Endangered Species

Often, when someone mentions 'endangered species', one would think of a bird or some other animal which is almost extinct. But, this time,we are talking about something entirely different. Mustang at Social Sense was blogging about the endangered social values. He named them as follows:

• A Belief in God
• Honoring Parents
• Taking Care of One Another
• Commitment
• Honesty
• Generosity
• Responsibility

From as long as I can remember, I have believed there is a GOD. I cannot imagine a world without God. But, too many have chosen to believe there is no God, or there are many 'gods'. But, years ago, you hardly ever heard anyone say he/she didn't believe in God.

I suppose, having been raised on the Bible, I knew the scripture that tells us to honor our father and mother, so that our days shall be long. I often wonder how a child could make it through life, if they dishonored their parents.

Commitment doesn't seem to matter to most people anymore. They don't see themselves as a 'servant', willing to help other people. Genorosity has been replaced with 'keeping self up with the Joneses.'

And, then, there's the 'pass the buck' mentality. Instead of the saying 'the buck stops here', responsibility has been placed on others. There seems to be a need to blame others for our problems, rather than heeding the warnings and taking responsibility for our own actions.

And, then, have we lost our integrity? I am so thankful that I had parents that instilled in me that honesty should be above all else. It's not 'when all else fails, try honesty', but it should be in every facet of your life. Honesty doesn't hurt. Honesty builds character. Honesty makes others want to be like you. Honesty is definitely 'the best policy', regardless of what others might say. A 'little white lie', of which there is none white, can harm you in many ways. First, when you tell one lie, there comes another to back that lie up. And, it goes on and on, until you've dug a ditch of lies too big to crawl out of.

The older generations were brought up to fear God, honor our parents, and to be honest and responsible individuals. But, some of the younger generations have learned they can get rather far on the 'self' mentality, whether it hurts their peers or not. I remember the motto we had as seniors in high school. It said "do unto others as you have them do unto you, but do it first." But, it seems now, it's "gimmee, gimmee, gimmee' ..... all about 'me'. Social values have definitely changed over the years, and, as Mustang said, they are now 'endangered species'.