Sex Scandals and Moral Integrity

Are we tired yet of all the allegations of sexual misconduct by our leaders? The avalanche will be coming soon. The past few months have been dominated by an endless parade of revelations about sexual misconduct of powerful men. From Hollywood to New York, and from Minnesota to Alabama and just about everywhere else in the country the depths of fallen human nature can sink to have been laid bare to all of us to see. However, this should not be surprising to us. What we must not do is to allow ourselves to be partisan in our righteous indignation. Whether the person belongs to a particular political party, it does not matter.

Chuck Colson, who has risen and fallen in his political and moral career stated: “What the Founders understood is that character is the first requirement of leadership,” because “a nation whose leaders do not lead through example of virtue and character cannot inspire sacrifice for the common good.”

The recent movie (December 2017) “The Darkest Hour” seems to be a fairly good portrayal of Sir Winston Churchill as Prime Minister of England during its darkest hours early in WWII.

Churchill was a man of extraordinarily strong moral character. While the movie rightly portrayed his bullheadedness, it also portrayed his morality and his integrity was admired by all of England, even by his political foes. The people followed him, rose up, and ultimately defeated the Nazis (with massive help from the USA).

The character of our elected officials does matter no matter what political party affiliations they have. When our leaders demonstrate character and virtue in their public and private lives, they provide a guide for the future generations.