The Four Most Important Searches in Our Lives — The Search for Authenticity

20 Aug 2023 9 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

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Authenticity is being true to yourself.  It is being who you really are versus who others want you to be.  It is being true to a set of values, morals or principles that define a good life.  It is defining oneself and not letting others define you.  “In existentialism, authenticity is the degree to which a person’s actions are congruent with their values and desires, despite external pressures to social conformity.” — Wikipedia

What do you want your life to be like?  What will you stand up for?  What is worth living for and dying for?  These questions frame a Search for Authenticity which will continue our entire lives.  It is not that we never find authenticity, it is that as our roles change in life, the meaning of authenticity will change.  We must continually redefine ourselves in terms of being authentic.

It will not matter whether you are rich or poor, whether you are educated or uneducated.  It will not matter who you know or what you know.   Authenticity comes from the heart and soul and not from the brain.  You cannot buy authenticity.  You cannot acquire authenticity by fame or fortune.  Knowing celebrities and being a celebrity are no guarantees of authenticity.  You cannot go to school and get a degree in authenticity.  Think for a minute.  Who is the most authentic person you know?  What makes them authentic?

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Two things have escaped me in my life.  When I was young, I wanted to be rich and famous.  Often, I still dream of it.  Not an unusual desire given American values.  Over the years, I have read many books about famous people.  I have read most of the great philosophers.  I studied a Harvard Business course on the histories of the richest entrepreneurs like Getty, Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Mellon.  These were the predecessors of Gate, Musk, and Buffett.  The results would show that I am nowhere near successful in my twin goals.  Neither fortune nor fame has cast its shadow over my life.  Perhaps I am blessed because of this.  Knowing how immature and ungrateful that I have often been, either the money or fame would have been squandered or it would have destroyed me.

Today, I am happier than I have ever been.  I have more than some people and less than others.  I have good friends and a loving wife and sister.  My ex-relationship with my daughter is not wonderful but it is no longer on rocky grounds.  What does my life have to do with authenticity?  Why my story here?  Well, over the years I have pondered the reasons that my goals of fame and fortune were never attained.  My answer lies in what it means to be authentic.

I have never chosen money over knowledge.  Money has never been as important to me as learning and education.  I would sooner spend an afternoon in a library as in an office.  I have never chosen money over ethics.  My clients always knew that I would tell them the truth, even if it was not always tactfully done.  I never dreamed of getting ahead in business by developing a network of influential friends or meeting clients on the golf course.  In fact, I purposely never learned to play golf.  I wanted to be respected for what I knew and not who I knew.  This is a major mistake in the world of commerce.  When my boss at the consulting firm asked me where my list of contacts was for networking, I was befuddled.  I had to go back into his office and ask him to explain networking to me.

Being a rich successful businessperson was not in my genes.  I came to accept that fact over time.  The answer for how you get to Carnegie Hall is “Practice, practice, practice.”  I was never willing to take the time to be a businessperson.  I would rather do other things like travel and meet new people, see new places and explore new ideas.  I would not practice the skills needed to succeed in business.  I valued time more than money.

I also was not willing to take the risks needed to be an entrepreneur.  I remember reading a biography of the great African American entrepreneur John Johnson who founded Ebony Magazine.  When he needed money to meet a deadline for publishing an issue of Ebony, he pawned his mom’s furniture.  He had already invested his last cent in the business.  It would be interesting to know what his mom said when she came home and found her furniture gone.  I was never a risk taker when it came to money.  I still have never bought a lottery ticket.  I cannot imagine hocking my furniture much less my mom’s furniture.

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Being authentic means being true to who you are in spirit.  Integrity and authenticity go hand in hand.  Integrity is upholding those unique values and virtues that make you authentic.  Oxford Online dictionary defines integrity as: “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.”  If you say that you value honesty, then you must practice honesty.  If you say that you value truth, then you must practice truthfulness.  If you say that you value democracy, then you must support democratic values and principles.  First though, you must ask yourself what it is that makes you alive?  What makes you human?  What is truly meaningful to you?  The answers to these questions will determine your integrity.  People with little or no integrity can be authentic.  There are authentically “bad” people.  However, I believe that authenticity must always be allied with good character development and that means authenticity must meld with integrity.  Unfortunately, it seems that sometimes the two do not find each other.

Today we are faced with a tsunami of public figures who seem to have no integrity.  Lawyers lie and spin devious schemes to protect their clients and themselves.  Politicians take oaths and contributions from PACs which ensure that they will ignore the will of the majority.  Sports figures use their influence to take advantage of others.  Celebrities have no qualms about ethics and will do anything to continue their celebrity status.  So called journalists are more interested in advertising revenue than in the veracity or merits of any news.

Being authentic only has merit if you also have integrity.  Father Stokhal of Demontreville used to say that if you do bad actions, you can tell yourself all day long that you are a good person, but you will never be good until you stop the bad actions.  If you have grievous character defects such as lying and cheating others, being true to yourself has no merits or value to the world.  Jesus said that if the salt loses its flavor, what good is it.  Socrates believed that the ultimate goal of human existence was not just to live but to live a good, meaningful, and virtuous life.  A good life was guided by virtue and moral principles.  Being authentic means to find the virtues and morals that will help you to lead a good life.  Integrity is sticking to those virtues and morals that you believe in through thick and thin.  You do what is right regardless of what others may think or how much you may or may not profit by your actions.  Here is an example of the lack of authenticity and integrity that plagues politics today.  This concerns the upcoming Republican debate.

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Yesterday, I was reading the following story on several different news outlets.  One headline on the N.Y. Times read “Defend Trump and ‘Hammer’ Ramaswamy: DeSantis Allies Reveal Debate Strategy.”  The principal points that the coaches suggested to DeSantis were as follows:

  • Take a sledgehammer to Vivek Ramaswamy, the political newcomer who is rising in the polls.
  • Defend Donald Trump when Chris Christie inevitably attacks the former president.
  • Attack Joe Biden and the media no less than three to five times.

If the guidance above does not smell to you as garbage, then I apologize.  But please don’t tell us that “Well, this is politics.”  I hope we all expect more of our politicians than people who ignore authenticity and integrity to score cheap points in a debate.  Nevertheless, this is what politics in America has become.  Now there always was and always will be devious and unethical methods used to get elected.  Study the history of Thomas Jefferson and you can see the media at work two hundred and fifty years ago to smear his name because of his alleged affair with a slave named Sally Hemings.  But if we don’t start expecting more, when will things change?

We may be at a crossroads in America.  A large percentage of people no longer respect politicians and lawyers (they seem to go together).  Many people are clamoring for less government.  Governmental agencies have lost a great deal of their former influences due to the actions of our leaders.

A study on respect for government found the following:

A Pew Research Center survey finds that just 20% of Americans say they trust the federal government just about always or most of the time. — Dec 5, 2021

Two studies on feelings towards lawyers in the USA found:

In a Gallup poll from 2015, only 4% of respondents rated the “honesty and ethical standards” of lawyers as “very high.” In that same poll, more than one-third (34%) rated attorneys’ honesty and ethical standards as low (25%) or very low (9%).

A landmark study for the American Bar Association found even harsher truths underlying the popular perception of attorneys:

74% of those surveyed agreed that “lawyers are more interested in winning than in seeing that justice is served.”

69% believed “lawyers are more interested in making money than in serving their clients.”

These studies were done eight years ago.  I would bet you a 100 to 1 that feelings towards lawyers today are even worse than they were eight years ago.  Former Vice President Pence recently referred to “Trump’s gaggle of crack pot lawyers.”  Trump and eighteen other cohorts have now been indicted in respect to his scheme to overthrow the 2020 presidential election.  Seven of those indicted were lawyers.  If you ever believed that lawyers follow a “Code of Ethics” you may well wonder where Trump’s lawyers went to school.

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You might wonder if authenticity and integrity are just for the average person.  It certainly seems that “above” average people including the rich and famous do not subscribe to the same playbook that is recommended for the rest of us.  Why then worry about a “Search for Authenticity?”  Will it keep you happy?  Will it make a difference in your life?  Here is what some other people and religions have to say about it.

“Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It’s about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen.”  ― Brene Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection

“If you don’t know who you truly are, you’ll never know what you really want.”  ― Roy T. Bennett

“Only the truth of who you are, if realized, will set you free.”  ― Eckhart Tolle

“But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.” — James 5:12 ESV

“The objective of Islamic ethics is to illuminate the virtues that enable a person to perfect his or her humanity.” — Omar Qureshi, Finding the Authentic Self

“In Buddhism, living authentically means living with honesty and being willing to look at your own illusions and self-deceptions. It also means questioning your self-images and self-limiting identities, and examining the stories you weave about yourself.” — Tricycle, The Buddhist Review

Conclusions:

  • Do not believe what I am telling you. Search for your own authenticity.
  • Find out what it means to “Be Yourself.” What is yourself?
  • Find a mentor, partner or someone who will be honest with you. Do an authenticity check with them every so often.  Ask them if you are an authentic person.
  • Who do you most admire? Are they authentic?  Do they have integrity?  If not, why do you admire them?
  • Are you voting for and supporting people who are authentic and have integrity? Why not?
  • What barriers exist in your life to being authentic?

