Morals and Values?

[mebbradley]

How do you distinguish between “right” and “wrong” and how you make moral decisions about how to live your life? I'm trying to write a paper right now on this and am looking for some other prospectives

Thanks!

 

[*Fantasia*]

I start from the Ten Commandments. And everything else is learned from home, from my parents' guidance. If it doesn't feel right, then it's probably not right. The conscience tells me what and what not. And there are laws to abide and if you break it, then you know you're wrong.

 

[saradela]

A normal person will feel the" wrong", when they feel unconfortable doing something, that will be the wrong for" them" , and when it involves hurting something with feelings (alive) without a surviving purpose, also its "wrong" in a ethical way.

 

[aprilgail2]

I don't need any book or someone preaching telling me what is right and what is wrong. You learn it at home and I think normal people just feel it.

 

[MushyMushy]

Having grown up in a church-going household, I started my belief system with the 10 commandments.

As an adult, I no longer believe in that, so now I base moral decisions on whether or not it's legal, or whether it has the potential to hurt another person (or even myself). Hasn't steered me wrong so far.

 

[ead79]

As a Christian, I base my moral views on the Bible. For decisions about issues that aren't specifically mentioned in Scripture, I seek the Lord's will through prayer. Also, I believe that the Holy Spirit guides Christians about what is right and wrong.

 

[kellyg403]

Like most of the other posters, my belief system is based on the ten commandments and the values of my family (parents etc). As I get older I find that I listen more closely to that voice that says its wrong for me to do something or what the consequences would be if I do.

Honestly, though, I don't really personally believe there is a total right or wrong. It may be 'wrong' for me personally but not another whose believe system is different. For example, I am not a vengeful person. If I have been wronged, or what I believe to be wronged, I turn the other cheek. I do not like to hurt another in anger so I chose to walk away. Yet, I do so that some others are a bit 'healthier' in their ability to confront, be angry and make the system work in their favor. Its a quandry that I find every so often where what I believe is the 'right' thing to do morally is not another's and their believe system is not necessarily wrong, just not mine.

Kelly

 

[Sparx]

I believe every person has inherent worth and value and dignity. I try to remember when making difficult decisions that my choice will affect others, and I take into account if it will affect others in a positive or negative way. I don't believe in a black and white right and wrong system. I think people are inherently good, and are trying to do whats best for themselves and those they love. I also try my best to make decisions that help others, or at the very least, don't harm others.

 

[Sorsha]

As a child, I learned my moral views at home. Semi-religious, but not overwhelmingly. My mom was a single mom, she believed very strongly in a moral code, but it didn't necessarily follow the Biblical code word for word.

As an adult, I am Agnostic, so IMHO the morals set down in the Bible are more like the Code of the Brethren - more guidelines, really.

Actually, were I to claim any code as my own, it would be the Wiccan Creed. "As ye harm none, do as ye will." Really, if you apply this to your daily life, if solves almost any moral dilemma. Stealing? Hurts someone. Violence? Hurts someone. Alcoholism? Drug use? Hurts yourself AND others. Infidelity? Hurts everyone involved. However, personal choices that harm no one are A-OK. Relations between consenting adults, regardless of gender? Harms no one, as long as precautions against STDs are observed. My decision to not attend church? Harms no one. My daughter's love for all things Anime and/or Harry Potter? Harms no one, except possibly her conservative Grandmother, who assures me that it is "demonic" and my child will surely end up in the Big Bad Place.

About the only way I cannot apply this to my life is in the eating of meat. I know that the consumption of meat causes harm to others - animals - and probably to me as well. But I can't do vegetarianism - I have tried, I just can't. I am a carnivore to the core. I guess, as vices go, it could be worse.

 

[iwrbnd]

I start from the Ten Commandments. And everything else is learned from home, from my parents' guidance. If it doesn't feel right, then it's probably not right. The conscience tells me what and what not. And there are laws to abide and if you break it, then you know you're wrong.

Me too!

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

How do I walk through this world?

I consider my actions and if those actions would hurt another person, then I don't do them.

Am I perfect and get it right always? Of course not, but I try not to make the same hurt twice.

I believe that I am no better nor no more important to this world than any single other person.

I don't base my ethics on religiosity as I've not yet found one that didn't include being "better" than another.

I don't use the word "morals" as that connotes other than ethics.

What is the right thing to do in a given situation? Sometimes that takes thought, so I will do nothing until I think I've determined the best action.

I don't believe that behaving in an ethical manner is a matter of being "raised right" or "normal" as I don't know what those terms mean to the greater society.

I believe that the world is a completely interconnected place so yes, it does matter to me that women in Uganda are living on nothing more than what they can beg, and that more of their children are dying than living.

