The Southern Poverty Law Divine Command Theory

Racism, discrimination, hate crimes and oppression are all behaviors that evolve from people of one racial or ethnic group perceiving anyone who does not belong to the group as "other," and, therefore, not worthy of the same human rights. Baldwin (2017) expresses this in a scientific manner by attributing this behavior to group identification, which perceives people who are not included within one's racial group as an "outgroup." The manner in which an outgroup is defined may be common, such as those outgroups based on "race, sex/gender, nationality, or sexual orientation" (Baldwin, 2017). The social ramifications of these behaviors are tragic and devastating, both to individual lives and the country as a whole. The Southern Poverty Law

This ethical theory states that an action is mandatory and must be obeyed because God commands it and, likewise, an action is considered wrong because God has forbidden it (Yardley, 2012). There are a number of scriptural references to slavery, which led slave owners to rationalize this practice as a reflection of Divine Command Theory. However, if Divine Command Theory is true, one is forced to conclude that "God's commands are arbitrary" because slavery violates ethical standards by defining some people as slaves, i.e., property, rather than as human beings (Yardley, 2012).

Ethical Relativism According to Ethical Relativism, there are no universal truths, which apply to all human beings at all times, and proposes that moral principles should be viewed as "local, conventional, subjective and self-justified" (Yardley, 2012). While ethical principles should conform to social, cultural norms and moral beliefs and practices are frequently products of cultural upbringing, the basis for Ethical Relativism is fundamentally unsound because it can be used to justify and rationalize practices and behaviors that are inherently immoral, such as racism, discrimination, hate crimes and oppression. Ethical

African

10). From the perspective of African ethics, the family is intrinsically good, that is, "good in and of itself" (Molefe, 2016, p. 11). It is unethical not to extend "botho" (humanness) to one's family but also to the community at large (Molefe, 2016, p. 11). In African culture, personhood is evaluated as an aspect of moral virtue. For example, "if p is a person then p ought to display in his conduct the norms and ideals of personhood" (Molefe, 2016, p. 13). If this individual fails to exhibit moral virtues, "he is said not to be a person" (Molefe, 2016, p.