How do people conceive moral standards? Is it something taught or something you are just born with? Is it because the Bible tells us so?
People conceive moral standards through learning them. Therefore if not properly taught, one is likely to end up with low moral standards. They were taught
at an early age by parents and teachers alike. As a young child you
were taught how to share, play nice and so forth. This was constantly told to us and displayed so we could understand how things were supposed to be.
This would get more in depth as you got older and most parents told you things like, "don't do drugs" and "don't have sex until you are married." Too young to really question, "why?" we accepted these as the facts of life, or at least I did. Later your morals are
tested by yourself and your friends and issues of dugs, sex, and other choices came. You would make your decision and sort of test these taught morals. You would try out some of the things that were preached to you for years not to do. People give in to what they were previously taught while others won't. Through observation, thought and reflection a moral standard is reached.
Some hold back and don't try everything out but through the tests you find a comfort zone. This comfort zone is what you could feel not guilty about doing and have a clear consience. Things you feel good about doing is just as important. This is how your moral standards are reached.
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So all of our moral standards are just dumbed down from the perfect morals that our parents taught us? According to this blog all of our moral values are degenerated from the moral values we are taught as children.
I didn't do drugs because I rejected abstinence as a pointless moral imperative, but because I can get away with it without feeling guilty? I am not in a loving, long term, sexual relationship because the relationship and love is more important than a ring, but because I can get away with it without feeling too guilty about it?
Moral standards aren't about getting away with things that are "bad" and not feeling guilty about them. They are about doing things that are "good." Doing things that are "bad" simply because you won't get caught or don't care enough to avoid temptation is a lack of moral standards, not a consequence of having them or a way to get them.
The world does not exist solely to test our moral fiber. WE develop morals first because we are taught, and then from observation and thought. Morals reflect the way we wish ourselves to act and the way we wish others to act around us. Certainly some people are "giving in to temptation" when they have pre-marital sex or do drugs, but others simply don't consider those things to be immoral. People grow up and out and develop their own moral sense of the world. It isn't all about pitting the morals you learned against the real world.
Res ipsa loquitur.
memento mori, mahalo.
"Patriotism is often an arbitrary veneration of real-estate above principals."
I am kind of sitting the fence on this one because I feel that morals are generally taught at a young age, but many children choose not to learn them. I remember when I was little, I was so afraid of my mom that I always did exactly what she said and didn't question anything, but I babysit a girl who, no matter how many times she is told to do something, she refuses. These might be examples of obedience, but I think a lot of morals are taught through discipline. In the case that the child shows signs of obedience, I almost think that some morals or self-discipline is inborn.
As a person ages and their abilities develop, there are more distractions that could lead someone away from their morals. Once they are developed mentally enough to make their own choices, they create their own moral set.