Do most of
your values come from your religious upbringing? If not, where? How do you know that the values that guide
your life are meaningful or right? Are
your values are defensible in the face of competing values? Discuss at least two values/concepts from a
tradition that isn’t yours (e.g., Buddhism or Islam - one of the chapters from Stevenson), and explain whether you
can accept or must reject them into your world view.
Most of my values come from my upbringing in the Catholic Church. My dad has been Catholic his entire life and my mom converted shortly before she was married to my dad. A tradition that I do not have but seems interesting to me is Buddhism. Two truths in particular that are held in the Noble Eightfold path are Right Action and Right Speech. Right action refers to living a non-harmful life while Right Speech is governed by speaking in a truthful and non-hurtful way. Despite the differences between Buddhism and Catholicism, these two truths are held by both traditions. Living a good moral life and treating others with respect are both very important concepts in both traditions. In my worldview, I could accept both of these pillars and probably most of the other paths in the Eightfold path.
ReplyDeleteMeghan and I have very similar backgrounds. I have been through catholic education and the Church my whole life. My mother is catholic and my father converted in order to marry my mom. I agree with her about the different aspects of Buddhism especially with the non-accumulation of material things. I also love the idea of having a path or structured purpose on earth. I believe I can accept these "ideas" while still being a Catholic. However, it really makes you think about your own Church and why aren't stressing some of these ideas as much as they should.
ReplyDeleteMost of my values do not come from any specific religion. My family believes in God, but I am at a point of uncertainty with religion. I would say all of my values come from past experiences or ideologies that other people believe in that seem to match my beliefs. If someone shares a belief or value that they possess, and I agree with it, I like to adopt it as my own belief. For the most part, however, my values come from things I have experienced in my past. I believe my values are meaningful because they help me lead a more positive life. I believe when someone has values that are present in their everyday life, it helps them be more rational with decisions and more conscious of the decisions they make.
ReplyDeleteAubrey, I really like how you incorporate your own experiences with ideologies of others you've encountered into a system of beliefs. Learning from experiences has been the cornerstone of human nature for centuries.
DeletePersonally, most all of my values come from my religious upbringing. I am careful not to jump the gun and say that my moral agent never acts independently of my religious preferences, though. What I assume to be common sense moral black-and-whites, others in my church and even in my family do not hold to the same value. Thus, I cannot assume that all my values come from my religion. That said, being raised protestant Christian my entire life has deeply engrained some values, including many "Southern Moral Values" (since we are, after all in the Bible belt) into my personality that I often have to step back from to understand why others may have contradictory opinions to mine. To me, the "answer" often seems so apparent, that it is difficult for me to objectively identify and consider alternate opinions. I cannot say that I know that my values are meaningful other than to discuss how they make me feel. Making the right moral decision in some matter, or even simply holding a particular opinion about a moral issue make me "feel" good about it, because that particular moral value is meaningful to me. There, however, also many values that I hold as a Christian that are obviously also held by countless members of countless religions globally. In the case of these values, their meaning or "rightness" (if that is a word) is solidified by their simultaneous support received by other religions worldwide.
ReplyDeleteFor me, it is easiest to relate to many Buddhist values. First, the Buddhist concept of dukkha is similar to my Christian view of being a pilgrim in the present physical world. I hold to the value that, like Buddhism teaches, there really is no absolute happiness in this life and that we must be purged from this life to attain true eternal rest via means of a moral code system. Secondly, I also identify with the Buddhist teaching of Right Action, as detailed in the 8-fold path. It is well known that to get to Heaven, Christians hold that we will be judged according to moral absolutes as outlined by God in His Word. In the same way, Buddhism teaches that right standing with others and, ultimately, the universe also releases one from the sufferings of the present physical world. In this way, I accept these two values into my worldview.
A large amount of my values began with my religious upbringing in the catholic church. I say began because many of them were introduced to me through the church and religion classes, but they have developed from personal experiences and a lot of thought. I don't feel that my current values are the same ones that were initially instilled in me and because of that, they don't really align completely with any specific religious belief system anymore.
ReplyDeleteIn the grand scheme of things, I don't know if my values are right at all. All I know is that they seem right to me and because if that, I choose to live my life by them. By living my life in this way, I feel that my existence is then meaningful as I strive to do good in this world.
I feel that almost all of my values and beliefs are defensible in the face of adversity. That being said, they are not stuck in stone and are subject to change upon new personal discoveries and a lot of thought.
Like everyone else, I feel that I can relate to certain values found in Buddhism. One interesting concept is that human reality is characterized by impertinence, or anitya. This is the belief that the world we live in is fleeting and everything dies in the end. Everything, including people, ideas, and even states of mind fade away. One concept I don't really agree with is the belief that life is suffering (dukkha). To me, we shouldn't see life as suffering but rather as something to be grateful for. That being said, there is still suffering in life but we shouldn't focus on that but rather focus our attention on the wonders it holds.
I believe that most of my values do come from my religious upbringing, but not all of them because there are some views that the Roman Catholic Church has that I do not agree with. The values and beliefs I do have that do not come from religion are from my family and just experiencing life. Some things I have been told are not that important, but thinking about it more it does seem more important to me. I am the type of person who sees the good in all people and the way they live is them and I should not be able to tell them that the way they are living is incorrect. I know the values that guide my life are meaningful because they are to me. If I believe they are meaningful then that should be good for others as well. Values are different to everyone and just because mine are different does not mean that I am going to go against another person and tell them they are wrong. Unless they believe killing people is the best thing, then that's a little weird. I do believe in Karma because if a person does something bad then they will get the return in evil back. When it comes to the eight-fold path I have the same beliefs that people should live their life wholeheartedly and have the "right actions".
ReplyDelete