Moral issues

Everyone is familiar with the phrase "Honesty is the best policy." It's one of those nursery rhymes we grow up with. Those rhymes were not made to be forgotten though. They teach lessons, as all nursery rhymes and stories do; they have advice and moral as well as ethical education.

But it would seem that the world we are growing up in is becoming more and more dishonest every day. This is bad for multiple reasons, the first being that trust is destroyed, and becomes more fragile. When we speak, there will always be someone listening. Therefore, we must always speak the truth, or else say nothing at all.

The media has become biased, only delivering parts of a story, and not the whole thing. The media is meant to inform us of the world we are growing up in, the world we are living in. We rely on it for information, to help us make decisions. If we are not getting the full story, we could very well be making wrong decisions. After all, what say does the media have in what we are entitled to know? We deserve the truth!

But we must also be honest with ourselves. We have to look at ourselves from someone else's point of view, and decide what we think. We should not lie to cover up our mistakes, or pretend something is right when we know it is wrong. Standing by and letting something wrong continue to exist or continue is the worst form of lying there is, because not only are you falsely demonstrating that you're okay with it, you are facilitating its continuity, allowing it to thrive on. Do not stand by, and allow crimes against humanity to go unpunished. And to clarify, a crime against humanity, in reference to here, is anything that you would not want done to yourself or others.

Another catchy phrase is to "walk a mile in someone else's shoes." We shouldn't be quick to judge others, because we are not them. We should instead try to think of all the different situations that could possibly be going on in their lives. Just as we would not want other people to judge us while we are in a bad situation, we should not judge others who look like they are.

Consideration. Take a moment, really, and think about what is means to be considerate of other people. Does it mean you be nice to everyone? Does it mean if someone does something for you, you repay the favor? To be considerate is to take in how other people were feeling, are feeling, or will feel when deciding on a course of action. I have been the victim of many people being careless and inconsiderate with their actions. My father left my family, abandoning us, without so much as a warning. He didn't care if he hurt us, if he hurt my mom, whom he had been married to for over a decade. All he cared about was his own happiness, and we had to suffer for it. I tell you, every pain I feel is dull compared to the pain I experienced the night I found out my father was leaving my family.

I am a Catholic. Did you know that greed is one of the Seven Deadly Sins? Greed; the simple desire for things. The desire for more. This is another destructive element in society. It is a private matter, but suffice it to say, recently my life was extremely affected in a negative way by someone else's greed, resulting in hardship for me and my family. And if you look at movies and books, you will notice that whenever someone gets greedy, misfortune befalls them. What we instead need to be is thankful. Thankful for what we have. Because when we look at the world, when we really look at the big picture, we are not that bad off. We are alive, we are fed, we are well rested. We may be a little stressed from working, but at least we have actual work to do. Some people can't find work, or in student's cases, get an education. And without that, no one will hire you. Be thankful for what you have, because it may, without any warning whatsoever, be taken away from you in the blink of an eye. It's not like we will be living here for all eternity; we all die, at one point or another. What we achieve here will not affect us when we die. We won't come back to have fun with all the stuff we collect and whatnot. Focus on bettering the world, so that as you leave it, it may be in better shape than when you first entered it.

Me and my girlfriend, Alletta, we are honest with each other. We don't hide anything from one another, and if something is bothering us, we tell the other about it. This has allowed our relationship to blossom into something wonderful and beautiful. And this is the first real relationship either of us has gotten into! We have been dating for more than a year and a month. Take your time, get to know a person, and then try dating them. Make sure you have stable ground, before you start building a serious relationship.

Marriage. What does that mean to you? In my faith, it is the unity between a man and a woman, who love each other so much, they are willing to stick with the other no matter what hard times may come their way. It is permanent. The whole point of dating is to see if two people are compatible; engagement is to see if the two would be happy living together. Marriage is supposed to be the final, and ultimate step, the permanent union between man and woman. And yet, nowadays, you'd be hard pressed to find a couple where neither one has had a divorce. People are getting married too quickly, making decisions too rashly, and then they separate. I ask you, what is the purpose of getting married if you can toss the marriage out the window just as easily as tossing a relationship out the window? Marriage is not a continuation of dating. Dating is over at that point. The couple are supposed to stick together through thick and thin. Marriage is a sign that they are happy with each other and want to spend the rest of their life with each other. When you really look at it, it is the most sacred, special promise that can be made. It is a promise of fidelity, of support, of help, of honesty, of love. It is so special that even for people that do not have a faith, they still have extravagant wedding ceremonies.

Sex. Go ahead, laugh or whatever, I typed it. Sex. What is sex to you? Is it a past time? A form of entertainment? A tool? This is the common concept of today, but I tell you, it is something much, much more! It has many euphemisms, but when you get down to it, sex is supposed to be the ultimate display of love between a man and a woman, a magical experience that shows their devotion to each other. Sex is required to consummate a marriage. Why do you think that is? It is something deep and intimate. When two people give themselves totally and utterly to each other, that has torn down any walls between them. They have reached a level of intimacy deeper than blood. When that happens, the wall can never be put back up. That level of intimacy can not be taken back, or backed away from. Their relationship undergoes a metamorphosis, one that can not be undone. It is supposed to be something special, and yet it is so casual nowadays. Teenagers do it, because they simply think it is fun. It is deeper than that. It is the very process in which the miracle of the creation of life happens. It is not referred to as "making love" for nothing. So try to remember this, and when you do it, try to look past the passion and feeling, and look at the beauty of the act.