SoulWinner
Commander
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2002
- Messages
- 2,423
"What might explain the differences in behavior today versus yesteryear? A significant part of the explanation is seen by recognizing that society's first line of defense is not the law but customs, traditions and moral values. Customs, traditions and moral values are those important thou-shalt-nots such as: thou shalt not murder, shalt not steal, shalt not lie and cheat. They also include respect for parents, teachers and others in authority plus those courtesies one might read in Emily Post's rules of etiquette. The importance of customs, traditions and moral values as a means of regulating behavior is that people behave themselves even if nobody's watching. ... Customs, traditions, moral values and rules of etiquette, not laws and government regulations, are what make for a civilized society. These behavioral norms, mostly transmitted by example, word of mouth, and religious teachings, represent a body of wisdom distilled through ages of experience, trial and error, and looking at what works and what doesn't. Customs, traditions and moral values have been discarded without an appreciation for the role they played in creating a civilized society, and now, we're paying the price. What's worse is that instead of a return to what worked, many of us fail to make the connection and insist 'there ought to be a law.' As such, it points to another failure of the so-called 'great generation' -- the failure to transmit to their children what their parents transmitted to them." --Walter Williams
