Declining morals!

[Karma2Grace]

Immorality, “Certain things are right and wrong, but I don't care!,” has now given way to amorality, which says, “There is no such thing as right or wrong!” According to the humanists' world view, morality is situational and autonomous. This means that what is right or wrong depends solely on the situation and what an individual thinks is appropriate in that situation. Consequently, personal pleasure has become the final arbiter of morality. Although we continue to act and talk like there are commonly accepted standards of right behavior, of fair play, of truth and honesty, of right and wrong, such is simply no longer the case in our culture.

This attack on righteousness or morality has produced the very worse results. Statistics prove there is more crime, more juvenile delinquency, more suicide, more adultery, more divorces, more homosexuality with each passing year. But then someone says, “What do you mean ‘worse’?” You see, when there are no standards, one can ask a question like this and many people will even think the questioner is smart. But, when one replies to the pseudo-intellectual's question with the remark, “By worse, I mean more immoral,” one had better brace for an indignant, “Don't you try to impose your narrow, moralizing views on me.” You see, in today's society, if one wants to convince Americans about the “rightness” or “wrongness” of something, one must not talk about morality. Instead, one must talk the language of a New Age. In other words, talk about health; talk about scientific facts; talk about self-esteem; talk about economic considerations; but don't ever talk about morality!

Any thoughts?

 

[7reeT]

Crime is up? If you compare modern murder rates to, say, the murder rates in 16th century they are actually exponentially lower. I don't think this is a result of a loosening of traditional moral power sources, but rather a byproduct of increased wealth.

As for moral relativism, yes, it is pure hogwash. However, morality is certainly subjective- even the God of Abraham has changing opinions on that matter- but that does not mean all world views are created equally. A easy analogy is art. A fine Klimt and a contempory Warhol are both "art", and they are both highly valued. However, this makes no difference to the individual actor (yours truly) in my asssertion of their worth. So just as morality is subjective, so are our own rational decision making processes; in the end, it creates an individually absolute code of morality.

 

[Sunrunner]

There are certain areas of morality in which society has progressed, along with areas in which we had worsened. Such fluxuations have always occurred throughout the history of Mankind.

Right now we are more tolerant when it comes to race and religion than we are hundreds of years ago, but divorce rates are up.

Instead of looking at "declining morals" let's look specifically at each "moral field".

 

[czach8]

Immorality, “Certain things are right and wrong, but I don't care!,” has now given way to amorality, which says, “There is no such thing as right or wrong!” According to the humanists' world view, morality is situational and autonomous. This means that what is right or wrong depends solely on the situation and what an individual thinks is appropriate in that situation. Consequently, personal pleasure has become the final arbiter of morality. Although we continue to act and talk like there are commonly accepted standards of right behavior, of fair play, of truth and honesty, of right and wrong, such is simply no longer the case in our culture.

This attack on righteousness or morality has produced the very worse results. Statistics prove there is more crime, more juvenile delinquency, more suicide, more adultery, more divorces, more homosexuality with each passing year. But then someone says, “What do you mean ‘worse’?” You see, when there are no standards, one can ask a question like this and many people will even think the questioner is smart. But, when one replies to the pseudo-intellectual's question with the remark, “By worse, I mean more immoral,” one had better brace for an indignant, “Don't you try to impose your narrow, moralizing views on me.” You see, in today's society, if one wants to convince Americans about the “rightness” or “wrongness” of something, one must not talk about morality. Instead, one must talk the language of a New Age. In other words, talk about health; talk about scientific facts; talk about self-esteem; talk about economic considerations; but don't ever talk about morality!

Any thoughts?

It is tru my brother that morals have declined so much in this country, however we can point the blame at so many people. The following are responsible:

1. government- allowing casinos, pornography, strip clubs, poverty, pride

2. parents- divorce, foul language, degradation of values, ungodliness, alcohol, greed, jealousy,

3. children- drugs, sex, lack of education, violence, anger, hatred

4. religious institutions- hipocracy, power, competition, lenient

How do you suggest we attack these problems?

Peace.

 

[Steezie]

I seriously doubt things are getting WORSE, I think its more a matter that we are at a time when we have more information on the world around us than ever before so we KNOW about more bad things. Thus making it SEEM like things are getting worse.

Add to that a media that likes to sensationalize and people tend to get the wrong idea about the world.

 

[Exegete12]

As in the days of Noah, so in the days of when the Son of Man returns. They were practising all sorts of vile acts, which were not frowned upon by the populace.

At least when the Olympic Games are on they compete in clothes, in ancient Greece they competed naked. So we have moved on from there alright.

But maybe there will come a time when the homosexuals will want their own games, and to compete naked; and the politically correct world will allow marriage of children in Western societies because a certain religion allows for it; ....

 

[Steezie]

But maybe there will come a time when the homosexuals will want their own games, and to compete naked

Huh? What does that have to do with "declining moral values?"

 

[glo1]

Crime is up? If you compare modern murder rates to, say, the murder rates in 16th century they are actually exponentially lower. I don't think this is a result of a loosening of traditional moral power sources, but rather a byproduct of increased wealth.

That's interesting!
Can you give me a source which supports this statement?

Thanks!

glo

 

[Eudaimonist]

Immorality, “Certain things are right and wrong, but I don't care!,” has now given way to amorality, which says, “There is no such thing as right or wrong!” According to the humanists' world view, morality is situational and autonomous.This means that what is right or wrong depends solely on the situation and what an individual thinks is appropriate in that situation.