Next week we will look at Man/Woman’s Search for Love.

I doubt that a person ever existed who did not want or search for love.  Love is older than the Greek gods, older than the Bible, older than the universe.  Everyone knows what love is and no one knows what love is.  Everyone wants love but few really know how to give love.  Love may be the most frequently used word in any language.   It is probably the most frequently misused word in any language as well.  We search for love and many of us will never find it.  Some of us will find it at a very old age and some will find it while very young.  No amount of arguing will ever stop anyone from looking for love.

  1. Arabic: حب (habb)
  2. Chinese: 爱 (ài)
  3. Filipino: Pag-ibig
  4. Swahili: upendo
  5. Hindi — मोहब्बत (mohabbat)
  6. Indonesian: cinta
  7. Japanese: 愛 (ai)
  8. Persian: عشق (ishq)
  9. Punjabi: ਪਿਆਰ (pyaar)
  10. Russian: любовь (lyubov’)
  11. Spanish: Amor

PS:

At the first Republican debate Wednesday night, Seven of the eight Republican presidential candidates on the debate stage raised their hands to confirm that they would support former President Trump as the 2024 GOP nominee, even if Trump is convicted in a court of law. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson was the only candidate to keep his hand down.  Some readers have commented that one or the other of these candidates have set themselves apart from Trump and are no longer sycophants.  I think these raised hands are enough evidence to prove that there is little or no integrity in the Republican Leadership today. 

 

 

This Bond of Men – By J. Persico and R. Casey

10 Apr 2023 3 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

Johnston HS Baseball Team 19631963 Johnston High School State Baseball Champions

Some stories shout to the world to be told.  Other stories whisper.  This story is of the latter kind.  It took place back in 1963 in a small obscure part of the world called Johnston, R.I.  Far overshadowed by events like the Kennedy assassination and the Vietnam war, I hardly noticed it occurred.  I would not even be telling you this story now were it not for some recent events involving the men whom it happened to.

Partly it is a David versus Goliath story.  We all like these stories and they grab our attention because we love to see the little guy kick the big guy’s butt.  Perhaps the two most famous stories I can recall in this vein are the defeat of the Russian Hockey team by the US team in the Olympics.  On Feb. 22, 1980, the United States beat the Soviet Union 4-3 in an ice hockey game at the Lake Placid Olympics.  It was one of the biggest upsets in sports history.  They called this the” Miracle on Ice.”  The USA team went on to win the gold medal.  Herb Brooks, the coach. was from Minnesota and was well known in our town of St Paul.  He died in a car accident in 2003 and was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2006.

The second story which most of us know is the story of Muhammed Ali versus Sonny Liston.  Sonny Liston or the “Bear” as he was known was a terrifying hulk of a man whom it was said had killed men in the ring with one punch.  Muhammed Ali (Cassius Clay at the time) was a young promising upstart of a boxer with quick hands and an even quicker mouth.  He disturbed boxings notion of what a fighter should be and do and most boxing fans wanted to see him get his head handed to him and fully expected that he would.

The fight for the Heavyweight Championship of the world was held on February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach, Florida.  Muhammed Ali (an 8–1 underdog) won in a major upset.  This fight turned the boxing world upside down.  It became one of the most controversial fights in the sport’s history.  “Sports Illustrated labeled it as the fourth greatest sports event of the twentieth century.” — Wikipedia.

The first fight between Ali and Liston barely registered on my antenna at the time.  I was finishing high school and wondering what I was going to be when I grew up.  I had little or no chance of going to college and was considered one of the biggest disappointments at my high school.  I was attending Johnston High School where the event that I am about to describe took place.  It happened nearly sixty years ago in 1963.  I am telling you this story now not because it is simply another David beats Goliath tale but because the story happening after this event is even more significant than the event itself.

Johnston High School opened in 1960.  My family had just moved from Woonsocket, R.I. to Johnston R.I. for reasons that I will never know.  In the years that followed, I went from being an A student to a student barely passing my classes.  Teachers and other students regarded me as intelligent but lacking discipline.  In my four years of high school, I achieved only one noticeable success.  I did not join any clubs.  I played no sports.  I participated in no school activities.  I went to no school sporting events.  I took no doe eyed damsels to a single prom.  I was twice arrested.  Once for breaking and entering and once for drag racing on a public highway.  My single success in high school was derided by the head of the English department as “A dark day for Johnston High School.”  I won first place in a school-wide writing contest that I had loudly insulted and laughed at.

Johnston was actually “West Providence” by another name.  It lay between the borders of Massachusetts and Connecticut.  It would take you less than an hour to drive across the middle of R.I.  We had North Providence, South Providence, and East Providence but no “West” Providence.  Instead, we had Johnston.  I often assumed Johnston was simply an afterthought or a poor stepchild for R.I.  Comprised mostly of working-class blue-collar Italians, it was just a suburb of Providence.  In 1952 when this story really begins, Johnston was a rural area with dirt roads, streams, and many farms.  Today the population is over 30,000.

My friend Bob thought the town was a great place for kids to grow up.  It had a volunteer fire department, a “keystone” cops police department, and an average school system although no high school until 1960.  The town had approximately 5000 residents.  Today the town has almost 30,000 residents.  The most important (For this story anyway) part of the town was its recreation department.  It offered barebones opportunities in respect to sports but it had managed to establish a little league baseball association and a teener league baseball association.   You probably do not remember now but back in the fifties “Baseball” and not football was the “All American Sport.”

1958 Little League

1958 Little League in Johnston R.I.

Every kid wanted to be like Joe DiMaggio (1936-1951) or Mickey Mantle (1951-1968) or Whitey Ford (1961-1965).  Trading cards of baseball players were like finding gold and young boys spent hours collecting and trading their cards to get their favorites.  The American historian Jacques Barzun said, “Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball.” 

Before Johnston High School opened, most of the kids in Johnston went to other high schools around the state.  In 1963, Johnston H.S. was barely three years old.  It had maybe 400 students enrolled.  It had no history of “Esprit de Corp” or reputation for anything.  Nevertheless in 1963, Johnston H.S. won the R.I. State High School Baseball championship.  At the time, there was no divisions by size for the finals in baseball, so Johnston won against much bigger and well-established high school teams.  It was pitted against a Goliath (La Salle Academy) in the semi-finals for the State Championship.

La Salle Academy is a private Roman Catholic college preparatory school run by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Providence, Rhode Island.  It was founded by the Christian Brothers in 1871.  Today it has an enrollment of 1,478 students in the sixth through twelfth grades, and hosts sixty-four teams in 18 sports.  In May 2005, Sports Illustrated magazine cited La Salle for having the best athletic program in Rhode Island.  The schools list of alumnae would stagger you and take up the rest of this story.  The same is true for its list of State Championships in football, baseball, soccer, and other sports.  Back in 1963, any notion or idea that Johnston High School could beat La Salle in anything would have drawn hysterical laughter.  The odds would have been fifty to one against it.

Johnston High School beat La Salle Academy 2-1, in a best-of-three state final series.  The Johnston Panthers then proved that the win over La Salle was no fluke and beat Barrington High School 5-0 for the Final Championship.   A miracle perhaps but the real miracle took place in the years following this event.

Athletics and the sports world in general love to regale the public with stories of how sports have made a difference in the lives of others.  I am sure that you have heard how sports builds character and helps to mold the lives of young people.  As often as we may have heard these claims, we have seen repeated stories of spoiled young athletes.  Athletes who think the world owes them something and who squander any character building that their coaches might proclaim.  I am critical of the ability of sports to instill character, but I also stand ready to acknowledge that there are instances where it does happen.  That is the moral of this story.  A time when character was developed.

In 1963, fourteen ragtag baseball players, two team managers and two young coaches banded (nay bonded) together to put together a championship team.  That this event has been little heralded and perhaps less remembered by most of the world is not important.  For the players on this team, it was a galvanizing influence on their lives.

Several years ago, a popular novel was the “Band of Brothers.”  This story told of the bonds that were forged in the military during combat among the men of a platoon.  There have been many tales of battlefield bonds that were forged between men of great diversity in ethnicity and ideology.  The battlefield is a catalyst for such bonds.  To some extent, a team represents the possibility for such bonds.  A popular trope is that “There is no I in team.”  Unfortunately, there are too many I’s in too many teams.

I knew many of the men that played on the Johnston baseball team of 1963.  It may seem callous of me to say this, but I doubt that any of them were MLB material.  One outstanding player on the team was kicked off by Coach Edward Di Simone for swearing.  Di Simone said that the athlete, Robert Casey, was the most gifted man he had ever coached.  Unfortunately for Bob, there was too much “I” in his demeanor at the time and he left the team for good.  Later in life, Bob proved the words of Di Simone many times over by repeatedly winning the R.I. Handball Championship.  Handball is not a team sport.

