Philosophy and Religious Values

        I've been quite emotional for the last couple of weeks or so.  Watching "The von Trapp Family: A Life of Music" and seeing the horrors of bullying by supporters of Hitler. Crying over different stories featured in 60 minutes.  It's almost like five years worth of PMS took over.  What's up with that?

            In my philosophy class, I was supposed to take a quiz and post my results about taking the quiz.  I just now finished the assignment of what I learned about contextualism or relativism and explaining the similarities between those and virtue ethics.  Actually, I am only supposed to pick one value and one ethic.  I am really quite confused by moral values - which, by the way, are part of my religious upbringing and NOT philosophy.

            So I start off the discussion by saying that I really don't put much value into logic quizzes or emotional evaluations.  Keep in mind that I do not appreciate being analyzed and find the results of the test confusing.  I found the explanation of values even more confusing.  If I understand the definitions it seems I would fall into the category of contextualism more than relativism.  Even during the lecture I was in agreement but have not retained what it was I thought I had agreed to. So perhaps I accept either relativism or contextualism.  

"Let you give you an example and perhaps you can help me with the analyzation.

          "My mother has always expected each of her children to tell the truth.  She was a woman with a sixth sense or eyes in the back of her head or something.  She ALWAYS knew when we were lying.  Always.  The fact that we often got punished more for lying than whatever we had done wrong made us realize it would be better to just tell the truth and not bother with trying to hide it from her.  I was taught to tell the truth.  Not everybody has learned the same values I was taught.  I get that.  I can even accept that.  This next part of the post is what I'm having issues with. 

          "About ten years ago she was diagnosed with a form of dementia (she did not have Alzheimer's) and lost touch with reality - though in her mind everything she spoke was the truth.  Her children were told to "play along" and accept her reality - because really, what was the point in making her sad or angry by correcting her on something she was just going to forget in five minutes anyway.  When she was up for an evaluation, I opened the door to two strangers.  One sat with her and asked her questions while I took the other into my mom's room to show her what medications and dosages my mom was taking for various things.

          "When the two aides left, my mom got really defensive and asked why she had been interrogated.  I lied to my mom about who they were and why they had come.  [My exact words were, "Oh, those weren't your visiting teachers?" though I knew full well that they weren't] It was easier for both of us for me to do it that way.  That doesn't make it right.  The evaluation was more necessary than my telling the truth.  Still, it bothered me as I have been taught not to lie and there I was lying to the one that had taught me not to.  Is that contextualism or relativism? Does it matter?"

            Before I was more than halfway into my thoughts, I was crying about the lie and dementia and missing my mom.  I'm crying because my arm hurts as I haven't had it in a relaxed position while trying to operate the mouse.  I cry because I'm not able to have a face to face conversation with different family members like I used to. An uplifting post this is not.  Sorry about that.  But if it's of any consolation, I am feeling better than when I initially wrote this (I think it might have been Monday?)