If morality is relative, are we all technically bad? How do we actually know what is right and wrong?
This is something that came up in my ethics class which really got me thinking…
Though I understand certain things may seem objective, the unfortunate truth is that there really isn’t one objective moral… which has me thinking, ok so are we technically all bad people?
Growing up, I was told several things such as “being gay is wrong” “saying the N word when you aren’t black is ok”, “making jokes about someone’s body is ok” “it’s ok to like and celebrate holidays with harmful history” “it’s good to spank kids if they misbehave” etc etc… and personally, those things didn’t sit right with me and I grew up to a lot of people explaining to me why this is actually wrong but then there’s several other people who have also told me these things are not wrong and are actually ok..?
For example, my best friend is black and has mentioned several times to me that it’s ok to say the N word and even the hard R. They mentioned that it doesn’t make someone racist if they mean it in a friendly way and therefore anyone can say the word… and eventually I came across several other black people saying the same which has me confused? I still believe it is wrong (I’m not black) therefore I refuse to say it but conversations like this really make me wonder if I’m actually wrong? Like what if it was the other way around? What if I loved black people (which I do) but said the N word to people in a friendly manner, I grew up my entire life being told it’s ok and that language evolves. What would my life look like if this was the case? There’s so many people in the black community who are telling me it’s ok..
(TW: DV)
Another example, R@p€. Most People might say it’s wrong… however there’s so many people who don’t view it that way. I’ve talked to several people of all genders who have expressed that sometimes this act is very well deserved due to the harm the other person caused. They’ve shared that people shouldn’t play victim when they “put their hands on the other person first” and however, though I strongly disagree, there’s people out there who do agree with this statement (both survivors and people who didn’t experience DV) which again makes me question myself at times.
I say this stuff because I really want to get into public policy however this idea of relative morality really scares me because I just want to do what is correct and also I don’t want to make it seem like I believe only my views are correct and ignore everyone else’s POV however, when my whole life I’m being told certain things are harmful and a bunch of people in my circle are telling me they’re actually not, it really makes me stuck on when accountability and punishment is necessary…