In answer to Dan's question...

Yes, I am going to write about today! He asked me that at the winery today, and I felt a tad embarrased for having a blog...but eh, I like it haha.

On the way to the winery today, Eric's sister brought up something her philosophy seminar (she's a teacher...I forgot what the seminar was for) discussed this week. She started talking about morals and what makes right from wrong. I thought this was pretty interesting and thought about it for most of the rest of the day. One example she gave was of a woman eating her pet cat that had died. At first, she thought this was morally wrong, but after thinking about it for a long time she decided that it could be culture based. I thought this was a very good point. Although eating a beloved pet may seem horribly wrong, in some cultures it could be a disgrace not to eat the animal. I started thinking about what morals I have...

1. It is wrong to kill someone, no matter what.
2. It is wrong to judge others.
3. No matter what a person believes, listen to their opinion and take it seriously.

I'm sure there are a lot more, but those are the ones on the very top of my list. I started thinking about why I consider these to be "morals." Obviously the first one is a moral to most people, I would assume. That one is not hard to understand. What I think a lot of people have a difficult time understanding is that there are so many different opinions about what is right and what is wrong in the world, that there will always be conflict. When it comes down to it...there is no "right path" for a person to follow. Why is someone's opinion valued more than another's? This ties in with religion, gay rights, and a bajillion other things. I could debate with someone until my head falls off about why two men and two women should be able to get married...but if the person on the other side of the table believes with everything inside of them that this is wrong...nothing I can say or do will change that. They are probably saying the same thing about me. And although I could probably rack up one million people in this country to agree with me, there are obviously just as many people that would disagree or else it would be legalized. I don't understand them, they don't understand me. Someone in their life told them that this was wrong...whether it be the bible, their parents, grandparents...they think it is wrong and would be disrespectful to whoever taught them that to think otherwise. I might be wrong about them worried about being disrespectful, but you get the point. Everyone is right in their own mind. There will always be conflict because people make their own morals. Morals feel as if they are set in stone. That is what you believe. That is what you know is right/wrong. There is not way around it. Maybe there should be.

I miss being in college sometimes because I could debate with anyone at any time and not feel like I had something better to do. I love hearing different view points. It absolutely fascinates me how differently people think and how passionately they will want you to understand their opinion.