“ Say, what is honor? 'T is the finest sense Ofjustice which the human mind can frame, Intent eachlurking frailty to disclaim, And guard the way oflife from all offense Suffered or done.” – William Wordsworth
Is there a consciencious awareness of honor in American society today? Is there an individual sense of earnestness, dedication and honor or is it virtually non-existent?
There are eleven definitions of the word “honor” that appear in Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913). The third definition is: “3. A nice sense of what is right, just, and true, with course of life correspondent thereto; strict conformity to the duty imposed by conscience, position, or privilege.”
In a recent World Street Journal article, Josiah Bunting III reviewed James Bowman’s “Honor: A History” which describes the loss of honor from the lexicon of 21st century American society. The author is quoted, “Honor is stark and unrelenting” and “Americans do not like stark choices”. The article referenced the “old hymn” - “Then it is the brave man chooses while the coward stands aside.”
The “old hymn” is a poem by James R. Lowell that appeared in the Boston Courier, December 11, 1845:
Once to Every Man and Nation
Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide,In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side;Some great cause, some great decision, offering each the bloom or blight,And the choice goes by forever, ’twixt that darkness and that light.
Then to side with truth is noble, when we share her wretched crust,Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and ’tis prosperous to be just;Then it is the brave man chooses while the coward stands aside,Till the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied.
By the light of burning martyrs, Christ, Thy bleeding feet we track,Toiling up new Calv’ries ever with the cross that turns not back;New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth,They must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of truth.
Though the cause of evil prosper, yet the truth alone is strong;Though her portion be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong;Yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown,Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own.
In an address at West Point, the Objectivist philosopher, Ayn Rand stated, “We are the most moral country in the world.” She defined honor as “self esteem made visable in action. …the highest integrity and sense of honor exhibited by character, resolution, the persistence to do what is right despite the cost are virtues”.
Our poets, and philosophers understand what honor means. The point Mr. Bunting makes is: we must understand our own definition of honor, our enemy’s, and act honorably in confronting them if we are to survive as a nation.
Hank Hessing
Babylon
