People prove more likely to spread criticism than praise, unless of course they praise their friends. This is normal human behavior, and it was the subject of criticism from the Christ himself who admonished us that loving only those that love us is nothing different than the hypocrites do. Unfortunately, our tendency to pass on feedback sends the wrong message all too often, especially when we reward people with extra praise and presents for their presence. Rules ought to matter, and the law ought be administered evenly or else it creates the logical fallacy that the ends justify the means or that it's only a crime if you get caught. God sees everything, and eventually you reap what you sow.
Years ago I worked for a large international corporation in a time sensitive logistical capacity. One of our cadre came from a protected minority group, and he took every opportunity to cut corners, usurp, and manipulate management using his phenotype and the benefits accorded thereunto. When my boss awarded him a commendation for coming to work on time every day for three months, I went to him and told him that it cheapened the commendation awarded me for service above and beyond the call of duty. If there was a reward for arriving on time, then he ought give that award to everyone who qualified and not just this man. Paradoxically, this man was fired several months later for excessive tardiness; I took my commendation and tore it up in front of my manager that day and left the pieces for him to pick up off the floor.
I stood at the grave sites of my grandparents on 7 June and considered the messages enshrined on the rocks that sit over their bodies. Both sets declared their love for and focus on their families, on those left behind. Not every tombstone had that message, but there were none declaring, "I died with the most toys" or "I cheated my way to the top". Centuries from now, most people won't remember who you were or what you did; what you're really leaving behind is your family. What message will your family tell the world about you? What message are you sending? Is it the right one? I am trying to be the kind of man I want my daughter (if I ever have one) to date and marry so that I can hold young men to that. I have chosen the message I want to send, and so have most of you. I am comfortable with the message I chose. Are you?
Far too many of us prattle on about equality while we award special privileges to our friends and turn a blind eye to the plight of strangers or enemies. I admit I was tempted to preferentially hire a student to work with me based on prior affiliation, but I suggested that she apply to the Department Chair through the normal process and compete. She was not awarded the position, but if she had been, I would have felt better than if I used undue influence to help her get the position over other needy and qualified candidates. It wasn't venom against others; it was a matter of prior experience and personal preference. It is a huge temptation to use unrighteous dominion which sends the wrong message.
The message sent by the world is that it's not what you know, what you do, or who you are but who you know, whose boots you lick, and to whom you give a plum. This protracted campaign to reward boot-licking toadies sends the wrong message. The qualified are passed over for things beyond their control while the wicked are given a pass because they know people. I am fairsure that one reason NHP decided not to hire me came from the fact that they knew that I would cite them for traffic violations and hold them accountable to keep the law. I don't care so much usually what the rules are as long as they apply to everyone teh same way. Instead I see the opposite.
Among the recent violations of this civil compact, people in positions of influence have:
- promoted a man to manager because he was a people person meaning he was in with the right people. When they actually presented this man to us, they told us that he was promoted for all the virtues that I possess, and no mention was made of his people skills.
- promoted a man because he was calm. He was calm because he smoked pot every day. promoted people because they have kids and need the money. My brother was not selected to head a university flight program over a less qualified man because that man had two kids, "needed the money more", and was less likely to leave (read easier to manipulate).
- promoted people because they are friends with the Dean. During the pay freeze in Nevada, public records will show that people were promoted in various departments, and these people are all known daliants of the deans.
- promoted people because of the plums they put in the pies they send.
- awarded my ex wife a large sum of money. When she took me back to court five years ago, they decided I "owed her" to put her through graduate school. She could not prove that I promised to pay for this, because I did not, and they did not seem to care that I attended a far cheaper school than she.
- awarded my friend's ex custody of the kids and denied her parental rights.
What message does that send? It tells people that you will get rewarded not for virtue but for croneyism, not for your work but for your connections, not for productivity but for likeability. We keep sending the wrong message, that you sleep your way to the top, that you buy your way into power, that you manipulate people into loving you, and that the truncheon or verbal fisticuffs make people pliant. It is little wonder that there are few good people left. Even my attorney warned me that I should expect a hard time. He told me that going in by the front door expecting to be treated well is somewhat naive. Well, I shall continue to tilt where I should withdraw, because that is the knightly thing to do.
Years ago, the leader of my Faith asked parents to raise up missionaries to match the message. We need parents who, even if they are themselves imperfect, still encourage their children to be the best they can be. We need to reward and validate virtue. We need women who pick mates because of their virtues rather than their physique, on their values rather than their paycheck. we need men who refrain from things they should not do even when others offer them those things. We need to encourage and reward those things because what we nourish is strengthened. As the world around us tries to render virtue laughable, destroy the family, and undermine civilization in favor of cowtowing to a statistically insignificant minority, we need to stand for the behaviors that lead to civil society. We need people who will stand up for truth and right even if it costs them. We need people to tilt where others will withdraw.
For a time men are allowed to violate the rules and get away with it, but ultimately the consequences come. The perpetrators hope to not be alive when the time comes to pay the piper. However, their is a law irrevocably decreed in the heavens and a punishment affixed and a repentance granted which repentance mercy claimeth otherwise justice claimeth the creature and casts him down into the depths of hell. Hell is not a place; hell is a state of mind where everyone is obsessed with himself, blinded by a sense of self-import and actions that reward him regardless of the virtues of others. For today, for the struggling and the suffering, we need to be the kind of people who speak out in support of truth and right. We are more than you might think. I still think most of America if not most of the world still prefers truth and light over pelf and might. They are looking for someone to lead them, someone to carry a different message that justice and freedom are more than words. What message will your life send?
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