In our second meeting of Spring term and the first with CGO leaders Shaul and Leslie, our focused activity was meant to make us more of what created our moral / ethical foundations. The questions that were asked for this exercise included:

• Who is a person you are related to, immediate or extended family, has influenced your ethical views?
• Who is someone in your life, a friend or teacher et cetera, that has influenced your ethical views?
• Who is someone in the world that has influenced your ethical views?
• What institutions or groups has helped shape your ethical views?
• What type of text has influenced your ethical views?
• What sort of activity et cetera has influenced you?

While first answering these questions independently, we then split into groups of about five and shared our answers with each other to see the similarities and differences. For the first question, everyone could come up with an answer which ranged from parents, grandparents, siblings, and cousins. As we moved onto the second and third question, people started to not have answers because as we discussed, it seemed that we were not able to connect with those we did not know. It seemed that we learned from those that we knew more personally such as family members.

For the questions 4-6, a common theme between my groups answers were institutions such as places of worship, holy books, and places that helped develop a sense of security.

After discussing these questions in our small group, we then opened these questions to the larger CGO group and shared what some of us said in our small groups. While some of the answers were similar to my group, it was great to hear who / what had influenced my fellow CGOers. For question number 3, I had not come up with an answer, but it was great to hear that people such as Nelson Mandela had helped shape people’s moral / ethical views.

Overall, I thought this exercise was a great way to actively think about who had helped shape our ethical / moral beliefs. For me personally, this is a huge part of who I am, and without the influence of my grandparents, I am not sure who I would be as a person today.

By: Colby Chuck, CGO 20