College Seniors Taught Right and Wrong Is Relative

CNSNEWS.com ^ | 7/08/02 | Lawrence Morahan

[kattracks]

CNSNews.com) - Three quarters of all college seniors report that their professors teach them that what is right and wrong depends "on differences in individual values and cultural diversity," a poll conducted for the National Association of Scholars (NAS) reveals.

Only about a quarter of 400 college seniors randomly selected from campuses around the country said their professors taught the traditional view that "there are clear and uniform standards of right and wrong by which everyone should be judged."

The poll was conducted in April by Zogby International, and has a sampling error of plus or minus 5 percent.

A large majority of students also report that they've been taught that corporate policies furthering "progressive" social and political goals are more important than those ensuring that stockholders and creditors receive accurate accounts of a firm's finances, the study said.

When respondents were given a list of business practices and asked, based on what they've been taught at college, which of the practices rank as the most important, 38 percent chose "recruiting a diverse workforce in which women and minorities are advanced and promoted."

Eighteen percent chose "minimizing environmental pollution," and another 18 percent chose "avoiding layoffs by not exporting jobs or moving plants from one area to another."

Only 23 percent said "providing clear and accurate business statements to stockholders and creditors" is the most important business practice.

However, 97 percent of all seniors believe college has equipped them to perform ethically in their future professional lives, the study found.

Based on what they learned, the seniors were more cynical about business ethics than those of other professions. Twenty-eight percent chose business as the profession where an "anything goes" attitude most likely leads to success; 20 percent chose journalism, and 16 percent chose law.

Moreover, 56 percent of college seniors agreed that the only real difference between executives at Enron and those at most other big companies is that Enron executives "got caught."

Stephen H. Balch, president of the National Association of Scholars, said in a statement that the results "have disturbing implications both for America's economy and its institutions of higher education."

"They suggest that our colleges and universities, however unwittingly, are contributing to, and perpetuating, the ethical laxness behind the recent scandals at Enron, Worldcom, and other major American firms," Balch said.

The foundations of ethical education are laid in the home and school, Balch noted.

"At best, universities can only confirm the lessons taught there," he said. "But they can also undermine these lessons by providing sophisticated excuses for succumbing to the temptations of greed and power.

"The revitalization and politicization of ethical standards, plus cynicism about business in general, opens the way for such excuse making," he said.

The study concluded there were "significant reasons" to be concerned with the results.

"First, it seems reasonable to believe that when students leave college convinced that ethical standards are simply a matter of individual choice, they are less likely to be reliably ethical in their subsequent careers," the study said.

"Unfortunately, three-quarters of our respondents report that this was the relativistic view of ethics they received from their professors," it said.

The NAS, which is based at Princeton, N.J., counts more than 4,000 professors, graduate students, administrators and trustees as members at its 46 state affiliates.


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[Iwo Jima]

"Is it "wrong" for parents to arrainge the marriage of their children?"

Yes, it is obejctively, verifiably wrong. It is always immoral. I assume that you are speaking of arrangements which force marriage to a particular person upon children, not just a situation in which the parents say "this is the person that we would really like for you to marry and you will get lots of money, goodies, and approval from us if you do."

A coercive marriage is immoral no matter how much the society approves. Cultures which practice coercive marriages are violating human nature and the natural rights that ALL PERSONS are born with. Such a society will not propser, as compared to societies which recognize and observe human nature and reality, and is objectively inferior to other societies. You cannot cheat reality.

"Is it "wrong" for one to modify their body by piercing, tattooing, other forms of modification?

No. What someone does to one's body is not a question of right or wrong, good or evil. It is a question of socially acceptable or unacceptable behavior. Social behaivor can be very important to a society, but it is not tthe same as what is objectively right or wrong.

