I welcome you to my blog and another wonderful edition of the hive learner's featured post. As individuals, what determines our moral standing actually varies from one individual to another; for some it is a combination of their upbringing and their religion, for some it is just one, probably religion, and for some people it is culture. There are many things that happen in our lives, and we just see them as nothing, but those things actually left a mark; they actually shaped us in their own little way. Every experience, every lesson, whether from parents, from religious leaders, or from our cultural leaders—all of that has a way of shaping our minds. There are times in our lives when those lessons help us and also times when they hold us back.
Everything that goes on in our lives leaves a mark, no matter how small, and then we grow up and become adults and then make the decision of either continuing to allow those marks to direct and decide for us or choosing our own path. I have seen it happen countless times: a child raised right by his parents, even when they don't have it, they make sure their child is properly cared for and properly disciplined, but that child still grows up to choose a path completely different from the one the parents imagined or pictured, thereby breaking their hearts.
The fact that what brings about our moral standing differs from one individual to another makes us think that we are right sometimes, but from another person's point of view or perspective, we are actually wrong and not on the right path. Sometimes religiously we see things like they are okay to do, but culturally such things are not supposed to be done, so you see one whose moral standing is shaped by their religious beliefs and one whose moral standing is shaped by their cultural beliefs will both see the same thing from different perspectives.
I have once heard an uncle who is now a reverend argue with his brother, who is more involved in cultural things in the village, about how wrong it is to get married to more than one wife, while the uncle, whose moral standing is shaped by culture, believes that marrying more than one wife is a blessing. They both had points to back up their stand, and the argument was quite enjoyable because both had points, and even the uncle of culture mentioned a few people from the Bible that took or had more than one wife. Same thing, different perspective, which is why we should always be open to correction and not feel that we are always right.
For me, my moral standing is completely determined by my upbringing and my religious beliefs. I have never been a fan of culture, and I have not really learned much about it, so deciding if something is wrong or right totally depends on how I was raised and what my religion has to say about it, and in the case where probably my religion says nothing about it, then it is left for my upbringing to decide where I stand. I can still be wrong, which is why I suggested being open to correction earlier.
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