James Michael

Professor Thomas
UWRT 1102-058
April 16, 2015

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Self-assessment: I honestly kind of rushed through this paper especially since it is the
rough draft. So any criticism or grammatical errors please do not be afraid to tell me or point
them out. This inquiry question honestly really does intrigue me but I still somehow found it a
little difficult writing this paper without somewhat repeating what I was saying. Overall, I hope
you enjoy and my main purpose with paper is to basically just get the reader to think.

Seeking Justification
Throughout history, there are many examples of peoples moral values being persuaded
due to authority. In my opinion, some people do things morally unjust because they believe it is
morally justified by the government or society. My inquiry question first started out with, how
does the government affect our moral values? After analyzing and brainstorming the question I
realized that throughout certain examples in history, not only is it the government that affects a
persons moral values but also the people that are governed by that government, and religion that
can affect ones views. This paper will discuss how peoples ethical beliefs are easily influenced
through the government, religion, and social media. With that being said I have come to realize
that peoples moral values are often influenced by authority, therefore; I will use articles,
movies, books, and historical facts to present my personal view.
The government plays a huge role in not only affecting the moral values of individuals
but communities as a whole. I say this, because the government has authority through the law.
This idea comes from a book: Why People Obey the Law by Tom R. Tyler where he states,

Legal authorities know that the key to their effectiveness is their ability to make laws and
decisions that will be followed by the public, so they try to act in ways that will promote public

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compliance with the law.1 The government has authorization over us that affects our morals,
without our control, and sometimes against our will. By this, I mean that the government places
values in us that we subdue because we look to the government as an authoritative power.
Though, compliance is never complete, People view compliance with the law as appropriate
because of their attitudes about how they should behave, they will voluntarily assume the
obligation to follow legal rules.2 This means that it is, in a way, the social norm to follow laws
because if not, there are consequences for this happening.
The Holocaust is a historical example of the government affecting peoples moral values.
During the Holocaust, non-Jewish people in Germany treated Jewish people the way they did
purely based off the government, social views and religion. The government had an authoritative
figure who also used social media such as propaganda to justify the cause and used religion as a
target. There have been many books and movies based on this concept and the control of the
government.
A prime example of this concept can be found in a book called Brave New World by
Aldous Huxley. In this isomorphic brave new world, compliance is the goal shared by all
institutional theories. In the preferred cognitive version, deviance seems defined out. Social
control just happens.3 In this book, we see a society that is bred for perfection. People are
1 Tom R. Tyler, Why People Obey The Law (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2006), 3.
2 Tyler, 4.
3 Paul M. Hirsch, Chicago Journal, Sociology Without Social Structure:
Neointistitutional Theory Meets Brave New World, 6 May 1997,
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.1086/231132?

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literally genetically modified to fit this culture of perfection and when they try to go against the
grain, the classic book ends in a tragedy due to nonconformity.4 A more popular examples of
this is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games is based on a dystopian
future where two representatives from twelve districts are forced to fight each other to the
death.5 This movie is based on a politically forced community where people are punished if
they rebel, tricked to believe immoral concepts, and forced to have morals they do not agree
with.6 Both Brave New World and The Hunger Games are embellished examples of the
government having a major impact on our values, but they serve as a warning. This warning is
that the government has a vast power over us that ultimately controls our values and moral
beliefs, due to a social norm of conforming to society.
Religion is often looked at as a type of emotional sensibility. This belief is taught in sociology
courses. Around the world, religions provide answers to perplexing questions about ultimate
meaning.7 Religion has three elements: beliefs, practices or rituals, and communities and it
provides emotional comfort, social solidarity, guidelines for everyday life, social control, and
uid=3739776&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21106022437361 (accessed 13 April 2015).
4 IBID
5 Suzanne Collins, IMDb, The Hunger Games Plot Summary, 2012,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392170/plotsummary (accessed 2 April 2015).
6 Suzanne Collins, IMDb, The Hunger Games Plot Summary, 2012,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392170/plotsummary (accessed 2 April 2015).
7 James M. Henslin, Essentials of Sociology: A Down-To-Earth Approach (Edwardsville: Pearson,
2015), 421, 422.

