This may be the sleepies talking considering it's 1:19 in the morning.. but I'm guna go for it anyway because it's been on my mind for a while.
So earlier this week in English class, we were talking about morality, and where you find your moral compass. Many argued that it comes from your parents/faith/religion... and to some extent, I think that that's probably true. But I think that there comes a point in your life (or at least there should be) where you realize that you decide right from wrong. I mean, you could go throughout your life seeking guidance from an old book or parents, and honestly, you'd probably turn out okay; but it's not you.
I think that parents can greatly sway their children in one direction or the other (right vs left, democrat vs republican). I don't know too many kids who have democratic parents and end up conservative republicans (and visa versa), though I'm sure it happens. So that's kind of decided for you.
I guess the point of this thread would be to tell your story. Why do you think you believe in the things you believe in. Don't be too vague or general.
So, I was pretty much raised in the middle- my mom a democrat and dad a republican. They are moderate and find themselves agreeing on most issues, so it's not like I had a huge liberal influence on one side and conservative on the other. They kind of left it up to me to determine what I believe in, they introduced me to Christianity and I played with it for a while, but we're not huge on religion so that kind of faded. As a younger kid, I wanted to grow up and fly for the Air Force. To this day, I don't know if it was because I wanted to "serve my country" or if it was because those planes would be so damn fun to fly. However, in the sixth grade, I saw a program on the Discovery Channel which shied (is that a word?) me away from a life in the military. I remember it was one of those shows where they follow soldiers out on a training mission (I don't know if it was a training mission but I had assumed so) and I don't remember much else, except for this one part. The soldiers found a woman who had somehow been spying on them and took her out, away from the camera. Then, you heard a gunshot. The soldiers went on as if nothing happened.
Being a little kid (probably 5th or 6th grade), I was horrified that humans could kill another person so nonchalantly and go on like it was part of a daily routine. I could not find a way to morally justify ending that individuals life, I got lost in thinking about who she could have been and everything that lead up to her getting shot. It seemed so pointless.. she could have had a family. I guess from there I turned away from the whole nationalistic propaganda garbage and started leaning further and further left. I've had history teachers who have bumped me back and forth, but I think this year I've found a decent equilibrium that works for me...
[/wall of text]
enough about me, your turn, where did your convictions come from, what makes you liberal/conservative... democratic/republican.
Hopefully this will be an interesting topic, I'd like to see how some of you found your political stance.
So earlier this week in English class, we were talking about morality, and where you find your moral compass. Many argued that it comes from your parents/faith/religion... and to some extent, I think that that's probably true. But I think that there comes a point in your life (or at least there should be) where you realize that you decide right from wrong. I mean, you could go throughout your life seeking guidance from an old book or parents, and honestly, you'd probably turn out okay; but it's not you.
I think that parents can greatly sway their children in one direction or the other (right vs left, democrat vs republican). I don't know too many kids who have democratic parents and end up conservative republicans (and visa versa), though I'm sure it happens. So that's kind of decided for you.
I guess the point of this thread would be to tell your story. Why do you think you believe in the things you believe in. Don't be too vague or general.
So, I was pretty much raised in the middle- my mom a democrat and dad a republican. They are moderate and find themselves agreeing on most issues, so it's not like I had a huge liberal influence on one side and conservative on the other. They kind of left it up to me to determine what I believe in, they introduced me to Christianity and I played with it for a while, but we're not huge on religion so that kind of faded. As a younger kid, I wanted to grow up and fly for the Air Force. To this day, I don't know if it was because I wanted to "serve my country" or if it was because those planes would be so damn fun to fly. However, in the sixth grade, I saw a program on the Discovery Channel which shied (is that a word?) me away from a life in the military. I remember it was one of those shows where they follow soldiers out on a training mission (I don't know if it was a training mission but I had assumed so) and I don't remember much else, except for this one part. The soldiers found a woman who had somehow been spying on them and took her out, away from the camera. Then, you heard a gunshot. The soldiers went on as if nothing happened.
Being a little kid (probably 5th or 6th grade), I was horrified that humans could kill another person so nonchalantly and go on like it was part of a daily routine. I could not find a way to morally justify ending that individuals life, I got lost in thinking about who she could have been and everything that lead up to her getting shot. It seemed so pointless.. she could have had a family. I guess from there I turned away from the whole nationalistic propaganda garbage and started leaning further and further left. I've had history teachers who have bumped me back and forth, but I think this year I've found a decent equilibrium that works for me...
[/wall of text]
enough about me, your turn, where did your convictions come from, what makes you liberal/conservative... democratic/republican.
Hopefully this will be an interesting topic, I'd like to see how some of you found your political stance.
