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Throwing Stones from Glass Houses by Jeff Jackson 10/13/03
The Land of the Free - A Conservative Politics Web Site

There is an old saying; if only those people who had never sinned could be priests there would be no priests.

The lesson here is obvious. Even those that are not perfect can be right and even those that have sinned can still profess the greatness of virtue and standards. We often see that when the message can not be countered that the philosophy of kill the messenger takes over. The opinion thrives on the assumption that any dirt whatsoever invalidates any message no matter how true. Well that is only if you disagree with the person to start with. Otherwise it is simply to be shrugged off.

We all throw stones from our own glass houses built with our own sins and mistakes for we all have made sins and mistakes. Any man that would claim to be free of such is a fool and a liar that I would never dare to trust. I for one have never claimed to be a paragon of virtue nor have many that I have met. That however does not mean that what I have to say is invalid simply because of transgressions. To espouse the greatness of virtues, standards and truth and to seek to obtain them is to set for our selves a bar which we constantly should strive to meet. Anyone can set low standards for themselves that they know they can easily meet and shrug off anything that they may do as "ok". But it is part of the quintessential being of the human spirit to strive for standards that are in fact beyond our reach and beyond what our own sins and failings may in fact allow us to achieve.

While in college I did often drink while under age. Several times I have probably gotten behind the wheel of a car when it was not marginally safe to do so after a few drinks. It was absolutely wrong to violate the law and my own standards. But I did it. Does that mean that I am incapable of still believing that it was and still is wrong? Absolutely not. Just because I failed to meet my standard of what is right and wrong does not make the wrong any less so. Nor does it make me any less capable of talking about how wrong such things are.

To fail to meet our own standards is probably the most human of all traits. In fact history and experience is often what leads us to believe the things that we do. Our failing are our greatest teachers. What we see ourselves and others do is often how we form such opinions and can speak of the value of virtues that we or others often fail to uphold despite believing that they are to be upheld.

In fact the destruction of the desire to be virtuous because of failings is the greatest disservice we shall ever visit upon ourselves or our fellow man. Our desire to reach further and be better than we actually can not only allows us to continually strive to better our selves, but also the world around us even when those around us may not agree with the standards we set.

But sometimes we do have to be careful about which stones we decide to throw. Because repeated or even a single egregious sin or transgression against our espoused virtues tend to lead others to view what we say with skepticism even before the truth is ultimately seen and no matter how noble such virtues may be. There must be at least a viable attempt on our parts to live up to the virtues we claim as good and not simply empty words as one blatantly seeks to circumvent such things. The ultimate test is do we believe in these virtues and do we make the honest attempt to live by them.

We all fall. Sometimes we fall hard. Often times the weight of many things cause us to not be able to practice what we preach every minute of every day. It is sad. And it is true. The cracks in the armor that we often surround ourselves with are sometimes made into gaping holes that expose us as failing our own beliefs. Those that do not agree with the virtues and standards we set for ourselves and even for them are all too eager to to pounce on any such hole. They do it to draw attention away from their own faults often times decrying those that have fallen as hypocrites or worse. It does not matter how much glass their own house is made from and how easily it will fall upon a returned stone.

Destroying the glass house of another is easy. Confronting the ideas spoken and preached by those that live inside and destroying them is often much harder. Thus some will always take the easiest route and destroy the house.

Never forget that we are all hypocrites at times. We all fail to uphold our own standards whether we choose to see such or not. Because one falters does not blanketly negate the teachings, words or virtues espoused. What invalidates them is continual transgressions and ultimately the blatant desire to not live up to the standards that are set or the virtues that are preached. The greatest virtue of all is the ability to admit mistakes and move on.

Those with little sin can be completely wrong. And even those with a history of being completely unreliable and untrustworthy can be right. Truth often comes from the strangest places. But virtues and standards are grand and important for they give us goals to strive for. Even if we never achieve them, we are ultimately judged by our attempts and strides towards living by them and how well we do such.

The ultimate battle must be concerning the ideas we have. Not to see who can tear down the most glass houses of one's enemies.

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