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#450736 11/09/12 10:01 AM
Joined: Nov 2000
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MORALS
It seems to me that the majority of people who live on this island are church goers; I am not so do not know what these churches preach/teach about honesty. The problem of corruption and stealing is rampant here; from top to bottom. Do the churches not have any influence? Do they care?
I did grow up in a very basic Christian community/family. Taking what was not mine was considered a sin and shame was a sure result of wrong-doing.
There was one basic exception which was the effect of being a part of a large clan: personal boundaries were blurred. For instance clothes were passed down and general merchandise was available to whom ever needed it. This helped create a more selfless society. (It also caused me a lot of grief in my adult life - takers seem to always find givers). I have to wonder if perhaps this attitude contributes to the petty theft here - what we call growing legs and walking away?
I have to keep after certain people to NOT bring to my house something that they did not buy and to NOT buy anything off the street that is suspect fully cheap. Temptation is everywhere.
I am not being sarcastic or accusatory - just asking a basic question and would like to hear others opinions.


Harriette
Take only pictures leave only bubbles
ScubaLdy #450742 11/09/12 11:03 AM
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"dey got, me no got" seems a good enough reason for most petty thefts and perhaps even the more aggressive home invasions. Since most tieves aren't being held accountable there rarely, if ever, is an opportunity to find out what their "excuse" or motivation might be.

There's also a level of acceptance within the community for "borrowing". I remember one particular incident where a fisherman, loaded down with his tools of the trade approached where his dugout canoe once was, looked around, shrugged his shoulders and started back home. I asked him what happened. He replied "Someone needed it more than me today. Maybe it come back."

There is no cut and dry answer to your question. Corrupt police, politicians, courts/lawyers...all the people who are, theoretically at least, role models for a society sure don't set the example. Poverty, unemployment, the daily observations and obvious comparisons between the the haves and have nots...

Church has a role albeit a lessening role these days in guiding a society. But as one can't rely uniquely on a school system to educate a child, one can't rely on the Church as the sole source of moral values. It starts in the family. Now consider the other post somewhere around here that reports Belizean women "don't expect men to be faithful". A sure sign there's a problem at the root (family) level.

ScubaLdy #450743 11/09/12 11:21 AM
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Very well stated. I agree.


Reality is only an illusion that occurs due to a lack of alcohol
ScubaLdy #450756 11/09/12 02:09 PM
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Posts: 984
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Here is list of morals from Aesop's fables:


