protect immediate relationships. Respond to the needs of those nearest us. Which solution preserves healthy and harmonious relationships among those involved? Humanizes morality but risks tribalism. Replaces a culture’s moral rules with loyalty to those whose lives touch our own. Chapter 4 Theories Responding to the Challenge of Cultural Relativism 4.7 The Cheat Sheet: Rules of Thumb in Applied Ethics 188

4.8 Case Studies Chapter 4 Theories Responding to the Challenge of Cultural Relativism 189

I Wouldn’t Change a Thing Chapter 4 Theories Responding to the Challenge of Cultural Relativism 4.8 Case Studies 190

Source: Photo courtesy of Patrick Hawks, photos/pathawks/796254651/ . Tamica Tanksley graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia in 2000. About a decade later she worked her way into an important role in the office of Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Hughes: she’s codirector of his community affairs outreach and efforts. Though not a celebrity or mightily important in politics, what she’s done with her life up to now earned her a brief write-up and a chance to answer a few interview questions in Temple’s Internet Alumni magazine.“Tamica Tanksley, SCT ’00,” Temple University, accessed May 12, 2011, index.aspx?sid=705&gid=1&pgid=1021&cid=1612&ecid= 1612&ciid=3725&crid=0 . She describes her job responsibilities as linking the senator with “community leaders, educators, religious organizations, constituents and various institutions within the public and private sector.” It all comes naturally to her. As she puts it, “I didn’t choose politics, politics chose me. And if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.…Working in the government sector where my daily responsibilities afford me the opportunity to empower and inspire everyday people is a career that ignites my passion for people.” It’s not just heavy, public service trudging, though; Tanksley also finds the job “fun” because it allows her “creative juices to flow into a sea of possibilities,” and in a different part of the interview she calls the work, in a sense, victorious: “As a citizen and voter, I’ve learned that this game of life is not won by standing on the sidelines. In order to provoke change and improve the quality of life for everyone, we must get into the game because victories are won on the field.” Chapter 4 Theories Responding to the Challenge of Cultural Relativism 4.8 Case Studies 191

How’d she get the job? The way a lot of people start off in politics, by serving in that same office as a volunteer worker. Finally, since it’s a Temple University website, the interviewer tries to get in a plug for the school and succeeds with this memory Tanksley produces of Dr.