My Dad was my Hero

Memorial Service

My Dad was my hero as I was growing up, and although I never told him that I loved him I think he always knew that.

 

There was something about my Dad that people really like in a person. He grew up on a farm, worked hard all of his life, and he did the best that he could at all times. Of course his way was always best, which made life difficult at times, but I don’t think it was about being better than everyone else, he was simply doing the best that he could.

 

As I was growing up my Dad seemed almost perfect and I wanted to be “just like him” in a lot of ways. He took me hunting even before I could carry a gun, and fishing even though I often snagged my line. He taught me how to ride a bike, drive a car, run a boat, and fly a plane. I’ve often said that if I could have been just half the pilot that he was, I would be one of the best pilots ever.

 

He let me hang out in the garage and watch what he was doing. He taught me how things work, how to build things, and how to fix things. I grew up with the confidence that there didn’t seem to be anything that my Dad couldn’t do, and do well.

 

After I left home I realized that my Dad wasn’t perfect and he wasn’t always the best example. He often called me a knucklehead while I was growing up; I learned to not call people names! He sometimes spanked me with a wooden hanger; I learned to deal with problems in a gentler manner! He was narrow-minded and opinionated; I learned to tolerate the ideas of others!

 

He wasn’t afraid to ask a high price when he sold you something, and he wasn’t afraid to tell you the price was too high if he wanted to buy something from you; I learned that money was not a good measure of value!

 

As an adult we didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things, like politics, religion, or money, but somehow that didn’t stop him from being one of my hero’s. I will always remember him as a hard-nosed kind of guy, with a good side and a less than good side, and I will always cherish the time we spent together.

 

What I learned from my Dad, I condensed into my own personal mission statement, which is “To leave the world a better place than I found it, by being a positive influence to others, and by doing the best that I can at all times”. I think my Dad lived up to that mission statement too. He was certainly a positive influence on my life, and I expect the lives of many of you here today.

 

Tomorrow on Father’s Day I will honor my Dad as I always have, with respect and with honor. And for the rest of my life, Dad, you will remain one of my greatest hero’s. I am grateful for what you shared with me, and I will always love you. But then, I’m sure you’ve always known that.

It May be Too Late

The Common Will

Democracy and the Death of Choice: Why the liberal struggle for a better world will fail. Part 5 of 6

 

While I would defend the argument that we, as individuals, should “act in the best interests of society”, I’ve realized that the common will of the people is not always properly focused: Often it is guided by personal gain, or misinformation, or simply usurped by political and corporate power. The problem is that dialogue and affirmation by the people will not keep political evil at bay, nor will a misguided attempt to maintain a free and open society protect us from those who disagree with our ideology.

 

Unfortunately, natural law is too often forgotten or ignored and our rights are assumed to be dependent on existing law. As a result, if a person proposes some form of truth that we (society) did not make and also proposes that we can know this truth, such as a belief in God or the basic rights of individuals (including the unborn), then that person becomes a threat to liberal civilization. In other words, if you are thinking for yourself you are acting against the best interests of society.

 

I believe that goodness, virtue, and morality are not simply emotivist attitudes but do provide objective content. Human life is sacred and the human person is social. The economy must serve the people, we should recognize the responsibilities and limits of government, and we should participate in the essential roles of voluntary association.

 

I believe that we need to move away from “rights talk” founded on human will and move toward rights grounded in human nature. For instance, while I would argue that society cannot “in good conscience” discriminate against gay marriage, I would also argue that society should not continue to permit the murder of unborn children.

Yea ... sure!

Simon Says

Democracy and the Death of Choice: Why the liberal struggle for a better world will fail. Part 4 of 6

 

A researcher named Simon points out that modern democracy is the best regime today, not intrinsically, but as a result of historical circumstances that have exposed the tyrannical threats lurking behind monarchies and rule by the elite few. Nevertheless, he does think that in order for democracy to flourish and not simply to survive, it needs principles opposed to its own ideals. A pure regime is utterly unstable for it has nothing to check its weaknesses and abuses of power. Furthermore, a mixed regime also incorporates elements of the common good from the other regimes, since no regime fully and entirely encapsulates the common good and virtue of all its citizens.

 

This is the context for Simon’s brilliant insight, wherein he explains why the principles of democracy must be more profound, vital, and heartfelt: “This is the case since preserving principles is more difficult in democracy than in any other regime as a result of liberalism, which implies that the principles of society [and it’s desired ends] are not above deliberation and must be thrown into the universal competition of opinions” (Philosophy of Democratic Government, 124).

 

Simon has provided an insight that requires serious reflection, for to evaluate the health of society necessitates that we accurately describe the sort of regime that we actually live in. “Modern liberalism sees that there is no purpose of society other than the general will, a will that is ordered and guided by nothing other than itself. Goodness, virtue, and morality are simply emotivist attitudes that have no objective content outside of what one so determines.” In other words, the purpose of modern society is left up to the collective will of a people without a moral compass.

 

However, the classical and medieval understanding was that political society, like the family, existed “by nature” and not by human convention. It existed for the purpose of fostering genuine communal life, virtue, and friendship; three characteristics that are almost entirely absent from all modern and post-modern political society.

 

Mary Ann Glendon called attention to the fact that modernity is dominated by “rights talk.” This understanding has led to an unhealthy conception in liberal democracy. A fundamental error that characterizes much of modern “rights” theory is that “rights” are rooted not in human nature but in the human will, which in turn is manifested in a system of law.

 

Modern jurisprudence theory relies heavily on the self-sufficiency of human will. Laws are often considered right merely because they have become a part of the legal order of society, where in which the majority “will” of society takes precedence. In other words, law has become erroneously equivocated with “right.”

 

Father Schall sums up this dilemma poignantly: “The will then has no limit … if whatever is willed is right because it is willed and only because it is willed, then there arises a certain parallel between law and right. In a sense, there can be no conflict between law and right, for whatever is willed is right because it is willed” (Acting Reasonable: Democracy, Authority, and Natural Rights in the Thought of Jacques Maritain). The strongest will, the public will, trumps in all cases.

Christ Our Light

Dying He destroyed our death
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who
believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.
John 3:16

 

 

Rising He restored our life
"I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
John 11:25