Why do people feel the need to impose their morals on another person?

Question

If someone does something that has no affect on you or your life then why do you feel the need to condemn it? (for example, gay marriage)

Steve b Seeking -
No way! I would never have guessed! Wow you're soooo smart! Please,say something else incredibly obvious!

Dennis, I agree with you. I would tell a warn a friend if I felt hey were doing something self destructive. I don't feel gay marriage falls into the category of destructive things.
It all depends on your perspective. I think that people need to respect others beliefs (or lack their of). Gay marriage is only destructive is you have beliefs that tell you it is. Banning gay marriage is making a clear statement that we do not respect each other's beliefs.

Both sides are guilty. I am not blind. I guess what I'm advocating is the idea of respect. I understand that people feel their way of living is right. I'm trying to promote tolerance of ideas. It's arrogant for anyone to say that their way of living is right for everyone.

Both sides are guilty. I am not blind. I guess what I'm advocating is the idea of respect. I understand that people feel their way of living is right. I'm trying to promote tolerance of ideas. It's arrogant for anyone to say that their way of living is right for everyone.

Answer 1

Hi Gwenilynd,

This is a tough one. I think the posting right above mine is a good indication, though. For many people, there is a religious faith, or some other guiding principle that they follow that governs how they view morality. If they have complete faith in that belief system, there is sort of a sense of absolutism that they are right, and anyone who doesn't think as they do must be wrong. For example, Christians believe homosexuality to be a sin because they are told so by the bible.... they don't question the bible, or think about why God might create this law, question why there are so many homosexuals given that God did not want it to happen, etc. And they don't consider the possibility that the bible could be in error. They simply have complete faith that the bible is what it claims to be and it cannot be wrong, and so there's an inability to even see things from another point of view.

Now don't get me wrong... in a certain way I'm a bit of absolutist as well. I have a set moral code that I believe in that I am very convinced to be correct, and I'm very willing and able to defend my moral code in arguments. But at the same time, I have an ability to try to picture a different perspective. I have an ability to respect the beliefs of others and allow them to practice those beliefs even if I don't agree with them. I think perhaps this is an ability that some fundamentalist thinkers lack because the absolutist attitude has been ingrained in them for too long.

I don't know if this really answers the question, but it's a start.

Edit to jeffd57: I will demonstrate my ability to respectfully disagree with your belief. You say that gays have the same marriage rights as anyone else... to marry someone of the opposite sex. I believe that this is skirting around the real issue. I think if you consider what the reasons for marriage are supposed to be, you find that they do NOT have the same rights. Heterosexuals are given the right in our society to marry someone they are attracted to and have romantic feelings for. Homosexuals are currently not given this right. You also say that it is no more discriminatory than banning marriage to siblings, children, animals, or inanimate objects. I disagree. Marriage to siblings results in harmful genetic defects in children, which hurts others. Marriage to children violates their innocence and throws them into obligations that they have no way of understanding at their point in development. Marriage to animals and inanimate objects doesn't make any sense because these things aren't even capable of making a vow. There are perfectly logical reasons to not allow marriage to the other things you listed. But what logical premise is there to ban marriage between two consenting adults who understand what they're doing? Unlike the other examples, no one is being harmed or adversely affected in any way. Seems discriminatory to me.

Answer 2

Well, this is a tough question to answer. There are a few reasons I would think someone would do that.
1. The person holds true to their beliefs and truly believes what said person is doing is wrong and also truly wants to help said person get back on the right path. They are concerned for the well being of the respective person's soul.
2. The person holds true to their beliefs to a point, is feeling guilty about a minor sin they may have committed and feels better about his/herself by accusing said persof of being sinful, i.e., a moral hypocrite.
3. The person could just be a prick, doesn't actually believe gay marriage is wrong, but just wants to work said person's nerves.

I know for me, I don't feel gay marriage is right because of my beliefs, but I also believe in do unto others, so for me, whether I feel strongly about it or not, it's not my place to judge someone. Let he who is w/out sin cast the first stone right.

