Morals, Right vs Wrong, Role Models, Ethics, Scandals, Drugs

[Sverige]

The Gay/Lesbian thread has got me thinking on a few things, so here goes:



I don't understand how people can actually say that something is right and something is wrong. How does man decide what is moral and what is not? And what/who is the foundation and basis of that determination? What makes something ethical or non-ethical? What make someone moral or immoral?


In todays society children and adults have role models, or people they want to be like or look up to. These people who others look up to are in all kinds of professions. Some are Doctors, Lawyers, Atheletes, Pop Stars, Actors, Teachers, Politicians (unbelievable), Buisness moguls, Movie Directors, computer geeks (Bill Gates), etc etc etc. As children we often say the phrase "I want to be like----when I grow up." And parents think it's a good thing for children to be like that. But what I have a hard time understanding is that what makes someone a good person/role model and how do you know that they are a moral/unmoral person? Is it because of their appearance? There are millions of children who look up to atheletes, however these children do not understand what some of their rolemodel atheletes are like. The children don't know their rolemodels use drugs or cheat on their wifes, have sex with high roller call girls and may or may not participate in vairous other activities. Yet, people think it's good to be like Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant or Dan Marino until they get caught in the act. I have 4 friends in Law school right now, they'll be lawyers some day. 3 others have already graduated and work in firms. All of them have or currently use drugs for recreational purposes. 1 of them is gay, but hasnt come of the closet. 2 of them have been arrested for driving under the influence and 1 of the two has been arrested 2 times for driving under the influence. One of 7 regurarly gets blow jobs from prostitutes. Now, if you ask people who know them or their classmates people will tell you they're good people, very nice. One girl is known by many many people at her law school as being a straight person and all around good girl. People look up to her in a sense. However, I know what this girl does and has done in the past. She'd probably get kicked out of school if people knew what shes really like and does on the side. Yet, someday people will look up to these individuals and say they are good/moral people. I also have 3 friends in Medical School and 2 who are doctors. 2 of the friends in medical school have financed their way through school by selling cocaine, lots of it. It's mostly been cocaine but also a lot of XTC has been sold as well. They will be docotors one day very soon. people will look up to them and never know how they got to where they are. 1 friend who is currently a doctor routinely asks me for certain substances and will give me 3,000$ and tell me to get whatever i can with it. This guy is a respectable plastic surgeon in his early 40's. He is loaded and I'm sure he has helped make many many women feel better about themselves, inturn making him seem like a good person. Again, there are people who look up to him and don't know what he's really like. Personally I think he's gay but he covers it up by always having young hot girls with us when we have a party on his boat, a lot of people would ( sadly) loose respect for him if they found out he's gay. Then there's the whole men of god thing. Priests, Pastors, Reverands, Preachers, whatever you call them, are supposed to be the best in the the area of morals and ethics. Yet, my Priest while growing up was caught in a gay sex scandal. He was my, along with many others, spiritual instructor for a LONG time. After he was caught publicly in an immoral act with 3 other men it devastated many. My father didn't want to have anything to do with church or god for a LONG time because of it. The minister was deemed an outcast after being considered a rolemodel by many for a VERY long time.


I don't see how people have a hard time understanding why there are so many fucked up people in society when half of the people who others look up and strive to be like seem to be immoral because of their actions behind the scenes. My point is that you never know what someone is really like. Nobody can truly be an example of good values, ethics, morality or sincerity in my opinion. All it takes is a simple scandal or "cat out of the bag", if you will, before that good person and their ideals/ beliefs are shot to hell.

There's another side to all of this as well. What one person considers immoral, others might not look upon it as bad. In America a large part of the population deem homosexuality as immoral. In other parts of the world it's nothing people really give two shits about. In certain parts of the world people look at George W. Bush as an evil person, yet in other parts people look at him as a man of god and a person with good morals. Bill Clinton and his administration was looked upon as something good standing up for gay rights, yet others looked down on him and even more so after his Monica Lewinski scandal. He was impeached! Now, had George W. not invaded iraq or had Clinton not got busted for getting head from an intern, would peopel still look at them as good, or bad? Had Kobe Bryant never had a rape charge brought against him, do you think most would agree he'd still be a good person? Had Nelson Mandela and his family never been involved in a scandal, do you think he'd still be looked upon as good? Had Tony Blair never gone with the US in the war against iraq, do you think the majority of the british population would still like him?

My thought on it all? Morals and Ethics are just something made up by man and implemented into his offspring, whether they are right or wrong is irrelevant. Christians believe one thing while Muslims, Bhuddists, Hindus and Confucions believe another. All of them deem the beliefs of the others as wrong. Usually it takes a governmental judiciuary system to deem what is acceptable and what is not in society. Yet, they are all composed of man and are therefore not immune from immorality and/or evil. So, why bitch and complain about what is right and what is wrong? I believe that if we all just live our lives and stop worrying about others are doing, unless it's a national security matter, then the world would be a much better of a place to live in. If what someone does does not have a bad effect on the lives of others, then why bother them or try to change them? At the same time I don't believe that we, as people, should strive to be like anyone else. Sometimes the very people we strive to be like have been or are like the same people we are dead set against.


What are your thoughts? Discuss.