1) Please rank the three ethical codes (Sweder et al., 1997; Rozin et al., 1999) and their underlying emotions by their prominence in your personal morality. Reflect on your cultural background and upbringing; do you think the rankings you list would match those of your parents? If not, how would they rank the three.
2) After you reflect on this, please create an account for yourself at www.YourMorals.org. Take the "Moral Foundations Questionnaire" under the "Explore your Morals" tab. Please report your scores on each of the five dimensions. Do your results on the survey match up to your own assessment of the prominence of the three ethical codes in your morality? (Yes or no is ok on the last question, but you can expand if you wish).
3) Based on existing empirical research and theory, King, Ramos & Clardy (2010) suggest that spirituality and religion may act as a resource for positive development. In your blog response, please indicate 3 different ways (that are mentioned in the chapter) that spirituality has served as a resource for your own personal thriving. In other words, please identify what about spirituality (i.e. social capital) promoted what sort of positive development (i.e. having a sense of purpose) in your own journey.
(Grant Goodman)
ReplyDelete1. I found it very difficult to rank these three codes, but I think that most important to me is Autonomy and Individual Rights/Responsibility, secondly, Divinity, and thirdly, Community and Duty/Respect/Hierarchy. I think my parents would have slightly different values, with Community and Duty/ Respect/Hierarchy being first, Divinity being second, and Individual Rights/Responsibility being third. Although I think all of these values are very close to each other in importance for both me and my parents.
2. My score for harm was 3.8, my score for fairness was 3.0, my score for loyalty was 2.5, my score for authority was 3.5, and my score for purity was 3.3. These results did match my ranking of the codes in some way because they were all at about the same level. However, there were two scores that were higher than fairness, which was my top ranked code.
3. Religion and spirituality first of all provided me with a meaning and identity from an early age. For as long as I remember I have had the purpose of pleasing and worshiping God as my purpose in life and my religious involvement in church has given me an anchor for my identity as a Christian. Second, I have been influenced by the friends I have made as part of being involved in church. My friends and I keep each other accountable and we learn from each other while we’re at church and away from it. Our shared beliefs keep us connected and hopefully, sharpening each other as we develop spiritually. Lastly, I have been influenced by mentors in my church and other religious participation. While I have never had a mentor that was identified as such, the Sunday school teachers and youth leaders that I have had in church have all influenced me through their example of living lives devoted to Christ and through their explicit teaching in church. These people have given me good role models that I have imitated as I have developed spiritually.
1.
ReplyDelete1)Autonomy and Individual Right and Responsibilities (Anger)
2)Community and Duty/Respect/Hierarchy (Contempt and shame)
3)Divinity (Disgust)
I don’t think that these rankings would match my parents. I have been enculturated in a very social world, while they were still concerned more with propriety and duty, which as I get older become more important to me. I think that they would rank the 3 as (1. Divinity 2. Community and Duty 3. Autonomy). It is not that I see their values as worse than mine, but rather stir in me less of an emotional response as my top value process.
2. Harm – 4.2
Fairness – 2.5
Loyalty – 3.2
Authority – 2.5
Purity – 2.8
I believe that these scores match my 3 values for the most part, though I did score lower on fairness than I would have believed before.
3. The first thing that spirituality developed in me as an adolescent was contribution. Not only was my faith community consistently encouraging me to serve in various ways in the community, but it naturally evolved with my faith. The second way that my spirituality developed positively in my life was definitely in providing me with meaning and identity. I was surrounding by so many who found an identity with each other in the faith community and were given purpose by the convictions to love each other and share their faith. In a time, when meaning was in such short supply, I was given a precious commodity of purpose in my life. The third thing that spirituality developed in me during my adolescence, that I have already mentioned, was the community in which I grew and thrived. This community was based upon the desire for spiritual growth, so the two developed together. My friendships, mentors, and even romantic relationships were developed with this community that provided me with support, encouragement, and the gentle push toward growth.
Jesse Malott
1) My rankings are : 1. Divinity, 2. Autonomy and Individual Rights/Responsbility, and 3. Community and Duty/Respect/Hierarchy. I would have to have to say that my parents would rank these three ethical codes the same way. I feel that the biggest factor in ranking these codes is culture, so I find it hard to see that an American might deviate far from this.
ReplyDelete2) Harm = 3.2, Fairness = 4.5, Loyalty = 3.8, Authority = 1.5, Purity = 2.3. I found that 4 out of the 5 traits are consistent with what I believe my rankings are in the three ethical codes of cultural values. The only one I have a problem with is authority. I feel like I value authority a lot more than this graph seems to indicate. I believe I misinterpreted the questions testing for this.
3) Spirituality has promoted positive development in my life through 1) meaning and identity, 2) health, and 3) contribution. Spirituality has given me an identity as to what my culture is and to what community I belong to. This also have instilled a hope that the kingdom of heaven is here on Earth right now, and that we all have a responsibility to contribute and help shape the Earth into that divine community. Spirituality has affected my health in motivating to live a healthy lifestyle and to deter my actions away from behaviors that are not healthy for me, such as drug and alcohol abuse, delinquency, and other potentially harmful activities. Finally, spirituality has instilled in me a sense of contribution. That I have a duty to others and not simply to live for myself. Being a part of God's kingdom requires me to become a servant for those in need and an advocate for those oppressed.
1) Personally, I would rank Autonomy and Individual Rights/Responsibility above the other two ethics. I think I have always had a strong sense of justice and a desire for fairness for all people. I probably would put Community and Duty/Respect/Hierarchy second and Divinity third. As for my parents, I think that they would completely reverse my rankings. My dad is a missionary to the Ukraine, and both of my parents grew up in very strict, evangelical Christian homes.
ReplyDelete2) My scores are as follows: harm 4.5, fairness 4.0, loyalty 2.3, authority 1.8, purity 1.8. I definitely think that these scores are representative of me. I definitely value life and treating humans with compassion, and I think that the scores for harm and fairness demonstrate that.
3) I would definitely say that my religious and spiritual beliefs helped me in many areas growing up. Three of these examples of “thriving” in my life include school success, leadership, and delaying gratification. I believed that working hard in school honored God, and that was evident in my good grades. I was also raised to set an example. My parents taught me that my actions should speak louder than my words, and this principle influenced me to take leadership positions on sports teams and within student government during high school. Lastly, I believed that I needed to honor my future wife by delaying gratification and waiting until marriage to engage in sexual activity. I am thankful to this day (and so is my wife) for honoring that spiritual belief.
1. In my own life, I would rank the ethical codes in the following order:
ReplyDelete1. Autonomy and individual rights/ responsibility- anger
2. Divinity- disgust
3. Community and duty/ respect hierarchy- contempt
Since my parents were both trained as lawyers, autonomy and individual rights/ responsibility were prioritized in my family. I think my parents would rank these ethical codes similarly to how I ranked them. At least my dad might have reversed 2 and 3, as he doesn’t adhere to a particular religion. It is clear that I have been raised in a society that promotes autonomy and individual rights, however. I grew up singing the national anthem, learning about American government, and being immersed in a democratic culture. Therefore, I have been very influenced by my culture in regard to ethical codes.
