I Believe as a Society, We Learn Obedience Followed by Moral Responsiblitiy

I was taught obedience as a young child. Obedience, which was followed blindly, and was followed unquestioningly. After I learned obedience, my parents taught me moral responsibility. Perhaps it was because they were both educators or because I was an avid story lover, but I was taught though stories. Some of the ones I remember best in the areas of responsibility/accountability and morality of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Of Washington, I was told how he chopped down a cherry tree, followed by the questioning of this act if he had done this by his father. Emphasized by my parents was George's statement asked if he cut down the tree was, "Father, I can not tell a lie." George took responsibility for his action. The other story that fascinated me was the unforgettable tale of, "Honest Abe" Lincoln, walking six miles to return change because as a clerk he had made a mistake while giving change.

Perhaps the story that I watched played in my family about moral responsibility out had the biggest impact on me. It was Christmas time and our family wanted another sheep for our manager. For some odd reason, our shepherd collie kept herding the sheep from the manger scene to her den behind the sofa! We gave up on the game of keep away with our dog and decide to bite the bullet and just get an additional sheep for the manager. Off to Woolworth's we went to pick out a sheep. In the process of picking out the perfect sheep, somehow a leg of a sheep caught in my mother's mitten, as she was carrying so many items the mittens were soon deposited in her pocket. Thinking she had put the sheep we had picked out down somewhere else in the store, I was sent back to grab a sheep. We paid for the sheep and other items and left the store. When we got home my mother discovered the second sheep caught in the knit of her mitten. She was devastated and embarrassed. Back to the store we went, she explained what happened, offered to pay for the second sheep, they stated they appreciated her honesty, accepted her apology and that was that.

This was the same Christmas that my father decided to abandon us. He put his selfish desires ahead of his family to go live with another woman. Neither lesson was lost on me; both were lessons of morality and responsibility. As children learn best though examples which they can emulate. Children are constantly watching their parents and other adults in their life for social clues in order to develop morality and accountability. It is from these clues and the influences in their lives they will derive their view of morality and responsibility. If they are taught well and learn well they become productive members of society. If we fail in teaching t or they fail to learn, we as a society lose.

Moral responsibility is the key to living life with intention and to its fullest; it is not a burden it a way to empower ourselves and take charge of ourselves. In Viktor Frankl's book, Man's Search for Meaning states, "Everything can be taken from a man but... the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any give set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." Our attitude to live a morally responsible life is a choice. It is seeing what needs to be done and doing it. It is looking into the future, not simply living in the now. It is the realization that actions have consequences. It isn't enough to see something and say, or think, somebody should do something about that. You are that somebody. If there is trash on the ground, pick it up; throw it out. If a Boy Scout or Girl Scout group needs a leader, lead. If you see someone being bullied, step in, call 911; scream fire (police officers tell you this usually brings help). But don't stand by and do nothing. If you do nothing you are as morally reprehensible as the bullies' themselves. In President Obama's inaugural address he said, "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility." He is correct. We must find and act on the meaning of our lives, our moral responsibility. "Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." (Quote from Viktor Frankl)