Morals: mine, yours, ours?
Morals. We all have them, they shape our behaviour, they often dictate what we do in life and how we view what others do. Yet one thing I despise is the attempt made by many people to impose their moral views on others. Why do I say this? Because morals dictate what is right or wrong to YOU. Of course we see that society embodies collectively agreed upon morals such as the respect for other peoples property or personal information. This is often reflected in the law too, this is what Aquinas calls ‘Natural Law Theory’ and we can clearly see this in, for example, Human Rights law, the laws on theft and of course, the law on murder.
So whilst we have these collectively
acknowledged/accepted morals, there will be people who deviate from them, for example, criminals.
Furthermore, some people have different morals, like I said, your morals
dictate what is right or wrong for YOU. You draw on your own experience and
upbringing to form your own morals, hence we always say 'the moral of the story is...'. Nothing gives any person the right to
assert their morals as above and beyond the morals of others.
All too often we forget that life is
subjective. Not only do we have our own morals but morals change too. Lets take
a rather clichéd example of the illegalisation of cannabis. In the US,
marijuana was made illegal because of an attempt to impose some sort of moral
standard in society. Before it was made illegal, there were in fact, laws
encouraging the growing of hemp, because its purpose was much wider then and included usage for food, incense and cloth. It wasn’t until the influx of
Mexicans that marijuana became more known for its recreational purpose and
along came laws prohibiting such activity, not least because the Americans had
great hostility towards Mexicans. The further associations of marijuana with black communities led to even greater laws prohibiting the use of marijuana;
racism and a desire to maintain white supremacy is what led to the outlawing of
marijuana use. This clearly makes my point; that morals are subjective.
You’ll probably find that you tend to
associate with people who share the same morals as you and this only makes your
morals stronger. But before you judge those holding morals different to yours,
take a look at yourself. Think about you and what you might do in the future.
All too often I’ve had people telling me I should or shouldn’t be doing
something and that if I don’t do what they think I should do, they’ll be
disappointed or upset. Just recently I heard of someone doing something they
told me not to do because if I did, they’d be upset by me. What they did is
something I would never in my life do anyway, because I have always thought it
morally wrong. This was a prime example of how, in life, you do things that you
once shunned as morally incorrect.
People need to learn that whilst they
may hold their moral views, they must stop asserting them against others.
Judging people according to your subjective developments helps no one. Don’t
judge others just because they sin differently than you. By all means, guide
people to better their lives for themselves but don’t guide them to better
themselves to be what you think they should be. Everyone needs space to grow,
to make mistakes, that's why your mother let you play outside and graze your knees; she knew it would make you tougher. No one should dictate to you how you live your life an
according to what standard you live your life.
Do not impose your views on others,
share them with sensitivity, understanding and appreciation of the viewpoint of
others. It’s important for us, not to accept the views of others as being our
own, but to accept the views of others as being theirs. Always remember, there
is room for improvement in every single one of us and just because someone does
something you don’t particularly agree with, it does not give you the right to
label them as a bad person. What kind of society would be live in if everyone
shunned others who failed to comply with their moral standard?
So far, about morals, I know only
that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you
feel bad after - Ernest Hemingway.
All love xoxo
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