Values

1022: 

Anyone who goes against the norm will inevitably find themselves between a rock and a hard place.  But it works both ways.  Those who stick with convention bear the burden of guilt associated with enslaving animals.  This is where confusion hits hardest, for young people especially.  They pick up habits and later start to question the values supporting those habits.  If habits are our personal safety net and insurer of pleasure, they are also connected with how we want others to see us.

           

It’s likely we want to do things ethically because we want to feel good about ourselves.  We develop a good sense of humour or we’re kind and generous, or we try to come across as intelligent - we develop values and expect to be judged favourably by them.  But today, with so many confusions and double standards, we have to question these bedrocks even to the point of talking important issues through with others.  Is it acceptable to be a socialist, a Christian, a capitalist, a vegan – what do my friends think about that?  What we don’t want to find is an explosive reaction because we’ve raised a tricky subject.  Agreeing and disagreeing are all part of the process of assessing values.  We don’t so much need to agree with others’ values as we need to find others willing to talk to us about them and not label us and be turned away from us according to where we stand on certain issues.