A book review by Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Frantz of:

A Christian Approach to Political Decision-Making: Introducing Whisper Ethics

by Rick Herrick

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Introducing Whisper Ethics

In this book, Rick Herrick presents the creative and engaging concept of Whisper Ethics.  This is a new concept for me.  It points to how the goodness and love we sense in our thought process generates thoughts or feelings that are beyond our self-centered concerns.  Herrick calls these thoughts/feelings whispers.   

Over time, he says, we learn to hear these whisper thoughts which he calls the “still quiet voice of goodness and love that floats through our awareness.”  These thoughts, he adds, are generated from the ground of God’s goodness and love.  Whisper Ethics works to make the world a better place.  With the flow of these thoughts of goodness and love vibrating through our awareness, it affects the way we see and experience life. 

Indeed, how we see the world has a lot to say about the choices we make in life.  Easily, our lives can get cluttered with negativity and other nonsense.  This book encourages us to learn to pay attention to the inner world of our thoughts and feelings.  These thoughts and feelings reflect off of divine love which inspire us to act on them. 

Herrick uses the examples of Buddha and Abraham Lincoln to make his point.  According to Buddha, the purpose of meditation is to “clean the windows of perception” so we can see the world differently.  When we learn to pay closer attention to the whispering thoughts that reveal the goodness and love in the universe, the sun shines with a happier face. 

In our common lives, we all have situations that challenge the depths of our moral courage.  Whether it’s the southern border with the suffering and poverty of the thousands of migrants seeking a better, more peaceful life; or the escalating menace of gun violence and the danger it poses for our children; or the freedom of women to get the protective health care they need–with all these situations, there is a moral breeze that blows through our conscience prompting us to act on behalf of love, goodness, and justice. 

Abraham Lincoln, America’s greatest president, came to believe in a transcendent moral order communicated to human beings through conscience.  His example is a revealing case of how Whisper Ethics works.  Who knows how often whispering thoughts of the abhorrent and cruel injustice of slavery floated through Lincoln’s awareness?  Over time, as history recounts, it rose up to the point where he acted.

Whispering Ethics nudges us to the spiritual high ground in the hope we will do the right thing as we seek to listen to the music of God’s goodness and love as they sing in our awareness and conscience.     

Herrick visits a range of social/ political issues, applying the concept of Whisper Ethics to each one showing how a positive/helpful response can be made by listening to the voice of good and love floating in the universe.

Starting with the war with Ukraine, moving on to nuclear weapons, global warming, and the historical role of the United States in Central America, Herrick points out how the thoughts and feelings of Whisper Ethics float in our awareness and prompt in us a more just and humane response.  In all of these political issues, Whisper Ethics plays a role and invites our caring concern and attention.

To social issues like Black Lives Matter and race relations, to LGBTQ+ rights, and on to the human right for adequate health care and justice in the apportionment of funds for our public schools, again, Whisper Ethics plays an important role in promoting public awareness and in assuring that the profound goodness and love embedded in the universe continues to be sounded in the public square. 

This book is a quick read.  However, its message is profound.  The concept of Whisper Ethics is unique.  Moreover, it engages us, makes us think, and offers a pathway for all of us to become better, more responsive persons.   

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The Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Frantz is a retired United Church of Christ minister.  He had long-term pastorates in San Diego County and in Miami Lakes, Florida.  His service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama in the late sixties spurred his commitment to social justice ministries and to a spirit of ecumenism as a local church pastor.  He holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Pacific School of Religion and is the author of The Bible You Didn’t Know You Could Believe In, The God You Didn’t Know You Could Believe In, and The Jesus You Didn’t Know You Could Believe In. Dr. Frantz and his wife, Yvette, are now retired and living in Florida.