2. On my Moral Foundation test, I received the following scores:
Harm- 4.0 (liberal average= 3.7, conservative average= 3.0)
Fairness- 1.5 (liberal average= 3.8, conservative average= 3.1
Loyalty- 1.5 (liberal average= 2.1, conservative average= 3.1)
Authority- 1.7 (liberal average= 2.1, conservative average= 3.3)
Purity- 3.8 (liberal average= 1.3, conservative average= 2.9
I found my results very interesting. Apparently my primary “moral emotion” is actually love/ empathy/care, which is not one of the three ethical codes listed. Of the three ethical codes, I got the highest score on purity, which relates to the divinity ethical code. Contrary to my autonomous and individualistic background, I got a significantly low score on fairness. Not surprisingly, I scored very low on the community and duty/ respect ethical code dimension (loyalty and authority).
3. Spirituality has served as a resource for my personal thriving in the ways of meaning and identity, helping others, and overcoming adversity. I was always sort of an existential child, so when I first heard the Gospel at 13, I was elated that the world had some kind of meaning. I also was starting to struggle with identity issues at 13 (in line with Erickson’s theory). My faith has been instrumental in providing me meaning, commitment, and hope. Prior to my commitment to Christ, I was, as Viktor Frankl would call it, an existential vacuum. I literally don’t know how I could have gone through my teenage years and now 20’s without the grounding framework of Christianity. Spirituality has also led me to help others. As I became immersed in communities of faith, I became more able to see past the myopic view of the world revolving around my life. Following Jesus’ example, I have been encouraged to help others. I have also been blessed to be in amazing faith communities in which service is important, so these communities have helped me develop compassion for others. Overcoming adversity has been another way spirituality has been a resource for my personal thriving. Several times during my life, I have been overcome by hardship and brokenness. It is at these times I realize my powerlessness over my life and the fact that I need God like I need water—I need Him to survive. Without Christ as my rock, I might not have made it during different situations. Overall, I am thankful and humbled by God’s grace, and spirituality has overwhelmingly been the most influential factor in my personal thriving.
1) The three ethical codes according to Rozin et al. (1999) are Divinity, which is associated with disgust, Autonomy, which is associated with anger, and Community, which is associated with contempt and shame (according to lecture with Dr. Sarah Schnitker), in the order of how I make my personal moral decisions. I believe this order is greatly influenced by my parents, and I believe they would have a similar order. I was brought up in a culture of God as the ultimate authority, hence why divinity is first. My family is also very much a part of an individualist culture, so while helping and caring for other’s is important, we do not really value the community above the individual.
ReplyDelete2)My scores on www.YourMorals.org were:
Harm 3.8
Fairness 3.7
Loyalty 2.7
Authority 2.5
Purity 3.8
Yes, I believe this does match up with my rankings.
3) Spirituality has influenced my thriving by fostering identity, commitment, and contribution (as these concepts are explained by King, Clardy and Ramos, 2010). Spirituality has greatly influenced my personal sense of identity as a child of God, as well as how I perceive my values and character. But mainly seeing myself as a child of God has shaped who I am as a person. Spirituality has also given me a sense of commitment. It has taught me what it means to commit to a person or cause or organization which has also helped build character and integrity in my everyday life, allowing me to be successful. Finally, spirituality has fostered a sense of contribution. I believe that as God has loved me, I should love others (1 John 4:19 paraphrased), so I contribute to society and help others in personal and professional goals. This desire to show love to others and contribute and help has led me to sense a calling of purpose in my life to become a psychologist.
~Tiffany Schallert
1.For myself, I would rank the three ethical codes as follows: Community and Duty/Respect/Hierarchy (Contempt), Divinity (Disgust), Autonomy and Individual Rights/Responsibility (Anger). I was raised in a conservative Christian home, and was always shown that putting others first was an important part of living in community. As I grew up, I continued to understand that as tantamount, and began focusing my energy on the community aspect. This has also fostered minimalizing the Autonomy area. My parents would probably rank the three as follows: Divinity, Community, Autonomy.
ReplyDelete2.Harm: 3.8; Fairness: 2.8; Loyalty: 3.0; Authority: 2.8; Purity: 2.8. They were about accurate with my own assessment.
3.Commitment to my church family was an important part of my development. I felt connected to that community beyond just on Sundays, and was able to find this as a positive aspect on my growth, both as a Christian and as a part of the human race. Contribution has allowed me to develop my passion for social justice and the less fortunate. I participated in many clubs that allowed me to do community service and learn more about the process. I also developed meaning and identity as a leader in my church youth group. This made me interested in developing friendships within the church and with other believers than to engage in bad decisions.
Jennifer Irish
1. My ranking of the three ethical codes:
ReplyDelete1) Autonomy & Individual Rights/Responsibility (anger)
2) Community & Duty/Respect/Hierarchy (contempt)
3) Divinity (disgust)
Autonomy & Individual Rights/Responsibilities ranks highest on my list because I spent a good portion of my college years learning about the atrocities that are inflicted upon marginalized/silenced groups of people. Also, I don’t think that Might always makes Right, so I don’t have as strong an allegiance to societal norms, duty, the status quo…
I think my parents would definitely put Community & Duty ahead of Autonomy & Individual Rights. This is partly because they are older (people become more politically conservative as they get older), but also because they grew up in a culture that valued duty & respect over autonomy and individuality.
2. My scores on the “Moral Foundations Questionnaire” were:
1) Harm: 4.2
2) Fairness: 4.1
3) Loyalty: 2.8
4) Authority: 2.5
5) Purity: 2.7
My results were pretty much in line with how I had ranked the three ethical codes.
3. Spirituality has served as a resource for my own personal thriving in the following ways:
1. Identity: My parents tried to instill in me the importance of knowing my identity as a child of God. This identity is more important than how I define myself in terms of ethnicity, occupation, gender, etc. My primary identity gives me boldness and reminds me that I can always call on God.
2. Service: James 1:27 says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” And Micah 6:8 says that God requires us to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly. Knowing that Christ did this first by seeking us out in our sin and brokenness, I have tried to do the same by volunteering my time to help people who don’t have access to the resources they need (tutoring, interpreting in court, playing piano for church services, raising money to help refugees, etc.).
3. Community: I’m thankful that God has always provided me with a group of Christian brothers and sisters who have—through their words, actions, and sometimes their very presence—encouraged me to stay faithful! They have held me accountable and helped me to see different facets of God. Without their support and prayers, I probably would not have made as many wise choices as I did during high school and college.
-Grace Maeng
1) Me:
ReplyDelete1. Autonomy and Individual Rights/Responsibility - Anger
2. Community and Duty/Respect/Hierarchy - Contempt
3. Divinity - Disgust
I would say my culture (ethnicity, nationality, time period) affects my choices. Being a democratic American definitely pushes me to believe in individual rights and pursuit. However, my Korean heritage still pushes me to respect my elders and serve my family. I put divinity last because I would call myself more of a liberal Christian. I do not believe in isolating those who may “contaminate” the religion. I believe in reaching out and connecting on other levels as well.
