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COMMENTARY: MORALITY

Glenn Beck pointing the way in front of Abraham Lincoln.
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

September 1, 2010

At Glenn Beck's rally to "restore honor to America" (August 28, 2010) he made a social and political statement. He declared that honor has been lost and that something should be done about it.

A sociologist sees honor as dependent upon the values or mores of the society or group one associates with. A group of thieves might have a sense of honor that differs in respects from a lot of other people. Christians who adhere to a literal interpretation of scripture might have some acts that they consider dishonorable that others do not. At his rally, Beck proclaimed, "America today begins to turn back to God." Had he explained how this connects with honor would have made it easier to understand what he was talking about and would have put his use of the word "honor" outside the realm of moral relativism abjured by many conservatives.

Most of us see as honorable a father and mother who do a good job rearing their children. But I didn't gather from watching a C-Span broadcast of the rally that Beck was saying that we need to return to the past in rearing our children.

Veterans participated in the rally, and there was the suggestion that serving in the military was honorable. Doing one's duty in the military results in an honorable discharge. And the Marine Corps hymn has the line, "keep our honor clean." But surely Beck does not believe that there has been a dishonor regarding the military that needs to be addressed.

Beck surely does not believe that being a Christian, or turning to God, is honor enough. He considers Christians and the rest of humanity as sinners who need to keep an eye on themselves. And he says he has friends who are atheists whom he respects. Was he intending a mere religious revival? If so what about the many secular people in the United States? For them there has to be something missing in his message about "restoring honor to America," unless that phrase is merely a device -- a gimmick -- to rally people.

Judging from Mr. Beck's views expressed before the rally it seems that he probably thinks that the honor lost was the doing of President Obama and his administration. But if he had laid out specifically what that dishonor was and the time past that needs restoration it would have saved having to guess.

As to my opinion about honor:

o  There is no honor in self-promotion or greed.

o  There is no honor in mendacity or pretense.

o  There is no honor in ignorance.

o   There is no honor in false testimony.

o  These is no honor in malice or vituperation.

o  There is no honor in excessive pride.

People who boast about pride appear to me to have an ego problem. Proverbs 11:2 associates pride with dishonor, using the word disgrace: "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." Pride, easily leads to arrogance which leads to mistakes and sometimes atrocity.

In my opinion there is honor in not abandoning one's comrades or one's country in the heat of battle, and this means there is honor in helping to pay for a war by paying taxes (an issue that led to the American Revolution).

And, as I see it, there is honor, too, in standing up for one's belief by refusing to be drafted into the military if one does not believe in the war for which the draft has been created. And there is honor in refusing orders that are morally reprehensible -- a refusal of the kind that the U.S. military, to its honor, has learned through experience should be disobeyed.

When in Korea in 1952-53 I learned that it was a complicated world. I saw boys with a good sense of honor, but I also saw boys whose sense of honor, rather than being strong on service and brotherhood, was basically egoism and vanity.

An example of honor that I remember well was that of a woman companion, age thirty-three, recently arrived from Europe and working as a maid at the Miramar hotel in Santa Monica, California. A Beverly Hills mafioso offered to buy her an expensive coat. She said she had a boyfriend. "What does your boyfriend do," he asked." "He drives a taxi," she answered. In anger he replied,"Go back to your boyfriend and suffer."

Another example of honor that I, a secularist, wish to mention is that of the Reverend Billy Graham. Some who support Mr. Beck and his rally are comparing him to Billy Graham -- a comparison I would not make. Billy Graham was mostly honest (a little duplicitous when Kennedy, a Catholic, was running for president.) Graham's promotions were for the sake of what he believed in -- not a vague personal opportunism. Billy Graham knew what he was about. He did not frequently reinvent himself or admit, as has Beck, that he was using deception in his performances. And Billy Graham never wallowed in self-pity or pretense.

I have never seen an ad for a product like investing in gold with Billy Graham as the pitch man, as I see with Beck today, or an ad for a product like paying to have your files backed-up when your own simple USB flash drive is no more trouble. (Forgive my ads. They add nickles and dimes to an income that remains below what some consider poverty.)

Billy Graham has grown old gracefully, and in November 2010 will be ninety-two. Will Glenn Beck, 46, mature as well?