Bob and coach Di Simone later became good friends and maintain a friendship to this day.  Bob Casey also remained friends with several of the men on the baseball team whom he had once played with.  Why did this team of average players go on to win against teams with players who did go to the major leagues?  I think it attests to the fact that Di Simone created a true team with men who bonded together with a common passion to play and minus the common passion to stand out and be a “superstar.”  They were men who looked up and listened to coach Di Simone.  The lack of ego among the players contributed to a desire to work together.  As D’Artagnan said in the “Three Musketeers”, “All for one and one for all.”  Senator Hubert Humphrey said that “Democracy is a system that achieves extraordinary results with ordinary people.”  Great teams like the ones that Di Simone and Brooks coached were remarkable because they created bonds that laid a foundation for extraordinary results with ordinary men.

1961 Pony League

1961 Teener or Pony League 

The bonds that developed between the men on the Johnston High School Baseball team were forged over many years of playing together.  Years before any of them would step foot in Johnston High School, these boys had played together in the Johnston Little League and then the Johnston Teener League.  They had learned to work together.  They had learned what strengths and what weaknesses each player had.  There were no super stars in the group.  Just a bunch of kids who loved to play the game of baseball and wanted to excel at everything they did.

Coach Eddie Di Simone was recently out of college and only about ten years older than most of his players in 1963.  He inherited a group of boys who had been playing baseball together for nearly five years.  Bonds had already started to develop but these were honed and polished by Coach Di Simone.  He believed that it was not enough to be a good ball player.  He strove to instill in his team his belief in four main values.  These were Simplicity, Honesty, Integrity, and Fair Play.

Coach Di Simone believed in these values, and he wanted his players to believe in them.  He demonstrated them on the playing field both with his own behavior and with his expectations for the team.  He was someone who practiced the values that he taught his players.  Imagine any Coach today kicking one of his best players off the team for swearing?  Coach Di Simone knew that after life with baseball, each of these men would go out to face a very different playing field.  On the “field of life” his values of simplicity, honesty, integrity, and fair play would be much more valuable than skills at hitting, throwing, catching, and running bases.

Sixty years later many of the surviving members of the Johnston High School Panthers baseball team are still meeting regularly with their former Coach Di Simone to remember the day that they won the championship.  However, they celebrate the specific day and its memories of winning less than they do the events that followed.  They have not been “stuck” in the past of 1963 when they put on their cleats, took their bats and gloves, and walked out on the ball field.  They have not spent the past sixty years trying to relive their “glory” days as it seems so many former high school athletes do.  What they celebrate when they meet with their former coach and now friend is the bond that was forged between the team and its Coach Di Simone.  It is a bond of men forged over a fire of values.  The values learned on the playing field helped to make the members of the 1963 Johnston High School championship team into the successful men that they have become in life.  That is the real story here.

Coach Di Simone is now 89 years old.  Amazingly, 12 of the original 14 team members remain alive and in their late seventies.   A few weeks ago, at one of their meetings they bestowed a plaque on Coach Di Simone commemorating the 1963 championship and what Coach Di Simone has meant to them.  As I write this, there are plans for a December meeting at Coach Di Simone’s house and dinner afterwards.  The affection for their former coach is very evident in his former players.  (NOTE:  This meeting took place in December of 2022)

The end to this story will be written in the future.  To paraphrase Abe Lincoln, “The world will little note, nor long remember what I say here, but it should never forget the real reasons why these men became who they are today.”  In a world awash with narcissism and egotism, it is comforting to find that upstanding values can still be the basis for an unshakeable bond between people as well as a basis for successful lives.

By the way, if you want to have some fun, see how many of the players you can recognize on the above pictures who are in each picture.  It is interesting to see the changes from “Kids” to “Young Men.”

Appendix: Date:  April 10, 2023

I have listed the names of the 14 men that were on the original 1963 Championship team along with their two coachs.

  • Kenneth J. Ainley, first base
  • Thomas J. Donnelly, third base
  • Richard A. Esposito, utility
  • William G. Geremia, utility
  • Alex M. Giarrusso, catcher
  • Frank E. Jasparro, left field
  • Scott Moore, pitcher
  • James J. Petteruti, center field
  • Daniel Pisaturo, third and second base
  • Ronald P. Ricci, utility
  • Edward A. Skovron, second base and shortstop
  • Melvin D. Steppo, third base
  • David P. Taraborelli, right field
  • Michael R. Ursini, utility
  • Coach Ed Di Simone
  • Coach Bob Smith

Why am I reading this? 

07 Mar 2023 14 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , ,

sandovalTom Sandoval addressed the jaw-dropping drama that he and longtime girlfriend Ariana Madix called it quits over infidelity.

The “Vanderpump Rules” star made a conscious effort to remain silent after news broke he and co-star Raquel Leviss were having a “full-on affair” — but decided to finally speak out Friday night.  —- ‘Hated’ Tom Sandoval addresses Ariana Madix split amid cheating claims by Nika Shakhnazarova, March 4, 2023 | 4:58am

Before I saw this headline on my Google consolidated news channel, I must confess that I had never heard of Tom Sandoval, Raquel Leviss or Ariana Madix.  Over the years, I have “jealously” noted that major movie stars (For example, Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley) with drop dead gorgeous girlfriends or wives always seem to cheat on them with equally beautiful drop dead gorgeous girlfriends who are no doubt dating other famous movie stars.

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Now for “common” guys like me, having a girlfriend like Ariana Madix would be like “let’s say” owning a Ferrari.  Not a chance in a lifetime that I ever will but it is still something to dream about.  By the way, to my female readers, I am sorry that I cannot write a blog that might sum up some of your fantasies, but it is beyond my writing skills to put myself in your shoes.  The only thing that I might say is that perhaps many women would like to write a blog about a guy that does not cheat on them.  If so, I would suggest that you do not look for inspiration in Hollywood.  The saying that a man’s penis and his brain cannot both operate at the same time seems largely true for much of “mankind.”

Raquel-Leviss-Snatched-Waist-Round-Bum

So, I saw this headline this morning and immediately wondered if Tom was leaving a decrepit homely looking girlfriend for better waters or if my imagined “Law of Cheating” held true.  Was his new illicit girlfriend just as beautiful but no more beautiful than his old girlfriend?  I had to test my hypothesis, so I Googled pictures of both.  You can make your own mind up by scanning the pictures I have posted of each woman.  I think my “Hollywood Law of Cheating” is still valid.  But this is not really the issue.

The real issue is why a seemingly intelligent man like me (I hope somewhat intelligent anyway) would even care about Sandoval and his exploits.  I know we call some of these headlines click-bait and I keep telling myself to ignore them.  After all, I really don’t care about British Royalty, the Kardashians, Zombie TV shows or the trysts of Hollywood actors and actresses.  I have a hard enough time trying to avoid the latest news dealing with crooked politicians, greedy real estate developers and lying lawyers to last me the rest of my life.  Short though that might now be.

I have an idea that might help us to avoid these clickbait useless stories.  We need a schema for categories of news stories.  Such a schema would help us to prioritize what we could or should read and when.  Might I suggest the following as a start:

Category One:  Local news that might directly impact your safety or wellbeing or the safety or wellbeing of your loved ones.

Category Two:  Local news that might impact you or your family either socially or economically.

Category Three:  National news that impacts you or your family in any meaningful tangible way.

Category Four:  International news that you might be able to do something positive about in terms of aid or humanitarian assistance.

Category Five:  News about subjects you are interested in like science or history.

Category Six:  Social, Economic or Political news that you cannot change or do anything about.

Category Seven:  News about sports or entertainment

Category Eight:  News that includes gossip about other people whom you have never met and or likely to never meet.  This includes British Royalty, the Kardashians, and most movie stars.

The way you use these categories is as follows.  Just like you have a meal with a balanced diet of carbs, fats, proteins, and nutrients, you would select your daily diet of news based on a balanced news diet.  For example:

Monday:  Two helpings from Category 1.  One helping from Category 2.  One helping from Category 3.  One helping from Category Seven.

Tuesday:  Two helpings from Category 2.  Two helpings from Category 3.  Two helpings from Category 5.  One helping from Category Eight.

You get the idea?  A balanced diet of news with some allowance for “junk food.”  Junk food being anything in Categories Six, Seven or Eight.  Such a diet would help many Americans focus on what is important.  You can start by cutting out my list of categories and keeping this list close by your TV or favorite news source.

Now that I have helped you to think about the important things in your life, I am going to go back to reading about Tom Sandoval, whoever he is.

By the way, I would not trade my spouse Karen for all the glamorous movie stars in the world.  Happiness lies not in what we can buy or what is skin deep but in character and personality.  I can not imagine growing old with anyone else by my side than Karen.

Who Speaks for Integrity?

11 Dec 2021 6 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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When I wrote my series of blogs on the Seven Most Important Virtues, I neglected to add Integrity.  Limiting myself to seven, I felt that the seven I identified were more important than any other virtues.  This was simply a judgement call.  I have been challenged on it several times and indeed I challenge myself on the list.  There is hardly a day goes by that I wonder if I should not have numbered Integrity among the Seven.  Well, as they say, that is water under the dam.  What I would like to do in this blog is discuss Integrity.  What is Integrity?  Why is Integrity so important?  How do we get Integrity?  Finally, how do we sustain Integrity?

