Our Society

Many believe that it is the Law that protects our freedom.  I think the law itself does not protect us, but a combination of the law with various consequences for actions, and human nature.  If there is a guideline set that is standard, most people will choose to obey it.  At the beginning of our country, the ethical code of the people became the law, but as time has gone on (hundreds of years), society and it's values change.  We are in the midst of that change, where things we thought would never be "OK" and now deemed "OK" and "not a big deal" by the majority of society.  It's a dangerous world, and now with the law not keeping us from doing things we know are wrong, what does?  Our own code of ethics.  When it comes down to it, we are our best filters and governors.  If we don't want to see something everybody else is seeing, we can turn away and "filter" it out.  If we don't want to do something everybody else is doing, most often we can refuse to do it.  We have the ability to see right from wrong, and we have the ability to make choices.  Like Smokey the Bear, we are also the only ones who can prevent the wildfires that would destroy our morals within our own souls.