How Do I Make Moral Choices?

The uncertainty of morals is an issue that has withstood the test of time. Many written descriptions of moral and socially accepted behavior have become a “living document” in and of itself; ever changing and growing. Webster’s New World Dictionary defines morals “as the dealing with right and wrong”. Unfortunately morals can not be universally defined, if they were it would make day to day life easier and everyone would probably get along. Morals also could never be universal due to the fact that everyone’s rationale for action would have to be the same. Personally feel that my morals are based sixty percent on personal gain, twenty percent on religion, and twenty percent on what my parents instilled in me growing up (house rules and consequences etc). My morals have not changed much but the grounds and foundations on which I make moral decisions are consistently changing. Dr. Bosah Ebo defines this process as a moral hierarchy. Everyone has a moral hierarchy, meaning certain things in life are more important than others and this ranking change as much as life moves.          The majority, sixty percent of my moral decisions are based on personal gain. College has made me very career oriented and driven for success. I believe that this sixty percent is an accurate account of my thought processes in terms of who I am as an adult. My major (communications and journalism) lend itself to feast or famine in terms of moral decisions and “getting the story”. Last year there was a tragedy at Rider University and the campus was filled with reporters attempting to receive comments from the students and any other person who was close to the situation. The school ended up calling in extra security to keep the reporters out of the student center and the chapel. My belief is that church is sacred ground. There is something morally wrong to me when reporters violate a church to interview grieving college students. However, I understand why they came into the church. If I felt the breaking story would have a positive impact on my career I would have done the same thing. A few years ago I would never have said such a thing. I realize that my zeal for success and financial stability may cause me to violate a few moral standards however; I do not intend to violate my morals for financial gain forever. I think if I am cut throat enough In the beginning I can reach a pay level where I can be my own boss, that way I will never have to go against my morals again, but until that day comes I may need to “do whatever I have to do”. Hence the sixty percent moral base being career centered. If the matter at hand is purely personal (without career issues) the twenty percent category of moral standards comes into play.             I come from a close knit family, and my mother has spent her time and effort teaching me the difference between right and wrong. The fact that I would only account my upbringing for twenty percent of my moral foundation simply shows that money and shifts in focus really does change everything. Those moral values and teaching through childhood make up the moral fibers that will keep me grounded even during times when my morals will be compromised. These “fibers” will keep me from being amoral. My parents have their own moral hierarchy which they have instilled in me, however now being an adult myself I have found my own way. They took me as far as they could and I eventually made my own decisions. Although I do occasionally ask my parents for advice on moral issues their advice goes against what I want to do. I would attribute this difference in opinion to the generational gap between my parents and me. When I come to that type of personal impasse and my parents and I do not morally concur, I search for a spiritual outlook.My religious foundations are also closely related to my upbringing. My parents have always stressed the importance of having God in my life. Every Sunday morning I was expected to be in church and I was always encouraged to pay close attention to the message. I have carried with me several morality teachings from my Pastor from church into my everyday life such as treating others the way you want to treated, the virtue of patience, and that if God wants you to have it, it will come. Again twenty percent would seem like a small percentage, however this percentage continues to increase more and more every year. That is because my relationship with God and my church involvement continues to increase the more I continue to discover the harsh aspects of life, the more my family can no longer protect me from the harsh realities of life.  I realize how hard it is to make it in life in every aspect from financial issues, emotional issues, to the maintaining of relationships. The more trails and tribulations I come to face the more I believe this percentage will increase, simply because the older. As I get older I realize the importance of a relationship with God is. I have mentioned the moral hierarchy earlier because it explains how I make moral decisions. This assignment has made me think about exactly how I base my moral decisions. In the past I have just pulled out a piece of paper and made two columns; one side listing the pros of my decision and the other side listed the cons of my decision. In the end whatever decision had the least amount of cons is how I would base my decision. It seems self centered that I would base sixty percent of my moral foundation on personal gain. As I grow older I am fully aware that the grounds on which I base my moral decisions will change, but since I am a single, twenty year old-college student-with no children. Most of my decisions overall are in fact self centered. Metacognition is a term used for thinking about your own thinking and I must say that this process is enlightening and a bit frightful all at the same time. With that said I will conclude this paper with a quote from William Hazlitt ; “every man, in his own opinion, forms an exception to the ordinary rules of morality”.