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What are my morals and where do they come
from? At the age of 67 I think I can say that I picked them up on my way
through life.
Mum and dad – well they did their best, but I was one of those that liked to try things out first of all. Mum had very clear morals, although she smoked like a trooper. Dad also had morals, although he sort of left them on the side when he went to the greyhound races at Hackney Wick to have a little flutter on the doggies. Now and again we would have a day out to a race course for horses. So gambling was not in his moral book and neither was smoking for mum. They both liked a drink in company. They got married in a church with all the trimmings. Mum in her wedding dress, made out of parachute silk (that was all you could have at the time) and dad in his army uniform because he had only got home from World War II two days before the wedding and had nothing else to wear. I was christened in a chuch (Church of England – the one Henry VIII constructed after the Roman Catholic Church would not let him get married for the second time. Eventually he got married six times, having two of his wives beheaded, so I am not even sure that Henry VIII of England had morals). I am getting off course with this.
Just to mention that neither mum or dad were churchgoers, but they sent me to the Sunday School nearly every Sunday morning so that mum could cook lunch in peace and dad could go down the Lane (Sunday morning London market). Now and again dad would take me down the Lane. One way or the other, I seemed to be in mum’s way on a Sunday morning.
Growing up with my background of dodgy morals, I decided to do my own thing, which is more or less the story of my life. I often wish if I knew what I know now 40-50 years ago, might have made things a bit easier. I managed to overcome all temptations, although I moved off to another country at the age of 20.
Up to now I have survived, but not really because I stuck to my morals, more because I was sly enough to keep out of trouble.
Morals are a personal thing, and everyone has to decide for themself. Ask me again in ten years and I will tell you how it all turned out eventually (if I am still around).
Mum and dad – well they did their best, but I was one of those that liked to try things out first of all. Mum had very clear morals, although she smoked like a trooper. Dad also had morals, although he sort of left them on the side when he went to the greyhound races at Hackney Wick to have a little flutter on the doggies. Now and again we would have a day out to a race course for horses. So gambling was not in his moral book and neither was smoking for mum. They both liked a drink in company. They got married in a church with all the trimmings. Mum in her wedding dress, made out of parachute silk (that was all you could have at the time) and dad in his army uniform because he had only got home from World War II two days before the wedding and had nothing else to wear. I was christened in a chuch (Church of England – the one Henry VIII constructed after the Roman Catholic Church would not let him get married for the second time. Eventually he got married six times, having two of his wives beheaded, so I am not even sure that Henry VIII of England had morals). I am getting off course with this.
Just to mention that neither mum or dad were churchgoers, but they sent me to the Sunday School nearly every Sunday morning so that mum could cook lunch in peace and dad could go down the Lane (Sunday morning London market). Now and again dad would take me down the Lane. One way or the other, I seemed to be in mum’s way on a Sunday morning.
Growing up with my background of dodgy morals, I decided to do my own thing, which is more or less the story of my life. I often wish if I knew what I know now 40-50 years ago, might have made things a bit easier. I managed to overcome all temptations, although I moved off to another country at the age of 20.
Up to now I have survived, but not really because I stuck to my morals, more because I was sly enough to keep out of trouble.
Morals are a personal thing, and everyone has to decide for themself. Ask me again in ten years and I will tell you how it all turned out eventually (if I am still around).
I tend to think that there's a 'societal' underpinning of a basic set of morals in Western culture, at least, that says certain things are wrong: rape, murder, incest, etc. Over this we create a veneer of personal 'smaller' morals, such as 'is gambling wrong?' or 'is smoking bad?', for example. The personal set can vary widely and wildly, but I think the basic set is the same for everyone.
ReplyDeleteBTW....there's a bunch of animals over on my page waiting for a visit from you and the felines :-)) If you look at the slideshow, you'll see a distant relative of Nera called the Fossa, as he tucks into a nice juicy rabbit.
Been there, done that - see my comment. I am now preparing another small blog for this evening.
DeleteI agree with Mitch on societies view of morals. Mine have changed over the years.
ReplyDelete