What is Integrity?

download (1)Integrity is everything to lose and nothing to gain, except your self-respect.  Integrity is standing up for what you believe is right even when everyone is against you.  Integrity is the ability to put compassion and kindness ahead of self-interest.  Integrity cannot co-exist with greed.  It cannot co-exist with lust.  It cannot co-exist with a thirst for power.  It cannot co-exist with a drive for money, fame, or fortune.  All of these elements are like Kryptonite to Integrity.  Kryptonite was the one thing that could rob Superman of his powers.  Lust, greed, money, fame, and power all have the ability to rob one of his/her integrity.

One example of a man without integrity was Goethe’s Faust.  Faust was considered the smartest man alive.  He was a genius and a consummate intellectual.  There was little that he did not know about or could not speak intelligently about.  Yet, Faust was unhappy.  Old age had creeped up on him.  His desire for youth and sex overcame his ability to think with the maturity befitting his status.  He sold his soul to Satan and in the bargain sold his integrity.  His lack of integrity lead to the death of another human being and to his own banishment to hell.

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There are many examples of men and women with integrity.  I think of the whistleblowers who sacrifice their careers and sometime their lives to report issues that might be dangerous to others.  I think of the journalists in countries like Mexico who risk their lives every day to report injustices.  I think of the prosecutors and law enforcement officers in countries where criminals have the ability to enact retribution and death when they are charged with a crime.  In all these examples, there is nothing for these courageous people to gain and everything to lose by their standing up for what they believe is right.  This is integrity.

Why is Integrity Important?

I believe that it is fair to say that never before in the history of America has there been so little integrity shown by our political leaders.  Right, Left, Democrat, Republican, Independent, it does not matter.  There are too many political leaders who are driven by greed and a desire for power.  You may argue with this analysis but when I see even a third of our elected officials calling for term limits, I will recant my assertion.  When I see a third of our elected officials with a plan to eliminate paid lobbyists, I will recant my assertion.

Political_Integrity_-_iStock.com-Bobboz_resizedPolitics is a sham in America today.  We have men and women who are elected for life and spend more time campaigning then they do in serving their constituents.  Public servants who start collecting money to run their next campaigns within days of winning their present office.  We have a system of government where money is the most important factor in who gets elected and who gets reelected.  Our politicians are more worried about losing votes than they are in the constitution or in protecting our democracy.  What Integrity is there in supporting a riot to overthrow a fair election that every court and every state in America found was fairly conducted?  The media seized on the outrageousness of the Big Lie to sell news.  The losing party seized on the credibility of millions of gullible supporters to buy the Big Lie and try to maintain their power.

imagesThe media in America has become another hallowed institution gutted by greed and a desire for more and more money.  Reporters, writers, and journalists in America today are more interested in selling advertising than they are in balanced objective reporting.  You can divide the news up by whether they lean Right or Left, Liberal or Conservative, Democrat or Republican.  Each side has a mirror image on the other side of the political spectrum.  CNN is opposed by Fox News.  The New York Times is opposed by The New York Post and the Washington Post is opposed by the Washington Times.  One side supports the Right and the other side supports the left.  This is not balanced reporting, and no truth comes out of the dynamic between the two sides.  What both sides have in common are reporters who will report the most useless, tasteless, uninformative stories if they perceive that these stories will sell advertising or if they can figure out a clickbait title that will attract readers and thereby expose them to paid commercials.

I see few solutions to the problems I have noted above except to start holding our leaders and media to standards of Integrity that do not seem to exist.  This brings us to the issue of where Integrity comes from.

How Do We Get Integrity?

I do not believe humans are born with Integrity.  I do not think that there is a gene or DNA for Integrity.  Humans learn Integrity like they learn to speak.  The morals, ethics and traditions of any society become part of the fabric of learning that a child goes through.  Integrity is a virtue.  It may be valued more in some families and cultures more than others.  There is an Index of Public Integrity that measures five factors that the developers link to Integrity and is used to assess a countries capacity to control corruption and ensure that public resources are spent honestly.   The six scales used in this index include:

  1. Judicial Independence
  2. Administrative Burden
  3. Trade Openness
  4. Budget-Transparencies
  5. E-Citizenship
  6. Freedom of the Press

Idownload (3)f you want more of a description of each scale you can follow the hyperlink above.  The USA ties for 10th place with Great Britain on this index.  I can see some correlation with Integrity, but I can see many differences.  I think honesty is one component of Integrity, but Integrity is more complex than being simply honest.  An honest person can still lack integrity if they are unwilling to stand up for what they believe.  Cowardice and Integrity are incompatible.

Professor Stephen L. Carter of Yale Law School points out in his book “Integrity,” one cannot have integrity without being honest, but one can be honest and yet lack integrity. … Integrity in its bare-bones essence means adherence to principles.

You cannot buy Integrity.  You cannot inherit Integrity.  Fortunately, Integrity does not have a price tag.  It is open to everyone.  Young people, old people, women, men, and people from different ethnic backgrounds all can find Integrity.  I use the work “Find” because you must seek Integrity.  It is a treasure, and you must look for it.  You can acquire Integrity, but you can also lose Integrity.  However, you cannot give it away and no one can steal it from you.  It is one of the most unique treasures in the world.  So, where do we find this treasure?  There are three rules for finding Integrity.

  1. It must be something you value personally
  2. You must value it more than your life, your career or anything else that you might ever possess.
  3. You must not expect applause or accolades. It is more likely you will be criticized and condemned. 

If you can accept these three rules, then finding Integrity is easy.  Simply establish a set of morals, virtues, and ethics that you believe in and start standing up for them.  When they are challenged, you must speak out.  Your actions and behaviors must reflect our values.  Do not preach one thing and do another.  Do what you say you will do.  When you feel like taking the easy way out, you must take the road that leads to consistency with your actions and values.  The simple formula to remember is that:

Integrity = Morals + Behavior + Consistency

How do We Sustain Integrity?

Integrity can be lost as well as found.  There are many examples of people who once were exemplars of shining Integrity but who succumbed to temptations for greed and power.  It takes a great deal of fortitude and courage to maintain a life of Integrity.  I think of people like Jesus Christ who was not tempted by the devil and went to his death for what he preached.  Pilate gave him opportunities to recant but Jesus refused.  Socrates went to his death also after refusing to recant his beliefs.  I would like to share the example of one more recent person of great Integrity.

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“María Santos Gorrostieta Salazar (1976 – 2012) was a Mexican physician and politician of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).  From 2008 to 2011, she served as mayor of Tiquicheo, a small town in the Mexican state of Michoacán.  In spite of three failed assassination attempts during her tenure as mayor, Gorrostieta Salazar continued to be outspoken in the fight against organized crime.  In a fourth attack, Gorrostieta Salazar was kidnapped and assassinated by suspected drug traffickers on 15 November 2012.” – Wikipedia

To this date, there has been no one charged and tried in connection with her murder.  How many people do you know who would stand up to a drug cartel after even one attempt on their lives?  Maria was a physician.  She could have lived a life of relative ease and prosperity simply by ignoring the crimes going on around her.  Instead she stood up for the law and standing up cost Maria her life.  Who is saying her name today?

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Like any skill or talent, you must practice it.  Practice is one means of sustaining Integrity.  Part of practice is an honest self-reflection.  Each day or week you need to ask yourself if you have been a person of Integrity.  What did you do that showed Integrity?  What did you do or say that allowed you to stand up for your values and ethics?  What did you do that was not consistent with your values?  How could you be more consistent with your values and behaviors?

There is a popular meme that says, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?  Practice!  Practice! Practice!”  There can be no Integrity without practice, action, and reflection.  Stand up for your values and morals and you will be a Person of Integrity.  Every person who can say that they are a Person of Integrity is one more person that will help to change the world for the better.

“The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.”- Dwight D. Eisenhower

“The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.”- Bob Marley

 

The Seven Greatest and Most Important Virtues for Humanity

05 Dec 2020 11 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

christian_virtueI thought I would start the year of 2021 off with a positive slant.  Namely, some things we can all do or practice to be better people.  However, before anyone should pay any attention to what I am about to say, there are several questions they must ask themselves.  I would advise you that the veracity and hence credibility of an author is critical to your acceptance of what the author is trying to sell you or convince you of.  Do not buy an argument from someone who cannot be trusted.  Think about the comment that “If you see the Buddha on the road, kill him.”  An uncritical acceptance of any idea is dangerous to your own integrity and responsibility.  Hence, the questions I would want answered (If I were you) would be as follows:  Who is this writer to say what the “greatest” virtues for a human are?  How did he come up with these Seven Virtues?  What is the difference between a virtue and a value?  Is this an important difference or is he about to sell me another new religion?

Taking each question as noted, who am I?  What credibility do I bring to the subject? 

