Posted by
Brenda Bee on Tuesday, May 06, 2008 8:06:07 PM
I read the
following and felt I had try to figure it
out ikn my normal way which is 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! BB
May 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