Morality: Do you think that it is it possible to be taught morality without religious or secular agendas? And if so, how can we protect ourselves?

Although it may seem impossible in today's politically divisive climate, it is possible to teach morality in a way that is not laden with ulterior motives or agendas. Critical thinking is essential to ethical decision-making. Without stating whether a particular viewpoint is right or wrong, students can be asked to research and reflect upon the potential biases of, for example, sources such as the New York Times or Fox News, and reflect upon how that bias impacts their reception of apparently objective data. Although the actual facts may be correct, students must be made aware of how subtle biases influence their moral perceptions of a factual situation, and color their views of what is right and wrong. Critical thinking is not a concept that is owned by the right or the left; nor Christians or Muslims. It is an essential tool of rigorous scrutiny that must be brought to all areas of life, given the media-saturated environment we live in today. Moral choices are endemic to the human condition, but morality must begin with critical, cool, assessment of the world around us.

Thus, teaching morality in an open-ended fashion is key. Students must learn to be effective ethical decision makers. By engaging questions of whether something is right or wrong in a particular scenario, students learn to flex their moral muscles. The teacher need not weigh in as to what answer is correct. In fact, the point of teaching morality is not to teach any correct answers at all, but to force students to ask the right questions. A person who can see two sides of the issue will lay his or her own decisions open to greater moral scrutiny, just as he or she is more apt to question the decisions of others, in a fair and balanced manner.