Thursday, September 22, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
My Moral Direction
It is a beautiful summer day, you are going on a camping trip for the weekend. you bring a GPS, a compass, and all the other camping necessities. So you use your GPS to go deep into the woods but the battery is completely dead now your lost, a long way from home, and no way to get back all you know is a town is to the south and you have an old compass. Sounds like a situation Bear Grylls and Les Stroud would get into but not all hope is lost cause you have your trusty compass.
That is exactly what a compass is, trusty, they may not lead you directly to your destination but they guide you along the way to your destination. A moral compass does the same thing as a real compass in the fact that it never changes, they are both straight forward. A real compass has East, South, West, and North, on the other hand a moral compass holds what is most important in ones life. On mine I have Family, Trust, Laughter, and Patience.
Like the rising sun always dwells in the east so does family on my compass. Everyone knows the sun rises in the east, it has always been like this just like my family will be there for me. I am the youngest of four kids, the "baby" of the family, I have lived in the same room as my two brothers since I can remember.We aren't the wealthiest family but we are rich in that we have each other. Family is there for me in the good times and the bad times, but for me family isn't just set to just my relatives. To me family is anyone who has made a memorable impact on my life. Family is the most important thing in my life and it will always be.
I have always had this idea that people forget the South because it seems every heads North. South is on the bottom of the compass, south is the foundation of the compass and on my compass trust is the foundation. Trust is the building block in any relationship, whether those are with other people or yourself. My mother has always told me, "That in-order to be trusting of others you must trust yourself". I truly believe that we all have, at one point or another, had our trust in someone broken or them in us. That is why I think it is so important me to be both open to trusting people and be trusting to them in turn. The worst thing in the world to me is to lose someones trust.
The West, it is wild with cowboys and aliens, hostile with Hollywood and Vegas, and home of the classy curly mustaches of the world, all of them reside there and so does laughter on my compass. People who know me know my ridiculous laugh, it is a mix between a swimmer gasping for air and a walrus with the hiccups (if they were to hiccup). One must be able to laugh in life or else life is always dreary and sad, laughter pierces through both of these and trumps them. Buddy the elf said,"The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear," I believe that the best way to spread any kind of cheer is to laugh.
North, the most mentioned part of the compass it is the point, the leader, so I used an easily forgotten thing as my point, Patience. Being a camp counselor has taught me this important virtue first hand. Dealing with twenty rambunctious kids for an entire summer... well you can imagine you need to be patient. In order to be patient you must learn to listen, if you stop and listen and be patient while someone tells you a story that person will never forget that. Patience is a virtue that is overlooked because we are always rushing and never stopping to wait for things. Patience is a discipline because you have to be consistent with it in-order to be good at it.
Moral compass, compass rose, normal Wal-Mart compass it doesn't make a difference they all have the same function, guide you from point A to B without leading you astray. It may never be the fastest or easiest journey but you will always have your compass and your bearings along the way. Let your morals lead and you will go far.
That is exactly what a compass is, trusty, they may not lead you directly to your destination but they guide you along the way to your destination. A moral compass does the same thing as a real compass in the fact that it never changes, they are both straight forward. A real compass has East, South, West, and North, on the other hand a moral compass holds what is most important in ones life. On mine I have Family, Trust, Laughter, and Patience.
Like the rising sun always dwells in the east so does family on my compass. Everyone knows the sun rises in the east, it has always been like this just like my family will be there for me. I am the youngest of four kids, the "baby" of the family, I have lived in the same room as my two brothers since I can remember.We aren't the wealthiest family but we are rich in that we have each other. Family is there for me in the good times and the bad times, but for me family isn't just set to just my relatives. To me family is anyone who has made a memorable impact on my life. Family is the most important thing in my life and it will always be.
I have always had this idea that people forget the South because it seems every heads North. South is on the bottom of the compass, south is the foundation of the compass and on my compass trust is the foundation. Trust is the building block in any relationship, whether those are with other people or yourself. My mother has always told me, "That in-order to be trusting of others you must trust yourself". I truly believe that we all have, at one point or another, had our trust in someone broken or them in us. That is why I think it is so important me to be both open to trusting people and be trusting to them in turn. The worst thing in the world to me is to lose someones trust.
