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All articles found on this web site may be reprinted, but only exactly as found here and with "Joseph
Harris" and www.miniedition.net included in the body.
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Concerning Personal Responsibility
October 2, 2008
Number 203
Character
When we say an individual has character, we usually mean that person has the positive virtues
of honesty, decency and integrity and will make right decisions in life. Actually, everyone has character, according
to the book definition of character, which is, " Distinctive qualities of a person or thing" or in other words, good or bad
characteristics. Every individual has either good character or bad character. Listed below are some of my thoughts on good
character.
(1) Character is doing the right thing simply because it's the right
thing to do. Dr. Bob Jones Sr. used to say, "There is never a right time to
do the wrong thing." Amen! In today's society of relativism, people are often more concerned about making decisions based
on expediency, convenience, popularity or profit, rather than on what is right. Consider modern politicians. The old proverb
of "The squeaking wheel is the one that gets the grease" is true as politicians bow to the demands of those who apply the
most pressure. We are told that WE should apply the pressure concerning moral issues, but even then, they would be bowing
to our pressure and that would be wrong. Politicians should vote for right not because they are pressured into it, but because
right is right. Period! But don't hold your breath.
(2) Character is consistent.
Someone else has said, "Character is what you do in the dark"....and I will add it is also what you do when away from
home. Character will stay on course when others are watching us and when they are not watching, because character knows God
is always watching, and He is the One who defines right and wrong, not circumstances and situations.
(3) Character makes decisions for you. This is just good practical sense. There should be no debate in decisions when you know right from wrong. If
it's wrong, don't do it. If it's right, do it. I know it sounds too simple, but sometimes the truth is so simple, it is profound.
(4) Character produces peace and paves the way for happiness. Too often, a wrong decision is made to avoid discomfort, unhappiness or hurt feelings, but
happiness is not to be the final goal in every situation. Kids are allowed by parents to run wild just to keep them happy.
An individual once told me that she just wanted children to be happy. This was to justify allowing them to do anything they
desired. Well, I just want children to have character. Happiness will follow from the peace produced by character. Besides,
happiness is not a commodity that can be given. People choose to be happy or unhappy. Even our forefathers knew they couldn't
grant happiness, that it must be secured by the individual, hence the phrase, "the pursuit of happiness." Giving things to
people does not guarantee happiness. It actually impedes it. Happiness is the by-product of doing the right thing and aligning
life's priorities correctly. Here's a word for Grandparents of today. A lot of Grandparents need to wake up and break the
destructive cycle of permissiveness they started with their own children and are now perpetuating tenfold in their grandchildren, otherwise,
they become double failures as parents and unleash a generation of ingrates on society. Grandparents should love their
grandchildren by re-enforcing the right teaching of their parents, not counteracting it.
(5) Character determines actions. Except of course, for Bill Clinton. Remember the lie we were told, that character doesn't matter, that what a man
does in private has nothing to do with who he is publicly and that it will not affect how he makes decisions? Yeah, right!
I remember the words of an actor who played the character of Bugsy Malone, the notorious gangster, on a radio drama. Bugsy
was trying to win over his latest girl and said, "All this business you see me do (murder gambling, prostitution), it's not
who I am; it's what I do." Sorry Bugsy, the two can't be separated. WHO we are determines WHAT we do, for "as a man thinketh
in his heart, so is he" and "from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh" Jesus said.
Character is not stumbled upon and seized by chance. It is instilled
on purpose through diligent teaching and modeling. Who will this current generation of children look to for examples of character?
Joseph
Harris is the Vice President of Southeastern Baptist College in Laurel, MS. (This article
may be reprinted in whole, as long as the name Joseph Harris and www.miniedition.net also appear).
Free Speech
All too often, news reports are just commentaries on the current state of
human affairs, functioning as a societal thermometer. Such is the case with the story about a proposed anarchy club in a West
Virginia school. A judge ruled that a fifteen year old student could not form an anarchy club or wear anti-bombing t-shirts
that protested the US approved war against terrorism in Afghanistan. The school had already suspended the student for promoting
the club. She and her mother began crying "free speech" and filed a complaint.
