In one of his characteristic witty put-downs, Winston Churchill said that democracy was the worst form of government compared to all of the other forms of government. Anyone who has experienced the corruption and gross incompetence that marks much of human government can only shake ones head and agree with the statement, even if it is a bit cynical. Context matters. In order to properly judge a particular situation, we must look at its context and judge the outcome against everything else that is possible given the starting conditions involved. It is unjust to blame people for doing the best that they can, when they are doing the best that they can, even if matters are not particularly good. We can only fairly judge them for not being as wise or as reflective as is possible so that better options are available. I am reminded of the comment that God makes about the aftermath of politically motivated divorce and remarriage in the time shortly after Nehemiah, in Malachi 2:13-15, it reads: “And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and crying; so He does not regard the offering anymore, nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, with whom you have dealt treacherously; yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.”

At times, divorce may be a necessary response to the abusive behavior of one partner in a covenant. A part of a nation may find it necessary, after a long train of abuses, to seek its independence. A wife, after numerous adulteries and abuse from her husband, may find it necessary to seek a divorce to defend herself and her children. A business partnership may dissolve because of the abusive or unethical behavior of a partner, and on it goes. Yet there should never be any sort of celebration when a divorce has occurred, because whatever causes may justify a separation, such an event is a death, and is a sign of failure and futility in two parties walking together in mutual honor, respect, and love. Given the limitless and unquenchable desire of human beings for honor, respect, and love [1], the absence of which can greatly cripple and mar a life, such an occurrence is to be lamented, for it merely means that one’s quest for these things must continue with the adverse circumstances that follow the loss of hope and trust that result from the treachery of others.

A great deal of behavior can be considered treacherous, and we are often not particularly well attuned to the demands of honor in our conduct with others, even if we are often very sensitive to being treated dishonorably, sometimes dangerously sensitive in such matters. For the past few years, the nation of Greece has drawn the attention of the world in terms of its failure to meet its obligations to pay back debt, mostly to Germany. This is not an isolated problem. The commonwealth of Puerto Rico, which is currently seeking statehood [2], is disastrously in debt, far beyond its ability to pay either. The same can be said for the state of California, whose debt woes helped induce me to leave that state after graduating from college because it was impossible for me to find gainful employment in my chosen profession there because it was so dependent on civil service and construction, a problem that later followed me several years later when I had returned to Florida. Debt, whether it is the debt of obligations that we face in our personal lives to treat others with honor and to act with respect and concern for them, or whether it is in promissory notes to college debt or sovereign debt or anywhere in between, is something that we often unwisely draw upon ourselves and promise on our honor to repay. To be sure, we may be graciously forgiven of such debt by our creditors, but often our creditors, understandably so, are not inclined to be particularly generous, and we have to accept the consequences of that.

Earlier today, one of more more left-leaning friends politically posted something from what claimed to be the “Coffee Party,” in opposition to the Tea Party, concerning Social Security. This particular post, and the text around it, claimed that there were people hostile to Social Security, who believed that the federal government itself paid Social Security. The picture rightly noted that Social Security was paid for out of payroll taxes, and that it was workers themselves who paid so that retirees could survive in their dotage. It was also noted, though, that Social Security had unfunded liabilities because the federal government had treated money held in trust to pay for retirement benefits as its own bank account to be plundered at will for present exigencies. Yet those who cheer on this graphic, which demonstrates the treachery and total untrustworthiness of our federal government, particularly our legislative and executive branches, are generally supporters of increased taxation and regulation so that these same untrustworthy politicians and bureaucrats may be responsible for increasing aspects of our contemporary political life. Rather than providing an argument for their political worldview, the graphic they cite has long been regarded as prima facie evidence that our government is so without honor and integrity that those areas that it has jurisdiction over should be pared back to the minimum possible, because even ordinary citizens of our republic are more honorable than our nation’s leaders. Yet this mutual partisan finger pointing does not solve the main issue, which is essentially impossible to solve, being that we lack the resources to meet our obligations because of past misdeeds, and that the bill of that treachery will come due in our lifetimes, and we will be like college students who racked up massive debts in order to undertake a task that proved insufficiently profitable for us to repay our debts of honor. Suffering senior citizens who relied on such promises that they would receive back what they paid into the Social Security system are not going to be repaid, no matter who ends up being fixed with the blame, for the money is gone and it will not return.

Such treachery is not limited to the behavior of governments or individuals who borrow to fund ultimately unprofitable capital improvement investments or to live beyond their means, but it involves the closest of human bonds. I know, for example, of a man who, after arranging to have his wife served with divorce papers, slept with his wife knowing that they would soon be separated, while she was ignorant. Such treachery is difficult to understand. How do we behave with honor, so that others may not be harmed by treachery proceeding from us? If we behave in an honorable fashion, how are we to live so that our virtue and honor may be recognized by others, and repaid in kind with honor and respect by those we interact with and are around? Over and over again I mull over these questions and find few satisfying answers. For we live in a world full of treachery and deceit, yet we are called to be honorable and sincere and transparent in our dealings. However much we long for a world full of love and unity, we live in a world of division and rivalry and conflict and bickering, a world we may abhor but a world we have helped to create through our own discourse. How are we to live in accordance with our standards, and how are we to be rewarded for these standards in a world that seems so contrary to what we most wish and desire?

[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/the-deepest-need-of-the-human-heart/

[2] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/puerto-ricos-road-to-statehood-a-constitutional-essay/