"I will not lie or steal, nor will I tolerate those who do."
I was struck by the bald simplicity of the statement, the knowledge that the students in the JROTC program sign it in order to be in the program, the stark contrast between that simple statement and the baseline morality of many students, and the fact that an open affirmation of the value of honesty and integrity seems largely absent from our school and all other student programs and activities.
Earlier this year, one of my freshmen threw the view that "everybody lies" (with appropriate reference to the TV show House) into a casual, end-of-class, student discussion and shrugged off my surprise when the view lay there unchallenged, a truth so generally accepted by all that it carried the day and settled the discussion.
So . . . After the JROTC banquet I found myself brought back to the question, what is the verity here? Is it somehow a truth that everyone lies? Can that statement carry the label that it denies?
2 comments:
This post is old. Maybe after five and one-half years you have exhausted all the verities. That's possibly a healthy thing. I am not checking as often, but FB is a better source for me now. PWW
I hope I haven't exhausted all the verities. There certianly appears to be an inexhaustible supply of falsities and I would hate to award that which is false a win by preponderance. Perhaps I have drifted away in the search, or, hopefully, I have re-centered myself and am not spending so much time staring across the fenceline suspecting the verdigris I see there is not deathly poison.
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