Editorial January 27, 1986 Issue

What shapes our morality

WILLIAM E. MOODY

There has been a great deal of discussion and debate about the numerous influences today on people's moral standards. Attention often focuses on the effects of television, cinema, commercial advertising, school, church, family, friends. In some instances the effects are genuinely constructive. One person's integrity, for example, or one's freedom from prejudice can set a standard that not only uplifts another's sense of values and individual worth but helps to establish a higher tone for society as well.

Yet all too often we're presented with examples that are anything but uplifting. The drug culture and intense pressure from peers have led many young people to feel that illicit drug use is normal and proper. In the past few years a spate of what have been called "slasher" movies has presented a debased and abusive picture of womanhood. The sexually suggestive nature of much commercial advertising would have people believe that sensuality is the key to finding success and happiness.

There is a way, however, to establish our freedom from the immoral and amoral influences that sometimes seem to fill even the air we breathe. And, in building a solid foundation for morality, our own lives can become an important force for good in the world.

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