DOES CHARACTER REALLY MATTER?

The last few months have been really uplifting for me. I have had the opportunity to meet young people across the country who are striving to make character an important part of their lives. The National Conference on Ethics in America at West Point and the Character Education Forum in San Francisco both gave testimony to the importance of character and character development in schools and colleges through our country. The experience caused me to ask the question - Does character really matter?

Some years ago Alexis de Toqueville, the astute French Statesman, made this observation, "America is great because she is good and when America ceases to be good she will cease to be great." He went on further to observe that the state of the union depends upon the character of its citizens. Where does America stand today? Is America good? Is America great? And perhaps an even more important question is where is America headed? What role does the character of our citizens play in America's future?

When one pauses and realizes that most of the great civilizations in history have deteriorated from within and were not conquered from without, the question, “Where is America headed?” needs to be asked. Current documentaries such as "Waiting for Superman" and "The Road to Nowhere" reveal that America's education system is in serious need of repair. What is driving two out of every three students to cheat in school; our athletes to turn to performance enhancing drugs; our politicians to sling mud among other things; our business leaders to cut corners or manipulate numbers for personal gain; our clergy to involve themselves in scandalous acts? I know what many of you are thinking - Not everyone lives their lives in an unethical way! How pervasive is this unethical conduct? That is the crucial issue and I submit that may be the defining issue of our times.

I strongly believe that character does matter - It is of paramount importance. If America is to keep its position in the world, and if we want to truly serve the citizens of this country, we need to stress both competence AND character. We must continue to pursue excellence - honest excellence. We want our citizens to be smart, productive and good people - and the character of our citizens does matter - YOU BET IT DOES!