Personal Ethics Autobiography Writing Assignment

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Ethics autobiography
As individuals, we are shaped by our environment. We are influenced by what we see, what we experience and what we are taught. Our ethics foundation comes from these. I am not any different. The roots of my beliefs were shaped by my upbringing. Being from a Christian family and in China was particularly unique. I got to notice the difference between me and my neighbors. Their practices were different from ours. Us being the minority in the neighborhood ensured we always stood out. My parents, though practicing Christians, had distinctly different views on life, ethics and what constitutes responsibility. My mother was of the opinion that as Christians, it is our duty to practice high standards of discipline and humility while at the same time not judging others. Simply loving them unconditionally. My father on the other hand had more liberal views. The idea of turning the other cheek was detestable to him. He believed in science and the practice of always asking questions and being curious. To not accepting or believing what one reads or is told. These two seemingly conflicting views are what shaped my upbringing.
Over time choices that I make have also been influenced by friends, the church and what I study in school. These other influencers help me bridge the gap. I get to work from a common ground between my dad’s and mum’s views. I remember one time having to deal with a particularly bothersome classmate. The boy used to bully me and went out of his way to make my life hard. Teachings of my mum and dad clashed inside me. They were both fighting for supremacy. This dilemma went for days and weeks until I decided to talk with my priest about it. After all, I am a Christian. Their views although different were based from the same Christian beliefs. My decision to seek guidance from the priest was a way to forge my own path towards understanding. This will firm up my Christian roots and guide my decisions. On talking to the priest, he pointed out to me that no one view is above the other. If I investigated closely, I would come up with a hybrid view that will combine best of both worlds. I would be humble but I will not be bullied by the classmate. So, I would say the base of my beliefs is all human beings are equal, with equal rights to live their lives the way they see fit. No one should be judged by the choices they make. No one should interfere with another’s life simply because they do not like the choices the other makes. All this sounded easy enough to follow. Shock on me when I relocated to United States to continue my studies.
By the time I was joining high school in America to continue my studies, the roots of my beliefs were pretty much established. Compared to America, China is a conservative society. California is the state I went. Compared to California, and San Francisco in particular, China seemed backward. The high school I joined was near San Francisco. Although it was a Christian school, I was not immune to not notice the sights and sounds of San Francisco. As we all know, this is the capital of liberal views and practices in the United States. It is the testbed of how far a view can be taken. My views of personal freedom and not judging others were severely tested. In China, my beliefs were oscillating within a narrow range of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. For instance, I was used to women wearing something decent whenever they went out. They did not display a significant portion of their bodies. This was accepted as standard. Me being everyone to their own choices kind of person, that someone could walk with very short pair of shorts and a tight top that did not cover the stomach was nowhere near the realms of my imagination. Such was the culture shock when I came to the United States. Needless to say, my beliefs were shaken. I had to reestablish them and fortify them some more. Thus, I would say my philosophy and ethical choices are guided by a number of factors and beliefs. They start with my Christian beliefs followed by science. Common sense, consequences of an action and cost of the said action come after. This means Christianity and science form the basics.
For Christianity, this forms the basis of my actions. Something is ethical or not based on what Christianity teaches me. I believe in a higher power. I believe my actions will be judged by that higher power so I am responsible for what I do. The Christian belief of God and Satan being on the opposite ends of human behavior is very much a part of me. So, I have been conditioned to always think of God and being judged in everything I do. Is it wrong in the eyes of God? Will God judge me harshly for doing this? I always beg for forgiveness whenever I notice I did something I believe was not right. I always ask for strength to do right the next time because I believe it was the devil who tempted me to do wrong the last time. Over time though, I have come to note how different Christianity is from region to region. The underlying beliefs maybe constant but what is right and what is not largely depends on the region. The liberal gay person in San Francisco and the conservative member of my church back in China both can claim to be Christians. But each will point at the other and say that person does not really practice Christianity. The views are also dependent on time. Old Christians have more conservative views that the young Christians. Some of what Christians did in the past is now consid...