Family Culture

I believe that it is hard to understand the perspective of other cultures outside of your own no matter how much research you do. We all are pretty biased of our own cultures. I had a discussion about this with some of my roommates about this topic, wondering what their take was too. We all seemed to agree that on a purely political stance, cultures are equal, but if you looked at it on a more spiritual level they would definitely not be equal. The way that cultures are equal is that every one believes that they have the better way of life and the more correct morals. We understand that how you are raised, what you are taught, and what your family does all have a factor in what you will be like and what you will believe. What we may understand as not being ethical or okay at all, could be a cultural norm for someone else. We need to understand that no matter how crazy something else that other cultures may do is, they don't think of it as being crazy at all; but instead look at something that we perceive to be good and think it is crazy. In this sense, we don't have the right at all to say that some sets of values are better or worse than others. Elder M. Russell Ballard said this: "Even though men and women are equal before God in their eternal opportunities, they have different, but equally significant, duties in His eternal plan. We must understand that God views all of His children with infinite wisdom and perfect fairness. Consequently, He can acknowledge and even encourage our differences while providing equal opportunity for growth and development." Even though we are all different, we need diversity to accomplish everything that Heavenly Father has in his plan. 

In my family, I have grown up in a specific culture with specific traditions. Traditions have a very important role in families and culture. They are defined as inherited patterns of belief or action. I have traditions that I absolutely want to pass down to my family in hopes of them also passing it down. Some of those for me are having a mom and a dad in the home, with the mom being able to stay at home for the most part and take care of the kids. I want my kids to be close with their cousins and understand that the extended family is very important. I want to have family councils that help bond everyone to each other and also encourage healthy communication. I believe that I will be able to incorporate these into my own family by making sure that my husband is aware of things I want to do before we are married, and then really understand after we are married. I do realize that he will also have certain traditions from his own family that he would like to incorporate, and that is where we will compromise and make the best of what we both want. Whether that is mixing ideas and creating our own traditions, or just incorporating what he wants and also what I want. I believe that it is very important to save some traditions in your family, because that is part of why you have become and are who you are!