Are there any limits to free speech? YES! Anything out of control is dangerous.
Everything must have limits and boundaries. Controlled fire provides warmth, light and the ability to cook food. Fire out
of control destroys. An automobile under the control of a competent driver provides efficient transportation. A vehicle out
of control can produce mayhem and death. Everything must function within limits, even free speech.
The judge made his "intolerant" ruling because he claimed the allowance of
the club would disrupt the school. Anarchy means, "state of being without rule; political confusion" according to the dictionary.
Pluralism has lulled people into the notion that EVERYTHING must be accepted and allowed, without question. Don't you dare
exhibit intolerance(except, maybe against Christianity). Yet, blind pluralism cannot be the rule. Absolute pluralism, with
the absence of common sense restraints, can rob freedom from all.
Here's why there should be no absolute free speech for anarchists: anarchy
destroys the system which supports it. It bites the hand that feeds it. Notice, even radical free speech proponents will not
tolerate everything, such as racial slurs and epitaphs. Concerned parents will not allow their children to feed on a steady
diet of rebellion, via ungodly music, TV, and videos. They want to squelch rebellion against parental authority, civil laws,
and God. Kids who are taught submission to authority make good citizens. Why in the world would parents or a school encourage
rebellion while teaching against it? This does not mean no dissenting view should ever be allowed. Let's just use common sense.
We have swallowed the pluralistic toleration lie and ended up believing that
if we are allowed to preach the Gospel, we must give smut equal time, so now pornography flourishes. And all in the name of
free speech. Ditto with profanities, vulgarities, and obscenities on the radio, TV, and in public. Blind pluralism allows
the existence of NAMBLA, the North American Man Boy Love Association, a group of perverts (free speech allows me to say that)
that promotes homosexual relationships between men and underage boys. Who in their right mind even believes this group should
exist? Whether the issue is anarchy or abomination, limits must exist. The line must be drawn.
Oh my soul! When will we awake from our pluralistic drugged sleep which
fosters a one sided free speech? We have lived in the dark for so long, we have forgotten how to turn on the light. The proverbial
frog in the pot of water is now boiling. Joseph Harris www.miniedition.net
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Road Rage
We have all heard stories about road rage and air rage. I recall reading a
story about a 31 year old driver who punched another driver, a 73 year old man, in the face because of road rage. Here is
what caused it. The younger driver zoomed past the elderly man, crossing double yellow lines, only to be stopped ahead at
a red light behind a line of cars. The seventy three year old driver shook his head and made a gesture (though not obscene),
as if to say, "What a dumb thing to do" and it certainly was. This "look and gesture" so enraged the younger driver, he got
out of his car and punched the elderly gentleman through his open window. Sounds like a "real man" to me, beating up on senior
citizens. What would the news report have been if the assailant had emerged from his car with a gun?
The news media usually excuses this kind of behavior, attributing the problem
to some abstract thing called road rage, claiming the perpetrator is a victim, unable to cope with pressure and stress in
daily life.
Let me label and identify road ragers. They are self centered, spoiled hotheads
with no self control, who think they are the only ones on the road with a destination. Ditto for air ragers who lose their
temper on airplanes. The problem is an out of control temper that can be controlled. Each person is an accountable being,
responsible for his or her own actions, with few exceptions. If we all acted out our anger when we got mad at other drivers,
there would be mass murder on the highways daily.
Funny, but I never heard the old timers speak of this disorder. They never
mentioned "Plow Rage", "Barn Raising Rage", or "Outhouse Rage". But then they were from an age where individuals were taught
self control and personal responsibility. Out- of-control people in the old days were called criminals and went to jail.
You know, this has possibilities. The next time I get mad at my wife at meal
time, VOILA!, "Dining Rage". "Sorry Honey, I just couldn't help what I said about your Elly May Clampett biscuits. You know
how D R is."