The-Virtue-ContinuumI would like to answer that I am a seeker of truth and knowledge.  I am very opinionated, often highly judgmental and have frequently been accused of being a “know it all.”  Many people would write my opinions off as being too liberal while others would say that I am too rational.  I place great value on being logical and trying to stay open to many possibilities.  I have been studying philosophy and religion since I was eighteen.  I have no degrees in either.  But the number of books and articles and stories that I have read number in the hundreds.  I have attended many different worship houses and types of religious services.  I was brought up as a Catholic until I rejected its teachings at about the age of 10.  When no one would give me a good answer for “Who made God?” I more or less decided that most religions were based on superstitions.

I continue to read and study and write in the hope and belief that continuous learning is critical to living a good life.  As Socrates noted “An unexamined life is not worth living.”  I want to examine all aspects of existence.  From good to evil, from logical to emotional, from predictable to unpredictable.  I want to understand and comprehend all of the mysteries of the universe.  Nevertheless, I am not trying to be omnipotent nor do I think that anyone can or will ever understand all that the universe holds.  The quest is the most important thing, but the results of the journey are also very important.  My goal is to dream the impossible dream.  I am dedicated to the idea that truth and knowledge will bring me closer to being able to live this “impossible” dream.  As the song notes:

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star (From Man of La Mancha (1972) music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion)

How did I derive these Seven Virtues?

In all honesty, seven is a good number for any set of factors since most humans can only remember between five to nine random numbers.  Seven is the mean for a large proportion of the human race in terms of memory capacity.  We note that many cultures have used seven as a sort of “perfect” number for deriving sets of values, ideas, virtues, and even mundane things like phone numbers and license plate numbers.

virtues_listGiven that one could easily comprise a list of ten or perhaps one hundred important virtues, why do I believe that my seven are the seven greatest and most important?  How do I have the audacity to make such an assertion?  I might have been sitting under an apple tree one day, or perhaps simply thinking about life at one of my yearly silent retreats at the Demontreville Retreat Center, when I compiled a list of seven virtues.  While I truly “value” these ideas, I understand them more as virtues than values.  I will address this difference later.  I decided that I want to live by these virtues.  Each day for the last fifteen or more years, I have selected one of these seven virtues to help guide me through the day.  Whether it is patience, kindness or courage, each day I start by reflecting on this virtue and trying to make it a part of my life.

How does my list compare to other lists?  One of the most famous lists of seven virtues is the Catholic Hierarchy of Virtues.  The top three in the Catholic Hierarchy are Faith, Hope and Love.  Of these, my list includes Faith and Love, though I use the term compassion rather than love. The next four in the Catholic Hierarchy are justice, wisdom, moderation and courage.  My list includes courage but not wisdom, justice or moderation.  This is not to say that I do not think these are important, but my list is based on feelings more than knowledge.  This is somewhat ironic since I believe that knowledge and wisdom are two of the keys to understanding life.  However, l cannot argue with the question: “What wisdom is there that is greater than kindness?”  Comparing my list to the Catholic list, I realize that I am emphasizing feelings over thinking.  I am emphasizing the heart over the brain and love over logic.  My final list of seven virtues includes the following:

  • Gratefulness
  • Forgiveness
  • Patience
  • Kindness
  • Faith
  • Compassion
  • Courage

Over the next several blogs, I will present each of these as virtues and explain why they are important and how we can go about integrating them in our lives.  I know and believe that we will all live better lives if we are living a life based on virtue.

What is the difference between a Virtue and a Value?  Is it important?

I would like to include the following excerpt from an article by Iain T. Benson called “Values and Virtues:  A Modern Confusion.”

“Now George Grant, the Canadian philosopher, whom I mentioned a while ago, made this point in an important comment on a CBC radio program a few years ago.  Here is what he said, “values language is an obscuring language for morality, used when the idea of purpose has been destroyed. And that is why it is so widespread in North America.” In North America, we no longer have any confidence that there are any shared purposes for human life. We don’t. It is that dramatic. Consequently, we cannot order any human action towards an end, because all means are related to ends.” 

Looking at the Oxford Dictionaries definitions of these two terms will also shed some light on the differences.

  • Virtue is defined as follows:
  1. Behavior showing high moral standards: paragons of virtue
  2. Quality considered morally good or desirable in a person: patience is a virtue
  3. A good or useful quality of a thing: Mike was extolling the virtues of the car
  • Value is defined as follows:
  1. The regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something: your support is of great value
  2. The material or monetary worth of something: prints seldom rise in value equipment is included up to a total value of $500
  3. The worth of something compared to the price paid or asked for it: at $12.50 the book is a good value

I think it is easy to see from these definitions that a value is generally something we attach to a product or service.  A virtue is more often attached to a behavior or character trait.  We value things, while we practice virtues.  A man or woman may be virtuous but we would not say they are “valuous”, in fact the word does not even exist.  We might say they were valuable, but then we would probably not be talking about their character but addressing their instrumental worth to us.  Therefore, I have labeled these critical seven behaviors as virtues.

-The-12-Lakota-Virtues-native-pride-33907515-700-630The danger in this discussion lies in your taking a sectarian or religious approach to my writings.  I assure you that I am not a religious person.  I may be a spiritual person but I do not think of myself in either of these categories.  I am an agnostic who wants to live a better life and help build a world that is a better place to live for future generations.  Living by these seven virtues is one way I believe I can contribute to this goal.

My Vision for my life is “To live a healthy useful and wise life.”

My Mission is “To live one day at a time.  To be the best person I can be each day and to do the best I can each day to do good for the world.”   I hope I sometimes achieve at least some of these goals.

virtue is doing itIf I have satisfactorily answered the questions that I posed above respecting my integrity and credibility, I will now set off to address each of my Seven Virtues and explain why they are so important and the difference that I think they can make in our lives.  Look for my virtues over the next several weeks in my blogs.

Time for Questions:

What do you think of my list of seven?  What would you change?  Do you have your own list that you live by?  Why or why not?

Life is just beginning.

“Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.”  — Buddha

Reconstructing the Great Speeches – Martin Luther: “Here I Stand”

08 Jul 2020 22 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

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I have attended over 35 Jesuit retreats at Demontreville Retreat Center.  Every year at the end of each retreat, I have received a Plenary Indulgence bestowed by the Pope on people who complete a retreat.  Unlike in the day of Martin Luther, I do not have to pay for these indulgences.  My understanding is these indulgences will knock some of the time off that I have to spend in purgatory as reparations for my less than mortal sins.  You still cannot get time off for mortal sins without going to confession.

I am not sure how much time will be knocked off and since I am an atheist or sometimes an agnostic, I am not sure whether or not they will be valid.  I once wondered if I could put them up on eBay and maybe get some money from them.  This would be more in line with the uses that were associated with these plenary indulgences in the time of Martin Luther (1483 to 1546).

Reformation.crop_528x396_2,0.preview (1)There are many who would consider Martin Luther the father of the Protestant Reformation.  Growing up Catholic, we regarded Protestants as heretics.  We all knew that the one true religion was Catholic, and Protestants did not know what they really wanted.  What does the name Protestant even mean?  Taking it at face value, it would seem to mean to protest against.  The dictionary defines a Protestant as someone who has broken from the Roman Catholic church.  If you are a Protestant you practice a form of Christianity in protest to the Catholic form.  There are over 200 major Protestant denominations in the USA and over 35,000 independent or non-denominational Christian churches which are ostensibly Protestant.  During the past few decade, we have seen numerous splits in Protestant churches over such issues as gay marriages, gay clergy, women ministers.  Even though I am a non-Catholic myself, I can’t help but be amazed at the dissension and disunity among Protestants.  I wonder what Martin Luther would have thought if he were alive today.

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In any case, Luther protested against the selling of Indulgences by the Catholic Church and the Pope.  He published his famous 95 Theses (which were polemics primarily against the monetary abuses of the Church) by nailing the theses on the door of All Saints’ Church and other churches in Wittenberg, Germany.  An extremely dramatic way to advance his opposition.  The theses were quickly reprinted and spread like wildfire throughout Europe.  And thus, began what is known as the Protestant Reformation (1517 – 1648).  It actually started even earlier but Luther’s theses were the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

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Martin Luther’s position and actions were quite bold, even audacious.  Luther’s ecclesiastical superiors had him tried for heresy, which culminated in his excommunication in 1521.  This retaliation on the part of the Catholic Church was quite serious.  Luther risked life and limb with his attack on the Church.  The following is a list of people executed for challenging Catholicism during the period from 1500-1600 CE.

