tem trains us to believe that what is legal is moral. Although a person may be a law-abiding citizen, he or she may not necessarily be moral. The morality of an individual is also based on his or her childhood. Parents have an immense effect on their childrens values. For instance, if parents teach their child at early ages to be a hard-worker, to be honest and true, and to have integrity, then it is likely that the child will grow up with these morals instilled within them. However, some children grow to be the antithesis of their parents. They see that their parents are immoral and so they intentionally grow to think and behave differently. If so, is the child immoral for defying his or her parents, or is the child moral for defying his or her immoral parents?Another factor in determining ones morals is ones religiosity. For instance, some religions, such as Hinduism, believe in animal sacrifices as a way of worshiping; however, other religions, such as Catholicism, do not. Thus, to a Catholic, the sacrifice of innocent animals may seem immoral whereas followers of the Hindu religion view the practice as sacred. Therefore, one cannot conclude that simply because a person is religious, he or she is also moral. There are thousands of religions throughout the world; who has the authority to determine whose religion is moral and whose is immoral? Morality is not law. It cannot be standardized in such a way that all will agree with or abide by. Consequently, a peaceful environment, proper upbringing, and principled religion do not guarantee morality because all of these components are subjective. In other words, a definition of morality cannot be made for society; the definition of morality lies within oneself, but is affected by these subjective components. Morality is perhaps the most abstract and debatable concept. To best understand the essence of morality, one must not look at ones neighbors but rather at oneself to ...
