If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.
Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle
Many of us have the privilege of commuting in a privately owned vehicle. I like to travel without the radio on, preferring the silence as a meditative moment even as my eyes scan for the usual near death experiences in heavy traffic every hundred meters or so.
For those who commute on public conveyance or other forms of vehicular travel with friends or strangers, you know it’s an opportunity to people watch. People can provide us with no end to circus entertainment or varied conversations. Even in silence, we watch as stories fill our minds about the characters we see. Perhaps judgments follow quickly.
However, when we read the news from the epic flood of sources and entertainment posing as news our minds are filled with a different story. News fills us with fear, disgust, anger, triumph, or warms our heart at the rare compassion story that renews our joy in life.
What I have gleaned from the bow wave of information is the second coming of Christ is coming once again, this time for real. A megalomaniac will soon bring our democratic republic to ruin or there is a slim chance a feeble elder will turn America into a refugee camp, start WWWIII, and raise the national debt where interest is higher than the total of the tax base. The fears for the future of the population is grounded in the ruin of civilization.
Parable time. As an aging senior sergeant in the Army, I would stand with my best impersonation of George Washington on the prow of a dingy bobbing aimlessly in the Potomac river with the goal of attacking a drunken horde of German mercenaries. I would command my troops to, “Sally forth noble young knights of Freedom and lay waste to yonder minions of Doom. Let none suffer a long life of iniquity.” After a few minutes when none of the mottled green men sallied forth, I would ask them what they were waiting on.
“Sergeant Dan, you always lead the attack. We’re waiting on you to rush headlong into Valhalla so we can follow.”
To this bit of bad news, I would inevitably reply. “Screw that. I’ll call in an air strike and we’ll go back to camp for a beer and burrito.”
Leadership is important in hard times. It’s the leader’s example that determines outcomes and the continuity of any effort. Without leadership that gains trust and shows compassion, we end up with what we have now. Every person for themselves and Quixotic causes jousting each other on every corner. When this happens we have the emergence of the Seven Social Sins (S3) listed below.
As you read through this short list, ask yourself if you recognize some of it from personal observation or did you learn of it from your news sources. Soon I will examine what we as individuals can do to sally forth and lay waste to sin and iniquity.
Seven Social Sins
From a sermon given by Frederick Lewis Donaldson in Westminster Abbey, London, on March 20, 1925.
- Wealth without work
- Pleasure without conscience
- Knowledge without character
- Commerce without morality
- Science without humanity
- Worship without sacrifice
- Politics without principle
Hyperion Sky 
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