Parents:
1. Divinity - Disgust
2. Community and Duty/Respect/Hierarchy - Contempt
3. Autonomy and Individual Rights/Responsibility – Anger
I think my parents would choose the opposite. They were raised in Korea so rules to community were emphasized much more. The past couple years, my parents were “born again” and are avid church members. Although not completely conservative, but they commit to a more conservative Presbyterian style.
2) My results:
1. harm/care - 3.8
2. fairness/reciprocity (including issues of rights) - 3.8
3. ingroup/loyalty - 3.0
4. authority/respect - 3.5
5. purity/sanctity - 3.2
Yes, it seems to match up pretty well.
3) Three ways that spirituality has helped me thrive is through my older brother, overcoming adversity, and forming an identity. My older brother was my mentor and rock through all the hardships of my chaotic family life. He was very involved in church and set a strong role model for me to follow. His commitment and passion for God inspired me and helped me stay away from making detrimental mistakes during my early adolescence. As mentioned earlier, I had a very chaotic family life. Being in that situation pushed me closer, away, and back closer to God. I held onto Him through the dark times when I was younger, but left in anger and frustration in my later adolescence. However, now that I’m a bit older and hopefully wiser, I see more meaning to my situation and am very thankful for it. Re-examining my life, I am closer to God and understand His path for me a little more every time. Although I strayed from God many times, deep in my heart, He never let me go. Although I did not pray and go to church all the time, I did always feel His presence, even when I did not want it. He has always been a part of my identity and who I want to be. I have made mistakes and pushed God away, but that connection never broke so I did not stray so far when I could not even see Him anymore. Of all things, that kept me thriving.
1. Divinity (Disgust)
ReplyDelete2. Autonomy and Individual Rights/Responsibility (Anger)
3. Community and Duty/Respect/Hierarchy (Contempt and Shame)
I was brought up in a very conservative home-my parents would punish us by making us write out Bible verses multiple times that matched our offense. Religion had the right prescription for everything and it's still my first instinct. Individual rights are a huge thing, and my siblings and I grew up arguing with our parents often-we could get out of a mess if we had the right argument. Community is still important but my parents both don't agree with their own parents' full moral codes, so I was taught to form my own morality. (Yet I would still rank my parent's ethical codes in the same order as mine. Interesting. They encouraged me to be autonomous, and yet I still think their way is the most intelligent.)
2. Harm: 3.8 Fairness: 3.8 Loyalty: 2.4 Authority: 3.0 Purity: 4.2
I think my rankings line up pretty well with my scores-I'm guessing Purity is the closest thing to divinity. I think the test would get different results if we had a separate category for "authority of God" or something.
3. I think my health has been affected by my spirituality; I've always been taught that my body is a temple, and to treat it accordingly. My relationship with the Lord has allowed me to process events in my life that might have otherwise caused depression or hopelessness, but my faith has provided answers and feelings of worth and purpose. My faith has also prompted a buffer against serious risk-taking behaviors. I wasn't tempted to drink or engage in emotionally damaging sexual activity as an adolescent because my faith taught about consequences of this behavior. Lastly, my spirituality provided answers regarding my questions of meaning and hope for my future; my identity was in Christ and unshaken-this provided much stability in my life as an adolescent.
1) My preliminary ethical ranking:
ReplyDelete1. Autonomy
2. Community
3. Divinity
I grew up in American individualist culture, but I am the son of Indian immigrants of a collectivist culture. Mitigating the two has always been difficult for me, so ranking them is also difficult. I think my parents would do the inverse of my ranking with Divinity, Community, and Autonomy.
2) Oddly enough, I basically got the same values for everything which reflects on how it was difficult for me to rank the items. Community cut slightly ahead at .05, so I’m not ready to call that significant.
Divinity (Purity) – 3.5
Community/Contempt (Loyalty/Authority Averaged) – 3.55
Autonomy (Fairness) – 3.5
When I factor in love, that made the most sense to me.
Love (Harm) – 4.0
All in all, the results match up equally like I believe they do in my mind. It can be a good thing, but makes for a lot of internal deliberation.
3. Spirituality has served as a resource for my personal thriving in the following three ways: exhibiting leadership, commitment, and acts of service. As an adolescent, spirituality gave me room to mentor others younger than me as a leader, and gave me a real sense of value. Furthermore, I became committed to the cause of Christ which I believed in more and more, which in turn made me committed to people in my church community who needed help in various ways. This extended into acts of service where I felt the joy of altruism through following what I believe God intended for me to do in serving others. Exhibiting leadership, commitment, and acts of service were given room to grow in a spiritual framework, which allowed me to positively develop in my adolescent journey.
-Kevin Kurian
1) Personally I would rank the values in the following order: (1) autonomy and individual right (2) divinity (3) community and duty/respect/hierarchy. In my family and in mainstream American culture individual rights and freedom is very important. Specifically in my family taking care of yourself is highly valued as well as not really meddling in others lives. Having said that, I think my parents, looking at the titles alone, would order the values as (1) divinity (2) autonomy (3) community. My grandparents would probably have divinity first, followed by community, then autonomy. Perhaps my peer culture has effected my ordering more than my family now that I look at the differences.
ReplyDelete2) Harm 3.3, Fairness 3.0, Loyalty 2.3, Authority 1.8, Purity 2.7. I expected to value fairness more since in my mind it links back to individual rights. Other than that though, I think it is mainly what I expected.
3) Spirituality has served as an important positive resource for me life in many ways including the following:
A) A meaning system addressing existential issues:
My faith in Christ gives my life ultimate meaning so any existential dilemmas that arise are filtered through my meaning in Christ. For example, suffering has meaning because Christ suffered and said we would also share in His suffering.
B) A relational system affording security and anxiety reduction:
Not only has my relationship with Christ been an anchor for my life but my relationships with fellow Christians have also been crucial. I know that God will never leave more or forsake me (excellent security) and I know there are people who love me who will walk with me on the journey. I also know God hold my life: past, present, future so I don’t need to worry or fear.
C) An identity-motivation system
My faith is definitely a strong source of motivation for my life. Not only does it shape what I believe to be right and wrong and my actions regarding morality, it also shapes my goals and values. I feel my faith and my life experience (knowing God loves me despite my utter brokenness) shaped my goal of being a psychologist.
[King, Clardy, Ramos, p. 420].
1. I would rate divinity (disgust) first, autonomy and individual rights/responsibility (anger) second and community (contempt) third. I think my culture has had a significant impact on the way I view these ethical codes, including my family. I think my parents would rate the ethical codes similarly.
ReplyDelete2. Harm: 3.5, Fairness: 3.3, Loyalty: 3.3, Authority: 3.5, Purity: 3.2…I was more or less confused with how well with my ethical code rankings matched up with my scores. In my opinion it is kind of hard to determine how divinity matches up with my results and all my other scores were above average, but the ones dealing with community seem to be higher than purity which seems to be an individual act. Overall, I was just pretty confused by the whole comparison between 1 and 2.
