See additional comments on Tea Party Nation.
Another day of “coincidences” to address another concept: character. The definition of character is simple: the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual. Good character, bad character, no character are all descriptions of an individual. No one talks about the character of a community or nation. I read the following account from Ann Barnhardt describing bad character:
So… I almost got in a fistfight today
I stopped into a church today intending to pray the whole Rosary (all 15 decades) sitting before Our Lord reposed in a tabernacle. I got through the Joyful Mysteries when a crazy man/professional panhandler entered the church begging for handouts. He zeroed in on me and wouldn’t relent. I tried to ignore him. Then… he touched me.
…
There were two men, excuse me, “men”, who were associated with the church sitting behind me, so I enjoined them to render assistance. [What I just did in that last sentence is called “foreshadowing”. Can you guess how THAT turned out??] They replied that there was nothing they could do. Ah, the battle cry of the post-Christian “man”: THERE’S NOTHING I CAN DO!
I cannot imagine not defending a woman in a church (or anywhere else). A second coincidence involved what I call playing the “victim”. Instead of verifying both sides of a story, we tend to side with the “victim”.
Playing the victim to gain sympathy is effective: especially if you use some facts to bolster your case. In yet another of what is an unending series of attacks, the victim started with this statement: “Not to speak is to speak”. The correct Bonhoeffer quote is:
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
In this particular instance of “no character”, the woman representing evil uses a portion of a greater concept. This is a typical example of using a half truth as a truth to make a point. That is not to say that portions of this quote cannot be used to make a larger statement. My lower receiver on my AR-15 reads “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil” to remind me that it is our duty to the Lord to fight evil.
It is no surprise that people of bad character and no character are attracted to each other. Just as people of good character are attracted to each other. But it seems that people of bad or no character seek the approval of people of good character. A real life example is a man of bad character telling people of good character that he removed a child pornography virus from the computer of a common acquaintance to gain their approval. It always amazes me why people would trust people of questionable character.
But the real question is how do you determine the character of an individual? In our culture, most people would judge someone by their actions. The Bible teaches us the difference between good works and the path to salvation. The Bible also teaches us to keep silent about our works. Although it is counter intuitive, the man who consistently has to tell people about his actions usually is a man of bad or no character seeking approval where none is deserved.
The important next question is how do we determine the character of a nation? Contrary to individual salvation, there is no collective salvation for a nation as our pResident stated:
Is it even appropriate to consider the character of a nation? The founding principles of our Republic are Sacred honor, morality and virtue. Does this apply to a nation or the people as a whole? What can be said about a nation which has condoned the murder of over 50 million babies through abortion? We can only measure the character of a nation by the character of its people. If the people of a nation are not willing to stand up to evil, we have no character as a nation. We cannot play the victim as a means to build character. And that is a hard lesson that has yet to be learned.
David DeGerolamo
Lack of character reminded me of someone who told others about an incident he promised not to share.
Would that be the child porn virus incident? I wonder what will happen when the man of no character realizes his mistake of trusting the man of bad character? Or the consequences of misplaced trust.
From a comment on this post from Tea Party Nation (http://www.teapartynation.com/profiles/blogs/where-is-our-good-character)
David, I could not agree with you more.
I predict that we are going to see the fruits of our labors as a Nation. Will the innocent be affected yes. Will the guilty go free, No.
I believe that our Founding Fathers gave us more than The Constitution, the greatest freedom document in the history of the world. I believe that they gave us, inspite of the progressives design to bury their true character, words of wisdom that we could have and should have referred to more often than we have.
Already one time God sent a destruction upon this land since our founding, The Civil War, because men did not keep themselves true to their word and to the word of God. “That all men are created equal”.
Read the following quotes of the Founders and see if they were anything less than visionary concerning freedom and also concerning the future of this land.
“If we and our posterity reject religious instruction and authority, violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle with the injunctions of morality, and recklessly destroy the political constitution which holds us together, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us that shall bury all our glory in profound obscurity.” Daniel Webster
“The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy the gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people; then shall we both deserve and enjoy it. While, on the other hand, if we are universally vicious and debauched in our manners, though the form of our Constitution carries the face of the most exalted freedom, we shall in reality be the most abject slaves.” Samuel Adams
• “Here is my creed: I believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe. That he governs it by his providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable service we render to him is in doing good to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound religion.” Benjamin Franklin
“In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government, ought to be instructed….No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.” Noah Webster
•I apprehend no danger to our country from a foreign foe. The prospect of a war with any powerful nation is too remote to be a matter of calculation. Besides, there is no nation on earth powerful enough to accomplish our overthrow. Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence. Daniel Webster
“As nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, so they must be in this. By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, Providence punishes national sins by national calamities.” George Mason Father of the Bill of Rights
I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that His justice cannot sleep forever.
Thomas Jefferson 3rd President of US
If we and our posterity reject religious instruction and authority, violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle with the injunctions of morality, and recklessly destroy the political constitution which holds us together, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us that shall bury all our glory in profound obscurity.
Daniel Webster
“A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship”
-Alexander Fraser Tytler 1747-1813
America,last best hope on earth.
Abraham Lincoln
•…of this truth, God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? Benjamin Franklin
Is it probable that an empire can remain without his aid. mine
Is there still hope? Absolutely! The same God, who is unchanging, who guided their feet with his lamp, stands ready to assist us today. What is required in order to have His divine blessing of protection?
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
2 Chronicles 7:14-15
A few more thoughts can be found here.