Essay/Term paper: How can we tell what is good or bad?

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Religion

How Can We Tell What Is Good Or Bad?


To tell what is good or bad, a person needs to consider what he or she
considers to be morally sound and immoral. A persons morals are taught by their
parents and from the society from which they are raised.
Society is not worried about what is good or bad, but how to obtain
money and power. Money and power can dilute the values of what people judge
morally right. While the moral way of living would be to work a normal forty
hour week to earn income, the easy and immoral way is to lie and cheat in their
occupation to obtain promotions and benefits. Aristotle said,
Every art and every "scientific investigation", as well as every action
and "purposive choice," appears to aim at some good, hence the good
has rightly been declared that which all things aim (Aristotle, 517).
Today society is not aimed at good. This society has become a "me" society.
People are thinking of "me,me,me" rather than thinking of the good of others.
This society has found it acceptable for a football superstar to be found with
an illegal drug to depart the judicial system with probation and again to play
football. This is a true example of how people today in our society live their
dreams through celebrities. People idolize immoral sport stars instead of
holding in a higher regard common everyday people, who are God fearing, hard
working, and ethically moral.
While in this society it is hard to tell what is true, it is also hard
when compared with other societies. For example, some European countries have
legalized the use of mild drugs. These countries have attributed this toward
less crime. Putting the question of right or wrong on the individual rather
than, in our case, the government. In America the majority consider
legalization of drugs wrong, but has it really worked our way? Are not alcohol
and tobacco just as dangerous, causing mind altering effects, attributing to
deaths and diseases everyday? Why are not these illegal? The reason is because
people in our society hold a higher regard for the "almighty dollar" rather than
the safety and health of their fellow man! Apparently this society has a
double-standard. On one hand advertising and sending messages telling kids to
"Don't Do Drugs", but on the other hand televising, for all the world to hear, a
president admitting to smoking marijuana and hearing him laugh about it. This
society expects the best out of kids, but rewards people who take shortcuts.
Showing kids it is easier to live an immoral life rather than a moral one!
What is good or bad is a decision made by each individual. For one
person it might be that he considers marijuana an acceptable part of life, for
another it might be that abortion is immoral and against every thing that person
believes. How a person decides is his or her prerogative either influenced by
his society or his upbringing. Personally I believe our society, America,
should get back to being a god-fearing society. We need to as individuals of
this society elect a government with ethics and morals instead of on the amount
an individual has of money and power. Society needs to worry about the problems
confronting them at home rather than concerning themselves with problems from
other societies. Basically this societies government needs to show it cares,
which will in turn be seen by people and possibly practiced!