What Can We Do Facing a Moral Crisis？

Xu+Jing

Zheng was educated to be an upright and honest person since he was a child. But it was hard for him to believe that his father betrayed his diligent and thrifty mother and had an affair with other person！ All these things subverted his deep trust to adults. His achievement was also impacted， and he even began to hate his father and avoid his mother. He was trapped into deep pain and confusion. He felt so helpless tolerated by mixed feeling of love and hate.

What Actually Caused the Collapse of "Moral Palace"？

Zheng fell into deep disappointment and pain because of the collapse of "moral palace". But what actually caused the collapse of “moral palace”？ Essentially， the disappointment we experience for people， events or things is because we have demand and expectation for them. Once we are obsessed in what the world should be like， even the sense of security and sense of happiness depend on if the outside world is compliance with expectations， then it is inevitable that we will be disappointed. Because the world is not only black or white， either right or wrong. To admit the complexity of human nature， we have to challenge two-dimensional morality that was built since we were children.

Zheng's experience is not a special case. This prompts us to ask whether the adults are always good and right？ Blind trust and admiration in adults not only bring kids a lot of potential hazards， but also trap teenagers into moral confusion. We are educated to obey adults since we are children， so we think it is always right and good whatever adults have done. As a result， we are prone to lose the consciousness of self-protection and become passive and submissive even we meet violations （such as abduction， sexual assault）， which make criminals easily succeed.

For some extremist， once they like someone they will blindly worship and seek after them， once they find flaws， they negate them completely. The so thoroughly deny， however， is often dubbed with " knowing precisely whom or what to love or hate " deeply in people's values. In fact， to give up the excessive demand and obsession on perfection， is an important step young people need to take to grow up. Zhengs experience is a chance for him to say goodbye to the two-dimensional opposite value towards the world. He should learn to look at the issue dialectically and comprehensively.

We should absolutely deny the unethical behavior of marital infidelity， however， the love and care of Zhengs father to him and his contribution to the family cannot therefore be negated. Zhengs mother was diligent and thrifty in running the household， while his father worked hard. But they could rarely find same topics and had not tried to understand each other's needs. Despite the growing complaints and misunderstandings， they still believed that maintain a peaceful marriage is the best choice for Zhengs interests. But ultimately， his father with a lonely heart made a mistake difficult to be forgiven. Zheng never gave any thought of the struggle and helpless in his parents hearts. It seems that simple criticism and hatred will make Zheng feel better， but it is as a double-edged sword， which will not only hurt others， but also harm himself.

Who You Admire is the Perfect One in Your Mind or the Real Him in Front of You？

In fact， what made him so difficult to go through is that this is happened to his father who he admired. People tend to have more expectation on people they love and are more desired that they would meet various definitions of perfection in their mind. This kind of moral kidnapped is actually extremely unfair for those we respect. Because love is basically an acceptance which allow him to be himself， although the real him is different from whats in your mind.

When a person is able to accept the existences of uncertainty and imperfection， and not force all around him run as he wished， he really has grown up. So now ask yourself， the father you love is the perfect image in your mind or a father who has disadvantage in real life？ The tolerance and acceptance of the world do not mean we have no moral bottom line， but sometimes we allow this world to run differently as we imagined and expected.

Let the Little Devil in Your Heart Out

Instead of saying that Zhengs anger is from impartial moral criticism， Id rather say its from his obsession that parents should be together， based on his self-consideration control freak. So the more we exclude and criticize others， the better chance it would be to feel and see the "little devil" in my mind so as to let them out.

Of course， if we dont have the ability to reflect like this at the moment， wed better put it aside. Sometimes， these experiences which will clash our values will make us feel desperate， but at least， thinking will make us put aside the weapons against moral criticism hence providing a great opportunity to see whats in our heart and mind.

To be honest， anything that happened is not the responsibility from one party. Who can judge the standard of whats good or right？ The world is not perfect， but we can choose to be responsible for our own emotions. Perhaps this article itself is like a difficult problem in the moral crisis. It has disrupted the values the students hold firmly about right or wrong， good or bad， perfection and love. Then， now let us stay peaceful in the rich and diverse world with imperfection and uncertainty for a while！