Understanding values - Assignment Example

Values Understanding values is a difficult thing because for different people, there are different factors in which their values are embedded. For some people, it is the religion, for others, it is the instinct that establishes their values. Other such factors include social pressure and culture. Difficulty of understanding the values is also manifested in the fact that it is hard to establish whether the framework dictating values came first or the values gave birth to a framework of behaving ethically, righteously, or justly.

I personally believe that the most fundamental source of values is human conscience; an in-born ability to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. An evidence of this is the fact that although people differ on their opinions on a subject, their understanding of what is right or wrong is mostly the same. For example, some people are in favor of legalization of drugs while others are against it, though people on both sides of the argument mutually think that drugs and their influence on the society should be reduced.

Even the argument for the legalization of drugs is made with a view to suppressing the frustration and the development and functioning of illegal channels that happens when the drugs are illegalized.The in-born ability, conscience is the word used for which, is guided or influenced by a range of external influences, typically culture and religion. Of all such factors, religion is the most powerful factor that confirms or denies an idea that is considered righteous by our inherent conscience. That is why “Christianity has often been associated with authority” (11) However, it is needless to say that people voluntarily accept religion and give it that exalted status to dictate values in their lives because of the emotional appeal made to them by the religion.

Dictating and establishing values is one of the most fundamental functions of a religion.