We Must Obey And Obey Authority - 1184 Words

We as a society conform to the idea that it is always necessary to obey authority. This is such a normalized function of everyday life, that it has resulted in us losing sight of our own moral convictions. Not every act of this expected obedience is conscious. We have fell into the habit of obeying first and asking questions later. Even worse than that, we have developed a more destructive habit of not questioning authority at all. Our moral judgements have became clouded by our understanding of authority as well as the desire and expectation to conform with others opinions and actions. From a very young ages we are taught not to question authority. It is instilled in our heads as children that authority figures are always right and that†¦show more content†¦Another concept of how children are taught authority is proposed by Professor Marta Laupa. Her research of the development mental psychology has lead her to believe that childrens ideas and understanding of obedience do not come from reward and punishment, but from early understanding of social organization and status (Laupa 333). Social status and the concept of reward and punishment all greatly influence our first understandings of what it means and why we obey authority. Both of these influences affect our ability to recognizing authority as an abusive power as children and continues into later adulthood. When taught not to question authority and to see others as superior to you because of age or position, this instills in our minds that authority figures commit no wrongful acts. Our minds are programmed not to question authority as children, and when taught to see others as superior in power to you because of age and position, we no longer think to question our own moral convictions, but insteads trust the moral judgements of our superior figures. This results in authority more often than not taking advantage of their power and asking their followers to participate in acts that go against their own moral beliefs. An extreme example of this is how terrorist organizations follow their leaders, yet we see their acts as wrong, because they have such a high standard of respect, trust, or even fear in their leader they see nothing wrong in their actions. We grow up in a