The West, it is wild with cowboys and aliens, hostile with Hollywood and Vegas, and home of the classy curly mustaches of the world, all of them reside there and so does laughter on my compass. People who know me know my ridiculous laugh, it is a mix between a swimmer gasping for air and a walrus with the hiccups (if they were to hiccup). One must be able to laugh in life or else life is always dreary and sad, laughter pierces through both of these and trumps them. Buddy the elf said,"The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear," I believe that the best way to spread any kind of cheer is to laugh.
North, the most mentioned part of the compass it is the point, the leader, so I used an easily forgotten thing as my point, Patience. Being a camp counselor has taught me this important virtue first hand. Dealing with twenty rambunctious kids for an entire summer... well you can imagine you need to be patient. In order to be patient you must learn to listen, if you stop and listen and be patient while someone tells you a story that person will never forget that. Patience is a virtue that is overlooked because we are always rushing and never stopping to wait for things. Patience is a discipline because you have to be consistent with it in-order to be good at it.
Moral compass, compass rose, normal Wal-Mart compass it doesn't make a difference they all have the same function, guide you from point A to B without leading you astray. It may never be the fastest or easiest journey but you will always have your compass and your bearings along the way. Let your morals lead and you will go far.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
007: The Moral Dilemma
Let us first define morality. Such a broad subject is morality that it has an even broader definition, morality is whatever society dictates is right or wrong. Society deems thievery wrong, helping someone right, stealing wrong, being nice right, and killing wrong. Is fictional character James Bond a moral person? Throughout the years we have known of the heroics, the suave personality, and the skills. With all these attributes he is the deadliest killer in the world. Just because someone can take a life does that make it moral?
James Bond, aka 007, has a license to kill but taking the life of someone else is wrong. MI6, who bond works for, sends him on these life and death missions to kill bad guys. Bond does the killing because it is his job. Why is it okay for cops, agents, and soldiers to kill but not say a civilian? Here is the dilemma. A cop, a soldier and a MI6 agent are still technically citizens too, its just their job title. Some would argue that they are protecting us from bad people, which they are, but it is still not okay morally. Killing another human being is not okay and it is not moral, you are taking that person's life from the world. To kill someone is not moral but it is necessary in certain circumstances. When diplomacy fails is when you turn to killing, it should never be the first course of action. James Bond does have to feel bad about killing, even if the person is "bad", cause he still took a life, his load is somewhat lessened though do to the fact that the person was a menace to society. In here lies the root of the problem, when is it moral to take the life of another? When the shoe fits(time calls for it) or every other day like James Bond when protecting the world? The answer is it is never moral to take a life.It is up for you to decide though, we all come from different backgrounds and have learned the same, as well as different morals and opinions.
To answer the question of James Bond aka 007 being a moral person, the answer is yes he is a moral person who does immoral deeds because well...we all do. His deeds consist of killing droves of henchmen to save the world and the beautiful damsel in distress. our deed on the other hand could be telling a white lie, or peeking at a neighbors test, or instead of reading a book going online and looking it up so you can catch up and write a paper. We are our own judges only we can truly define what is wrong and right. our answered may be influenced by society around us but it is we as humans who decide.
James Bond, aka 007, has a license to kill but taking the life of someone else is wrong. MI6, who bond works for, sends him on these life and death missions to kill bad guys. Bond does the killing because it is his job. Why is it okay for cops, agents, and soldiers to kill but not say a civilian? Here is the dilemma. A cop, a soldier and a MI6 agent are still technically citizens too, its just their job title. Some would argue that they are protecting us from bad people, which they are, but it is still not okay morally. Killing another human being is not okay and it is not moral, you are taking that person's life from the world. To kill someone is not moral but it is necessary in certain circumstances. When diplomacy fails is when you turn to killing, it should never be the first course of action. James Bond does have to feel bad about killing, even if the person is "bad", cause he still took a life, his load is somewhat lessened though do to the fact that the person was a menace to society. In here lies the root of the problem, when is it moral to take the life of another? When the shoe fits(time calls for it) or every other day like James Bond when protecting the world? The answer is it is never moral to take a life.It is up for you to decide though, we all come from different backgrounds and have learned the same, as well as different morals and opinions.
To answer the question of James Bond aka 007 being a moral person, the answer is yes he is a moral person who does immoral deeds because well...we all do. His deeds consist of killing droves of henchmen to save the world and the beautiful damsel in distress. our deed on the other hand could be telling a white lie, or peeking at a neighbors test, or instead of reading a book going online and looking it up so you can catch up and write a paper. We are our own judges only we can truly define what is wrong and right. our answered may be influenced by society around us but it is we as humans who decide.
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