3. Religion and Spirituality have definitely provided me with a sense of meaning (pg. 420). My faith has enabled me to look beyond myself for purpose and direction. It has allowed me to cope with the deeper questions of life knowing that it’s ok not to have all the right answers. I am able to understand that knowledge does not end with me, but remains in God, which ultimately gives me peace. My faith has also given me a sense of identity (pg. 420). I have been able to feel comfortable being the person I am having the faith that God created me as I am, and that’s good enough. In times when I feel inadequate or inferior for one reason or another, I retreat back to the trust that I God made me this way for a reason, and I can be used for his glorify no matter how I compare to other people (pg. 420). Lastly, I think that religion and spirituality have allowed me to see others with a sense of compassion, forgiveness, and mercy…at least more so that I probably would if I wasn’t a believer. I am thankful that I am able to forgive others knowing that God has forgiven me. Overall, these three ways have been extremely beneficial for me during my developmental journey.
-Jon Weber
1. The most prominent would be community and duty/respect/hierarchy. Next would be divinity. Last would be autonomy and individual rights/responsibility. I believe my ranking would match those of my parents. Though I was raised in the U.S., my parents were quite exclusive to raising me in a Korean culture. Because Korean culture is mainly collectivistic, the most prominent ethical code would be the one centered about community.
ReplyDelete2. Harm: 4.5, Fairness: 4.3, Loyalty: 3.7, Authority: 3.3, Purity: 4.0. Yes, I believe these match my rankings.
3. The first way spirituality has served as a resource for my thriving is that it provided me a relational system which provided security and anxiety reduction. This primarily came through the youth group I spent a lot of my adolescent years in. My peers and mentors had affirmed me, helped me in forming my identity, and gave me room to explore and ask questions about my faith. A second way is the development of cognitive schemes indexing conceptions of religious phenomenon (e.g. prayer and having a personal relationship with God). In other words, practicing spiritual disciplines such as prayer has provided me deep security and comfort in spite of problematic circumstances, gave me peace about decisions I made, and further grounded my sense of purpose in life. The third way is the development of my faith as an identity. I have come to establish my identity as God’s beloved, that I am always loved by him despite anything I do. Such intimate knowledge has altered they way I make goals, values, and concerns in life.
1. The three ethical codes are divinity, autonomy, and community/duty/respect/hierarchy. Each of these codes has an emotion by which it is accompanied. Divinity is paired with disgust (in response to contamination). Autonomy is couples with anger (at trespassing on rights). And, community/duty/respect/hierarchy is teamed with contempt (for the improper) and shame. For me personally, I think that I would be rank these codes as divinity, autonomy, and community. My parents might differ a bit on the rankings making is divinity, community, and autonomy. I think my parents and I both have similar view regarding purity and divinity. We have similar ideas as to what behaviors/actions are “appropriate” for a Christian believer. However, for my parents, I think the community, as a whole, comes before autonomy/personal rights and for me, a breach of autonomy and personal rights comes before breaking loyalty to a community.
ReplyDelete2.
Harm- 4.5
Fairness- 4.2
Loyalty- 2.2
Authority- 2.2
Purity- 3.3
No. The survey implies that I value autonomy first, divinity second, and community/duty/respect/hierarchy last. This was slightly interesting to me, but I could see how it makes sense. I have a difficult time judging people’s actions as being “impure”, yet I am more easily capable of feeling compassion for the suffering and injustice of others.
3. According to the King and Benson article, spirituality and religion act as resource which may catapult positive development and thriving. Some areas in which spirituality may enable a person to thrive are: school success, exhibiting leadership, valuing diversity, maintaining good health, helping other, resisting danger, delay of gratification, and overcoming diversity. In my own life, spirituality has played a significant role in my own development. First, my spirituality has been instrumental in influencing the types of social relationships I have chosen to develop. In turn, I truly have learned to value diversity among my friends. Secondly, spirituality has helped to define my understanding of work ethic. So, I have development a love for learning and enjoyment of being in and having success in my academic career. Thirdly, my particular outlook on spirituality has shaped the way I understand decision-making. This has allowed to understand the importance of delaying gratification if I know something might “feel good” in the moment but might have negative consequences for the future. Ultimately, spirituality has had a great influence in my life.
Cheers,
Anthony J.
1) Considering my upbringing and self-assessment of my own moral bearings, it seems that much of my moral behavior has been motivated by my membership of a community. Along with this membership comes a sense of duty and respect to the hierarchy and organization of the community the surrounds me. I think that this was developed through a combination of factors. My family instilled in me a set of values that was largely motivated by the needs of the surrounding community. Thus, it was helpful and important to meet, or exceed, the needs and expectations of the larger body of which you are a part. This of course can have positive and negative effects on morality. Moral judgment is motivated and enforced through expectation, guilt, and shame. However, an others oriented view can establish a strong community. I think that a sense of Divinity would be secondary. A disgust and disapproval when making moral judgments is the result my upbringing within the Christian community. Belief in God established an intuitive sense of right and wrong. Finally, I think Autonomy and Anger would rank last for myself. While I certainly was raised to value the rights of others, anger is a response that I generally was not exposed to in my childhood.
ReplyDelete2) Harm: 4.2; Fairness: 3.5; Purity: 3.2; Loyalty: 3.0; Authority: 2.8. No.
3) I was quite blessed, in my younger years, to be part of a church with a vibrant, active, and large youth program. Through musical involvement, I quickly developed relationships with a close group of peers within my church and was closely mentored by a number of older Christians and pastors. Pastors Ryan and T.J. took me, and my peers, under their wing, teaching and modeling a number of beliefs and behaviors that set the course for my development. Interestingly, it was not only my spiritual development that was affected. Much of my socialization, behavior, and morality was shaped by the lifestyle I was being ushered into as well. Perhaps because of the timing of my involvement (I began really participating around 6th and 7th grade), much of the course of my adolescent years was shaped by the culture of the church. Because of this, I picked up a number of behavioral practices that affect me to this day. For example, the overall culture of my youth program was centered on fun activities that were more “safe” and health-promoting. Frequent organized events and trips gave all of us the opportunity to socialize in a context that did not involve more “risky” behaviors such as drinking, drug-use, sexual activity, etc. The elements of these organized events bled into our informal times of spending time together. This led to more altruistic behaviors and other positive activites. While initially, I think that my involvement with my church was much more “religious” and behavioral, I slowly developed a sense of meaning and identity that was derived from my relationship with God, not just the Church (this happened later in High School, even more in college). From this realization (also as it continues), the motivation for such behaviors (those that are safe, altruistic, etc.) has changed as well. Initially, it seemed that my participation in such activities was more as a part of a community with behavioral guidelines and cultural bearings. However, this gradually shifted to a more personal sense of conviction, resulting from a relationship with God.
Nathaniel Strenger
1) Considering my upbringing and self-assessment of my own moral bearings, it seems that much of my moral behavior has been motivated by my membership of a community. Along with this membership comes a sense of duty and respect to the hierarchy and organization of the community the surrounds me. I think that this was developed through a combination of factors. My family instilled in me a set of values that was largely motivated by the needs of the surrounding community. Thus, it was helpful and important to meet, or exceed, the needs and expectations of the larger body of which you are a part. This of course can have positive and negative effects on morality. Moral judgment is motivated and enforced through expectation, guilt, and shame. However, an others oriented view can establish a strong community. I think that a sense of Divinity would be secondary. A disgust and disapproval when making moral judgments is the result my upbringing within the Christian community. Belief in God established an intuitive sense of right and wrong. Finally, I think Autonomy and Anger would rank last for myself. While I certainly was raised to value the rights of others, anger is a response that I generally was not exposed to in my childhood.
