The word “morality” has many synonyms and only two antonyms: “immorality” and “immorality”. This means that a person has many opportunities to live according to the laws of morality. How do they become the laws of life for someone? And why is it so easy for others to step over them? Each of us must understand these issues.
Is there a spiritual and moral crisis in Russia?
Sociologists and sane public are concerned about the state of spiritual and moral culture in Russia. The youth’s life plans include their own material well-being, career, and pleasure. In the hierarchy of moral values, patriotism, duty, and conscience are in last place or not at all.
As a result of general deideologization and numerous attacks on the minds and hearts, the young population of the country does not have unity in the perception of the history of Russia as a great power, one of the cultural and spiritual centers of the world. The purposeful formation of a “guilty complex” among young people for certain historical events leads to the depreciation of manifestations of patriotism and an active civic position, to the degeneration of famous historical figures. Heroes become war criminals and criminal authorities.
It is national heroes from ancient to modern times that are the vehicles of spirituality and morality between generations. The substitution of the concepts of good and evil leads to egoism and social disunity, rejection of the foundations of moral culture.
What it is?
Morality is a code of conduct for an individual developed by society. The basic law-requirement - everyone must act in the public interest, even to the detriment of their own.
An ideal citizen has the following qualities:
- decency and virtue;
- chastity;
- honesty and justice;
- nobility, readiness for good deeds;
- purity of thoughts, culture of behavior;
- hard work.
This list can be continued, if you describe in more detail, detail each of these qualities. For example: virtue - readiness all one’s life, actions, will to obey moral laws; culture of behavior (or upbringing) - compliance with the norms of actions in all spheres of life (social, family, and even alone with oneself).
Are “spirituality” and “morality” synonyms?
Parallels between these concepts cannot be drawn, and here's why.
Morality is the adherence to generally accepted moral standards. This is the external side of the personality: the true motives of actions hidden from prying eyes may not be as noble as they look at first glance.
Adopting an orphan is undoubtedly a good deed. But why did man decide on this? From mercenary motives, because of those benefits that are allocated by the state for raising an orphan, or from the desire to be considered noble?
Or is it because he could not get past the unfortunate child, considered himself obligated to help him, to share his well-being?
In the first case, the so-called purity of thoughts is missing. Hidden from the eyes of strangers, self-interest makes the outwardly moral actions of the adoptive parent immoral, like a drop of tar spoils a whole spoonful of honey. And on the contrary, the lack of calculation in the second case on material and moral bonuses informs the act of nobility, morality, spirituality. Last - this is the inner essence of personality. A moral person is not always spiritual. And vice versa. The foundations of the spiritual and moral culture of peoples lie in the personal qualities of their citizens.
About moral culture
Culture in general is the level of individual assimilation of the social experience of his people. It is passed down from generation to generation. About how cultured people are judged by:
- his behavior and activities (common sense, expediency);
- forms of interaction with other members of society;
- level of consciousness;
- ideas about what is beautiful and ugly;
- attitude to national and folk customs and traditions.
As you can see, the concepts of the two terms coincide in almost all definitions. Moral culture is a synthesis of internal, spiritual qualities of a person with their external manifestations. This is expressed in the form of honest relationships in love, friendship, work, in harmony with one’s own conscience and with other members of society. It is considered healthy and morally cultural if most of its citizens live on the principle of “do no evil, do good”.
The components of the spiritual and moral culture of society
What it is? Public spiritual and moral culture is a multicomponent system that reflects the beliefs, consciousness, and views of the population of any country.
Its complexity is also determined by the depth of each component: science (with all its branches), the culture of all the peoples of the country, laws, religion and beliefs, customs and traditions, ideology.
Mastering the foundations of the spiritual and moral culture of his people, a person experiences the educational influence of society on his development. However, this does not mean the inadmissibility of manifestations of individuality, one’s own views, and civic activity. The society stimulates the active participation of citizens in the cultural, economic, political life of the country.
Religion as an ally in the formation of the ethical foundations of society
Before the revolutionary transformations of 1917, Orthodoxy was the basis of the spiritual and moral culture of Russia. However, mass anti-church propaganda, the physical destruction of clergy and churches led to a gradual loss of spiritual and religious needs by the population. The USSR Constitution proclaimed the separation of the church from the state. And for religion such important spheres of influence on the population as educational institutions, culture, science, and the army became inaccessible.
In modern Russia, according to various sources, only 4-5% of the population consider themselves true believers. Formally attend a church and at the same time lead a secular lifestyle - 12-14%. The rest are not interested in religious teachings at all.
The revolutionary rejection of the people from centuries-old religious beliefs (and then from the belief in a "bright communist future" in the 90s of the last century) led to the rejection by young people of the national spiritual and moral culture of Russia. Orientation to European models shook and destroyed ideas about such life values as family, homeland, patriotism, honor, dignity, national and civil unity.
