One of the biggest stories that I grew up with was called The Giving Tree because almost every night my mother would read it to me and show me the pictures of the boy becoming a man and the tree becoming a trunk. I never really understood why the tree kept letting the boy take advantage of him but my mom would tell me that giving was the best thing you do to a person. Both of my parents were big on religion. We would go to Church every weekend when most of my friends barely went once a month. One of my favorite television shows when I younger was the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. They were a teenage team of superheroes who would fight evil on a daily basis. It projected some moral values because there were numerous times when they would be caught up all around evil and could of easily given up but they stuck with it and eventually conquered evil in the end.
I think that a song that struck me as very moving and important was the song Let it Be by the Beatles because I think that it portrays the moral message that life is full of pain and tragedy. But if you have faith in God and Mother Mary, they just say to let things go, even when it seems that nothing can really fix it. They say that there will be an answer eventually but for now just accept it. I think it helps me deal with whenever I am mad or sad because I realize that its not important enough to get worked up over it. I guess it has a lot to do with karma as well because they say to let it be because there will be answer soon enough. I also think that the book that deals with many moral issues and I thought to be quite adventurous would have to be Homer's the Oddysey because Odysseus deals with many moral challenges such as the sirens and the cyclops and he chooses the right way every time which rewards him with the death of the suitors and his house back in Ithaca. It helped me realize to stick to what I love and need and it will get me past the temporary pleasures of the world.
To first understand why people do wrong we have to understand the perspective in which they find themselves in. Some people are stuck in a situation where they might have to do wrong in order to survive. Others are even oblivious to the fact that what there doing is wrong and have been brainwashed into thinking that what there doing is the actual right thing to do (some examples would be the KKK and the Nazis) Many people however do wrong because it seems to be easier than doing the right thing. No one wants to do the more difficult of two choices so most pick the wrong choice out of fear of how hard the right choice really is. Many people are intent on taking the easy way out if they can, which often cooperates with the wrong choice.
There are times when the right choice isn't always right and you end up in a bind. So how can I use morality to find the real answer in a difficult situation such as mercy killing, or abortion?
I think that best thing to make me a better moral person is to use the right speech experiment of Buddha. If I examine the way I use language in my everyday conversation I will in turn reflect on why I use such words that are vulgar, in everyday conversation. By practicing the right speech experiment on a weekly basis I am essentially examining my own conscience as well.