Integrity .. *m

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-23-2003
Integrity .. *m
20
Fri, 06-10-2005 - 10:51am

I have a question for everyone.  (Lurkers, feel free to jump in!)  Is integrity lost in today's society?  Why?  Why not?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2003
Sun, 06-12-2005 - 12:22am

Amen...loud does belong in a ball game...not in service in responsibility...otherwise you are doing it for the wrong reason...

I once heard an interview with this man who was founder of well-known charitable organization...he said, "if you can put aside your ego and focus on just the good works, acts of kindess, etc., you would be surprised at how much more you can accomplish." Easy to say but oh so difficult to practice.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-26-2005
Sun, 06-12-2005 - 9:27am

Sadly, I think personal integrity has suffered greatly. There seems to be a definite lack of teaching values and morals at home, yet schools are doing an inadequate job (which they shouldn't be doing -- the primary teaching -- but only reinforcing what was taught at home) of it. There is so much relativism, with PC gone wild and wrong, about everything, that often I think people are so confused and lack the inner standards and the ability to follow them. TV, movies, what have you, all give very conflicting messages about values and morals. Society is only as good as we make it.

Anna

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-26-2005
Sun, 06-12-2005 - 9:33am

I think it's very much become a "the end justifies the means " kind of world. :((

Anna

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-26-2005
Sun, 06-12-2005 - 9:39am

Integrity to me means no matter what, it's linked to my spiritual and moral values. That's an individual thing, yes, but there used to be a general "Golden Rule" that most people subscribed to, in their relations with others and their personal responsibilities at any given time. Integrity isn't really about what other people are doing, but it can be discouraging to see unprofessional (I see integrity as integral to professionalism, also) behaviors rewarded. It sends a message of hopelessness and even ridicule, to those who try to maintain their inner higher standard when faced with the dumbed down version that seems more prevalent today. :(

Anna

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2003
Sun, 06-12-2005 - 10:41am

Oh my gosh, Anna...I truly hope you are wrong, yet, I know what you mean...and it does seem as though many folks just take what they want, and don't give a rip who they hurt in the process...I've become intimately acquainted with even more of this stuff as a parent...I had no idea parenting would be so competitive.

I find that many people lack the courage of their convictions. They start out with good intentions and then it goes downhill from there...for example, at our church school, the folks with strong personalities whose egos just seem to unlimited, push for control, grab whatever they can for their own kids, bend the principal's ear, donate large amounts of money and make sure everyone knows, who cares about the greater good??? This causes all sorts of problems: greedy behavior, insensitivity, exclusive little pockets of people shutting the softspoken out, etc. and yet, while people may be (or may not) turned off by this behavior, there you find them on any given day smoozing with the perpetrators, selling their souls just to ride on the coattails of the popular folks, i.e. those that are perceived to have social/political power...

Why? Because it will buy them social standing, favors for their kids, admission into the circle of folks who matter!

I refer to these followers as the silent majority, because they look the other way and pretend that what they are doing is justified.

And I look at the leaders as being enabled by the followers...and I seriously question their honor. I was taught to believe the meek shall inherit the world...but I really don't know about that anymore...

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-22-2003
Sun, 06-12-2005 - 11:17am

Being meek shouldn't mean standing by and letting inequality and injustice flourish.


iVillage Member
Registered: 12-23-2003
Sun, 06-12-2005 - 12:32pm

I was a Church Office Manager for 13 years and ran into many of the people you describe.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-23-2003
Sun, 06-12-2005 - 12:37pm

And I look at the leaders as being enabled by the followers...and I seriously question their honor. I was taught to believe the meek shall inherit the world...but I really don't know about that anymore...


The meek will (and are) inherit(ing).

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2003
Sun, 06-12-2005 - 11:53pm

Thanks, Ladycee...it gives me great satisfaction to know that I didn't cave in to the pressure of the religious country club (perfect description, bink)...just a few more days and we are finished there forever...this morning my child made her solo debut in the choir...I can't even begin to describe how good it felt to sit there listening to my baby girl...

And after all the fuss, the other shiftless girl who would have sang solo didn't even show up!

Ah, those invisible scales of justice just tipped a bit more...I have to believe there are more folks in the world with integrity than not...otherwise I couldn't get through the day.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-23-2003
Tue, 06-14-2005 - 12:28pm

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