Montana Senate votes to adopt cowboy code

[CAVA1990]

Appropriate that they're modeling themselves after folks who when in town spent much of their time in saloons and cathouses.

[CMartel2]

Originally Posted by MTSilvertip

Why is it when anyone suggests there be a code of conduct or ethics, someone decides that the mere mention of a moral code is a horrendous misscarriage of justice?

....

But seeing the last couple responses highlights why perhaps we need an affirmation of the good things that we do that help bind us together as a people and a nation.

No the 19th century wasn't a panecea or eden, I am well aware of that. However we always seem to have a romantic view of times past as simpler, easier, better.....

I agree completely, MTSilvertip. I'm reading Theodore Roosevelt's "Hunting Trips of a Ranchman" and "The Wilderness Hunter" currently. Both make note of a great deal you mention in your post.

When my father was growing up, Roy Rogers was the emblem of youth, what young boys aspired to.

He had his own code:

2. Be neat and clean.
3. Be courteous and polite.
4. Always obey your parents.
5. Protect the weak and help them.
6. Be brave, but never take a chance you will regret.
7. Study hard and learn all you can.
8. Be kind to animals and care for them.
9. Eat all your food and never waste any.
10. Love God and go to Sunday School regularly.
11. Always respect our flag and our country.

But I suppose Hannah Montana, Justin Bieber, and Lil Wayne are the dregs we're left with since the glorious 1960s practically ripped our nation apart. I say this as a 20-something with an interest in history and a realization that what we have now is a far cry from once we once had. I don't say that whimsically. We literally have no moral concensus today on anything. That was not always the case, though I'd agree, the west was known as "wild" for more than just the wildlife.

Depersonalization is bound to happen, I guess. My dad grew up in a relatively homogenous culture in a nation of 150-million. Say goodbye to all that. The balkanization and race to the bottom continues unabated. As for my kids, they'll be boyscouts, and the above code seems to far more produtive than the one our society currently offers.

[Threerun]

Yup- I'm an Eagle scout, my son is in scouts.. I always try to live by the tenets Sir Baden Powell set forth.

Trustworthy
Loyal
Helpful
Friendly
Courteous
Kind
Obedient
Cheerful
Thrifty
Brave
Clean and
Reverent

Scouting kept me from going down a much different path I was headed when I was a kid. If I'm going to live by any code- it's this one.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by MTSilvertip

Why is it when anyone suggests there be a code of conduct or ethics, someone decides that the mere mention of a moral code is a horrendous misscarriage of justice?

I think it boils down to the fact that some people believe no one is capable of living by a code of ethics unless it's imposed from on high, usually meaning by the government.

The idea of being self-responsible enough to live by such a code on your own, without coercion, is beyond their comprehension.