Whether you believe Jimmy Carter was an effective president or not, an accord among friends and foes alike is that he was an honorable man. He spent a lifetime serving his community, his faith, his country, and the world. In dealing with others, he showed humility, integrity, graciousness, and honesty—the core ingredients of honor. Those qualities, however, are not presently top priorities in our culture where power and sharp elbows draw most the attention and applause. Our culture prizes winning, materialism, celebrity, and smash-mouth NFL football (America’s new religion).
Placed on the plinth of celebrity and power is Donald Trump, someone who receives low marks on the scorecard measuring humility, graciousness, integrity, and honesty. His attributes run counter to what has long been considered honorable conduct. Trump is mendacious, a vulgarian, a braggart, a draft dodger, a womanizer, an adulterer, a swindler, a felon, a four-flusher, a bully, a racist, is as pitiless as Lady MacBeth, and has an appreciation for fascists. In every instance, he is the opposite of Carter. Trump is dishonorable and, I’m guessing, cares more about his idea of success than ethical standards. Americans, too, care little for honor as they vie for winning and money. Honor has not been a top priority in our culture. It just hasn’t been. The American ethos has little to do with “lifting others up, (and) not ourselves,” as found in Romans 12:10, “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
Like Trump, much of America’s electorate value winning above all else, so honor may take a seat in the back of the room. As the cliché goes: losing is not an option. Truth is, though, losing is always an option for all of us even though we may not want to discuss the possibility. If we refuse to lose, as Trump does in every case, we become twisted in our self-importance and in our empathy. Apparently, Trump’s soul is undisturbed by his aggressive me-first behavior. His solipsism is complete. His thinking is the only reality—nothing else matters. The danger of a solipsist can be seen clearly in Moby Dick, Ishmael being the only survivor of Captain Ahab’s destructive thinking.
Samuel Johnson concluded that virtuous conduct and personal integrity are essential elements of honor. Selfless service to others. Staying good to one’s word. Integrity, honesty, ethical conduct: these are the earmarks of honor which have been practiced for centuries. Often associated with military and communal values, honor is seen as the opposite of baseness and self-serving conduct.
Even so, some part of us likes an iron-willed dictator who makes choices for us, a bully whom we want to please against all odds. In Sylvia Plath’s poem “Daddy,” she writes, “Every woman adores a Fascist / The boot in the face, the brute / Brute heart of a brute like you….”
Sounds as if her Daddy was, in fact, very much like Trump!