  • Ipswich Martyrs († 1515–1558)
  • Jean Vallière († 1523)
  • Jan de Bakker († 1525), 1st martyr in the Northern Netherland
  • Wendelmoet Claesdochter († 1527), 1st Dutch woman charged and burned for the accusation of heresy
  • Michael Sattler († 1527), Rottenburg am Neckar, Germany
  • Patrick Hamilton († 1528), St Andrews, Scotland
  • Balthasar Hubmaier (1485–1528), Vienna, Austria
  • George Blaurock (1491–1529), Klausen, Tyrol
  • Thomas Hitton († 1530), Maidstone, England
  • Richard Bayfield († 1531), Smithfield, England
  • Thomas Benet († 1531), Exeter, England
  • Thomas Bilney († 1531), Norwich, England
  • Joan Bocher († 1531), Smithfield, England
  • Solomon Molcho († 1532), Mantua
  • Thomas Harding († 1532), Chesham, England
  • James Bainham († 1532), Smithfield, England
  • John Frith (1503–1533), Smithfield, England
  • William Tyndale (1490–1536), Belgium
  • Jakob Hutter († 1536), Innsbruck, Tyrol
  • Aefgen Listincx († 1538), Münster, Germany
  • John Forest († 1538), Smithfield, England
  • Katarzyna Weiglowa († 1538), Poland
  • Francisco de San Roman († 1540), Spain
  • Étienne Dolet (1509–1546), Paris, France
  • Henry Filmer († 1543), Windsor, England
  • Robert Testwood († 1543), Windsor, England
  • Anthony Pearson († 1543), Windsor, England
  • Maria van Beckum († 1544)
  • Ursula van Beckum († 1544)
  • Colchester Martyrs († 1545 to 1558), 26 people, Colchester, England
  • George Wishart (1513–1546), St Andrews, Scotland
  • John Hooper († 1555), Gloucester, England
  • John Rogers († 1555), London, England
  • Canterbury Martyrs († 1555–1558), c.40 people, Canterbury, England
  • Laurence Saunders, (1519–1555), Coventry, England
  • Rowland Taylor († 1555), Hadleigh, Suffolk, England
  • Cornelius Bongey, († 1555), Coventry, England
  • Dirick Carver, († 1555), Lewes, England
  • Robert Ferrar († 1555), Carmarthen, Wales
  • William Flower († 1555), Westminster, England
  • Patrick Pakingham († 1555), Uxbridge, England
  • Hugh Latimer (1485–1555), Oxford, England
  • Robert Samuel († 1555), Ipswich, England
  • Burning of Latimer and Ridley, Oxford, 1555
  • Nicholas Ridley (1500–1555), Oxford, England
  • John Bradford († 1555), London, England
  • John Cardmaker († 1555), Smithfield, London, England
  • Robert Glover († 1555), Hertford, England
  • Thomas Hawkes († 1555), Coggeshall, England
  • Thomas Tomkins († 1555), Smithfield, London, England
  • Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556), Oxford, England
  • Stratford Martyrs († 1556), 11 men and 2 women, Stratford, London, England
  • Guernsey Martyrs († 1556), 3 women, Guernsey, Channel Islands
  • Joan Waste († 1556), Derby, England
  • Bartlet Green († 1556), Smithfield, London, England
  • John Hullier († 1556), Cambridge, England
  • John Forman († 1556), East Grinstead, England
  • Pomponio Algerio († 1556) Boiled in oil, Rome
  • Alexander Gooch and Alice Driver († 1558), Ipswich, England
  • Augustino de Cazalla († 1559), Valladolid, Spain
  • Carlos de Seso († 1559), Valladolid, Spain
  • María de Bohórquez († 1559)
  • Pietro Carnesecchi († 1567) Florence, Italy
  • Leonor de Cisneros († 1568), Valladolid, Spain
  • Dirk Willems († 1569), Netherlands
  • Giordano Bruno (1548–1600), Rome, Italy

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The famous scientist Galileo was forced to recant his idea that the earth revolved around the sun.  This was widely known among many scientists, but it was opposed by the Catholic Church which held to the view that the sun revolved around the earth.  Thus, in 1521 Galileo was charged with heresy.  After a rather lengthy trial, Galileo retracted his theory preferring to live rather than to be right.  Nevertheless, he spent the rest of his life under house arrest.  Publication of any of his works was forbidden, including any future works.

martin luther

Martin Luther’s Speech at the Imperial Diet in Worms (18 April 1521)

On 18 April 1521 Luther stood before the presiding officer, Johann von Eck at the ongoing Diet in Worms.  Luther was called before the political authorities rather than before the Pope or a council of the Roman Catholic Church.  Eck acting on behalf of the Catholic Church informed Luther that he was acting like a heretic.  Pope Leo X had demanded that Luther retract 41 sentences included in his original 95 Theses.  Luther had been questioned the day before, but he had requested time to think about his response to the charges.  Thus, began Luther’s short but famous speech.   His life depended on his response.

“I this day appear before you in all humility, according to your command, and I implore your majesty and your august highnesses, by the mercies of God, to listen with favor to the defense of a cause which I am well assured is just and right.  I ask pardon, if by reason of my ignorance, I am wanting in the manners that befit a court; for I have not been brought up in king’s palaces, but in the seclusion of a cloister; and I claim no other merit than that of having spoken and written with the simplicity of mind which regards nothing but the glory of God and the pure instruction of the people of Christ.”

Luther begins his speech with humility and with apologies for any lack of etiquette or procedure, but no apologies for his actions.  He is certain that he is right.

“I have composed, secondly, certain works against the papacy, wherein I have attacked such as by false doctrines, irregular lives, and scandalous examples, afflict the Christian world, and ruin the bodies and souls of men. And is not this confirmed by the grief of all who fear God?  Is it not manifest that the laws and human doctrines of the popes entangle, vex, and distress the consciences of the faithful, while the crying and endless extortions of Rome engulf the property and wealth of Christendom, and more particularly of this illustrious nation? Yet it is a perpetual statute that the laws and doctrines of the pope be held erroneous and reprobate when they are contrary to the Gospel and the opinions of the church fathers.”

Luther’s words could not be stronger here.  He accuses the Pope of offense that are scandalous, immoral, and perhaps even criminal.  He softens his words here not one bit.  He is not on the defense but on the offense.  Here is a man not dissembling or hedging his words.  If he is afraid for his life, his words show no fear or caution.  He is doing no political two step or making effort to appease the Pope.  Perhaps Luther knew that he was in little danger of being executed but the fact that he spent the next nine months of his life in hiding would suggest differently.

“In the third and last place, I have written some books against private individuals, who had undertaken to defend the tyranny of Rome by destroying the faith.  I freely confess that I may have attacked such persons with more violence than was consistent with my profession as an ecclesiastic: I do not think of myself as a saint; but neither can I retract these books.  Because I should, by so doing, sanction the impieties of my opponents, and they would thence take occasion to crush God’s people with still more cruelty.”

Luther does not back down one bit.  He confesses to more passion than might have been required but he will not retract anything he has written.  I am no saint he says but I will not be a hypocrite.  Just think of the people surrounding President Trump and contrast their lies, obfuscations, and baffling oratory with the quite clear words of Martin Luther: “What, then, should I be doing if I were now to retract these writings?”  “What if I said my president was lying?  What if I said my president was engaging in double speak?  What if I admitted that my president actually said the words which he claimed that he did not say?  Would I be subject to trial by fire or would I be burned at the stake?”

What makes someone lie on behalf of someone else?

The ending of Luther’s defense was epic.  Perhaps no more forceful words have ever been spoken in history.

“I neither can nor will retract anything; for it cannot be either safe or honest for a Christian to speak against his conscience.  Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise; God help me!  Amen.”

Emperor Charles V passed the Edict of Worms, which banned Luther’s writings and declared him a heretic and an enemy of the state.  Luther fled and although the Edict mandated that Luther should be captured and turned over to the emperor, it was never enforced.  Bear in mind the list of heretics who came after Luther and was executed.

Luther was a German professor of theology a composer and a priest.  He was no warrior or fighter.  In many ways, he was average, except in one especially important way that mattered and would make him a hero for all time.  He was not afraid to stand up to tyranny and to stand up for his beliefs and to speak out on behalf of what he believed.

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Imagine if more citizens were courageous enough to stand up for what they believed and to speak out forcefully and not meekly on behalf of these same beliefs.  It has been said that “Evil triumphs when good people do nothing.”  Doing nothing or saying nothing are one of the same cloth.  If you want to allow a dictator, bully, or tyrant to take power, simply stay quiet and bemoan the fact that you can do nothing.  Or you can write, speak, march, protest and organize against injustice wherever it can be found.  Any less makes us guilty of a conspiracy of silence.

“A conspiracy of silence, or culture of silence, describes the behavior of a group of people of some size, as large as an entire national group or profession or as small as a group of colleagues, that by unspoken consensus does not mention, discuss, or acknowledge a given subject.  The practice may be motivated by positive interest in group solidarity or by such negative impulses as fear of political repercussion or social ostracism.”  —  Wikipedia

3568– Thursday, July 25, 2019 – What the Democrats Must Do to Win!

25 Jul 2019 1 Comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , ,

There is a simple truth that seems to be ignored about politics and elections.  The reason we vote for someone is because of what we think they will do for our country, our family, our friends and our own lives.  We do not vote for someone simply because they are Black, White, Indian, Asian or Latino.  We do not vote for someone just because they are old, young, middle aged or because they are poor, middle class or rich.  We do not vote for someone because they are Catholic, Evangelical, Muslim, Jewish or Protestant.  Some of these factors may play an ancillary role in our voting preferences but the two major reasons we vote for someone are these:  First, as I have said already:  “Is the message that we hear from the candidate in terms of what they will plan to do if elected and how we see those plans either hurting or harming our lives.”  The second reason we vote for someone concerns whether or not we trust them to deliver on their plans and promises.  Regardless of what they promise, we are not going to vote for someone who we do not believe can deliver the goods.