We could also have Wal-Mart rage and (my favorite) computer rage. The
sky is the limit for irresponsible individuals who want to scapegoat someone or something for their own choices. We
did not have a voice when we inherited depravity from Adam, but we do have a choice in the way we conduct ourselves.
Joseph Harris www.miniedition.net
Racial Reparations?
How do you make racial reparations? Can reparations be made for atrocities performed from 100 to 200 years
ago? If so, then when and where do you stop? A few years ago some U. S. Government officials refused to attend a United Nations
World Conference on Racism because some topics of focus included reparations for African slavery in this country and a denouncement
of Zionism in Israel. The idea, put in layman's terms, was for the UN to receive monetary reparation payments from all countries
who participated in slave trade in the 18th and 19th centuries. These officials said they believed focusing on the future
would be more productive.
I now risk being misunderstand by my Black friends. So now let me make my statement about reparation: RIDICULOUS.
Believe me, I have never been for the dehumanizing of any racial branch of humanity, since we are all created in God's image,
but neither am I for forcing innocent individuals who never owned slaves, to make payment to innocent humans who were never
slaves themselves. If we spend our time trying to "make right" or "repair" every injustice ever performed against us, we would
constantly live in the past and never progress forward.
I believe there is a scriptural principle for guidance. The Apostle Paul said, "...this one thing I
do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13,14.
If anyone had a right to cry "reparation", it was the apostle Paul. He was beaten, stoned and left for dead, starved, imprisoned,
slandered, persecuted, wrongfully accused, etc, etc. He never sued the Sanhedrin or the Roman government or complained about
all his mistreatments. Nor did he demand payment from Egypt for the slavery of his forefathers from centuries before. He simply
focused on going forward for Christ.
Slavery was wrong! Our forefathers who participated in it were wrong! The indigenous tribes in Africa who
sold slaves to slave traders were wrong! I regret it ever happened and I'm sorry for all the people who suffered, but I can't
change one second of history. I can, however, affect the present and future by being Christ-like in treating everyone equally,
by looking not at skin color, heritage, or class, but by looking at them as a human being God loves as much as He loves me.
If all Christians would live out God's love, it would make more "repairs" than any UN or US government reparation mandate
than man could ever dream up. Joseph Harris www.miniedition.net
The Blame Game
Have you ever played the blame game? You probably did when you were a kid, and you probably have as an adult.
Placing blame on others is a sign of immaturity among kids and a sign of depravity among adults. We dodge and duck at every
chance to get away from being responsible when we get caught.
It usually goes something like this: "Your honor, my client cannot be considered responsible for the horrible
crime of decapitating and filleting his family members. His dad yelled at him and took away his toy trucks when he was five
and he has been in trauma ever since." Or "The Arabs hate America because the great Satan has oppressed them" (Go figure that
one out). Or "The reason unwanted pregnancies continue and AIDS is still spreading is because moralists do not want sex education
and condom distribution." And then there is the original classic, "The woman thou gavest me..." When all else fails, blame
God, as Adam did.
Whatever happened to personal, individual responsibility? Scapegoating is easier and hurts less. Being responsible
means facing up to our own sins, failures, and weaknesses, but exposure through truth is necessary. Admittance of guilt is
a must for salvation. Our own sinful state of depravity reveals our desperate need for God. Atheists exist because it is more
comfortable for them to not believe in God, because if there is a God, they must one day face Him, and that means accountability.
Solution? Get rid of God by denying His existence.
When we ignore or reject the truth or place blame on someone else, the sin or the crime doesn't go away, and
the real problem remains. The problem is ME. I choose to lie or tell the truth. I
choose to be faithful or unfaithful to my spouse. I choose to steal or be honest. And
so on. I realize this is a novel approach for some and may sound too simplistic to the humanistic psychologist, but if everyone
began to shoulder his or her own responsibility for his or her own choices, the world might be a lot different tomorrow.
Joseph Harris www.miniedition.net
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