Cesar Reyes

Tammie Neeley
Accounting 2010
October 21, 2014
My Ethical Code
As a child my ethical code was shaped by the by Christian religion, but as Ive grown
older I made a couple of changes influenced by the American culture. Most parents want to
raise a good child and for those who are part of a religion (like my parents), already have an
understanding of what a good person should act and behave. So they raise their child based on
a set of rules given to them by a religion. Of course like all rules, sometimes they can be
questioned. Ive experienced those doubts myself multiple times, and have altered my own
ethical code that I was raised with. It doesnt mean Im a terrible person it just shows that
sometimes changing your ethical code can be moral and other times immoral.
My parents were born into Christianity and have lived by the rules given to them in the
Holy Bible their whole lives. They grew up in a small town in Mexico called Hidalgo and if you
lived in this town you were either a Pentecostal Christian or a Catholic. There was not much
variety in religions as there is here in the states. So from birth to the age of seven I lived in
Mexico, and in a nut shell I was raised following the Ten Commandments. That being said when
I moved to the states thirteen years ago and I gained perspective on not just religion but the
different lifestyles as well. Everything was different; the food, the people, the music and so
much more. All these aspects of the American life made me reflect on my ethical code that was
made for me in Mexico. Certain choices or actions I made that were influenced by the American
standard of living seemed bizarre to my parents and other choices or actions I took that were
influenced by parents rules seemed weird to the my friends that have always lived with the
American culture.
I remember experiencing that feeling of not fitting in with my peers for the first time,
when I invited them to their first Mexican birthday party. Its a tradition in the Mexican culture
for the birthday person to get their face shoved into the cake by the friends and family
members. At the time I didnt know that this tradition was rarely practiced by my friends and
their families. They mentioned that everyone eating the cake was going to be sharing germs
and that it was gross, and icky. Just kids saying what they say to each other. Now that I look
back at the moment I realize its not a big deal, but at the time it was I was so embarrassed. I
was only eight or nine and those were the differences I was noticing between these two
cultures. I was starting to realize there was more than one way of distinguishing something to
be good or bad.
Eventually I started to bend and twist what the definition of my ethical code. Taking
some normal observational behaviors from my old Mexican culture and combining them with
some new ones from the American culture to build a new way of seeing right from wrong.
For example; I was told as a child that swearing was a bad trend to participate in,
according to my religion and my parents. Then once I started going to school in the states all
the kids were swearing. However I wasnt, because I was uncomfortable with saying those kind
of things. Purely because of the way I was raised. I eventually memorized a couple of cuss
words as time went by. To this day I dont swear all the time because I still think its vulgar, but
when I stub my toe in the dark Ill yell out something I usually dont. Afterwards I can still view
myself as a good person its not like I committed a crime. I know everyone swears but only a
couple of people actually get offended, everyone just minds their own business. I learned this
from living in the States for half my life.
Another one of my own opinions Ive changed is Stem Cell research, my parents and the
Christian religion tell me that this type of since is something humans should not be
experimenting with. In high school I was given an assignment to investigate the topic and thats
how I found out about stem cell experiments, I would have never been assigned something like
this in the little school I went to in Mexico. Consequently I saw the results of many tests and the
positive impacts they made so I began to support the people behind that line of work. Some
would say its an immoral thing to do, but the results outweigh the bad rep this research gets.
So to me the exploration of these types of science is morally right. I made my opinion up about
this topic because the American culture decided that this type of science should be shown to
everyone and that there is potential for a number of things.
One more opinion I made that doesnt exactly agree with my religion is the creation of
the universe, there are two sides to this discussion. On one side religion says God created
everything, on the other side scientist give an explanation of random events taking place to
create the universe we see today. I chose to say that maybe God made all these random events
happen, kind of mixing both theories together. My parents wouldnt approve of that kind
rationalization. My reasoning behind this theory is predisposed by the things I was thought in
school and the heavy influence I get from my religion. I didnt want to choose a side so I
combined the two explanations. These examples are just a small part of the changes Ive made
to my moral code that was constructed mainly by a religion and my parents to suit my kind of
lifestyle.
The previous examples might not be related to finance but I wanted to show that my
opinions about right and wrong come from two lifestyles. All these diverse events have shaped
my ethical code into what is it today. If I was put into a difficult situation regarding a financial
opportunity to steal money by committing some type of white collar crime, I would have two
types of views looking at a single problem. One view would have its opinions from my religious
upbringing and the other would be coming from an American influence lifestyle. Of course due
to my parents teaching me that the Bible says stealing is wrong one side of me says No to
that opportunity. On the other hand my understanding of the American way is that everything
is earned and if I put effort into whatever it is that Im doing I wont need to steel money, the
hard work will pay off. Most of the time both cultures encourage me to make the right moral
decision.
I would like to think I have two resources available that fuel my way of depicting right
from wrong and Im grateful for having that type of diversity, when others only have one way of
thinking. One side is encouraged by the Christian religion and the other is fortified by the
American culture. When the time comes to make a tuff decision I can feel comfortable facing
the issue with a unique moral compass.