If the Democrats want to win the upcoming election, they must accomplish three major tasks:

  1. They must consolidate their candidate options
  2. They must consolidate what they claim they will do if elected
  3. They must create an appeal that transcends major partisan and factional differences in this country.

I will briefly address each of these tasks.

Consolidate the candidate options and selection process:

The Democrats currently have a three-ring circus with 24 candidates.  This situation will eventually lead to a knockdown, drag-em through the mud free for all.  Notwithstanding the fact that all of these candidates will spend millions of dollars that could be better spent later on in the election by focusing on one candidate and getting out the vote.

The Democrats need to create a system like the Vatican uses to select a new Pope.  Major party leaders caucus with potential candidates.  The top two selections then move on to regionally selected caucuses designed to reflect a broad base of opinion across American politics.  The two candidates are paired down to one at the National Convention where the final candidate is selected by the usual methods of speeches and caucusing.

Consolidate the plans and goals for the party and candidate:

Every candidate has to have a plan and a promise to deliver this plan.  Right now, we have 24 candidates all promising the world to the American Public:  Free health care, free tuition, forgiveness of student loans, reparations for African Americans, redistribution of the wealth.  These freebies are just what got the Democrats saddled with the moniker of “Tax and Spend” in the first place.  Furthermore, these promises insult the intelligence of the American voter.  We all know that deficits are running to astronomical highs and that if you give someone money, it must come from someone else.

The candidate promises and plans must reflect the party platform.  Likewise, the Democratic party must accept and support the candidates plan.  The plan must be simple, bold and memorable and must cut across partisan and narrowly focused interests.  I suggest that four issues would create a base that would excite and motivate a large majority of the American public to vote Democratic.

  1. Minimum wage

Increase minimum wage. This is the wedge to continue subsequent strategies to reduce the widening gap between the rich and the poor.  Talk in terms about money that the average person who does not have a degree in economics can understand.

  1. Improve the Affordable Care Act

The ACA was a start to creating a better health care program for a large percentage of people who could not afford it.  Most Americans realize that the system has its faults but just like with Social Security, they do not want to abandon it, they simply want to see the faults addressed. Do not talk about creating a new system. Talk about improving the existing system.

  1. Term limits

I am a progressive but I have talked to people from Arizona to New York who include evangelicals, 2nd amendment supporters, conservatives, Tea Party members and anti-immigration people.  We have vast differences on major issues, but one issue where I have found common ground with all of these disparate people is on the issue of “term-limits.”  On this issue, I find near universal agreement that we need limits on how long people can serve.  There are many benefits from term limits including:  Minimizing the influence of money and lobbyists, reducing the role of money in campaigning and getting new ideas into the political stream.  The Democrats should take up the challenge and have the guts to pursue an issue that will have profound effects on the political process in this country.  One or two terms and no reelection down the road.

  1. Accessible voting

The past few decades have seen increased efforts to narrow the scope of participation on our political process.  Americans want a fair and equitable system of electing its representatives.  Many people now realize that politicians have gamed the system.  This has included efforts by both Democrats and Republicans to tilt the rules and table in their favor.  This has to be addressed and should be a primary goal of the Democrats to create a level playing field.

Create an appeal that transcends major partisan and factional differences in this country.

Calling people deplorables is not going to unite this country and will only create more division in a country already divided beyond anything comparable in its history except perhaps the Civil War.  If we want to unite Americans, we must talk to people that we do not like.  We must look past differences and find similarities.  We must speak out against injustices regardless of which side of the political spectrum they are on.  We must be fair and open minded and willing to reach compromises for the greatest good.

It was said that “Politics is the art of compromise.”  There is no room in government for rigid vows and oaths on political issues.  Democrats must condemn these practices and take the high road.  I have heard it said that we must find the person who can defeat Trump.  Speaking for myself, I don’t give a dam who can defeat Trump if they do not have the morals and ethics that I expect in myself and my friends.  Trump can win another four years before I will vote for someone simply because they “may defeat” Trump.

This is my plan for the Democrats.  Call me idealistic but I think that unless the Democrats can be idealistic, they will go down in defeat.

To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause

And I know if I’ll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I’m laid to my rest

The Impossible Dream — Music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion

 

Bully in Chief and Liar in Chief!

13 Dec 2017 2 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , ,

‘He is a bully’: Gillibrand hits back at Trump over demeaning tweet

Senator Gillibrand

Trump is not only THE Bully in Chief, he also is THE Liar in Chief. I am still waiting for one journalist to be honest and call this guy a Liar.  At least Senator Gillibrand has the guts to label this lowlife for what he really is. We have a President with NO integrity and a Senate full of politicians with not much more integrity. Do you think this poor excuse for a human being would still be president if even 1/4 of the Senate had the guts to speak out and call him for what he really is?  He no more deserves to be president than Benedict Arnold.  Time for more calls to impeach him.  Time for more Americans to speak out.  Let the waves of indignation and moral outrage roll down and sweep him out of office.

No bigger mistake has been made in the history of this country than the election of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States of America.

Time for Questions:

When will we impeach this lowlife?  What about the people who helped to put him into office?  Have they any regrets?  Are you speaking out?  If not, when will you add your voice to the chorus of people who have the courage and integrity to speak their piece?

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Life is just beginning.

Trump is not the end but the beginning.  We are going to see more rights for people in the world, more justice, more compassion, more of what will make American’s proud just as soon as we dump trump.

 

 

 

Tommy:  A Boy for all Seasons

30 Jul 2017 4 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , ,

This is a story about my best friend in high school.  His name was Thomas Donnelly.  This story took place over fifty years ago.  I still think of the influence that these events have had on my life.  Many of you will be repelled by the story that I narrate.  If you can suspend your morality, you might be able to accept that the culture I grew up in made these events very normal even if you do not consider them to be moral.

Street Corner Gang

It happened one hot Saturday afternoon in the summer.  I was hanging out on our Manton street corner.  As with all Italian teenagers, we hung out in a certain geographic area and this association led to our identity as the “Manton Gang.”  Manton was a suburb of Providence R.I. and a primarily Italian neighborhood.  My father was Italian and my mother was Irish.  It was just the reverse for my best friend Tommy.  His mother was Italian and his father was Irish.  Nevertheless, anyone with Irish or Italian blood was accepted into our street corner gang.

At fourteen to eighteen years of age, few of us were interested in anything except gambling and sex.  Gambling tended to be a regular event on the corner where we hung out but sex was much more episodic.  Good Italian girls in the sixties still did not have sex outside of marriage.  This left us to find those “bad girls” whose discrimination did not tend towards marriage or even long-term love affairs and who were much less choosy in terms of selecting “affairs of the heart.”

1956_Ford_4-Door_Sedan

Tommy and I were sitting on the corner discussing nothing important when a blue and white 56 Ford four door Fairlane pulled up to the curb and started honking.  At first, we did not recognize anyone in the car.  Two guys were in the front seat and no one was in the back seat.  We finally recognized Dave and Bob.  Dave was an infrequent corner member but Bob was a regular.  We sauntered over to the car.  It was always important to look cool and nonchalant when we were growing up.  As we approached the open window on Dave’s side, he yelled out.  “Hey, you guys want to get laid?”

“What’s up” I said.  Dave replied, “Get in and I will tell you on the way.”  Both Tommy and I jumped in the back seat.  Bob already had shot gun.  Dave gunned the accelerator and off we went.  “Okay, so where are we going” asked Tommy.  Bob said, “Well, there is this chick and she is hot to go with anyone who comes over to her house.”  “You mean she will take all of us?  What’s wrong with her?” I wanted to know.  Bob continued, “Who knows.  She is just really open to more than one guy.”  “Well, where are her parents,” I persisted.   “She lives with her dad who is a police chief” said Dave.  “What, are you crazy” both Tommy and I said in synchrony.  “Don’t worry” said Bob, “her dad will not be home.”

new england houseThe idea of sex in our minds easily overrode any caution or concern about getting caught by her father.  We arrived at her house.  She lived out of town somewhat in Scituate which was a more rural area of R.I. in the sixties.  When we arrived, Bob said “I will go in first and check things out.  If it is okay, you guys can come in.  Bob went inside the small average looking New England Colonial house with two upper dormer windows and came out a few minutes later.  “OK guys” Bob said, “She is willing.”  We all trotted inside the house to the first room which was a kitchen with a small table and four chairs.  Dave, Tommy and I sat on the chairs and Bob headed up a small staircase.  “I will go first” said Bob “and Dave is next.  You and Tommy can decide who goes after Dave.”  “Oh”, said Bob, “her name is Barbara and she likes to be called Barb.”  No one challenged this order of affairs as it was taken for granted that since Bob had set this up, he had first dibs.

