Are Traditional views simply old fashioned or are they important?

Sorry it took me so long to get back to this, but I have been out of state for a week :). I completely agree with you - the sad thing is that it seems to be a constant spiral that has no end. We continue to see a worsening in society simply because abused/neglected kids are producing abused/neglected kids. Where does it end? How do you stop it? And you are certainly a rarity - I wish other's had the same consideration around me as a female - but sadly it's the exception these days and not the norm!

Good answer - and I'm glad you pointed out the fact that they ARE teachings. And as I mentioned just now in another answer, capatilism is the push behind what we see in the media most times, because commercials are what's paying the show's time slot. So are we subtley (sp?) undermining what we're teaching our children by what we allow them to watch on TV? Are we destroying our own intents by allowing people to glorify a certain lifetsyle as cool? I don't know where I'm going with that, necessarily, but they're just thoughts that are coming to mind as I sit here and type :).

Oh wait, the opening doors part I was thinking had to do with allowing women to be whatever they wanted. Sorry. I think opening and holding a door for a woman is a nice thing to do, but I wouldn't call it old fashioned. Just chivalry.

*laugh* I love the word "prude"!! But along those lines, I would think that some political views would be thrown in there - because chivalry would mean that a woman ultimately should not be in the military, because a man should do everything he can to protect her first...what would that mean the woman should do? I don't know...that may not be a valid point...just something to think about... But it's interesting that you bring up the TV bit, because before I read your comment, I had just said something in the post above you about that. I won't repeat myself yet.

I agree - I know my morals and beliefs have allowed me to stay out of the trouble that some of my classmates found and eventually ended up ruining their lives. Sticking to a moral standard is extremely important in this day and age.

Exactly - it seems to me that we throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak - just because one truth isn't right in the past doesn't mean we have to throw all truths out the window...the modern day thought that there is no truth seems like a farce to me. In my mind, it's not someone's right to murder anyone because you're infringing upon the rights of the next person...that, to me, is a universal truth. But truth has gotten so clouded these days that no one knows what's really truth and what isn't.

Ignoring things is a classic case of the story they used to tell me in school - if you do not pay attention to history and what causes it, you're doomed to repeat yourself and we'll have another holocaust on our hands with a different race...but that's another tangent all together *ack*.

I COMPLETELY agree...children learn by imitation at first...and they're going to imitate what they see and not what they hear, because their ability to make moral judgments is one of the last phases of child development (know that one thanks to that child psychology class about 10 years ago *grin*)...that means we have to BE what we want our children to be or we endanger them repeating the same mistakes we made. THAT'S why raising children is such an amazing thing - you have the ability to either positively or negatively influence that child ... when they enter into the world as an adult, a good majority of what they learn will be what they encountered while at home...sobering thought, eh? And I want to have children? *EEK*

I agree ... the problem is that people lean towards "pluralism" where everyone has their own truth and that truth is right to them but not necessarily right to others. But when looking at something like the ten commandments, what on that list is questionable? WHY would anyone have a problem with any of them? I can see the first one, having no other Gods before me, but what else?

YES! So how can we get these same values to people who don't have the ability to teach it to their children for one reason or another? It's like a self-perpetuating cycle that no one can get out of... I've gotta get off of here, my brain is fried from all of this chatting!! *Grin*

So in essence, we should be more careful about what we and our children watch, right? Because as we saw in "A Christmas Story" with Ralphy learning the F*** word when the bolts went flying as they were changing the flat tire. He learned that from his father and not from the kid he mentioned - he was just afraid of the implication it would bring to his father. By allowing certain things into our lives, are we going against what we're trying to teach our children?

Yes, but is that only because it goes against what we actually want to do which may not be the best for society or is it because it really doesn't hold water?

Traditions are a big part of our identity, I would definitely agree. And I agree that we also have to be able to be flexible and change with the times - but to me, there are still things that are right and wrong no matter what. There are certain truths that do not change, no matter what year it is...i.e., murder will always be wrong. So how do we decide what should be changed and what shouldn't?

I don't know if I've said this before, but I'm a teacher - haven't been in the classroom for a bit because I'm going back for my graduate degree, but one thing you constantly hear about education is that teachers are having to raise the children, because the parents aren't doing it at home. But in some situations, what can you do? One parent family, the parent is working all hours to feed and clothe their children...where do the morals get taught? We have a generation of children being brought up by the television and learning what's right and wrong by watching an episode of the Simpsons. I won't go down the TV route just yet... Instead, I'll say this - many of these children have been brought into the world by mere "children," teenagers of 14-16 having children of their own and not knowing how to parent because they've either not had a good example or are in situations where they just don't learn. Do you think children who are pregnant and under 18 should be forced to go to parenting classes? Oooh...another question to ask...hold on...

That's something I didn't really think about...what to do when you get divorced and you take your own name back. That's rough - do you resent being identified with your ex-husbands name now?