I think I pointed out in another post that most people do not sit down and seriously philosophically analyze their moral code. It is something they absorbed from parents, neighbors, schoolteachers, and yes, churches. A surprising number of kids learn about helping other people from the Boy Scouts.

And they are learned by example. And here is where the behavior of the parents, neighbors, schoolteachers, etc. becomes critical. Parents are the most important. If there is one solid thing I have learned from being a father it's that what I do matters a thousand times more than what I say. I have to become what I want them to learn. When my kids are with me I have made a point of helping ladies with flat tires, picking up litter I pass, and other relatively inconsequential things like that. No comment, no lecture. I just do it.

If your kids had been with you during these episodes you mentioned, they would have picked up something they would never have learned from a dozen philosophy books.

Teachers are important too, since kids spend much of their lives with them (at least until home schooling really takes off). Why do you think I get so bent out of shape when I read about teachers and professors who are psycho hose beasts?

And you are absolutely correct that good guys come from all areas of the political spectrum, although I personally think individual charity thrives best in an environment where people have not been trained to expect the government to fix all the problems, and where there is no forced redistribution of wealth to create unconcious resentment of those less fortunate.