I find that few humanists are moral subjectivists. A significant number are some sort of cultural relativist, but even this doesn't cover all of them.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Steezie]

That's interesting!
Can you give me a source which supports this statement?

Thanks!

glo

Going back to the Old West, some towns had maybe ten murders a day. A popular saying in Tombstone Arizona was that "only the coffin maker and the grave digger have a steady job".

Go back even further and you had armies rampaging through cities slaughtering everyone they saw.

 

[iamafish]

i try to take ethics on a utilitarian basis. there are a set or moral behind it, but my way is more flexible; it a man was about to push a button to destroy the world, and i had a gun in my hands i would shoot him. as for declining morals; how were the crusades moral, there has always been immoral acts, it is just more widely reported now a days.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

Aaaah, yes, the good old days, when petty crimes were still punished by collective stoning, beating children with a rod was still considered the height of sophisticated educational methods and torture was not frowned upon. How we ought to miss the days when petty warlords would send their troops across country, pillaging and raping all that stood in their way, to become memorized as war heroes!
Yes indeed, everything was much better in the past! Women and negroes knew their places, and wouldn't complain about their "rights"! HA! As if they had any! Homosexuals were burned at the stake like [bundles of kindlewood]. No pampering, either! Public executions provided good entertainment for people of all ages, and there was hardly a minor who hadn't seen some thief kicking in his last twitches while being strangulated by the rope.

 

[Steezie]

Aaaah, yes, the good old days, when petty crimes were still punished by collective stoning, beating children with a rod was still considered the height of sophisticated educational methods and torture was not frowned upon. How we ought to miss the days when petty warlords would send their troops across country, pillaging and raping all that stood in their way, to become memorized as war heroes!
Yes indeed, everything was much better in the past! Women and negroes knew their places, and wouldn't complain about their "rights"! HA! As if they had any! Homosexuals were burned at the stake like [bundles of kindlewood]. No pampering, either! Public executions provided good entertainment for people of all ages, and there was hardly a minor who hadn't seen some thief kicking in his last twitches while being strangulated by the rope.

Good times, good times

Oh! Remember the use of red hot iron brands to mark people? Or the practice of pouring boiling tar on someone then covering them with feathers?

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of restraint."
-Hesiod, ca. 700 BCE

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

"The indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was introduced ... at the English Court on Friday last ... It is quite sufficient to cast one's eyes on the voluptuous intertwining of the limbs, and close compressure of the bodies ... to see that it is far indeed removed from the modest reserve which has hitherto been considered distinctive of English females. So long as this obscene display was confined to prostitutes and adulteresses, we did not think it deserving of notice; but now that it is ... forced on the respectable classes of society by the evil example of their superiors, we feel it a duty to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion."
- The Times of London, 1816

 

[Steezie]

"The indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was introduced ... at the English Court on Friday last ... It is quite sufficient to cast one's eyes on the voluptuous inter[wash my mouth]twining of the limbs, and close com[wash my mouth]pressure of the bodies ... to see that it is far indeed removed from the modest reserve which has hitherto been considered distinctive of English females. So long as this obscene display was con[wash my mouth]fined to prostitutes and adulteresses, we did not think it deserving of notice; but now that it is ... forced on the respectable classes of society by the evil example of their superiors, we feel it a duty to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion."
- The Times of London, 1816

Makes you wonder what they would do if you went back to that time period and started freaking

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

Oy, and we forgot castrato boys! What a loss to the world of music! Nowadays, we have to defile the public stages by letting FEMALES perform there! What immorality!

 

[Karma2Grace]

Aaaah, yes, the good old days, when petty crimes were still punished by collective stoning, beating children with a rod was still considered the height of sophisticated educational methods and torture was not frowned upon. How we ought to miss the days when petty warlords would send their troops across country, pillaging and raping all that stood in their way, to become memorized as war heroes!
Yes indeed, everything was much better in the past! Women and negroes knew their places, and wouldn't complain about their "rights"! HA! As if they had any! Homosexuals were burned at the stake like [bundles of kindlewood]. No pampering, either! Public executions provided good entertainment for people of all ages, and there was hardly a minor who hadn't seen some thief kicking in his last twitches while being strangulated by the rope.

I don't see any relevance in your post....negroes and women rights has nothing to do with morals.

 

[Sunrunner]

I don't see any relevance in your post....negroes and women rights has nothing to do with morals.

On the contrary, equality is definitely a moral.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

I don't see any relevance in your post....negroes and women rights has nothing to do with morals.

Even if that was true (which it isn't, since equality and/or slavery are moral issues), there's more to my post than just emancipation issues. What about public executions? Stoning? Torture? Child beating as the prime educational method? Are these the hallmarks of a superior society to you?

In every generation, there are people who drone on about how much better everything was in the past. It doesn't matter whether you take the 18th century CE or the 7th century BCE. Somebody will always point out that children used to behave much better in prior generations, that morality is declining and everything's going down the drain.

All of this is sadly missing the point. There are problems in every generation, true, but history is not a linear process, neither for good nor for bad. Things don't get worse all the time - nor do they get better. They just change.
150 years ago, slaves were whipped to death by their "masters", public execution provided entertainment for people of all ages, and children were "educated" by means of physical force, which supposedly stimulated their mental faculties.
There was no time in history when everything was in shipshape. Neither today, nor fifty years ago, nor in Biblical times.
Personally, I prefer a society that tolerates homosexual unions (which do not involve any damage to any party involved) to a society that tolerates torture (which does).