It’s tough to make moral judgments, and no one should make them for anyone else unless there are other people being negatively affected. For example, it would be acceptable to attempt to prevent a rape from occurring. Personal beliefs and decisions, however, should not be dictated by anyone except the person in question.

There is an exception to this, and that is the case of the parent and the child. Parents brainwash their children. That’s the job of a parent: to provide the child’s first impression of the world. Parents can choose to tell their children whether or not a divine power exists; or how the world began; or which political views are best. Children may occasionally act out, but for the most part, the child’s opinions mimic those of their parents.

During adolescence, this dynamic changes. Teenagers realize that their parents are not infallible, and they tend to rebel against the belief structures by which they were brought up. This developing of independence is the main cause of the typical high level of conflict between adolescents and their parents.

Now you’re in college, and it’s time to strike a happy medium. Beliefs are not black-and-white; it is not necessary to either agree or disagree with your parents about everything. They probably have some views that you consider reasonable and some which are utterly ridiculous to you. That’s normal. It means you’re interacting with them as people, instead of as authority figures, like they were when you were young.

MCC – Penn Valley is a diverse community, and not all of its students are fresh out of high school. However, parents are not the only entities who can dictate the opinions of others. Friends or significant others can heavily sway a person’s moral decisions. Another strong influence is religion; if a religious leader has a certain opinion, the followers of that religion are likely to adopt it as well. And, of course, political leaders make a career out of affecting people’s perspectives. Everyone is susceptible to the leverage of others.

College is the best place to construct personal belief structures, simply because college students are exposed to many different people and ideas on a daily basis. It’s easier to resist automatically believing a certain conjecture when the other side can be found without effort. If an MCC – Penn Valley teacher makes a statement about the ethics of abortion in class, for example, it’s practically a given that a student will pipe up with a rebuttal.

There’s nothing wrong with having strong views, but take a moment to think about why those views are strong. Are they really yours? Have you examined the evidence and come to conclusions yourself, or have you simply never considered the possibility that any conflicting ideas might be valid? If the former is the case, then feel free to holler it from the rooftops. If not, however, you may want to rethink identifying with an opinion you’ve never questioned.

You’re in college now. Think for yourself.

Tell us what you think. Write Spectrum at editor@mcckc.edu.