How to Measure a Man

Do we measure a man by safety, politics, popularity or his sense of right? This article seeks to answer those questions. First, it should be established that the term “man” does not refer to gender, it describes the nature of man. It’s asking “What is in the nature of man that has been honored throughout the history of mankind? What qualities led us to where we are today? And what attributes have contributed to the failure of the continuance of human nature?

Jesus defined “light” as understanding and doing good, and “darkness,” as believing and doing evil. His entire life reflected qualities that defined good. To him, sickness, sin and death were not the realities of life, so he healed them. Did he rely on “safety” to do that? No! His life was in constant danger, but that danger never prevented him from “doing good.” Over two thousand years later, he is considered the greatest human being who walked the earth.

Safety Set Aside for Goodness

A deeper meaning of the word good is godliness. Dr. Martin Luther King did not allow danger to halt his mission of equality, which he believed to be good. Abraham Lincoln believed slavery represented wrongness, so he sought to change it. Both men were murdered because of their life missions. Yet today, we honor them for their sense of goodness. Safety was not their measurement of goodness. And. . . it should not be ours.

Politics: A Way of Life

This writer views politics as members of a society collectively working together for the betterment of the people they represent. This means procuring goals and objectives that generate safety, order and the general welfare of the people. Individualism is not a factor of consideration. It’s all about “We the People.” Vice President Kamala Harris sees politics based on “the truths we hold.” Those truths are based on the values held by the “State of the Union,” not the mindset of an individual. Each individual mindset must be measured by the values set forth by the Union.

Measure a Man Not by Popularity

What makes a person popular? In most cases, it is self-identity–identifying oneself with large numbers of people. The person says what those people want to hear, does what they believe in and promises deliverance from what they deem hardships. In many cases, popularity sacrifices goodness and mercy for self-love, self-aggrandizement and selfishness. Qualities like kindness, mercy, justice, equality and a sense of right are overlooked. Plato warns us that when we “look beyond the shadows and lies of (our) culture,” we will not be understood or believed. Being popular is not the measure of a man.

Measure a Man by Conscience

What is conscience? This article will use the definition by Webster’s New World Dictionary. Conscience is “a knowledge or sense of right and wrong, with a compulsion to do right; moral judgement that opposes the violation of a previously recognized ethical principle and that leads to feelings of guilt.”

A man without a conscience is a man without morals. He is self-consumed, twists everything that questions his behavior, lies profusely and will go to any length to protect himself. As the populace of America, it is essential that we seek people to represent us that at least “voice ethical principles.” Some of the people in office today, should never have been placed there. “We the People” must do a better job of measuring a man.” Why? Our lives and the survival of the nation, depend on it.

This quote sums up the importance of conscience: “The conscience, Puritan Richard Sibbes wrote in the seventeenth century, is the soul reflecting upon itself. Conscience is at the heart of what distinguishes the human creature. People, unlike animals, can contemplate their own actions and make moral self-evaluations. That is the very function of conscience.”