A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush.
A bribe in the hand shows mischief in the heart.
A false tale often betrays itself.
A fine appearance is a poor substitute for inward worth.
A humble life with peace and quiet is better than a splendid one with danger and risk.
A man is known by the company he keeps.
A villain may disguise himself, but he will not deceive the wise.
A willful beast must go his own way
A willful man will have his way to his own hurt.
A word in season is most precious.
Abstain and enjoy.
Acquaintance softens prejudices.
An act of kindness is a good investment.
Attempt not impossibilities.
Avoid a remedy that is worse than the disease.
Be on guard against men who can strike from a distance.
Be reasonable in your criticism.
Be sure that there are others worse off than yourself.
Beauty is only skin-deep.
Benefits bestowed upon the evil-disposed increase their means of injuring you.
Better a certain enemy than a doubtful friend.
Better poverty without care, than riches with.
Beware of flatterers.
Beware of hypocrites.
Beware of the counsel of the unfortunate.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Change of habit cannot alter Nature.
Children are not to be blamed for the faults of their parents.
Choose the lesser of two evils.
Clothes do not make the man.
Contentment with our lot is an element of happiness.
Counsel without help is useless.
Count the cost before you commit yourselves.
Do not attempt to hide things which cannot be hid.
Do not attempt too much at once.
Do not be in a hurry to change one evil for another.
Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.
Do not enter into danger for the profit of others.
Do not lay claim to a virtue you do not possess if you would keep the respect of your friends.
Do not try to do that which is not natural to you.
Do not waste your pity on a scamp.
Do nothing without a regard to the consequences.
Don't make much ado about nothing.
Equals make the best friends.
Even the wise must recognize their limits.
Every man for himself.
Every man should be content to mind his own business.
Every tale is not to be believed.
Everyone is more or less master of his own fate.
Evil companions bring more hurt than profit.
Evil tendencies are shown in early life.
Evil wishes, like chickens, come home to roost.
Example is more powerful than precept.
Faithful service should long be remembered.
False confidence often leads into danger.
Figures are not always facts.
Fine feather friends are not worth much.
Fine feathers do not make fine birds.
Force is not a remedy.
Harm hatch, harm catch.
Harm seek, harm find.
He is not to be trusted as a friend who mistreats his own family.
He is wise who is warned by the misfortunes of others.
He who despises a humble friend may be doing an ill turn to himself.
He who grasps at the shadow may lose the substance.
He who shares the danger ought to share the prize.
He who tries to please everybody pleases nobody.
Hypocritical speeches are easily seen through.
If men had all they wished, they would be often ruined.
If words suffice not, blows must follow.
In a change of government the poor change nothing beyond the name of their master.
In avoiding one evil, care must be taken not to fall into another.
In quarreling about the shadow we often lose the substance.
In serving the wicked, expect no reward, and be thankful if you escape injury for your pains.
It is a mean nature which affects to dislike that which it is unable to obtain. (Sour grapes)
It is absurd to ape our betters.
It is an aspect of all happiness to suppose that we deserve it.
It is better to bend than to break.
It is dangerous to speak the truth to tyrants.
It is easier to make a suggestion than to carry it out.
It is easy to kick a man that is down.
It is not always wise to take people at their word.
It is too late to prepare for danger when our enemies are upon us.
It is useless to expect our prayers to be heard if we do not strive as well as pray.
It matters little if those who are inferior to us in merit should be like us in outside appearances.
It shows an evil disposition to take advantage of a friend in distress.
It sometimes happens that one man has all the toil, and another all the profit.
Kindness is better bestowed on the living than on the dead.
Lessons are not given, they are taken.
Let well alone.
Like will draw like.
Little liberties are great offenses.
Live and let live.
Look before you leap.
Man is what he believes.
Men argue. Nature acts.
Men may be ruined by attempting to appear that which Nature has not intended them to be.
Men of evil reputation, when they perform a good deed, fail to get credit for it.
Men often bear little grievances with less courage than they do large misfortunes.
Might makes right.
Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends.
Misfortune will surely befall him who loves unwisely.
Misfortunes springing from ourselves are the hardest to bear.
Misfortunes we bring upon ourselves are doubly bitter.
Nature exceeds nurture.
Nature never breaks her own laws.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Necessity knows no law.
No arguments will give courage to the coward.
No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.
No one can be a friend if you know not whether to trust or distrust him.
No one truly forgets injuries in the presence of him who caused the injury.
Nothing escapes the master's eye.
Notoriety is often mistaken for fame.
Of what use is it to pretend there is a choice when there is none?
Old birds are not to be caught with chaff.
Old friends cannot with impunity be sacrificed for new ones.
Once bitten, twice shy.
One cannot be first in everything.
One good turn deserves another.
One man's meat is another man's poison.
One story is good, till another is told.
One swallow does not make summer.
Our mere anticipations of life outrun its realities.
People who wrangle and fight give opportunities to their enemies.
Persuasion is better than force.
Physicians should first heal themselves.
Pleasure bought with pains, hurts.
Pride goes before destruction.
Revenge is a two-edged sword.
Revenge is dearly bought at the price of liberty.
Self-help is the best help.
Self-interest alone moves some men.
Silly people despise what is precious because they cannot understand it.
Slavery is too high a price to pay for easy living.
Slow but steady wins the race.
Some men are of more consequence in their own eyes than in the eyes of their neighbors.
Some men underrate their best blessings.
Some will always find fault with the things that benefit them.
Spare the rod and spoil the child.
Stoop to conquer.
Straws show how the wind blows.
Swan song
The advise of an enemy is not to be trusted.
The battle is not always won by the strong.
The best intentions will not always ensure success.
The cold-blooded possess a poisonous bite.
The covetous are poor givers.
The desire for imaginary benefits often involves the loss of present blessings.
The dishonest, if they act honestly, get no credit.
The flower in the vase smiles, but it can no longer laugh.
The greatest kindness will not bind the ungrateful.
The greedy never know when they have had enough.
The hero is brave in deeds as well as words.
The least outlay is not always the greatest gain.
The loiterer often blames delay on his more active friend.
The memory of a good deed lives.
The more honor the more danger.
The remedy may be as bad as the disease.
The safeguards of virtue are hateful to those with evil intentions.
The simple are easily deceived.
The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny.
The value is in the worth, not in the number.
The want of a good excuse never kept a villain from crime.
The wicked often fall into their own snares.
The wise man does at once what the fool does finally.
There are two sides to every truth.
There is more danger from a pretended friend than from an open enemy.
There is no believing a liar, even when he speaks the truth.
They are not wise who give to themselves the credit due to others.
They who act without sufficient thought, will often fall into unsuspected danger.
They who lay traps for others are often caught by their own bait.
They who live by robbery cannot call other men thieves.
Think before you act.
Those who assume a character which does not belong to them, only make themselves ridiculous.
Those who betray their friends must not expect others to keep faith with them.
Those who cause evil are the first to be overwhelmed by its ruin.
Those who enter by the back stairs may expect to be shown out at the window.
Those who lead an idle life are apt to scorn the honest and diligent, but their life is often miserable.
Those who love practical jokes must be prepared to laugh when one is made at their expense.
Those who seek to please everybody please nobody.
Those who suffer most cry out the least.
Those who, out of vanity, attempt more than they can perform are certain to bring ridicule upon themselves.
Time and place often give the advantage to the weak over the strong.
To know the world one must construct it.
Too much cunning over-reaches itself.
Try before you trust.
Two blacks do not make one white.
Union is strength.
Use is better than ornament.
Use serves to overcome dread.
War can protect. It cannot create.
We had better bear our troubles bravely than try to escape them.
We must make friends in prosperity if we would have their help in adversity.
We should never lose a grand opportunity.
What is most truly valuable is often underrated.
Whatever you do, do with all your might.

