A person’s worth nowadays seems to be judged according to social status and material possessions. Old-fashioned values, such as honour, kindness and trust, no longer seem important. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

There’s no doubt that our

values

as a

society

have shifted massively from the

values

of our forefathers, especially in the

last

50 years. The extent can be argued, but I believe that most

people

will agree that there has definitely been a

shift

.

This

is especially true if one takes a closer look at how current

society

estimates personal success and attributes

values

to individuals. I personally believe that, as a

society

, we have traded virtuous living for flashy living. In

this

essay, I will briefly present my reasons for holding

such

beliefs. I strongly believe the main reason why

values

such

as honour, kindness, and trust no longer seem important is

as a result

of a

shift

away from

religion

in today's

society

, or, to put it another way, a

shift

towards secularism. A lot of the so-called "old-fashioned

values

" are core

values

of the main religions around the world, from Christianity to Islam to Buddhism, and even in Sikhism, honour, kindness, and trust are required from their followers. Since

people

naturally pattern their lives to the

religion

they believe in, it makes sense that they would exhibit, or at the very least try to exhibit, some of the core

values

of the

religion

. Following the same logic, it

also

makes sense that the

less

Change the quantifier

fewer

show examples

people

believe in

such

religions, the fewer of their core attributes they will exhibit. What most

people

who

shift

away from religious beliefs do not realise is that secularism in itself is a

religion

and, as

such

, has its own

values

. Some of the

values

of secularism include the pursuit of pleasure and material things, the pursuit of fame, and the pursuit of so-called "happiness" as the sole purpose of life.