Morals? You mean I am supposed to have morals? I had them surgically removed when I was 24.
Seriously, my parents were the biggest for me. We were not religious. My parents made my brothers and I go to Catholic church, but we all knew it was for show. My parents never went so why should we.
My mother was socially conscious before it was cool. We were not allowed to draw swastikas or say the n-word. I guess marrying a Puerto Rican in 1959 gave her a sense that people may be different but they are still people. I know it was a big shock from her New England upbringing.
My father always told us to be happy. It didn't matter what you did in life, just treat others well and be happy. Though he was an alcoholic until he dried out when I was 22, he still showed love and treated us great.
Music was also a huge influence. Started listening to Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull. They showed me worlds I didn't know existed. (funny side note. One of my best friends now, an old guy 70, is Bob Dylan's first cousin. They haven't seen each other or had contact in over 50 years, but still kind of cool.)
Facts don't lie or have an agenda. Facts are just facts
Mark Twain. In general, he enhances one's ability to detect hypocrisy - especially in the mirror.
More specifically, the part of Huck Finn where Huck decides that he would rather go to Hell than betray Jim. It provided a very succinct bit of fodder for considering the roles of law, religion, and human relations in deciding a moral course. For me, it was apparent that the first two came up short.
Well, as a young child, I would have to say Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street had a pretty big influence.
And I would bet that an even bigger influence than General Authority figures, Religion, or Philosophy books/courses would be my friends. As I've grown up, and the people that I chose to associate with and have found myself associating with had a huge impact on the way I thought (and think) people should behave in a society. My friends have shown me both the kind of person that I do want to be and the kind that I definitely don't want to be, and I think this has directed my moral compass much more than anyone saying how I should be.
We have many intuitions in our life and the point is that many of these intuitions are wrong. The question is, are we going to test those intuitions? -Dan Ariely
We were not allowed to draw swastikas or say the n-word.
Puerto Ricans that don't say the n-word? Thats rare.
Haven't been to the Bronx or Brooklyn lately? All be it it's said with the (a) at the end. In Miami it's used all the time by hispanics in a non-derogatory way, again with the (a) at the end. I personally don't find anything wrong with it used that way by anyone, it's in rap lyrics so I'm not going to skip that part of the song.
This thread is not about such commonly praised morality sources. This thread is about uncommon sources of morality.
What uncommonly praised sources had major influences on your moral compass?
For example, mine are mostly from TV...[ ]...
i think we'd also have to disqualify TV and music and schooling and books and friends. these are all common and expected to have influence. as to whether they are "praised" or not, some are & some are not.
i think we might want to focus on the unexpected.....
now what sort of things might that encompass? would a bad experience with a dog bite, leading to medical complications and a sort of subsequent unpleasant attitude towards all things canine lead one to become a leftist marching against the war machine? not likely, dubious one might say, but this may have happened once that RAZD & i know of, or could speculate upon. well - this may not do, but...
i'm trying to ransack my brain for the unexpected moral influence or 12 that may have happened in my life.....
once in grade school i stole a folding ruler from a classmate who was not at that time a friend. some years later we did become friends in the Scout Troop. a few more years went by i finally found the right time to return the ruler to him. he had an older brother who was rather disapproving of any of his friends, including me. none of us like the older brother at all. he would even get physical when we visited, and being bigger, would evict us from their house. later on our friend unexpectedly left school & went to the West Coast where he disappeared forever from us & his family. even much later on i had a chance to meet up with the older brother and, as they say, time heals all wounds and we became friendly. i did the "walk a mile in his shoes" sort of thing and realized that he was only trying to protect his little brother and he had good reason, for the forces pulling our friend away eventually got him. i wished i'd had a folding ruler i could return to the older brother for all the lost time that had been stolen from him.
ah, damn, that wasnt so funny. furthermore, i think it falls under the umbrella of "friends".
Oddly enough - a fundamentalist from Boston was one of the major influences on my morality, though certainly not the way he intended.
I was on a class trip in 8th grade to Boston. I and some of my friends were approached by a Buddhist selling books. We were curious, so we pitched in and bought the book. Immediately a Christian came up, shoved some Jack Chick tracts in our hands, and said "you know you boys are wasting your time with that garbage, right?"
His venomous hatred for the beliefs of others was what, for the very first time, made me question my own beliefs. I believe that this experience set me up for my eventual de-conversion a decade later. My revulsion at his bigotry made me examine my own views and rationally think about right and wrong instead of simply following the instructions of my parents and my pastor.
So thanks Random Bostonian Fundy. Instead of pushing me towards Christ, you opened my eyes to rationality and compassion for others regardless of their beliefs.
There are indications that your "shift" key does work - There were a few upper-case letters in your message.
But it is very nice and a good thing to start sentences with upper-case (capital) letters. Also such words as "I" and "I'm". It makes your text more readable.
On the other hand, you are using improper capitalization elsewhere ("Scout Troop", "West Coast"). That, however, doesn't really bother me.
"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. "Thomas Paine
I remember that commercial! It had an effect on me too as a kid! Of course I actually believed that such an Indian would actually paddle his way up the Hudson River...never bothering to see the symbolism but, as usual, taking it literally!
It had an effect on me too as a kid! Of course I actually believed that such an Indian would actually paddle his way up the Hudson River...never bothering to see the symbolism but, as usual, taking it literally! 
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