Is Virtue Overrated?

I hesitate to write about this subject because of the nature of the events that brought it to mind. But I will try to address it as charitably and honestly as possible while avoiding the crudely prurient.

Despite the societal upheaval, the wars and rumors of wars, and the economic chaos that plague our world today, the news story that drew considerably more attention from the media during the past few weeks was the strange case of the Honorable Anthony Weiner, former U. S. Representative (D-NY). I call it strange not only because of the twisted nature of the activities that first got Mr. Weiner into trouble, but also because of the charade of his subsequent week-long defense, a steady stream of public lies that were transparent from the very beginning. Indeed, his string of network interviews were remarkable. Here's my abbreviated rendering of a typical interview:

"Okay, Congressman, you wont deny the photo is of you, or that it was sent from your Facebook account, but you're saying it was a prank by a hacker. Is that correct?"

"Yes, that's exactly what happened."

"Oh, okay. That sounds reasonable."

Yes, the strangeness continued as many in the media seemed to accept these lies -- giving Mr. Weiner a pass -- until they could no longer ignore the avalanche of contrary evidence that all but overwhelmed them. Even then the talking heads seemed more disturbed by Weiner's lying to them than by his immoral actions that precipitated the whole affair. And then the TV-addicted public had to suffer through two embarrassing press conferences -- the apology without the resignation, followed by the apology with the resignation -- during which the Congressman strove mightily to assure us that he will soon be cured of his odd predilections and will be ready to continue his important work, although in a different venue, on behalf of the oppressed. Happily, I watched neither conference, but just caught the highlights on later news shows.

Interestingly, up until his resignation, a majority of Mr. Weiner's constituents seemed to support him. As one fellow in a man-on-the-street interview assured us all, "Hey, that's his personal life. He's been a good congressman." It's this attitude that disturbs me: the idea that it is acceptable to compartmentalize a person's behavior into a private life where almost anything goes and a public life where one gives the appearance of conforming to the established norms of a civilized society. It would seem Mr. Weiner's difficulties stem from the fact that he allowed his private life to encroach on his public life, and he then lied about it. As for the behavior itself? Apparently that doesn't bother some folks all that much, and many seemed to think, The man's a congressman. Cut him some slack.

Have we, as a society, come to believe that certain people are privileged, and are therefore held to a completely different (lower) set of standards? A person who holds public office, or one who has achieved celebrity status through the media or entertainment or athletics, or a business leader, or one who simply has considerable wealth -- these and other notables should be treated differently from the rest of us. And they quite openly expect to be treated differently. In Massachusetts, the state where I lived before retirement, politicians at every level are noted for asking, "Do you know who I am?" Sadly, Mr. Politician, we might not always know who you are, but we certainly know what you are.

I don't believe we, as citizens, think enough about the kind of people we want to represent us. Too often we pay far more attention to what they say, while overlooking who they really are. They may claim to be a "public servant", but how many really accept their role as a servant of the public? When I vote for someone I make an effort to look for evidence of two traits: wisdom and virtue. There are a lot of intelligent and clever politicians out there, but few who are truly wise, who use their intelligence to accomplish that which is good. Intelligence is no virtue; indeed, it is morally neutral. But wisdom, at least from my perspective, is the virtuous application of intelligence.

Virtue, of course, is another word absent from the public discussion. In fact, I think it's probably true to say that in today's public discourse virtue is no longer a virtue, and a virtuous man or woman has for many become an embarrassment. A person who is virtuous is one who habitually chooses and does what is good, but in today's relativistic public square, "good" has lost all meaning. It appears that in today's world a "good" politician is simply one who brings home the bacon for his constituents regardless of how his actions might affect the good of the society as a whole. That such relativism is so widespread does not bode well for the future of our society. For the relativist, your good, your truth is no better or no worse than mine. Today's relativist is really no different than Pontius Pilate who looked down on his God and asked with a sneer, "What is truth?" [Jn 18:38]

Pope Benedict has repeatedly warned us about the perils of such moral relativism:

"We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as definitive and has as its highest value one's own ego and one's own desires... The church needs to withstand the tides of trends and the latest novelties.... We must become mature in this adult faith, we must guide the flock of Christ to this faith.”

Boethius

And so, I think it important for all citizens to understand that virtue cannot be compartmentalized. If, when the pressure's on, a person lies about his private life, he will also lie about his public life. If he disregards the moral and the good as a private person, what will stop him from doing the same as a public "servant"?

A few weeks ago, I spent several nights making my way through The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius, the sixth-century Roman philosopher, and came across a fitting passage [Book 3; Part 4]:

"Surely you can see how much disgrace high office heaps upon the evil?...We can scarcely consider men worthy of respect on account of the offices they hold, if we judge them unworthy of those offices! But if you saw a man endowed with wisdom, you would hardly think him unworthy of respect or of the wisdom he was endowed with, would you?...Because virtue has her own individual worth, which she immediately transfers to whoever possesses her. But as public office cannot do this, it is clear that they have no beauty or worth of their own."

It's a sad thing to watch someone self-destruct in public, but I trust and pray that Mr. Weiner will come to know true redemption -- not the false redemption offered by the world, but that offered only by our loving, merciful God. Pray for him.