The horrifying news out of Penn State has many of us talking about ethics lately, especially those of us who work in academe as I do. One of the terms I’ve heard mentioned the most is “loyalty,” as many commentators have observed that a misplaced sense of loyalty in the circumstances surrounding misdeeds often enables the accused and delays justice for all parties in the case.
If loyalty is a virtue, it’s one that I relish. Indeed, I’m trying to cultivate it in my children, because loyalty, rightly understood, is a form of grace. It overlooks the flaws in others and allows us to sustain relationships in spite of our failings and those of others.
But, loyalty, like all of the other virtues, is not a thing unto itself. It is always subordinate to an overarching integrity that is rooted in righteousness. Once it becomes primary, it ceases to be a virtue. Loyalty detached from justice is a particularly perverse vice; however, loyalty that sustains justice is demanding, in that it calls us to use our relationships to inspire confession and repentance in the pursuit of righteousness.
I interviewed for a job many years ago where I asked the prospective boss what virtue he valued most of all in his team. He focused on loyalty: “I not only expect loyalty, I demand it. Without utter loyalty, nothing progresses in this organization.” A few years later, I found out that he had been embezzling funds from the company and that his assistant managers had been involved. It’s amazing how quickly virtuous “loyalty” morphs into wicked “conspiracy.”
Charles Colson tells a story that is illustrative in How Now Shall We Live? After addressing some two thousand Marines, Colson was asked by a master sergeant, “Which is more important—loyalty or integrity?” The Marine creed is, of course, semper fi, “always faithful,” but Colson, understanding very personally the stakes of unfettered loyalty, responded, “’Integrity comes first.’ Loyalty, no matter how admirable, can be dangerous if it is invested in an unworthy cause.” (p. 379).
As a leader, I expect of my colleagues professional loyalty, but I expect it to be conditional loyalty: it goes only as far as my integrity and righteousness allow. When I fail in either instance, I have broken whatever covenant for loyalty I have entered into with my colleagues. To be loyal to me in such a circumstance would be to supplant loyalty with its perverted cousin, conspiracy.
Conspiracy goes way back in human history, all the way back to Eden, when Adam and Eve exchanged their righteousness for corrupted loyalty toward one another, entering into a thin conspiracy to cover their loss of righteousness. Sinfulness never changes, does it?
November 19th, 2011 | 5:05 am | #1
[...] is one of the seven Army values. At First Things, Gene Fant writes about Loyalty’s Perverted Cousin, Conspiracy. Share this:PrintEmailLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. This entry was posted in [...]
November 19th, 2011 | 5:08 am | #2
[...] is one of the seven Army values. At First Things, Gene Fant writes about Loyalty’s Perverted Cousin, Conspiracy. Share this:PrintEmailLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. This entry was posted in [...]
November 19th, 2011 | 7:09 pm | #3
Christ taught that we cannot have divided loyalties, we cannot serve God and mammon, we must be either cold or hot, not noncommital, we cannot halt between two choices, but must declare for the Lord.
The idea that some Christians have is that once they have declared themselves a fan of the team of Jesus, they get lifetime season tickets for all the big games, and every Sunday will be Superbowl Sunday. But Jesus did not call for fans; he called for team members who would love God with all their heart, might, mind and strength. Christ wants a true commitment from us. He wants not cheers but our broken hearts offered on the altar.
The lack of commitment and loyalty that some churches experience is due first of all to the fact that they do not teach their congregations that God demands their loyalty, but instead teach that their reward is guaranteed regardless of future performance.
November 20th, 2011 | 9:55 am | #4
Conspiracy goes way back in human history, all the way back to Eden, when Adam and Eve exchanged their righteousness for corrupted loyalty toward one another
Or not. While my inner naughty schoolboy has a sort of liking for that idea, I’m afraid it won’t fly-
“And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest [to be] with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. ”
Not exactly “I am Spartacus” material, is it?
November 21st, 2011 | 10:29 am | #5
[...] First Links – 11.21.11 Monday, November 21, 2011, 10:29 AM Joe Carter Loyalty’s Perverted Cousin, Conspiracy Evangel, Gene [...]
November 23rd, 2011 | 7:57 am | #6
The Marines were probably not happy with that answer. I remember in boot camp being taught that, as Marines, it was not our responsibility to decide whether or not a particular military action was just or unjust. Our duty was simply to obey orders no matter what.
While I understood that we were at the bottom of the chain of command, I was deeply offended by this teaching. It implied that there is no higher law than the U.S. government, and that our loyalty should not be impeded by personal integrity. If he had explained it differently, such as, “Congress makes the decisions, and our job is to comply with those decisions, and when we don’t we must face the consequences…” I would have been ok with it.
November 23rd, 2011 | 11:09 am | #7
C.S Lewis once addressed that Anthony and it is a difficult subject. He concluded that we are responsible for what we know. As no government really says,”we are going to plunder and enslave the thus and so’s” and we cannot afford to allow the military to put itself in the position of civil authorities, we must to some degree accept this. What a Christian soldier cannot do is commit an act he knows is sinful when he is commanded to do so.
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