ReplyDelete2) Harm: 4.2; Fairness: 3.5; Purity: 3.2; Loyalty: 3.0; Authority: 2.8. No.
3) I was quite blessed, in my younger years, to be part of a church with a vibrant, active, and large youth program. Through musical involvement, I quickly developed relationships with a close group of peers within my church and was closely mentored by a number of older Christians and pastors. Pastors Ryan and T.J. took me, and my peers, under their wing, teaching and modeling a number of beliefs and behaviors that set the course for my development. Interestingly, it was not only my spiritual development that was affected. Much of my socialization, behavior, and morality was shaped by the lifestyle I was being ushered into as well. Perhaps because of the timing of my involvement (I began really participating around 6th and 7th grade), much of the course of my adolescent years was shaped by the culture of the church. Because of this, I picked up a number of behavioral practices that affect me to this day. For example, the overall culture of my youth program was centered on fun activities that were more “safe” and health-promoting. Frequent organized events and trips gave all of us the opportunity to socialize in a context that did not involve more “risky” behaviors such as drinking, drug-use, sexual activity, etc. The elements of these organized events bled into our informal times of spending time together. This led to more altruistic behaviors and other positive activites. While initially, I think that my involvement with my church was much more “religious” and behavioral, I slowly developed a sense of meaning and identity that was derived from my relationship with God, not just the Church (this happened later in High School, even more in college). From this realization (also as it continues), the motivation for such behaviors (those that are safe, altruistic, etc.) has changed as well. Initially, it seemed that my participation in such activities was more as a part of a community with behavioral guidelines and cultural bearings. However, this gradually shifted to a more personal sense of conviction, resulting from a relationship with God.
ReplyDeleteNathaniel
1. Autonomy and individual rights (anger)
ReplyDelete2. Community and duty (contempt and shame)
3. Divinity (Disgust)
I think my parents would agree with this ranking. There hasn’t been much variation between our ways of thinking as my father, mother and I often discuss such issues and tend to agree.
Harm: 2.0
Fairness: 3.3
Loyalty: 3.0
Authority: 3.0
Purity: 2.8
Yes
The first thing that spirituality or church offered me was a sense of belonging. While at church I was able to make many friends and form more intimate communities than I was able to make at school. This sense of intimacy gave me the feeling of acceptance and belonging. Next, I was able to “step up” and become a leader at a relatively young age. This offered me the feeling ownership and contribution. Feeling like I was able to pour out myself into something greater further my spiritual develop meant as it gave me a sense of ownership. Lastly, and most importantly, I was able to establish a sense of identity while going to youth group as an adolescent. I found the joy of service and being able to love others as a means to understand myself. Also, my youth group focused on times of self-contemplation, offering such times almost weekly. This gave me a strong sense of self and an understanding of my value before the Lord.
Matt Varnell
1. I would rank the ethical codes as follows:
ReplyDelete1) Autonomy and Individual Rights/Responsibility (anger)
2) Divinity (disgust)
3) Community and Duty/Respect/Hierarchy (contempt/shame)
Both of my parents would probably place Divinity above Autonomy and Individual Rights/Responsibility on their own list of ethical codes, but that is probably because they were both raised in strictly religious households in which the list of “Thou shalt nots” that they received from their parents were taken straight out of the Bible, sometimes very literally. In what probably was their reaction against their own upbringing, they raised my siblings and me to understand Biblical Law in a way that focused on individual responsibility over shame, which is probably why that code governs my own life more than Divinity.
2. My Moral Foundation:
Harm: 3.7
Fairness: 3.2
Loyalty: 1.5
Authority: 2.2
Purity: 3.0
My scores do line up with my initial assessment, but they also show that even more importantly than the three I listed above, I make moral decisions based on what I feel will help or harm people. Now that I think about it, this is so true to the way I am, and is probably part of the reason I am studying to be a psychologist.
3. I believe that my faith and my spirituality have played an integral part in my ability to thrive. The first environment in which this occurred was probably in my youth group, in which I was surrounded by a community of like-minded people my age. This group provided a support group that allowed me to feel included and valued for what I believed. As I continue to grow as a Christian, I realize more and more that one of the foundations of my faith is serving others, which I think also contributes to my ability to thrive, as it helps me develop virtues such as generosity and reciprocity. Finally, the mentoring relationships that my faith has led to continue to instill in me a sense of identity and purpose as I watch other Christian men who are living a life that glorifies God.
-Ryan Thomas
1.) I would rank the three ethical codes as follows:
ReplyDelete(1) Autonomy and Individual Rights/Responsibility
(2) Community and Duty/Respect/Hierarchy
(3) Divinity
These were very difficult to rank for me, because family, community, duty, and respect are very important to me; however, I ranked autonomy and individual rights first, because if my community were ever doing something I did not agree with, I would have to put what is right ahead of siding with them. I put divinity last, because Christ came for the contaminated, the least of these. I believe my parents would probably rank them the same.
2.) Scores on the five dimensions at www.YourMorals.org:
Purity: 3.2
Harm: 3.0
Fairness: 2.8
Authority: 2.3
Loyalty: 2.2
Compared to the ethical ranking, it would appear my order based on this questionnaire would be Divinity, Individual Rights, then Community which does not match up; however, I found many of the items on the questionnaire difficult to answer because on some they used words such as always, or the most important (on individual rights and community), etc. and then others (especially purity) important or valued, etc. which I believe skews my answers.
3.) Spirituality has served as a resource for my own personal thriving through providing me with meaning and identity (1), community (2), and contribution (3). I have been a believer since I was 5, but it wasn’t until college that I really started to ask, “What is the meaning of my life? Why am I here and what am I supposed to do while I am here?” It was then that I turned to the Lord for guidance and direction. Through time in His Word and in prayer, I learned that I am here to bring Christ’s love and light to the world. This provided me with endless meaning as to what to do with my life and gave me an identity as a daughter of the Almighty. My faith has also given me a community of believers. I have been blessed with an amazing extended family of believers as well as fellowship with Christian friends and churches. I look forward to every moment I get to spend with them, and feel renewed and ready to face the world after time spent in community worshipping God, reading His Word, and loving one another. Finally, my faith has given me a desire to love and serve others, as Christ modeled for us. It is amazing how much love we receive in return as we follow His commandments.
- Brooke Fullmer
1)
ReplyDelete1. Autonomy and Individual Right/Responsibilities (Anger)
2. Divinity (Disgust)
3. Community/Duty/Respect (Contempt)
I think my parents might list Divinity as their first choice, then autonomy and lastly community. I think we match on the community/duty/respect issue because of our shared culture of Baptist upbringing…we generally rebel against duty to community, tradition, etc. unless there’s another reason to support it. I think I have grown up in a more individualistic, fairness to all people type of culture than my parents, and thus, autonomy and individual rights and responsibilities are high on my list (though I would emphasize the “responsibilities” aspect of the category).
