Declining Ethics in American Culture

Declining Ethics in American Culture

It is unfortunate to see how ethics in the American culture are constantly declining. People’s moral values are below normal societal standards, which is why, the older generations are outraged by the way things are now, and become rather upset and feel disturbed towards society. Furthermore, religion has lost its value throughout the years. In the essay, "Do Kids Need Religion?" by Anthony Brandt, he underlines the idea of how religion is not properly taught or provided to children. In Wendy Shalit’s essay, "The Future of Modesty," she discusses how much modesty has reached its worst in the younger generations, however society is beginning to raise these standards once again. Nonetheless, education has also lost its honor code. Mark Clayton calls attention to how cheating is becoming incredibly common among students throughout the United States in his essay, "A Whole Lot of Cheatin’ Going on." In fact, it is obvious that American culture is declining fast in ethics, especially in religion, dating, and education.

First, religion has often played an important role in people’s lives, however its significance continues to decrease in recent decades. Parents do not pass on faith or beliefs onto their children, because most parents do not have faith or beliefs. These parents believe it would be hypocritical to teach their children about being spiritual, when they are not spiritual themselves. Children often go to their parents with questions regarding matters such as death, life, and God, but "Western culture is so secularized that parents can evade or dismiss 'religious' questions without feeling that they’re merely getting themselves off the hook" (Brandt 193). In contrast wit...

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...eginning to realize the need to raise the ethical standards of American culture.

Works Cited

Brandt, Anthony. "Do Kids Need Religion." The Presence of others: Voices and Images that Call for Response. Ed. Andrea A. Lunsford, John J. Ruszkiewicz. New York: St. Martin’s 2000. 191-198.

Clayton, Mark. "A Whole Lot of Cheatin’ Going On." The Presence of others: Voices and Images that Call for Response. Ed. Andrea A. Lunsford, John J. Ruszkiewicz. New York: St. Martin’s 2000. 185-189.

News Hour Online. "Religion in America." 2 Dec. 2001 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/.

Religion-Online. "Teen-age Sexuality and Public Morality." 2 Dec. 2001 http://www.religion-online.org/.

Shalit, Wendy. "The Future of Modesty." The Presence of others: Voices and Images that Call for Response. Ed. Andrea A. Lunsford, John J. Ruszkiewicz. New York: St. Martin’s 2000. 214-220.