to how people might use their own social, moral, and ethical contexts to engage with the Human Values for Human Data. Our membership might not yet use the wording of these values, but I think the ideas that underpin them would be very familiar. It also emphasises that the Values are an underpinning and speak to something truly human within us all. The lenses we see the world through are shaped by a wide range of understandings, of which faith is only one, but knowing that there is a space and a framework for us to all see clearly, together, gives hope that these lenses can be used to draw us together instead of pulling us apart.
As our time holding the pen comes to a close, we look forward to continuing to share the ideas from CDEI with our membership and encouraging a nuanced, ethical, and distinctly Christian conversation around data. My thanks to all of you who have engaged this week with our thoughts and perspectives, and I look forward to staying connected as we all work together to create an Aotearoa where data ethics and innovation are a values-driven part of everyday life.