2)
Harm: 2.0
Fairness: 3.5
Loyalty: 1.8
Authority: 3.0
Purity: 3.0
Yes and no. I expected fairness and purity to be high on my list, but did not expect authority to be such a factor. I apologize to my friends who read this, for my extremely low “loyalty” score.
3) I think the first way in which the spirituality and religion positively shaped me was in the identity that it gave me. Being a pastor’s son, I had high expectations placed on me, and I believe that those expectations motivated me to pursue excellence (whether or not I achieved it). I still consider my identity to be rooted in my title as “follower of Christ” and the Christian church. Secondly, it instilled in me a sense of service. Our church was always big on serving individuals in the church, community members, and the church building. Being an active male member of the youth group, I was expected to help people move into new homes, do yard work for people, and help set up and take down events quite often. I think this has translated well into the present; the more I think about it, the more I realize that I continue to do those specific things as though it were second nature. I bought a truck partly so I could help people move things, I enjoy doing yard work with people, and I find folding up chairs and tables after events therapeutic. Thirdly, spirituality and religion have helped me look at others with grace and forgiveness. Having always been shown that even the best men and women in the Bible fell, and that we all come short of the glory of God, I have been raised in a community that realizes we’re all bent and broken. No one is perfect. This has allowed me to let people around me do them or I harm, and am able to give forgiveness and accept it as OK. This also reminds me to not take myself (or anyone else) too seriously, because in the end, we’re all just dew on the morning grass. In the light of eternity, I won’t care how successful someone was, how bad they hurt me, or how brilliant I thought I was. Spirituality has given me eternity, and eternity has given me this type of hardiness.
^^^^^ Jon Reeves ^^^^^^
ReplyDelete1) 1. Autonomy and Individual Rights/Responsibility: underlying emotion is anger
ReplyDelete2. Community and Duty/Respect/Hierarchy: underlying emotions are contempt and shame
3. Divinity: underlying emotion is disgust
I was raised in a small town in the Midwest where we did a lot of things with our community, but at the same time were pretty much just looking out for our family. I was raised by a Catholic mom and a Lutheran dad who never really yelled at me when I did things wrong. Instead, they would either bring it up very quickly or not bring it up at all, which led to a great deal of shame because I was never able to work through the bad things I did. Above all, my parents always wanted us to have the best treatment and treat others as they would want to be treated. It was also important for us to look good to for the community and not do things to dishonor the family name. I think my parents would rank these in the same order.
2) Harm 4.3
Fairness 2.7
Loyalty 2.2
Authority 2.5
Purity 3.8
Yes and no. Divinity is much higher on the survey and community is the lowest on the survey. Autonomy matches up with harm being scored the highest on the survey.
3) Since becoming a Christian, I have found that one of the most important factors in developing my spirituality is some form of community, specifically a mentor, family, and peers. My mentor and I met once a week for about a year before I moved out here, and she taught me out in two main ways. She showed me the beauty of a meek and gentle spirit before the Lord, and the importance of meditation and reflection on Scripture. My family has had both a direct and indirect influence on my spirituality depending on the person. My Dad has showed me the fruit of reading Scripture slowly and not just trying to get in as much as I can. On the other hand, my siblings (especially my sister), without knowing, have caused me to see my impatient spirit and work on it. Finally, my peers, who I believe have had the greatest influence in developing my spirituality, who have taught me the importance of the spiritual disciplines, accountability, and asking questions.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1. 1- Divinity, (Disgust)
ReplyDelete2- Community and Duty/Respect/Honor (Contempt/Shame)
3- Autonomy and Individual Rights (Anger)
I do no think my parents would answer this in the same way. I think Autonomy and Individuality would be the second ranking.
2. Harm- 2.2, Fairness 2.3, Loyalty 1.8, Authority 1.5, Purity 3.5.
Not really and I think in the questions I took considered what the loyalty was given to and the type of harm that was being inflicted. If something is unpleasant to an individual, like having an intervention for an alcoholic, yet if it saves their life I would find that to be good, even if the individual did not perceive it that way initially. In addition, the questions did not specify who an individual was being loyal to. There can be great harm from individuals who are blindly loyal to authority or a set of beliefs, as history has repeatedly proven.
3. One particular aspect of the chapter which made me with was the following, “Young adults who experienced more than one traumatic event were more likely to hold very strong religious beliefs as opposed to weaker ones.” (King, Ramos, & Clardy 2010) The traumatic events which occurred early in life and later in my adolescent years actually drove me to a deeply committed and personal faith than many of my peers. It gave me certainty in God and my relationship with him. In addition, although I did struggle with depression in my teenage years, these symptoms subsided when I attended and was attentive in church. This would seem to match with King, Ramos and Clardy’s research on the inverse correlation of church attendance and depression. As I learned more about my faith and grew more in my zeal for God my life was filled with personal meaning and a positive hope for the future. I felt empowered that I would be capable of accomplishing any task and facing any trial with the power of the Lord by my side. In high school my devotion to God also led me to be a part of L.E.O. club on campus, a club dedicated to acts of service. In helping others I found joy and greater meaning in my own life. Service increased my self esteem and opened my eyes to the needy people everywhere in the community.
[1]
ReplyDelete1. Community (contempt)
2. Divinity (disgust)
3. Autonomy (anger)
Man, it's hard to label myself as any one of these! Picking between anger, contempt, and disgust for how you are "moral" is kinda oxymoron-ish to me. I wouldn't say ANY of these are "moral emotions"... more like "social protection emotions". My parents would say the same order, but all are much stronger than mine.
[2]
Harm: 4.7
Fairness: 3.2
Loyalty: 2.5
Authority: 2.3
Purity: 2.8
Loyalty and authority, my lowest, seem to contradict my #1 ranking of community. Purity and "Divinity" seem to match up. But it's funny that Autonomy was my lowest, but Harm was definitely my highest. I don't think these two moral constructs match up with each other very well...
[3]
1. Spirituality gave me a way to construct a narrative of my life. It has helped me put a story to my life. This has helped, especially in tougher times, to see my life as a story of following Christ. It has helped my identify with Christ's story. When I don't know what kind of things I should "be about" or who I should be, I can look at Christ and ask him to help me be like him.
2. Spirituality has given me character through friendships. My world is broadened and deepened because of the Christian friends that I have who I have known since I was a kid. I have accountability, encouragement, empathy, passion, and joy through my Christian friends. It has enriched my life to walk beside them.
3. Spirituality has given me mentors and role models that I seek to imitate. It has been so helpful to me to be able to look at someone else who is following Christ (farther down the road) and think what it would be like to live like them. These have been the same people who have encouraged me, listened to me, and spent time with me.
1.
ReplyDeleteFirst: Autonomy and Individual Rights/ Responsibility – Anger
Second: Divinity – Disgust
Third: Community and duty/respect/hierarchy – contempt/shame
I was raised in a Christian home in which there was a great value placed on responsibility. My Father is a very honest man, always very careful to give people their rights. They were raised in a very conservative Christian culture that was based on disgust, not allowed to dance, play cards or go to movies because these things were contaminated with sin. I believe that as my parents grew out of that tradition, they created a different atmosphere in my home. Therefore, I think that my values are similar to those of my parents.
