Ethics is a set of values that consistently guides our behaviors. One of the problems with ethics today is that we have so many different mores or values that guide our society. We have been through several major shifts in our societal standards of right and wrong. The most telling symptom of these shifts can be found in prime time television. We have shifted from the Leave It To Beaver fifties to the Friends nineties.
Sexual innuendoes are abundant, and just about anyone is in bed with just about everyone.
This is not a commentary on the right and wrong of these shifts. It is an important awareness heads up about the recognition that we do not any more have a majority of society s definitions of correct and positive behavior. With major attrition from organized religion in the last half of this century, we have moved away from the strong Judeo-Christian ethic our country was based upon. A Roper Survey of more than 3,000 students between the ages of 12 and 19 asked them to identify the country s top societal woes from a list of 15. Combine selfishness and a lack of morality or ethics together and you have people who are untrustworthy.