[buffyt]

That is just what I was thinking. Cultural differences. Murder is always wrong everywhere. But in some countries a woman can't show an ankle. In USA we can wear thong bikinis. In some countries women can sunbathe topless, or nude. That is illegal on most US beaches. I tell my kids, who are 18-21 years old, that there are cultural differences. That can vary from country to country, culture to culture, religion to religion... But murder and some other crimes are always wrong in all cases. Some crimes are black and white!

[buffyt]

The Bible says that this is wrong....
"Is it "wrong" for one to modify their body by piercing, tattooing, other forms of modification? ....but that is a relion matter, not a crime matter.

[Don Myers]

By the time that the kids get to be college seniors, they already have that viewpoint. Who is kidding whom? I would lower that bar a few years to the high school level.

[Don Myers]

"But what is wrong for one culture is not for another."

Sure, it is all relative.

[Phantom Lord]

I stand by my statement.

While it is not acceptable or 'right' for western women to wear plate lips or engage in other body modification it is perfectly normal and expected in other cultures.

This is not to say that the cultures are 'equal'.

[Don Myers]

Well, If I were a Muslim, rape, suicide bombings, and lying might be perfectly acceptable. Since, I am not a Muslim, those things are not acceptable. A Muslim and I are of different cultures. And, our thoughts on this are different. That makes the whole discussion one of relativity, does it not?

[Phantom Lord]

No. As you will note, in my first post I said that murder and rape are ALWAYS wrong. As I have said several times, there are a few universal 'wrongs' and it is a short list.

[Don Myers]

"...As I have said several times, there are a few universal 'wrongs' and it is a short list."

Not to the people in those cultures. And, that is one place where diversification is going wrong, and will ruin the culture of the US.

[Phantom Lord]

Those people may not see it as wrong, but it is wrong.

[Don Myers]

"Those people may not see it as wrong, but it is wrong."

It is wrong to whom? You? It is not wrong to them. That pesky word, relative, comes up again.

[Phantom Lord]

Make up your mind. Is there a universal right and wrong when it comes to certain things or is everything relative?

Some of your neighbors do not see stealing as wrong, but it is wrong no matter what they think.

[Don Myers]

"Make up your mind. Is there a universal right and wrong when it comes to certain things or is everything relative?"

That is the decision that young people, those who can still think, must face. And, if they have no sort of religious background, how are they to decide? The teachings of the Holy Bible provide a foundation from which people can have a moral compass to decide these issues. People who are strictly secular in their thinking are great believers in relative, or moving standards, of right and wrong.

[Don Myers]

BTW, schools do not teach morality. They don't teach standards of behavior. They only teach tolerance of other cultures. And, we have discussed how varying these cultures can be in their concepts of right and wrong. This is why diversity training is so destructive of the concepts of right and wrong in our young kids.

[Phantom Lord]

I don't need the bible to know certain things are wrong.

[stainlessbanner]

Our Diversity programs at work.....sick sick sick

[Iwo Jima]

Most things in life are black and white, right or wrong, good or evil. There are some gray areas (the so-called "lifeboat" scenarios), but they are the rare exceptions not the rule.

My standard of right and wrong has to do with whether or not force or fraud is involved. This is based on the essential nature of human beings and the self-evident truth that all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. Man cannot exercise those inalienable rights and live as man ought to and was intended to live if he cannot exercise his free will.

This is why I say that it is moral (although not particularly nice) for parents to attempt everything short of force to make their child marry someone of their choosing. It is immoral to cause the child imprisonment or physical harm if they do not do as they have been told.

I think that any other example that you might suggest for the propoaition that right and wrong is a subjective, relative concept would be analyzed in the same way.

[Don Myers]

"I don't need the bible to know certain things are wrong."

Then, you have your own focal point of right and wrong. My point remains the same. It is all in one's perception of right and wrong. And, that is what relative, i.e. moving, standards are all about. Those standards go from the lowest order of importance to the highest.

[Iwo Jima]

I note that you are Freeping all over the place instead of responding to my post to you. Any particular reason?

I think that if you consider my statements you would be hard pressed to maintain your position that right and wrong is subjective or relative.

[f.Christian]

bttt