Morals in Modern Society

The idea of a simplistic valuation of morals, sadly, does not exist. Moral values from different sectors of society may come into conflict and hence, certain morals may be judged differently by different groups of people.

Morals from a Cultural/Religious Point of View

Morals which stem from a cultural and religious point of view base their judgment values on the principle of absolute morals.

Such morals may be the direct product of religious teachings; others may be due to the certain inclination towards certain practices and bias.

Religious doctrines, for example, stresses that sex outside the realms of marriage is forbidden, and that homosexuality is a sin.
Certain cultures dictate that using your left-hand to carry out certain one-handed tasks, such as writing, an action that is considered rude, and ultimately, undesirable.

In the modern context, morons of the religious and cultural kinds need not necessarily be obeyed.

Morals from a Distinctly Libertarian Nature

A more liberal attitude towards morals may be the key for certain sections of society.

A liberal accepts that absolute relativism is impractical in an ever-changing world. Today's virtue may be tomorrow's vice, and vice versa.

A good example to cite would be the Prohibition era (1920-1933). Back then, the United States considered drinking an "immoral" vice, and had it banned for more than a decade. Today's laws, however, are generally more tolerant towards alcohol, and alcoholic beverages are no longer touted as the devil's tools.

Slavery, too, would make a good case for relative morals. More than a century ago, much of America was flooded with slaves, who were mostly working for white masters. Not only was slavery condoned, it had the backing of Christianity and the bible. One would be stark mad today, however, if he was to claim ownership to black slaves.

Morals from Secular Law

Secular laws are stem from the need to enforce social cohesion, freedom and rights of the individual and the public, and good governance.

Given the sheer number of factors, secular law in most modern nations are vastly different from religious laws, in that, morality need or need never be enforced and codified as the law of the land.

Morals of the legislative nature require a right balance of rigidity and flexibility in order to enforce and codify certain moralistic tenets: murder, for example, may be considered wrongful, but given certain circumstances, such as being coerced into violence by the attacking individual, may be vindicated and not found guilty of the crime, even if the supposed murderer carries out the act. Likewise, someone who orders a killer to kill on his behalf may be charged with manslaughter, if he or she employs a killer to do the job for him or her.

Morals From A Historical Point Of View

Morals are part and parcel of humanity: We need morals as a rough gauge to ensure a cohesive, uniform way of life which we dub as "human civilization".
As society changes, so will our moral values. From a historical point of view, changes in moral values are inevitable, and mostly, it leads to an enhancement of human rights (e.g abolition of apartheid, slavery) and social bias.