Morality deals with defining what actions are right and what actions are wrong. The reason it can be a difficult thing to define is because it has to be applied on an individual basis. From the tiniest of things like choosing whether or not to brush our teeth at night, to the most monumental decisions, like our Predident deciding whether or not to declare war, morality is a constant part of our lives. Some might argue that the definition of morality is constantly changing, some might say it is a steadfast rock of certainty, but in truth it all depends on what person you are talking with.
Through organized religion, politics and even the public school system, morals are handed out to society in broad measures. School kids are constantly told that drugs, alcohol and tobacco are bad, religions will insist that adultery, thievery and murder are wrong while at the same time telling us that marriage, prayer and charity are right. Politics will never come out and say that killing is condoned, but they will show through military example that it is necessary at times to protect another moral concept called freedom. The United States political structure is almost entirely based around that concept of freedom, while there are other countries around the world that may embrace totally different beliefs, actually surrendering individual freedom for the sake of the society as a whole.
So who is to say what is truly right or wrong, what is truth and what is fiction? Only the individual commiting that action or actions being morally questioned can truly determine the answers. Society can put in court systems in which judges and lawyers determine the morality of actions and sentence punishment where necessary, but such a process does not guarantee justice.
Kids are told that alcohol is bad to prevent them from drinking and developing a drinking problem of some sort, but is alcohol truly bad? If that kid grows up to get married, something that is considered good by their church or other societal values, and, amidst the jubilant celebration of love, drinks champagne at the wedding reception, is that drinking morally wrong? Maybe alcohol is only bad if drank in excess, maybe only if drank in excess more than twice a week. It all depends on the individual standards that one sets for themselves.
Say there is a small town someplace in the world, and in that small town there is a drunk, this man who does nothing but get hammered every single day. He doesn't work, he just stays drunk whenever he can. Say, he lives off a wealthy inheritance, so money is not an issue. He never drives a car or endagers any life around him in any way. In fact, let's say the whole town loves the guy and thinks he is a wonderful person to know. Is his alcoholism morally wrong?
Say a young, impressionable man of 18 years old joins the military of his respective country and proceeds to be trained as a lethal sniper. His entire job in life is to shoot enemies from a distance for his country. He has been told it is his duty, his God-given gift was the ability to handle a gun and he should use it to protect his country with honor. So, the young man spends half his life shooting enemies from a distance. It is never a matter of kill or be killed, self defense or any of those situations a regular infantryman might face; his killings are always carefully calculated shootings with one intent: to kill. Is that soldier morally wrong?
Marriage, for the most part is considered a virtuous thing in most societies. A union of love and joy meant to be shared with loved ones and family members. In the Catholic church, marriage is even considered a sacrament, putting it on the same level as Holy Orders or Baptism. So, what happens when a poor, young girl with no means of supporting herself in the world, decides to marry a man who she doesn't love, simply so she will be taken care of. She isn't marrying for money so much as marrying for survival. Is such a marriage morally right?
In all the scenarios mentioned, we could go on and on for days about all the extenuating circumstances surrounding each situation. As outsiders looking in, it is easy and often even enjoyable to sit back and judge whether or not someone else has done the right thing, yet we can never really know.
It is easy to criticize our political leaders or our sports stars and movie stars about their decisions. There are times our criticisms may be justified and other times they are not. The same goes for our judgements of close friends and family members or the grocery clerk in our home town. The truth is, unless we are actually in that person's shoes, we can never know what caused them to make the decisions they made and whether or not they were morally proper in doing so.
The only thing we do know is what is morally right or wrong for ourselves. If you are that soldier picking up that gun and aiming at an enemy in the distance and you feel in your gut you are committing murder, then you are morally in the wrong when you pull that trigger. If you are standing at the alter about to get married, and you feel in your gut that you shouldn't do it, then you are morally wrong in saying "I do."
On the flip side, if joy and happiness are spilling from every pore in your body as you sip champagne at your wedding, you are morally in the right. If you disobey your mother and father despite the Bible's harsh warning not to, but do so because their instructions to you feel wrong or evil in some way, then you are morally in the right.
Morality has always been tough to define, as many a philosopher has pointed out in the past and many will continue to point out in the future. When it comes down to it, if you sleep like a baby at night and go through life with peace and joy in your soul, you are probably living a moral life, at least by your own standard. If you go through life with pain and anguish in your heart, there is a good chance you have made some immoral decisions along the way, but who am I to say? Only you know the truth.