Inplub #450776 11/09/12 04:59 PM
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Interesting but irrelevant. Look at the list of moral value stories and lore that exists in Belize. Most can't even spell Aesop let alone read the stories...

ScubaLdy #450783 11/09/12 07:59 PM
Joined: Oct 2012
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Hmmmm never heard of Aesop, I'm just impressed with all that typing, unless of course it's a cut and paste

ScubaLdy #450784 11/09/12 08:29 PM
Joined: Oct 2001
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Geeze Louise - never heard of Aesop? That is one of the saddest postings ever.
No fault to you Fenway, but who is in charge of teaching and leading out there ......



Diane Campbell #450794 11/09/12 11:04 PM
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 333
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Originally Posted by Diane Campbell
Geeze Louise - never heard of Aesop? That is one of the saddest postings ever.
No fault to you Fenway, but who is in charge of teaching and leading out there ......


The real sadness is the generation that doesn't bother to look up information that they don't know. They think by saying they are a researcher and a planner, then just asking, again, questions that have been answered on this forum many times over. When all they really had to do was type in their subject and get pages of answers to their questions.

There really is not excuse any more. The internet is at our fingertips. It holds answers. One would hope that they are teaching our children how to think critically, study information from all angles, then make an informed decision.

Sadly, it just isn't there any longer.


Words have power. Speak it into existence.
#450820 11/10/12 09:46 AM
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 579
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Originally Posted by C2C
Interesting but irrelevant. Look at the list of moral value stories and lore that exists in Belize. Most can't even spell Aesop let alone read the stories...


I agree - lovely English language - Morals - standards of behaviour (as in: "out and out corruption? have they no morals?"), also, lessons learned (as in - "what? they paid the labour and materials up front and they're surprised they got no house? well, the moral of the story is....")

keep up the morale though!


Mathieu's Delicatessen

Gunter the original & best.... baker, chef: breads, breakfast, lunch, FOOD!
MathieusDeli #450827 11/10/12 12:50 PM
Joined: Oct 2010
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We need a "Like" button on these posts!

Loved Aesop's Fables as a child, which I guess shows my age. grin Had a great book with each one illustrated. Good lessons for life for sure. Found this site for the uninitiated:

http://www.taleswithmorals.com/

I hadn't thought of ole Aesop for years. What a nice stroll down memory lane!


Former Belize expat traveling the USA & Mexico
http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com
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