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social change.8 Religious teachings and practices unite believers into a community that shares
values and perspectives i.e. Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The answers that religion provides
about ultimate meaning bring comfort by assuring people that there is a purpose to life, even to
suffering. Religion also provides practical guidelines for everyday life.9 Just like the
government, in breaking these guidelines, there are dreadful consequences and praises for
abiding by the laws, typically pertaining to afterlife.10 Although these guidelines for everyday
life usually apply only to its members, nonmembers feel a spillover.11 This is where peoples
moral views are affected, again due to emotional response, fear, and the desire to be a part of a
community.
Throughout history, religion has persuaded people to follow without question, and
persecute other individuals. A renowned example of this is the Catholic Church in the Sixteenth
Century. The printing press was not yet an invention, therefore, many common people did not
know how to read. The Catholic Church then started taking the meaning of scripture out of
proportion and even adding things to The Bible such as penance, which is a false atonement for
sins in order for the church to gain money. People felt a sense of security in the church and

8 Henslin 421.
9 Henslin 421, 422.
10 Henslin 421.
11 Henslin 422.

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therefore believed their false teachings and valued them with no remorse.12 A prime example of
people changing their values to something absurd due to the persuasion of religious authority is
the Jonestown tragedy of November 18 1978.13 Almost one thousand people took their lives:
infants, children, women, and men, by drinking a poison-laced Kool-Aid at the hands of
Reverend Jim Jones.14 This is an extreme case of one religious front-runner having control
over a plethora of peoples values. As Karl Marx said, Religion is the sigh of the oppressed
creature, the sentiment of a heartless world It is the opium of the people.15 Therefore,
people follow religions for a sense of stability, a crutch, and a hope for their future.
In todays society social media plays an empowering role affecting the persuasion of
peoples moral values. Electronic media has a power over us because it has changed the
significance of space, time, and physical barriers as communication variables.16 The mass
media provides the best access to the public through their strong drawing power. For this
reason, technology is increasingly used as the principal vehicle of justification. Struggles to
12 Justo Gonzales, Volume Two: The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Present Day
(Peabody: Prince Press, 2007), 14-28.
13 Rebecca Moore, University of California Press, The Cultural Transformation of a Tragedy,
Novermber 2003, http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.1525/nr.2003.7.2.92?
uid=3739776&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21106022918441 (accessed 2 April 2015).
14 Elliot Aronson, Readings About the Social Animal: Ninth Addition (New York: Worth Publishers,
2011)80-81.
15 James M. Henslin, Essentials of Sociology: A Down-To-Earth Approach (Edwardsville: Pearson,
2015) 426.
16 Joshua Meyrowitz, No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1985) 13.

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legitimatize and gain support for ones causes and to discredit those of ones opponents are now
waged more and more through the electronic media.17 The main line of communication in
society is through social media. Every day people interact through Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, Snapchat, and so much more. Through these sites people network with other people.
Sense nobody has complete control of social media, it is a higher power such as propaganda that
controls the minds of many people. Due to the widespread use of the internet, many celebrities
and important figures are highly praised. Social media makes it possible for us to track their
lives to the extreme. Therefore, these popular figures are highly looked up to. They create
trends, fashion statements, and are role models. Social media through peer pressure and
popularity change peoples values.
In conclusion, the government, religion, and social media have a huge impact on our
moral values. These come from the human races desire for authority. Society does not function
without an authoritative entity to follow, which all of the above have proved to be. These
authoritative powers have rules and consequences which cause people to fear punishment. This
fear sometimes persuades or even forces people to change their values. Finally, people often
conform to the a social norm for the search of a community with positive and emotional
sensibility. It makes me wonder what people would do if they knew they wouldnt be punished
by the law or knew it wouldnt be socially frowned upon. How far would someone go to say
something is morally just, just because the law or their social peers say so?
17 William M. Kurtines, Jacob Gewirtz, Jacob L. Lamb, Handbook of Moral Behavior and
Development: Volume 1: Theory (New York: Psychology Press, 1991)76.

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Work Cited
Aronson, Elliot. Readings About The Social Animal,. New York: Worth ;, 2011. 80-81.
Print.
Collins, Suzanne. "Plot Summary." IMDb. 2012. Web. 2 Apr. 2015.
Gonzales, Justo L. The Story of Christianity: The Early Christian Church to the
Present Day. 2nd ed. New York, NY: HarperOne/HarperCollins, 2010. Print.
Henslin, James M. Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. Boston: Allyn
and Bacon, 2004. Print.
Hirsch, Paul. "Sociology Without Social Structure: Neointistitutional Theory Meets
Brave New World." 6 May 1997. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.
Kurtines, William. "Google Books." Google Books. 1991. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.
Meyrowitz, Joshua. No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social
Behavior. New York: Oxford UP, 1985. Print.
Moore, Rebecca. "The Cultural Transformation of Tragedy." 1 Nov. 2003. Web. 2 Apr.
2015.

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Tyler, Tom R. Why People Obey the Law. New Haven: Yale UP, 1990. Print.