2.
Harm 3.5
Loyalty 3.0
Purity 3.0
Fairness 2.7
Authority 2.7
Although a comparison cannot be completely clear because this scale is separated into 5 categories, these results do match up to my own assessment above.
3.
Spirituality has given me recourses for personal striving by giving me a sense of identity, educating me about the value of sexual purity, and encouraging me to live a healthy lifestyle. First, having an identity in Christ has given my life hope and meaning, qualities that have driven me to give back to others, and love my neighbors. Second, I am thankful that the church has taught me about sexual purity. I appreciate that I was able to avoid the risks involved with sex before marriage, but even more importantly I am excited about the dedication that I will be able to give to my future wife because of this fidelity. Third, the church has played a large part in giving me motivation to be healthy. Since I believe that my body is a temple of God, and that everything I do I should do for His glory, I try to get enough sleep at night, exercise, and eat healthy meals. I believe that this has had a large impact on my healthy functioning throughout my childhood.
1)
ReplyDeleteI think my three rankings would probably be anger, then contempt/shame, then disgust (Autonomy, Community, Divinity) I think that these would probably basically match up with my parents, although they might have a bit higher contempt/shame than myself, even though I still don't think it would actually top anger.
2)
Harm-4.2
Fairness-4.2
Loyalty-4.0
Authority-2.7
Purity-3.5
Well, actually, purity came out much higher than I expected it to. If community is the adverage of loyalty and authority, it might be fair to say that my divinity is higher than my community score.
3)
Spirituality and religion have been important resources for my own personal thriving. As the chapter mentions, religious involvement was found to predict school success. I think this was definitely true in my life in reference to reading. My parents exposed me to a wide variety of books early in my life, but definitely both they and the church encouraged me to read and think about what the Bible said as well. I think that this emphasis was at least a small boost in terms of my ability to read and think going into middle school and even high school. My faith was also a large part of my identity in high school, and so I think my faith development assisted me in developing my own identity in broader terms. What I mean is that my faith helped me to know who I was distinct from either my friends or my family. It was something connected to both those, but also very much my own. Finally, my faith encouraged me to serve those in need. In the church I grew up in, our youth group would go down to Mexico each year to build houses. Going on these trips shaped my perspective on poverty as well as my perspective on my on the blessings and responsibilities that I have as a wealthy American. So the religious structure of that trip really helped me to develop a compassionate and generous character.
1.) 1. Community and Duty/Respect/Hierarchy, 2. Autonomy and Individual Rights/Responsibilities, 3. Divinity
ReplyDeleteAlthough my parents and I don't exactly match up on everything, because we have very similar political views I find that our ranking of these three would probably be the same. My parents are very forward thinking, and are probably a little ahead of their time in terms of how they would rank these, so it comes as no surprise that we would rank these in the same way. Most importantly is our attention to how our faith relates to this ranking and our politics. This ranking is very related to our understanding of God and how God relates to the human condition.
2. Harm-4.7, Fairness-4.8, Loyalty-2.3, Authority-3.5, Purity-3.7
I'm not really surprised at my results. I find that given my theology, faith, political views, etc., these ranking seem to line up with how I ranked the ethical codes in the previous question. What did surprise me was that my scores seemed to be much higher on most of the domains than both conservatives and liberals. However, for the most part, the proportional trends were the same.
3. Contribution: During my adolescence being involved in church was very important. Although it began with HAVING to go to church a standard household rule, but as I grew older and began to contribute my gift for music to the worship experience, I found that I began to value the contribution and going to church for myself, rather than out of obedience to my parents.
Pleasing and Worshiping God: I've always been one to want to experience God for myself, rather than vicariously through others' experience. That, coupled with my high value on achieving and being a "good person," was very important in my adolescent moral and spiritual development. I paid close attention to how my actions may or may not please God as well as how my interactions with others in my everyday life might worship and please God.
Meaning and Identity: Similarly to wanting to experience God for myself, I began to consider during my adolescence what on earth God had in mind when He created me. Throughout my adolescence I explored my values in relation to my meaning and purpose in life. I suppose finding out what my purpose is, is how I think I relate to and grow closer to God.
1. I would rank the codes thusly:
ReplyDeleteFirst: Community and duty/respect/hierarchy – contempt/shame
Second: Autonomy and Individual Rights/ Responsibility – Anger
Third: Divinity – Disgust
I believe that my parents would rank them the same. However, I believe my grandFATHERS would switch one and two. Interesting trend that I thought about.
2.
Harm 4.2
Fairness 4.2
Purity 4.2
Loyalty 3.5
Authority 3.3
This didn't quite fit my self report. This seems to imply that I value loyalty/community/duty less than I thought. But I'm not sure because they don't use the same language and I cannot be certain which terms correlate to which.
3. I think my religion has provided me with great benefits. First I believe that the ways in which it provided identity and meaning was particularly helpful for me. I am by nature a doubtful person and second guess myself- religion provided a structured framework that I believe decreased my anxiety. Having been affected by depression, religion also served as a buffer against the damages of that. Depression is an isolating disease and knowledge of God's omnipresence helped me to not feel so alone. Lastly, it gave me a strong sense of community. I belonged to a group of people that met at least twice weekly and it created opportunities for mentors and friendships. I was definitely supported.
MATT RUSSELL
ReplyDelete1. My top three in order are:
1) autonomy - anger
2) divinity - disgust
3) community - contempt
My cultural background is that of a WASP from the Midwest, Indiana, more specifically. My mother's influence on my morals would probably be related to the fact that she grew up in a rural area that prized their individuality, but also their community in that "rebellion." They enjoyed doing what they wanted as they pleased and taking away someone's freedom is appalling to me, in whatever way it is done. They enjoyed their community as individuals, and they took care of each other. The fact that divinity is ranked above community would be a personal aspect of forming my morals. My parents are religious but not zealots, but my drive for spirituality has pushed them into getting deeper in their faith. My father is a man of compassion, whose maxim is "Everyone's doing the best they know how." That has influenced me to be absorb some spiritual truths, but also to value individuality. I think my top three would match up with my parents, but they might put divinity at one for the fear of being seen as less faithful.
2. My scores were:
harm - 3.7
fairness - 3.7
loyalty - 2.5
authority - 1.7
purity - 3.5
These scores match up with my beliefs, with the exception of the divinity being the highest score, but they match up in a way that not many people may understand. Being a Libertarian, I feel very misunderstood. I have fairness ranked very highly and it matches with a liberal perspective, but I arrive at fairness in a totally different way than a liberal in America would. They would want more government programs to create fairness, when I think less government for all is more fair. This also shows how I value individuality and responsibility.
3. Exhibiting leadership is something that I've always taken to, but only when needed. I've felt that this quality has allowed me to become more confident in the effect I can have with my life, especially in my work and spiritual life. I enjoyed the responsibility in high school of being an FCA leader and being known as someone that seekers and people with questions could come to.
Helping others is another aspect that I've clung to, as well. When I knew of someone in need or if I knew I could help someone else, I always felt that it was my job as a Christian and something that would model Christ to those who don't know Him. It has helped in leadership roles, to help people see genuineness in me.