Answer 3

point. the morals are not their own but learned somewhere else. so that would be applying second hand morals to other people. just like all opinions are not a persons but aquirred and form a great big echo chamber. as for example other ways of shaping ideas are in the news. people are asked opinions which are formed by the news not themselves. is there a way of independantly creating morals. would suggest a person be isolated from society where they can be contamminated by any ideas and see what they come up with .

Answer 4

I am not accountable before the Lord to respect your belief's or anyone else's if those beliefs go contrary to what "God's Word " says. He alone made the Law and only He has the authority to change it, we don't. If a person does not want to be told that homosexuality is a sin and that they are not living right before "God" then they need to address their questions strictly to their partners in crime ( there is a site for them ). If they say that they have a right to be here, well Christians have just as much a right to answer and speak God's Word on the matter, which is very clear. Why does it matter to me? Because it matters to my Lord who died for them too.

Answer 5

Doesn't any civilized society do this?

For example Governments passing and enforcing laws against robbery, theft, mugging, domestic violence, murder, arson, vandalism etc?

You mention Gay Marriage and say it would not affect anyone else's life, but wouldn't it weaken the institution of marriage that goes back thousands of years and therefore weaken society as a whole thereby affecting us all?

Gay people have the same marriage rights as everybody else and that is they have the right to marry an eligible person of the opposite sex.

Banning same sex marriage is no more discriminatory or excluding as is bans on marrying your brother or sister, or a child, your dog, a dead person or even your TV set.

Answer 6

Come on, be fair! There are two sides to that coin.

Liberals have their own moral (or immoral, depending on your point of view) agenda (abortion on demand, homosexual marriage, etc.) that they are also trying (quite successfully, I might add) to impose on other people, primarily through the judicial system.

I am gay, but be fair. Both sides do this.

Answer 7

I don't think it's imposing morals as much as it's imposing beliefs. It's because so many people have this need to be right all the time (myself included, but not when it comes to religion). People need to realize that they can't control every aspect of other peoples' lives.

Answer 8

Whenever anybody does that...

They're really (subconsciously) condemning themselves out of secret self-loathing, because they secretly know that they, themselves, do not measure up to their own impossible standards...

So they impose, lash-out, condemn, reprimand, insult, and inappropriately point out the splinter in everyone's eye, never noticing the "log" in their own...

In other words, they hate themselves, so they lash-out at other people projecting their own self-hatred onto others...

Answer 9

As far as Christians go, they feel they need to save you from sin because sin is evil. But you are right, judging is God's job, not ours. They are allowed to condemn the act. However, they are not allowed to condemn the person.

Answer 10

Stop for one second and look at it from another point of view, with an open mind. I categorize all sexual deviance's-ie: (Gay, Pedophilia, Cross dressing, Pre-marital sex, Adultery--etc) into the same category. I do not participate in these deviance's, yet as a taxpayer in this country, I pay for all of the social ills that are caused by these behaviors. I pay taxes for more attorneys to handle the divorce proceedings. I pay more taxes to help fund more Doctors, Nurses and hospitals to take care of those with sexually transmitted diseases. I pay more taxes for those who choose to have sex outside of marriage and choose to abort their child. If you add up the amount we pay, in taxes, to support this immoral behavior, you will find the sum of money is in the hundreds of billions of dollars annually. The same goes with Drug users, criminals, rapists, thieves, abusers and the list goes on and on. I personally choose not to engage in this type of behavior, yet I have to pay high taxes to help cover the costs of this.This money could be better spent on feeding the poor, repairing our roads and bridges and updating our electrical and water facilities. How can you say I impose my morals on you? Isn't it actually those who do these types of things, aren't they the ones imposing their morals on me? To say Gay marriage does not affect me is absurd. The cost to society for these sexual deviance's is astronomical. Have you tried to purchase Health Insurance lately? Tell me AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases aren't causing the price of my Health insurance to sky rocket. Are you really so blind that you cannot see how all this affects everyone?
God Bless You...Peace.