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Do you ever question the values your parents taught you? Ask a Question

Do you ever question the values your parents taught you?
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3 Answers

My mom taught me to respect others and to think for myself. It's hard to go wrong with that.

2 Replies to chaleur's answer

Yeah, but I imagine you've looked at the values you were taught and decided that they were valid.

Just because you question them doesn't mean you conclude that they are wrong.

It's important to question all beliefs. Even this one.

I agree, questioning your own beliefs definitely help you to grow your inner self.. it gives you more space to be willing to accept your faults, analysing them and then an opportunity to mend it.

All said no parent would want bad for their children. However, I think we all tag things - correct and incorrect, keeping in view our own experience, our own structure and environment around us.

What is right for us might be wrong to other. Like a parent might believe that having same sex pref is bad; however, this might completely hold no ground for someone else.

Sure, that is a large part of what growing up is all about. Most of hers have stood the test of time.

Yes. My parents are militantly pro-life, devoutly Catholic, iffy on the gays, and skeptical of non-whites. I am none of those things.

3 Replies to tmarisco's answer

It must have been an interesting and sometimes difficult journey. How did you do it?

Haha, I guess the answer is I went to college. I never subscribed in earnest to some of their ideals (I did go to church and had vague pro-life opinions, but I felt like their anti-gay/minority thing was just "part of their generation"). When I got to college, I just found that there were tons of people like me who were only going to church because they were deposited there. Also, I had never even heard (or been permitted to hear) an argument in favor of a pro-choice stance. Once I heard one, it was an obvious to me where I should stand on the issue

My biggest secret was that I was bisexual. I joined an allies group at the school. We worked with the student diversity community on campus, so any racial holdovers I had were dispelled immediately just by making friends, I think.

So basically, I think that anyone raised in very conservative (in particular East Texas) areas lacks exposure to other people/viewpoints/arguments. Or, when they are exposed to these things, they are too fearful/closed-minded to form an opinion based on logic.

The most rewarding thing about all of this is that I know the person I have become is a result of my choices--rather than being born into my opinions. As I am becoming an adult (I am currently 23--still don't feel like an adult), it feels like I have had active role in shaping myself, which is nice.

Know what you mean about the Texas thing. My mother's family is Catholic converted to Southern Baptist. They are from Midland by way of Wellington and Oklahoma City.

She was the one who left Texas and got exposed to the wider world, and was a pretty smart cookie when she wasn't too emotionally disturbed to function (all to often, alas). I kinda benefited from her learning curve on tolerance, to the point that I was honestly stunned the first time I ever ran into gay prejudice (the whole thing is just completely devoid of any sense at all), and racial prejudice and not standing up for what is right are the only things I can ever remember her describing as evil.

Not surprisingly, the family in Texas had very little use for her, or me.