What if we were all honourable or not?

It is sometimes said that the world would be a peaceful place except for the confusion caused by humankind. To a great degree this is no doubt true. While there is still violence in nature, we have learned to control much that is essential to our comfort and convenience, and for us the earth is a relatively peaceful and provident place except where man meets man in misunderstanding and in unbecoming conduct.

Our most pressing problems are concerned with the appetites, the personalities, and the perversities of men. All through life it would seem there are some who we fear, some against whom we feel we have to protect ourselves.

There are some men except for whom we could leave the locks of our doors, some except for whom there would be no need of bank vaults and burglar alarms, some except for whom we could dispense with police and prisons, some except  for whom we could do away with armies and armaments. And it is interesting to contemplate how heavenly it could be on earth if all men were honourable, if all men were even reasonably honest.

Indeed, it might well be difficult for our minds to imagine any greater happiness than there could be on this earth with all its beauty, with all its providence, with all its possibilities, if all men would respect each other as they themselves would like to be respected.

Of course there are those who say that this old and golden rule won’t work. And people who advocate it are sometimes said to be impractical people. But speaking of being impractical, what is more impractical than millions of men using locks and alarms to keep millions of other men from doing what simple honesty would keep them from doing? What is more inefficient than having half the people police the other half? What is more impractical than the destruction of war? Regrettably the principles and the ideals of the Prince of Peace do not at present prevail among men.

But one day they will. And what greater happiness could the mind of man imagine than a place of such beauty as this earth, in peace and in providence, With all People respecting the privileges, the property, and the persons of all other people?

There is a familiar scene in the drama of human affairs that is played over and over through the years; a scene that has often been known to move through a sequence something like this: a group of people combine for the accomplishment of certain questionable ends. It may be for the exploitation of some unfair advantage; it may be for the defrauding of unsuspecting people; it may be for any questionable purpose or pursuit, even for the domination of a country or the subjugation of a world.

Oft times the schemers swear themselves to loyalty and secrecy; they combine with promises and oaths and then set out upon their way, sometimes to realise a measure of success. Inevitably, however, sooner or later, something goes wrong. They overplay their hands; their victims become sorrier and wiser; the house begins to fall; each one frantically endeavours to extricate himself by sacrificing someone else; and there follows a climax of distrust and betrayal. The myth of “honour among thieves” may have some classic examples which would seem to prove it to be true, but for everyone that does, there are a million to contradict the theory. Fair-weather conspirators soon become mortal enemies when the tide of fortune turns and the saving of heads is the order of the day. We have seen much of it and will see yet more of it.

There is not and cannot be any assurance of loyalty where a dishonourable purpose is involved. There are no bonds or oaths or penalties or pledges or threats strong enough continually to hold any combination of men together in any infamous cause, in prosperity or adversity. The only certainty in such sequences is the certainty of distrust and tragedy and fear and ultimate failure. And this all men, both young and old, should remember before they set out upon any questionable course with questionable companions.

By Samuel Enos Eghan

Email: samueleghan@gmail.com