Character Crisis

The prophet Hosea wrote these words during a time of erosion of the national character:  “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…”  Hosea 4:6

Character is a very interesting word.  There is a Latin form of the word [L. character], and a Greek form of the word [charakter, from charassein, engrave].  Character is a description of the traits or qualities of a person.

I seem to remember a bellicose voice in recent political history stating that ‘character’ doesn’t matter.   That was indeed a fascinating attempt to deflect and disarm the warrant of a tenacious situation.  Moreover it was a specious attempt to introduce a dialectic of moral relativism into a vacuous moral dualism.

We live in a time when the national character is ‘at risk.’  The most outrageous behavior is vaporized by explanatory word formulas obnoxious with fetid compromise.  We are still, however, Americans, and while our country is not perfect, it is still our country.   Shadowy creatures point out our flaws as a nation, but do not consider that perhaps there might be character flaws within their own person.

What does it mean when a mirror is only held up for me to critique who I am?  I believe that mirrors should be universal, and two-sided so that the one holding it up could also look at himself or herself as the case may be.  Characters, mock and harangue our freedoms while seeking entrance into the body politic.  They are chagrined by our collective dissent to mockery coupled with sonorous demands.

George K. Simon Jr., Ph.D., in his book entitled “In Sheep’s Clothing: Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People” believes that we are in a ‘character crisis.’  He wrote these poignant and disturbing words:

“The drive for power, self-advancement, and dominance is in all of us to a greater or lesser degree.  Unfortunately, in this land of virtually unlimited opportunity, there are growing numbers of character-distorted individuals trying to achieve these ends without doing the hard work necessary to secure them in a socially responsible and productive manner.  So, we have individuals who instead of educating themselves and “fighting” fairly for a niche in the competitive marketplace, settle for violently competing with their brothers for control of the streets in their neighborhood.  We also have individuals who, failing to prosper to the degree they desire in the established “system, ” ally with others in counter-culture groups, which, under the guise of commitment to some lofty ideals, wage war on the establishment…The biggest reason that our country as a whole is losing its once outstanding character is because there are fewer and fewer people of sound character inhabiting it.”

Years ago, in my community an oak tree of substantial size had fallen on the grounds of a school yard.  Of course, this event took everyone by surprise, and fortunately there was no one on the school grounds at the time.  Some investigation was done on the oak tree and it was discovered that while the oak tree appeared healthy on the outside, it was filled with decay on the inside.

And so  it goes…, “The integrity of our society cannot be maintained if this trend continues much longer.  The greatness of our nation’s character can only be determined by the degree to which its citizens develop, maintain, and display character in their daily affairs.”  We must once again, as Americans, dare to standby, stand firm, and boldly proclaim the intrinsic value and power of character.   Character has always been the gold standard of the American people.  It has always been from the foundation of our character that we have been the universal role model for the world.

Beware of the mediocrity that heralds our stinginess while enjoying our freedoms.  Let’s fight the good fight for the integrity of character together for our country.  America that has given so much to all of us.