Character

In Grade 10, my history teacher had assigned the class a task where we were to put together an army recruitment poster for WWII. My slogan had been "The true measure of a man is how he responds to injustice", and looking back I think, wow that’s pretty deep for a 14-year old. I still stand by it.

I think there is not enough emphasis in our society on being a person of good character. There was a time when people knew growing up what it mean to be person of good character, because these values were inculcated in family, in school, in church and community. It was about duty, sacrifice, loyalty, sincerity, integrity... But ask anyone 18-24 today how they’d define character, and I suspect you’ll get a blank stare - not because our generation consists of bad people, but because it’s a term that’s been all but phased out from our vocabulary. When was the last time you heard someone say “Bill is a man of great character”?

Before the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. had declared “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” It’s a statement that’s since been immortalized - the most famous quoted line from that speech - and I’ve always thought about what exactly Dr. King meant by judging someone by “the content of their character”.

But with age and experience and more creases above my brow, the more I’ve come to realize the sheer brilliance of The Reverend's statement. For really, if there was a basis on which you HAD to judge someone, what would it be? Divinity? Material wealth? Letters after one’s name? No, it should be character.

It’s kind of sad that we live in a superficial society where the material wealth seems to be the primary basis on which respect is accrued, but I suppose to a degree it’s OK in a meritocracy (better than according respect according to nobility or caste or birthright – those people did nothing to earn their position).

Character is something that’s very difficult to define – everyone has their own interpretation. I think character is about how you respond to injustice, what you do when your back's against the wall, how you treat people whom you don’t need to treat well, how you help the weak and downtrodden. When I think of persons of great character, I think of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Oskar Schindler, Atticus Fitch, the Dalai Lama...

So whatever happened to being a person of good character? Sincerity, humility, integrity, fidelity to kin and nation, treating all people fairly, with dignity and respect... These are qualities that I fear are increasingly going by the wayside today in our superficial, self-absorbed, me-oriented society.