Bob went up the stairs while Dave, Tommy and I just sat and kibitzed.  I wondered what was in store for me when I went up the stairs.  Bob came down about twenty minutes later looking quite proud and content.  “She likes to talk a little before” said Bob, “so you have to be a little patient.  But be persistent and she will get on with it.”   It was Dave’s turn next and he wasted no time going up the stair case.  Sometime later Dave came down, also looking very proud and content.

Tommy and I decided that I would go next.  Up the staircase I went and into a small bedroom where I found Barb half-dressed and sitting on the edge of the bed.  She was a very attractive young girl of sixteen or seventeen years of age.  She had long brown hair and a small frame that was nicely curved.  She had a very pretty face and could easily have been a cheerleader.  She was probably about five feet four inches in height but it was somewhat difficult to tell as she was sitting cross legged on her bed.

sad girl on bed

I introduced myself.  We started some small talk and I learned that her mother had left her father some time ago and that she now lived alone with her dad.  She had no other siblings.  Her dad was very strict and would not let her date.  She said that he scared most of her friends away and was very difficult to live with.  I sensed that her escapades today were a chance for her to rebel against her father’s strict sexual codes.  She was willing to go all out and did not care about any side effects.  No birth control or sexual disease prevention even came up as an issue.

We small talked for about a half hour or so and I sensed that I had better get on with the action or she would talk forever.  A real man talks less than he acts and I had talked longer than most real men would have.  I started to lay Barbara down on the bed.  She put up no resistance and meekly laid back against the sheets.  I placed my body down over hers but before starting to remove any of our clothes, I gazed into her eyes.  They were brown and sad.  I stopped to think.  This poor girl is looking for someone to love her and does not really know how to go about it.  I would just be taking advantageous of her.  I can’t do this.  I lifted her back up and quietly left the room.  She never said a word to me and I left without another word.

Feeling very guilty, I walked back down the staircase.  I did not say much when I met Tommy.  Both Dave and Bob had gone back out to the car and were now playing cards in the front seat.  Hi Low Jack was a popular game on the corner and we played it for money whatever chance we had.  I said to Tommy, “It’s your turn.”  Tommy went up the staircase and returned about thirty minutes later.  We silently left the house and went out the front door to the car.  I never saw Barb or that house again.

guys in car

We piled back in the car with Dave and Bob.  There was some minor discussion about Barbara and how hot she was on the way back to the corner but most of it took place between Dave and Bob.  Neither Tommy or I said I word.  Truth be told, I would never have admitted to either Dave or Bob that I did not have sex with Barb.  Tommy and I were dropped back at the Manton Street corner where our friends all hung out and Dave and Bob drove off together.

Tommy and I sat in silence for a while.  I finally broke the silence and asked Tommy “well how did it go?”  Tommy looked very pensive and replied, “I did not do a thing with Barb except to talk to her.”  I was somewhat stunned as I figured that I had wimped out but that Tommy (who was one of the best-looking guys on the corner) would have scored a home run in sixty seconds flat.  I asked Tom “why?”  I did not tell him that I had also struck out.  At the time, that is how I felt.  Like a batter who comes up to the plate, takes three swings and strikes out.

Tommy quietly replied “I did not want to take advantage of her.  She was lonely and scared and needy.  She needed a friend more than she needed getting laid.”  I had felt the same way but many years ago, pride and ego would not allow me to admit that I had also not gone all the way with Barb.  I persisted with Tom “Well, what are you going to tell the other guys.”  Tom then replied with a statement that I have remembered all the rest of my life.  Tommy said, “I don’t care what they think, I have to live with myself.” 

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Over the years, I have lost touch with Tommy.  We have traveled very different roads.  Tommy became a minister and works with the poor.  I became an educator and management consultant.  Many years and many different philosophies now separate us.  But I will never forget the lesson that I learned from Tommy that one hot summer afternoon about integrity and being who we are called to be and not who the world wants us to be.

Time for Questions:

Why do I call Tom a “boy for all seasons?”  What does it mean to have integrity?  How do we go about developing integrity?  How do we increase our empathy for other people?  What does it mean to be ourselves?  Are people naturally good or evil?

Life is just beginning.

“That’s what Jamie didn’t understand: it was never just sex.  Even the fastest, dirtiest, most impersonal screw was about more than sex.  It was about connection.  It was about looking at another human being and seeing your own loneliness and neediness reflected back.  It was recognizing that together you had the power to temporarily banish that sense of isolation.  It was about experiencing what it was to be human at the basest, most instinctive level.  How could that be described as just anything?”  — Emily Maguire, Taming the Beast

The Man or the Office?  Which Do We Respect?

06 Feb 2017 8 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

trump

Hardly a day goes by that I don’t wonder whether I should call him Chump, Asshole or Mr. President.  There are many decrying the use of my pejorative adjectives to describe our new president.  They say “Even if you do not respect the man, you must respect the office.”  This rule (I know not where it began) seems to have taken the form of “common knowledge” as though there was some ancient prescription that admonished us to always respect an elected or appointed official.

Ironically, the man in office now gave no respect to his predecessor.  Beginning with the birther conspiracy before Obama even took office and continuing right up until his election, the man now in office took every opportunity to denigrate and insult President Barack Obama.  Nevertheless, I am not using this as an argument to insult our new President.  It fails the test of morality in that we all know “two wrongs do not make a right.”

My dilemma stems from my difficulty with understanding whether we should assign respect to an office regardless of the character of the individual that might be in it.  Perhaps history could shed some light on this issue for us.  What does history tell us about this question?  Is it really a universal law that we must respect the office even if we do not respect the man?  Have people in the past always respected the office even when they disliked the office holder?  Should we respect the office or the office holder?

Let us go back to the time of Israel under the Roman occupation when Herod was king.  What did they say about Herod?

“On an appointed day, Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them.  And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!”  Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. …” — Acts 12:19-24 

king-georgeMarching forward in time to the period of the Revolutionary war when George the III was ruler of the American Colonies, what did they think of King George?  Here is what is written in the Declaration of Independence:

“A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”

Our second President John Adams was called a “hideous hermaphroditical character which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.” By James Callender, a supporter of Thomas Jefferson.

The insults were returned by Adams supporters who called Jefferson a “a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father.”

President Abraham Lincoln who is today revered by many as either the greatest or second greatest president in American history received even more scorn than Jefferson or Adams from his contemporaries:

funny_lincoln_400

“George Templeton Strong, a prominent New York lawyer and diarist, wrote that Lincoln was “a barbarian, Scythian, yahoo, or gorilla.”  Henry Ward Beecher, the Connecticut-born preacher and abolitionist, often ridiculed Lincoln in his newspaper, The Independent (New York), rebuking him for his lack of refinement and calling him “an unshapely man.”  Other Northern newspapers openly called for his assassination long before John Wilkes Booth pulled the trigger. He was called a coward, “an idiot,” and “the original gorilla” by none other than the commanding general of his armies, George McClellan.” —- Knowledge Nuts

I could cite pages of examples such as the above.  History is full of examples of insults levied against Presidents, Kings and many other office holders.  I listed only a few to show that insults against an office are nothing new.  However, does this make it right or are these insults simply a lack of character?  What are our obligations to an “office?”   This question might be posed in one of two ways:

  1. We should respect an office even if the office holder is not worthy of our respect.

Yes!  We should respect an office because it represents an agreed upon authority.  If offices had no authority, institutions would break down and there would be no rule of order.   Democracy is based on the acceptance of authority emanating from the will of the masses.  No one person is above the masses in a democracy.

No!  An office has no intrinsic entitlement to respect.  The respect for an office comes from the office holder and not the other way around.  To simply respect a title because it is a title is both illogical and dangerous.  One can think of the harm that was caused by the respect that the Fuhrer had in Germany because he was the leader even when many disagreed with his policies and his behavior.

quote-the-president-of-the-united-states-whoever-it-is-deserves-a-certain-level-of-reverence-chris-matthews-117-93-79

  1. We should only respect an office when the office holder is worthy of respect.

Yes!  People can only remain free and independent absent of an authority that comes solely from titles, ranks and names.  If we obey or show respect for an office that is in violation of ethics or morality, we give away our free will.  Massacres, murders and other atrocities often arise from a group mentality or an unwarranted willingness to acquiesce to authority.  An office is not entitled to respect unless the office holder imbues the office with respect.

No!  People must show respect to the institution or office regardless of who the office holder is.  We must recognize that in the case of Trump, millions of Americans chose him over Hillary.  To disrespect Trump is to disrespect the millions of citizens in this country who following the laws of the land duly elected him to the office of POTUS.

do-not-respec

Well, there you have it.  I think I have laid out the “two sides of the coin.”   Now it is time for you to weigh in with your opinions.  Do not sit this one out.  Put your opinions in the comments section and let me hear from you.

Time for Questions:

What do you think? How would you answer these questions?

Life is just beginning.

“In a few days, I will lay down my official responsibilities in this office, to take up once more the only title in our democracy superior to that of President: the title of Citizen.” — Farewell Address, President Jimmy Carter.

For another opinion on this issue, see the article by Jonathan Chait.

Must We Respect the Office of the Presidency?

 

 

 

 

 

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