The Corruption of Society - Jon Soucek
This post was written by Jon Soucek, a potential Student Board member of Crossroads next year.
Found littered in the myriad volumes of political philosophy a common consensus among many of the authors is that society is good and government is bad. One place where this could be found is the philosophy of Thomas Paine, a noted and beloved philosopher for many Americans. Paine’s fault is that he foolishly puts a large amount of faith into society. Society is far from perfect, one could probably say that it is corrupt. An important example of society’s imperfections is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Jesus preached love and peace, and was never violent. He showed the corruptions that were frequent with the Pharisees and Priests. He taught that money was not important and many other aspects that would hurt the interests of the church at the time.
For this they had convinced Pontius Pilate that Jesus had broken the law, and that he should be punished. Even after he had been captured and betrayed, Jesus still was graceful and even healed one of his capturers. One of the disciples struck a slave that was capturing Jesus effectively cutting off the slave’s ear. Jesus healed his ear despite the fact that this man was taking part in Christ’s persecution. On top of all this, Jesus even forgave his persecutors. Despite all of these noble and humble deeds, Jesus was still crucified. At the time, many people probably thought negatively or not at all about Jesus, but soon after and to this day Jesus is revered and respected by many, both religious and not. Even the Son of God was rejected by society.
It is a humbling thought that Christians should keep in mind when others might think differently of them. Society is not perfect, and neither are any of us. We must do what we belief to be right in our hearts, and use the best judgement of our minds. Work to help others, while at the same time do not take the judgements and criticisms of others too seriously. I once read in an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson that “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, - that is genius.”
At times convention and society will put us down, but we must keep up our heads and move forward. Learn to trust yourself and be the best that you can be. Martin Luther King Jr. was persecuted for doing what he believed to be right, yet others who have done wicked deeds and yet, they were vilified during their lifetimes. Others may tell you that you are different, or that your beliefs are just plain wrong, merely because you go against the grain. Don’t be afraid to fail by society standards, for if you are doing right by your own heart and by what the good book says, then you are probably doing the right thing.
Found littered in the myriad volumes of political philosophy a common consensus among many of the authors is that society is good and government is bad. One place where this could be found is the philosophy of Thomas Paine, a noted and beloved philosopher for many Americans. Paine’s fault is that he foolishly puts a large amount of faith into society. Society is far from perfect, one could probably say that it is corrupt. An important example of society’s imperfections is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Jesus preached love and peace, and was never violent. He showed the corruptions that were frequent with the Pharisees and Priests. He taught that money was not important and many other aspects that would hurt the interests of the church at the time.For this they had convinced Pontius Pilate that Jesus had broken the law, and that he should be punished. Even after he had been captured and betrayed, Jesus still was graceful and even healed one of his capturers. One of the disciples struck a slave that was capturing Jesus effectively cutting off the slave’s ear. Jesus healed his ear despite the fact that this man was taking part in Christ’s persecution. On top of all this, Jesus even forgave his persecutors. Despite all of these noble and humble deeds, Jesus was still crucified. At the time, many people probably thought negatively or not at all about Jesus, but soon after and to this day Jesus is revered and respected by many, both religious and not. Even the Son of God was rejected by society.
It is a humbling thought that Christians should keep in mind when others might think differently of them. Society is not perfect, and neither are any of us. We must do what we belief to be right in our hearts, and use the best judgement of our minds. Work to help others, while at the same time do not take the judgements and criticisms of others too seriously. I once read in an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson that “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, - that is genius.”
At times convention and society will put us down, but we must keep up our heads and move forward. Learn to trust yourself and be the best that you can be. Martin Luther King Jr. was persecuted for doing what he believed to be right, yet others who have done wicked deeds and yet, they were vilified during their lifetimes. Others may tell you that you are different, or that your beliefs are just plain wrong, merely because you go against the grain. Don’t be afraid to fail by society standards, for if you are doing right by your own heart and by what the good book says, then you are probably doing the right thing.
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