Delay of gratification was a paramount role of being a Christian in high school, specifically that we couldn't have sex like the rest of the kids. I've talked to a lot of kids that didn't have my spiritual values and did have sex, but later on down the road regretted it and wished that they had waited for either marriage or their most serious relationship (usually the one they were in...), but it spoke to me that the truth they're all looking for, I knew about.
1)
ReplyDeleteMy personal three rankings, I'd like to believe, are: 1. Divinity 2. Community and Duty/Respect/Hierarchy 2. Autonomy and Individual Rights/Responsbility. I'd hate to think that these three values are in opposite order, but sometimes the orders get a little switched, (largely when I enter into moments of individualistic introspection.) My parents have extremely high ranking of community and duty/respect/hierarchy; however, they both wish to live according to the rank order I've listed above (1. Divinity, 2. Community and 3. Autonomy).
2)
Harm: 3.7 Fairness: 3.3 Loyalty: 3.0 Authority: 3.0 Purity: 2.8
My rankings were in line with how I had ranked my personal ethical codes, with harm to others being a serious consideration in my thinking process.
3) My personal spirituality has enabled me to foster an identity. It has given me a sense of identity and confidence in my own belief in Christ. It has enabled me to understand my failures and shortcomings as opportunities to turn to, rely upon and trust in God. It has given me a sense of community. I was raised in a strong community of believers; I feel that I am part of a connected group of Christians who share a sense of belonging, life meaning and purpose. Spirituality has been the spark that enables us to pursue, develop and extend our relationships one with another. Our personal spirituality provides us with the forgiveness and love which unites and re-unites us. Spirituality has lastly given me a sense of service. I've experienced both hardships and joys; the constant factor through all of these experiences has been the support of church members. In turn, I have developed a need to return this love to other members of the church, to return the blessings and services that have made me into the person I am.
For my own morality I would rank Autonomy/Anger as my first, then Community/Contempt, and then Divinity/Disgust as last. I feel my rankings reflect my growth as a liberally minded, independent person away from my upbringing. I was raised in a military family and my Father would probably rank at CDA. If ever he thought I was doing something inappropriate he’d use the phrase, “That’s just not done!” which implies a community standard of behavior that I was breaking, not a personal or divine issue.
ReplyDeleteI received a score different that what I expected, though not in its rank just in its severity. I didn’t expect quite such a significant drop between each dimension. I expected a higher Loyalty and Purity score.
4.5 on Harm
3.8 on Fairness
2.4 on Loyalty
1.3 on Authority
1.4 on Purity
Primary to my development in spirituality and personality was my commitment to contribution. It played a vital role in what I believed religion was all about. Being a contributing member of my family, my church, and larger society enabled me to experience God as a connection to others, a relationality. It was my duty to God to give back to those around me in both a personal and public way. This sense of religious/civic duty gave me an early identity in life. I saw myself as a helper. Someone who encouraged and built up my environment. This idea was a primary support for me throughout many struggles during early adolescence. It was a purpose for my existence and my suffering. It was a way for me to pursue God’s will for my life and gave me a feeling of connection to my fellow man. I received a sense of identity, community, and purpose through my desire to help others. It was the way I lived my spirituality.
1) I would rank the ethical codes, Autonomy and Individual Rights/Responsibility, Community and Duty/Respect/Hierarchy, and Divinity. Although my parents and I have some different opinions, I believe they would rank them the same.
ReplyDelete2) My scores were 4.5 for harm, 4 for fairness, 2.3 for loyalty, 1.8 for authority, and 1.8 for purity. I think that these scores reflect my previous ranking. Harm, fairness and loyalty are all congruent with autonomy and individual rights/responsibility and community and duty/respect/hierarchy. I tend to take a humanistic approach to life and I think that fits well with my scores and rankings.
3) Family Influences: My family is for the most part very secular and prizes education. My dad went to Catholic school as a kid but is now an atheist for the most part. So I grew up in a household of contempt and skepticism toward religion in general. Yet, my upbringing very much implicitly reflected Catholic values. This upbringing led me to embrace Catholicism later on and helped form my moral character.
Peer Influences: My peers have had a lot of religious and developmental influence on me. Ultimately, it was my wife that led me to the Catholic Church. My wife and the Church have been an invaluable resource for me during some hard times I have gone through.
Risk-taking Behavior: During my adolescent years I did quite a bit of risk taking. However, in my case I feel that this actually had an effect of bringing me toward religious and spiritual development. Almost as if seeing how things can go bad without God’s help, led me to seek God.
1) I would say the order of these 3 codes in my own life are as follows:
ReplyDelete1. Divinity
2. Community and Duty/Respect /Hierarchy
3. Autonomy and Individual rights/Responsibility
I think this ranking is very much in line with what my parents would say. Growing up, they always emphasized God above ALL. Anything having to do with our spiritual life came before anything and everything (Matthew 6:33). As for number 2, my parents didn’t ever explicitly say that family comes before individual, but their actions implicitly taught me this. In my family (and I think it is very tied to our culture) we are always to respond when a family member is in need whether they ask for our help or not. It’s just understood that if one of us is in any kind of need, the rest of us will be just around the corner. Having said that, my parents always encouraged me and my brother to do what makes us genuinely happy even if it means doing our own “individual” thing. The most recent example of this in my life is coming to grad school. In Mexico (where I was born), leaving one’s home before one is married is really bizarre. But when I announced I was moving out to be near school, my parents were (and continue to be) amazingly supportive. I never felt shamed or looked down on by them. So doing what makes ME happy is definitely something I value but community and family mean more to me.
2) Harm: 3.7
Fairness: 3.5
Loyalty: 2.5
Authority: 3.2
Purity 3.7
no!
3) 3 major ways spirituality promoted positive development in me are: Meaning and Identity, Overcoming Adversity and Delaying Gratification. My childhood was marked by quite a bit of struggle and lots of hard times. Even though I knew the Lord from a young age, I found myself really stuck in what Frankl calls the existential vacuum by the time I reached high school. I essentially saw zero meaning in life (especially mine). I don’t know how He did it (it makes my soul tremble with awe and joy when I think about it) but somehow God made me see and feel that my life does have meaning- if only because He is part of it. He gave me a vision and a dream to be more than what I ever thought I could be. He also reminded me who I am: HIS DAUGHTER! Overcoming adversity is something I had to do every day of my life. It wasn’t easy and, sadly, this is the reality for most of the kids in the community where I am from. I’ve said it before but I’ll never get tired of saying that if it wasn’t for God, I would not be here. I would have given up on life a long time ago. Delaying gratification is something that I’ve been practicing since I agreed to be my boyfriend’s girlfriend which is saying a LOT because we got together when we were 16 (raging hormones anyone?). I abstained then because I wanted to gratify God. I abstain now because God gave me a life I never dreamed I could have and to slip up now would not only dishonor him, it would probably ruin what I’ve worked so hard for (e.g., if I got pregnant). I feel the need to cherish and guard the precious gift that God has given me in my education. I’ve also had to practice delaying gratification in terms of school. I’ve passed on more family vacations than I care to count due to demands of my education. It hurts but you gotta do what you gotta do!
There is no spirit, only body.
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