CHARACTER COUNTS! Week: The Rejection of Moral Agnosticism 641.5
This is a big week for me. It’s the 16th annual National CHARACTER COUNTS! Week, endorsed by a bipartisan Senate Resolution and a Presidential Proclamation to promote and celebrate efforts to teach and model good character.
To be honest, I’m not only proud but amazed at how big the CHARACTER COUNTS! movement has become. It reaches more than 7 million young people and their families every year.
In 1992, when I started CHARACTER COUNTS!, a movement promoting character development based on universal moral values, most schools and youth-serving organizations steered away from teaching values.
Fearing values-based teaching would incite protests or lawsuits, they adopted a position of value neutrality grounded in what I call “moral agnosticism” – a position that denies or doubts the existence of common ethical values that transcend cultural, religious, and socioeconomic differences.
CHARACTER COUNTS! is based on the premise that value neutrality on core issues like truth, respect for human dignity, and justice is itself immoral and that schools and other organizations that help shape youngsters’ ethical perspectives have a moral duty to promote six character traits we call the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and good citizenship.
There was plenty of opposition at first. Some couldn’t believe a strategy based on shared values wasn’t a ploy to promote a religious or political ideology. Others, ignoring research and common sense, dismissed character development efforts as either impossible or ineffective.
The battle is hardly over, but as the millions celebrating CHARACTER COUNTS! Week prove, we’re getting stronger and we’re not going away.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
Please visit charactercounts.org to find what’s being done. Go here to view this year’s Senate Resolution and Presidential Proclamation. Go here to view Senator Chris Todd’s endorsement speech before the Senate.
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Comments
I really like your blog and I respect your work. I'll be a frequent visitor.
Posted by: Crasty | October 23, 2009 2:44 AM
Actually, Michael, I think your program came at the perfect time in history. Americans are becoming less religious and yet, this is how many of us learned morality and ethics. I remember thinking years ago when I turned away from organized religion, "How am I going to pass along my values to my children?" Of course, I was young and didn't understand that leading by example was the most powerful influence as I grew up with the concept of making God happy or sad. So your program fills a gap, particularly for those who learn ethics by TV and the media.
Posted by: Andrea | October 23, 2009 8:11 AM
The very fact that the Senate endorses the program tells me that it is a mixture of righteousness and evil. The world would not be following this program if it didn't have a mixture. Popularity by numbers is not indicative of truth. It just shows that millions of deceived Americans are falling for it.
Posted by: John | October 24, 2009 4:19 AM