Moral Decay

What is the commonality of abortion, premarital sex, drug use, homosexuality, and deception? Some may say there is none. I, on the other hand, believe they are all examples of moral decay. The world’s moral decay is a result of people loosing sight of the big picture. I use the following questions to shape my conclusion, “What would be the result if everyone participated in this action” and “What would be the result if no one participated in this action?” This should serve as a simple template for determining what a true moral principle is.

I can already hear the naysayers attacking the logic of these two questions. They say, “People are unique. They have different life experiences, thoughts and feelings that influence their morals. You couldn’t possibly believe that all people would act in one particular way.” For one, morals are principles. They cannot be influenced. You are either aligned with them or you are not. Second, it is likely true that all people will not act in a particular way, but just because they won’t doesn’t mean they can’t or shouldn’t.

Humanity is collectively moving toward one of the two moral polar opposites, goodness or wickedness. We are either improving or digressing. There is no safe middle ground. If this isn’t obvious then the big picture is being missed, which is why we are in the predicament we are in. We’ll start with abortion.

What would be the result if everyone participated in abortion? Need I even answer? Procreation and eventually life would cease to exist. Now, what would be the result if no one participated in abortion? What about homosexuality? What would the results be? What about deceit? What would be the result if everyone were deceitful? Imagine the impact it would have on relationships, families, economies, and cultures.

Now flip the tables. Rather than looking at the affect of living or not living according to bad morals, look at the affect of living according to good morals. What would the results be? Imagine if every man and women in the world, either married, or sought to be married, did not have sex till marriage, was totally committed and faithful in marriage, respected life and the procreative power, was honest, and did not use illegal substances? The outcome would be magnificent. Crime would plummet, families would prosper, schools would flourish and countries and economies would thrive. This concept is an ideal, but it is our ideals that define us and define what we become.

Religious Bigotry!

It is interesting that liberal talk show host, Don Imus, can lose his job for making some untoward remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team but Slate magazine's editor, Jacob Weisberg, can openly state that he wouldn't vote for Mitt Romney for president just because he is a Mormon, and nobody in the media bats an eye! Evidently, it is not "PC" to rag on women or African-Americans but it is perfectly acceptable to bash Mormonism and its adherents. If US citizens impose some kind of religious litmus test on its presidential canidates this country has turned down a long,dark road!

WHAT IS DIVERSITY?

Many persons in the workplace consider diversity to be a matter of skin color or eye shape. To me, diversity exists in the workplace when you have persons with varied educational and work backgrounds and who possess a plethora of life experiences.

In a conversation I had with Dennis Archer, former Detroit mayor and former president of the American Bar Association, he told me “diversity makes good business sense.” I can kind of, possibly, maybe see the potential for this statement to be true in some instances. Below I explain why I do not more readily believe Mr. Archer’s statement regarding diversity.

At Wal-Mart we talk a lot about being a Store of the Community, which means in the most simplistic terms to have merchandise in stores that reflect the needs of the demographical makeup of the store’s environs. Wal-Mart has every store in the United States categorized into a certain trait. One of the six traits Wal-Mart uses is the Hispanic trait – many stores in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas fall under this trait.

For the stores that fall under the Hispanic trait it makes good business sense to have someone who understands Hispanics and their needs, wants, and desires, to buy products to fulfill these needs, wants, and desires. Are there non-Hispanics who understand the needs, wants, and desires of the Hispanic people? Absolutely! Are there Hispanics who do not understand the needs, wants, and desires of Hispanics? Absolutely! I know many white people who have lived abroad in Central and South America and are intimately familiar with the needs, wants, and desires of Hispanics. I am also sure there are Hispanics who, for whatever reason, were not raised in a Hispanic environment and are very unfamiliar with the needs, wants, and desires of Hispanics.

The workplace’s definition of diversity assumes/stereotypes that because a person has a certain skin color or is a particular ethnicity he/she knows the needs, wants, and desires of his/her ethnic group. Is this a valid assumption? In my opinion, it is NOT a valid assumption. It is not an individual’s ethnicity that makes him/her diverse per se but rather it is the educational and life experiences the individual possesses.

Benn Manning