I absent myself from situations that I find distasteful and don't participate in those sorts of things, while fully recognizing that "those sorts of things" may be distasteful only to me.

I do what I think is the right thing because I THINK IT IS, not because some g-d, law, or fear of hell is making me do it.

 

[Took]

As a child, I learned my moral views at home. Semi-religious, but not overwhelmingly. My mom was a single mom, she believed very strongly in a moral code, but it didn't necessarily follow the Biblical code word for word.

As an adult, I am Agnostic, so IMHO the morals set down in the Bible are more like the Code of the Brethren - more guidelines, really.

Actually, were I to claim any code as my own, it would be the Wiccan Creed. "As ye harm none, do as ye will." Really, if you apply this to your daily life, if solves almost any moral dilemma. Stealing? Hurts someone. Violence? Hurts someone. Alcoholism? Drug use? Hurts yourself AND others. Infidelity? Hurts everyone involved. However, personal choices that harm no one are A-OK. Relations between consenting adults, regardless of gender? Harms no one, as long as precautions against STDs are observed. My decision to not attend church? Harms no one. My daughter's love for all things Anime and/or Harry Potter? Harms no one, except possibly her conservative Grandmother, who assures me that it is "demonic" and my child will surely end up in the Big Bad Place.

About the only way I cannot apply this to my life is in the eating of meat. I know that the consumption of meat causes harm to others - animals - and probably to me as well. But I can't do vegetarianism - I have tried, I just can't. I am a carnivore to the core. I guess, as vices go, it could be worse.

I agree with the principle of "do no harm" although I'm no Wiccan (or anything else). Perhaps, in some cases, "do as little harm as possible" might be a better guide. My views have been shaped by a combination of experience (including, doubtless, my early exposure to church and two considerate, caring parents) and reading. The novelist George Eliot (The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner said that we need to develop "moral sympathy" as we become adults and her novels demonstrate what she sees as the difference between those who have developed this quality and those who have not. Consideration for others' feelings and needs is the primary quality Eliot associates with "moral sympathy."

I like to think Eliot got it right.

 

[JimmyPicker]

There are different ways to distinguish right from wrong.

For those that are religious, there are teachings in the Bible (or other Great Works) that show examples of moral right and wrongs. This sometimes includes personal interpretations of the stories, so different people can take different meanings from the same story.

For citizens, there are laws that clearly state what is right and what is wrong. Pretty much clear cut, and you're just TOLD what's right and what's wrong.

A lot of morals come from noticing what other people do. As a child, it's mostly our parents who guide us. Notice I said "guide us" and not tell us. Because in some instances, our parents tell us one thing is right, yet they think the children don't notice when they don't do the "right" thing. But of course children see what's going on.

As you grow, our values are influenced again by those around us. Our relationships, whether it be with a friend or a spouse. When you feel close to someone, you automatically wonder what they would think about a certain situation and how it would affect them as well as yourself.

For me, I believe that most of our morals and values come from being loved. If you are and feel loved, you're more likely to not want to do anything that's going to hurt anyone.

If you've lived your life feeling like no one cares about you, you're more likely to not give a crap about what anyone else feels or wants or needs, so it only matters what you want, and not how it affects anyone else.

 

[freckles and boo]

I believe that all religions are man-made but one thing most have in common is some version of the Golden Rule. It comes from our human sense of responsibility to others. Don't hurt other people and follow the social laws because doing so makes the world a better place for ALL of us.

 

[Wishing on a star]

First, religious tenets and true morals/values are often two very different things.....

One does not need a religion to know, morally, right from wrong...

One does not have to study and believe the Ten Commandments to know that, for example, stealing from another person is 'wrong'.

Morals are something that I believe that one is born with.
Sure, there can be some environmental/societal influence.
But, I firmly believe that true morals, as a part of a human being, are something that we are born with.

Values, the things we hold to be most important, to me are not the same things as morals.

Morals, I think, are pretty much a 'constant'....

Values, I think, are as different as each individual on the Earth, and are also subject to change. They can not be expected to be similar for any two given people, and they can not be assumed to be the same over time.

 

[All American]

"When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion."
--Abraham Lincoln

 

[Planogirl]

My basic rule is to ask myself "will this harm or help"? I'm not a religious person so I've developed my own moral compass.

As for values, I expect that those have been strongly influenced by upbringing, education and experience. We all have different values and that's OK.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

I just "feel it" if that makes sense. I didn't think it required thought!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My basic rule is to ask myself "will this harm or help"? I'm not a religious person so I've developed my own moral compass.

As for values, I expect that those have been strongly influenced by upbringing, education and experience. We all have different values and that's OK.

Just have to ditto that.