Next semester I will be teaching a course to my juniors, Christian Morality. I joke each year with the parents, “How am I supposed to teach your teenage children morality?” I am currently taking a Master’s level class, “Christian Spirituality, Morality, and Ethics.” It has really enlightened me about this subject. It turns out I am not that far off base with my initial reaction to how I am to teach teens about morality. Our morality, deliberately choosing right or wrong, is based on our experiences, knowledge, and influence from others (people, family, and religion).
One of the questions I had to answer was what formed my morality. I really had to ponder this question. I decided that my upbringing by two parents who lived a very loving, and Christ like life, along with raising me in the Catholic Church, which means I went to church weekly, went to a Catholic School, and prayed daily with my family, and alone, all influenced my morality. The sacrament of Reconciliation also influenced my choices to do right or wrong. As a child it probably influenced me out of fear of punishment to do the right thing. But when I think back to moral dilemmas they were based more on the example that was set by my parents. My parents were loving to one another, they were kind, not sarcastic or negative. They gave to charities, they talked about God, prayer, and lived a life that was authentically Christ like. I wanted to be like my parents.
Another huge influence on my morality was and still is my personal relationship with God. I have known God since I was a little girl. I have talked, and walked with him daily my entire life. I always knew if I choose wrong he would take me back. But I did not like to tempt that idea by doing wrong. As a child I wanted to please him. As an adult I not only want to please him I want to give others the love he has given me. To make morally bad choices means that I will hurt people and I have no desire to hurt others.
I am so thankful that God chose my parents for me. I will be eternally grateful for being raised in the Catholic Church and having the opportunity to know, serve, and love God from a young age. I believe these are the elements that have formed my morality. What do you think formed your morality?
as you study the stages of morality you’ll see you’re right on target on the various stages and easily see how local and national policies follow the same stages…I’m doing the Hunger Simulation with grade 3 next Monday and I’ll see those levels as they figure out how to share OR not…
Lori thank you for all the kind words, but really I just followed the example of my dad, and mom.It just reinforces the idea that parents are the greatest influence in a child’s life.It is certainly no guarantee that a child will follow a parent’s example, we all know cases where that is not always the case.Usually though if one waits long enough, those seeds sewn in childhood by parent(s) will bear fruit in their life’s journey.Bottom line really though, is that without God’s grace none of this would be possible. Even with God’s grace ,we have to accept it,nourish it and cultivate it, orit will wither and die.