Term paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Term Paper Example These customs may contradict with the common truth in a multicultural society. Some customs belonging to a particular community may appear to be evil or good in a different community. Therefore, a particular customary practice may have different consequences depending on the society judging the practice. The act of believing ones custom is the best or king over all customs is referred to as relativism (4). Customs define the morally accepted and morally rejected practices for a given society. Among the Japanese, bowing when greeting someone is considered to be a moral practice. This forces foreigners to forego their practices and adopt those of the locals. In Muslim countries, women have to veil their faces before appearing in public, and their hair should be covered always. Several societies consider keeping long hair and beard to be immoral. Customs upheld by communities define the right and wrong practices, which at times can be oppressive. In such cases, customs are considered to be the baseline of moral beliefs in the society. In Germany, the Nazis were against the Jewish religion and the leaders decided to execute them (6). According to Nazis, this was the accepted way of eliminating the Jews, but was considered to be evil by the Americans due to different customs. Individual values are gotten from parents, teachers, religious leaders, and historical books. Children internalize values learnt from different sources and form a sense of good or bad. This leads to the differences in moral values between different cultures. Ancient customs or cultures have different moral values, which are learnt by the children and subsequent generations. The conscience of a human being is also a product of the moral life. Conscience helps individuals identify wrong acts depending on personal and society values contributed to by culture. An individual picks up several values during childhood and along his or her lifetime that give the definition of a good human being (7). Cer tain individuals may adapt different values from other people within the same community due to external influence. In Germany, some Nazis rebelled, held out, and fled from the mass execution of Jews by Hitler. According to them, execution was immoral though it was being practiced by their fellow Nazis. Moral values can be influenced by external cultures and one’s own values cease to be superior to that of others. The society defines the morally acceptable values, but individuals may change their values depending on the influence. However, every individual or society believes to hold the highest values irrespective of their nature. Holding certain values does not mean they are the overall good, but they influence a person’s view of the right and wrong practices. This makes moral values to be relative to the society and the upbringing of an individual (9). The religion also determines the values regarded by an individual as good or bad. Some people believe that God revea ls the truth to human beings, which also defines the good and the bad. This forces them to line up their values according to the religious revelations and form a point of judging others. This makes them believe their values to be absolutely right and can act as the standard goodness. Some individuals do not believe in Godly revelations, therefore, their values are based on culture (11). Different objective points provide different justifications of moral assessments.