"Multiple Choice Moralities"
Posted in Commentary
May. 6, 2008 at 18:07
by BrendaBee
I read the following and felt I had to pass it on to you. Of course being me I then had to give it my own spin. Or more truthfully, try to figure it out with my keyboard. So here goes. Maybe after reading the quote we will arrive at the meaning together. Stranger things have happened you know; upon occasion there has been a wild bird out there who agreed with me! BBMay 06, 2008
Multiple Choice Moralities
—Albert Mohler
"Our vocabulary betrays us. Instead of saying "I made a mistake," politicians say "mistakes were made." Similarly, some now want to speak of moral "values," but not of morals.
The contemporary talk of "values" is what is left when society accepts the notion that there is no genuine right or wrong. Moral issues are reduced to matters of personal preference and conviction. My "values" may not match your "values," but we all must respect each other's convictions equally in matters of common concern.
The reduction of morality to values was a hallmark of the 1980s, when progressive educators pushed this agenda in the public schools. That generation of young people is now well into adulthood, and we can see the moral damage inflicted by those who instructed students to look only within themselves for a system of values, and to doubt or defy traditional morality.
A generation raised in the incubator of moral relativism is groping for enduring truth in the moral wilderness."
How did we get here? Is Albert Mohler correct in blaming the educators of the 1980's or there about? That would the first group of Baby Boomers who would have begun their careers in the mid 1960's and still teaching when Mohler says this all began. We were not the first young people to rebel against our parents. Plato speaks of the unruly youth of his day. Neither were we the first generation to lose faith in their government (VietNam). So how did we get here? And how do we get back to being a society whose people are able to determine right from wrong?
I knew right from wrong. I was taught right from wrong with my Daddy's size 13 hand that went with his size 13 shoe if my memory slipped or my built in conscience wasn't strong enough to guide me.
I taught my children right from wrong. I never ever demanded good grades from them as so many parents do, because I knew they were both intelligent enough and would find their way in life regardless of how the schools mauled them over. I never demanded a great deal of work from them as I wanted them to have a childhood. Childhoods are so very short. Their only chores were the dinner dishes, helping me with the weekend house cleaning by running the vacuum and dusting furniture before going out to play and be with friends. (Note: as well as keeping their rooms clean enough that I didn't have to have the exterminator make an extra trip between regular visits. We lived in the southeast where bugs, or more specifically, roaches are a fact of life that one never expects to win over and is happy with just keeping them at bay.). The only thing I did require/demand from my children was that they be decent human beings. By which I naturally thought it was understood that honesty/morality/integrity was paramount.
Yet I see them making these "value" judgements that are based really on what is expedient for them at the time. Not what is right, but what is the most comfortable, politically correct or whatever the moment demanded of them personally. The easy way out so that they won't be judged by the crowd as being an outsider. And Puleeeze, not like their Mom!
Not that they are bad people by a long shot. No. They are just the typical people of the Generation X (35 to 50) who are the teachers and young leaders today. And they have so much that I admire as they seem at ease with themselves and society. They don't feel the need to always be striving and pushing and pulling to get things "right". There are many things I especially envy. No one is pushing my daughter into nursing, teaching, hair dresser or wife roles. Those were my choices as a blue collar kid entering the male dominated work force. I had to work twice as hard for half as much, keep my head down, look the other way when my work was used as my superior's required magazine articles for the term, keep my mouth shut and leave good jobs when my superior wished an outside of work relationship.
The sky is the limit for Elaine. And she is well on her way! Miles is doing what he loves. My son comes alive in a kitchen. His greatest joy is standing over a hot stove and hearing the people around him laughing, talking and eating food he had prepared.
No they are not bad people. In fact, they and others in their age group consider them rather straight arrow types. But as they pointed out to me once, "Your values are not our values Mom."
My answer, "Values? Who is talking about values? I'm talking about morals! Right and wrong! Values are things you decide for yourself; things that are important to you personally. Morals are the glue of a society, the rules by which everyone plays. God's laws for mankind."
So I had my "think for yourself and step up and speak out when you believe society is wrong. Stand up for everyones right to speak his mind and live his life. Society (the government) must care for the less able until they can care for themselves, etc, etc." It was called liberalism in my day and today goes by the moniker "progressives". Somewhere along the line I looked at where we were, and where we were headed, and grew up. Many others of my generation are still stuck in the age of the flower children; out of touch with reality.
My children have their "values" that constitute their self determined morals that govern their actions. Always subject to change of course! Because things must remain in their comfortable politically correct close my eyes so I won't see what is happening and leave me be to live my own life. Living that life behind locked doors and security systems.
And now with all this rambling it is coming clear: it is my grandchildren from age 3 years to 22 who are the ones left to wander in the moral wilderness. Dear Lord may they discover thy truth. BB
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