Everyone has their morals and values and the right to their morals and values. No one, however, has the right to use their mundane morals and values to act like they are above everyone else.

For example, my friends and I were recently discussing what we wanted to do for Halloweekend (the weekend before Halloween) and, since some of my friends were planning on doing a group costume, they were also talking about whether or not they wanted to go to a party.

My one friend is a true through-and-through straight-edge (doesn't drink or do drugs) was okay with going with the group, and keeping an eye on those in the group that would drink. My other friend, who has recently been very outspoken about his views on drinking and smoking, said that he would go to a party with us, but he wouldn't have fun. This is the same friend who, whenever we are walking around campus late at night and stumble across a group of drunk kids, ridicules them and talks down about them.

People have the right to their morals, and the right to feel better about themselves when they stick to them, but they don't have the right to make you feel worse to not subscribing to the same morals as them. They do not have the right to tell you that your morals are not the right ones because they are not the same as theirs. That's because they're YOUR morals and YOUR values.

I would be less mad if the morals were things like "don't drink and drive" or "don't smoke crack while you're pregnant." These are sensible morals that people have because doing those actions can harm other, innocent, people. However, someone making the choice to drink does not negatively affect other people, and there's no reason to shoehorn your morals into their life.

This type of thinking is something that can be found in many different realms. Some vegans, people who subscribe to religions, and other people that belong to certain groups will look down on others that do not follow the same morals and life rules. They use these morals as a soapbox and proclaim themselves to be better than others.

Announcing your superiority because of your morals actually negates your point. It makes you look worse than you are trying to make others look. It makes you look like a person who bases the morality and substance of a person not on what their morals and values are, but how well they follow yours.

There is nothing wrong with having morals and telling other people what you value. You also have the right to discuss your morals with other people in the hopes that they will begin to see eye-to-eye with you and maybe even begin to take up the same morals. You have the right to your morals, but you do not have the right to deny other people their morals.