Can there be a prescription
for character and conscience?
In stable, superbly suburban Orland Park, Illinois, where I live, friendly parks and cheerful neighbors support the notion that the world is dandy and that almost everyone is an Eagle Scout at heart. Some believe this is God’s will, some believe it just happens that
way.
Anything
less than perfect is noteworthy. A child lies about a missing cookie, a clumsy
burglar kicks a dog, a coach seduces a child, bombs are lobbed into a crowded
market, destructive drugs are sold on the street, bankers and public officials ponder new fees.
The death
of Charles W. Colson, whose Watergate adventure tumbled him into prison, calls
attention to his later success in prison ministry. The trial of John Edwards,
former senator and contender for a presidential nomination, revives a puzzle
for his family, friends and opponents alike: What went wrong? Is there a mental
or spiritual vitamin tablet that wards off such behavior and energizes
conscience?
One of
history’s spectacular failures of conscience affects countless priests convicted
of the abuse of children. It is spectacular because it defies the teachings of
all the churches, coincidentally raising questions about the clergy. If they
believe what the church teaches, how can they place themselves in such eternal
peril? Neither scientists nor theologians know enough about compulsions,
impulses and self-destructive behavior, whether criminal or personal. One
result is the pain felt by victims and their families, and another result is a
costly dilution of respect for churches and schools.
Suppose, on
the other hand, that society sees the world as deeply imperfect, given to
earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, firestorms and harmful temperatures while
populated by humans capable of painful deceptions, contempt for the weak,
prejudice against the sick, the fat, the tall, anyone of a different race or
religion or political persuasion. Some might see traces of this in the Hebrew
testament and other long-ago ponderings.
Does this
vision of an uncertain world support a different understanding of what’s
noteworthy, what’s news? Does this focus attention on struggles to overcome
weakness and failure, to make good on the consequences of greed and corruption?
Not yet.
Maybe the dozen who embarrassed the Secret Service will someday be eclipsed in
the media by the thousands who do their jobs, who resist temptation or perhaps
yield to less scandal-tempting temptations.
It is
understandable that lots of people want to ignore threats too agonizing to
bear. To deny global warming is to reenact a childhood impulse to cover one’s
own eyes and say, “You can’t see me.”
Can the
science of sex be disconnected from the sickness of sex long enough to be
studied with the laboratory neutrality applied to the study of space and
medicine? Sex is a factor in crimes ranging from assault to murder all over the
world, and in the behavior of countless religious, sports and education
personnel. Yet, society treats it as though it were merely a legal issue, as
unresolved today as it was a thousand years ago. It is a science issue, too,
blurred by the William Jennings Bryan code of denial.
We have a
lot to learn. We know how to build prisons but not fast enough for a growing
community of drug dealers, governors, business leaders and sex offenders. We
know how to inoculate children’s bodies against frightful diseases, but we
don’t know how to inoculate their personality and character to protect them
from making life-wrenching mistakes. We look to theology and criminal law for
answers, but what we get is more questions. We let movies, TV and periodicals
set our goals and define our standards.
Orland Park residents and other accomplished suburbanites tend to respect traditional leadership and celebrate the traditions. Who knew tht even some of the traditional goal-setters might lose their way? Too many, perhaps, try to fuel their 21st century GPS navigators with 19th century whale oil.
