Values

1336: 

Anyone who goes against the norm will inevitably find themselves between a rock and a hard place - being vegan feels right but puts you on the social outer.  But it works both ways.  Those who stick with convention have to bear the burden of guilt, associated with enslaving animals.  This is where confusion hits hardest, for young people especially.  They follow convention as children, they pick up habits and feel generally comfortable with them.  Then, later, they might start to question certain habits which are connected to values and how they want others to see them.  As we grow older acceptability becomes important - how we accept ourselves, how others accept us.

         

It’s likely we want to do things ethically because we want to feel good about ourselves. We develop values and expect to be judged favourably for them.  But today, with so many different opinions on important issues, with so much to discuss to arrive at one's own position, there's a need to tread carefully; we don’t want to set off any explosive reactions 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, without anyone insisting that they are right and brooking no disagreement.