The new norm?

  You know I'm not bothered by the things I don't know about others, that's how that works. So, I was just thinking that if you didn't tell me, I wouldn't be upset. However when you insist I change my thoughts to suit you, that's where issues may occur. Take for instance I don't like Pumpkin pie. Many people are surprised when I tell them that, as surprised as I am when someone tells me they don't like lobster, of course, I seldom tell anyone I don't like Pumpkin pie unless they have a need to know that, like they want me to eat it. I politely say, no thanks. And that is the reason we have always been told to not talk about religion and politics, unless you are talking to those in your inner circle. Never, in company, always in private. You went to the church of your choice to show others what you believed in, that was the clue. And you had suspicions about just what they were doing in those other churches. You knew that your church was doing it right, the others, well our God is a forgiving God, so I'm certain he understands. 

 When it came politics we seldom mentioned that directly. The wearing of a campaign button or putting a bumper sticker on the car was about it. People went to listen to the candidates, usually only the one for their party, and only shared their thoughts with others at that rally. It was a kind of unspoken code, you didn't attack another on his political views, or on his religious views. You just kept that to yourself. Well. it was alright to attack the Democrats if you were with other Republicans, and vice-versa, but not directly. 

 Nothing stirs emotions more than those two subjects; except for money matters that is. And money is related to the former two. Religion attempts to assure us of eternal comfort, free from bills, illness, and whoever is in the other political party. Politics is the attempt to impose your thoughts and desires on others. That's the real reason they stir the emotion so. And religion and politics are morality based systems. Yes, they are both based in right and wrong, and isn't that what morality is all about? 

 All of that brings me to this mornings thought. I'm not bothered by the things I don't know about you. So I wonder how it came to be that we seem to have forgotten the lesson. Today we broadcast our morality and insist upon others accepting that morality. That is being done with the full knowledge, indeed with the expectation, that it will greatly upset others. Why? I'm not sure I have an answer for that. Just seems to me if I keep that stuff to myself, I have nothing to be concerned about. That's because I feel like this: if I accept whatever behavior I engage in as moral, it is moral to me. That is to say it should not be dependent upon you accepting that behavior. Just as I don't like Pumpkin pie I don't advertise that, and then insist you should hate it too! 

  Morality is an individual thing, a private thing. It is only when my morality is in conflict with the law that others need to be aware, or informed of that. Morality and Law are both normative systems. The United States of America was founded on Judeo-Christian traditions. That is the reason some of our laws reflect the morals of those systems of belief. What was also included was that we must be tolerant of others beliefs, and so no restrictions were imposed regarding that. That is often called the separation of church and state. That separation however, is not an endorsement, nor a condemnation of a moral system, it is a simple acknowledgement that differing beliefs exists. And with morals, we only know what we are told by others regarding their morality, or it is judged by there actions. What needs to be understood is that is a two way street. My feelings regarding my moral code are just as strong as yours. Still, it is incumbent upon each of us, as citizens, to support the law as the normative system regarding our public actions. Anything else is an attempt to change the norm. A civil war was fought over just that beginning in 1861. It is estimated 1 and  half million lives were lost in that war. The norm was changed! No longer would the holding of slaves, as property, be the normal thing. Yes it took the United States seventy six years to change that. What precipitated the change? Money mostly. It is interesting to note that the United States never made any law legalizing slavery, just laws restricting it! Yes, British colonies practiced slavery under British law, but not the United States of America. We changed the norm. Caused quite the upheaval. And yes it was a moral issue.

 Thing there is it was a moral abomination practiced openly. That practice flew in the very face of Judeo-Christian values and teachings. That isn't to say it wasn't practiced by Judeo-Christian peoples, it certainly was, but justified by commerce. A lot of that going on today in my opinion with these Mega Churches and their millions in revenue, but that topic is for another time. My point is simply that it was abolished completely. 

 Today it seem the focus is on changing the sexual preferences of people from immoral to moral, creating a new normal in that regard. That such behaviors have always existed in societies around the globe is not disputed. Many countries today have legalized what we in the United States deem illegal (understand it means immoral) behaviors. They are illegal, because we deem them immoral. They are not the normal, expected behaviors. The big question to be answered is, can a government, can a society function without established norms? Personally my opinion is no. It's how people co-exist. It's also why you keep some things to yourself. Laws establish the norm. Morality establishes the norm. It really is as John Adams wrote: "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people, it is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." If we disregard, discard, rewrite, or otherwise fail to adhere to the principles in that Constitution, we are changing the norm! Forever changing the norm to what? A government without any moral or religious basis. Just what would that form of government be concerned with then? Commerce only, just the almighty dollar, anything goes as long as it turns a profit. Think socialism and communism. How is that for the norm?