These regressive tendencies of the moral and moral decomposition of society threaten the gradual extinction of the unique Russian nation. And this seriously worries advanced scientific and public figures. In the Orthodox Church, they see an ally in the revival and development of the spiritual and moral culture of the peoples of Russia. Its foundation should be the restoration of spiritual kinship and age-old ties, the eradication of Nazism and Russophobia.
Traditions of the cultural interaction of the peoples of Russia
An obligatory function of the culture of any nation is the preservation of the previous historical experience of its existence. On the territory of our country there are people of more than 190 nationalities. In Russia, such a huge and multinational, the isolated existence of individual nationalities is unthinkable without close political, economic, cultural contacts.
Numerous studies show that moral culture is an international concept. Beauty, good and evil, truth, friendship, respect for the customs of the ancestors are equally valued and cultivated throughout Russia. Their essence is revealed in folklore, works of art, in the stable traditions of cultural exchange. The well-being of peoples in their friendship - this principle is the basis for interaction with "neighbors in the country."
State policy in the field of national development in the country
Tasks, goals, principles of support and development of the moral culture of the peoples of Russia are the basis of the documents guaranteeing the right of every citizen of the country to spiritual and cultural development:
- Constitution of the Russian Federation;
- The concept of state national policy of the Russian Federation;
- federal laws and regulations;
- constitutions and charters of subjects of the Russian Federation.
These documents set the main directions of work of state authorities, cultural, educational institutions, public associations of citizens in the field of spiritual and moral education of the population. This indicates a lot. For example, that the development of spirituality, moral culture is a matter of national importance in our country. Local authorities in the field are developing programs for the development and support of mutual contacts between different ethnic groups, taking into account historical, cultural, national characteristics.
The main tasks in the field of spiritual development
The unsatisfactory state in the field of spiritual and moral education of the younger generation in the country can be corrected by solving the following tasks:
- the revival and promotion of interethnic unity, the cultivation of a sincere sense of patriotism;
- development of interest and respect for the history and culture of large and small peoples of Russia, preservation of their national heritage and identity;
- comprehensive care for the preservation of the diversity of their languages and dialects.
Solving these problems will require a lot of effort; this is a long-term problem. It requires trained specialists, scientific developed methods, material investments. But this is the case when the end justifies all means.
Family as the first step in the upbringing of moral culture in children
The idea that everything starts from childhood, from the family in which the child grows, has long been commonplace. Including its spiritual and moral formation and development. It is from the lips of the parents who are preparing him for an independent life in society, he should hear the first instructions on how and why to behave in a specific communication situation, how people feel, how they can evaluate him and what it can affect in his later life.
The rule “My behavior is not my personal business” parents must confirm with their own example of relations in the family and outside it. The most correct words of adults become lies for a growing person, if they contradict their actions.
Family methods of ethical education of the child
Methods and techniques of ethical and spiritual-moral education of children in the family have long been called famous teachers:
- demonstration of their own patterns of attitude to the motherland, national heritage, language, heroes and antiheroes;
- an objective assessment of events in society and analysis of specific situations;
- purposeful acquaintance through the works of literature and art with the spiritual and moral values of the past and present;
- involvement in community service;
- creating situations in which the child can be involved and help other people.
That is, the theory must necessarily be combined with practice.
Unfortunately, the modern school almost does not perform educational functions, since it has become an institution that provides only educational services. Concerned with the problems of upbringing the moral culture of their child, parents should delve into the accumulated pedagogical experience of domestic and progressive foreign specialists, read literature, and be critical of some modern approaches to education. His moral culture is not only the calm old age of his parents, but, by and large, the country's security in the future.
Pedagogical mistakes - tragic consequences
As they grow older, the child peers more closely into the world around him and requires more and more complete explanations. Sometimes parents lack information or experience on certain topics and are afraid to show this to the child so as not to drop their authority in his eyes. Some, to get away from difficult issues, resort to intimidation, fearing a child with the upcoming problems of adulthood. He is always full of doubts, self-doubt, or, conversely, overwhelmed by feelings of superiority over others and moral invulnerability. By virtue of employment, parents can only be interested in school performance, behavior and lose control of the inner, mental state of a growing person.
This is an extremely wrong position. The child begins to look for answers to his questions in dubious sources: in the company of the same inexperienced friends, on Internet sites, in sects. Gradually, he forms an incorrect (and sometimes vicious, dangerous) idea of the burning issues of life: what is good and evil, life, what is its value, what is primary - a duty to society or own interests. The distortion of consciousness leads to a deformation of the will and behavior, fear of complex life problems, to the lack of efforts to self-education. There is a desire to get rid of problems at all costs. From here - the road to nowhere. Child and adolescent suicides, alcoholism, drug addiction, dubious companies, dependency, social parasitism.