In her biography of Raoul Wallenberg, Sharon Linnea begins with the Jewish legend of the Just: “…there must be thirty-six truly good people alive at all times if the world is to go on…They come forward at times of great danger and use their powers to defeat evil.”
Wallenberg is only one example of such good people. Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther Kings, Jr., Francis of Assisi, and Socrates can be viewed as examples. Although society calls them “role models,” their lives were spent following an ethical path, determined to restore justice.
Giving Up Lives of Comfort and Security to Combat Evil
Wallenberg forsook the life of financial comfort and security by leaving neutral Sweden at the end of World War II to help save the last Jewish community in Europe. His unselfish and courageous actions in Budapest, Hungary saved more than 100,000 Jews from Nazi death camps. In China, John Rabe accomplished the same thing.
Dr. King, inspired by the example of India’s Gandhi, took upon himself the non-violent dismantling of American segregation, ultimately paying the high price of martyrdom, much like Gandhi in 1948. Both of these heroes could have used their educational backgrounds to pursue better personal lives, but chose to confront the injustices around them.
Francis of Assisi was born into a wealthy household in 1182. Seeking something greater than himself, he responded to rampant church corruption by giving up all personal wealth and preaching a life of poverty.
His religious community became identified with helping the poor. In Christian churches, he started the Christmas “Midnight Mass” and the crèche, making him an appropriate “saint” for Christmas as a role model for giving.
The Philosophic Search for Truth Focuses on Ethics and Social Morality
Personal ethics are more than a code of conduct. Albert Einstein, the Nobel Prize winning physicist, is quoted saying, “integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching.” For Confucius, the opposite of personal gain was righteousness.
According to the Qu’ran, having faith and doing good works results in the blessings of Allah. Even the Psalms promises that “surely goodness and mercy” will follow the righteous. (Psalm 23.6ff)
A chief goal of philosophy and religion is the pursuit of ethical standards that lead to moral behavior. During times of gross injustice, moral behavior has lapsed.
Yet even this gross injustice can flow out of warped philosophical concepts or fanatical religion. Adolf Hitler’s view of the superman was influenced by the Existential philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. The Spanish Inquisition, associated with Ferdinand of Spain, tortured and killed thousands.
Socrates Challenges his Students to Pursue Truth as Defined by Ethics
Socrates, often seen as a “type of Christ,” rejected the Sophist approach of his day, challenging the youth of Athens to seek divine truth through knowledge and understanding that led to ethics. For this he was condemned to death by suicide. This final act, the giving of his own life, fulfilled the ethical principles he taught his students.
The Anti-Christs of Human History are Faced with the Legend of the Just
The term “anti-Christ” may be Christian, but it applies to all evil men and the unjust movements in human history. In the Western tradition, whenever the guardianship of ethics was weakened by corruption, a Bernard of Clairvaux or a Raoul Wallenberg came forward to reestablish the equilibrium between good and evil.
In the contemporary world, these men and women fight impossible odds yet often win. Liu Xiaobo of China is imprisoned because of his criticism of the Communist regime in Beijing. In Myanmar Suu Kyi was just released after years of house arrest by the ruling oligarchy of generals. Both are winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor roll of people who put their lives on the line in the pursuit of social justice.
Historical Impact of Ethical Role Models in History
The majority of people are hardly inspired by the example of men like King or Gandhi. In the developed world, people pursue lucrative careers, often oblivious to the global injustices. But the actions of the very few sometimes result in significant change.
Dr. King’s “I Had a Dream” speech, given in Washington, DC August 28, 1963, evoked a passion that would ultimately engulf all Americans in the Civil Rights movement. Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violent protest and civil disobedience ended British rule in India. Shortly after a Jerusalem crowd vocally demanded the execution of Jesus, his movement took shape, emphasizing love, forgiveness, and righteous living.
Such leaders are studied and their writings assigned. They demonstrate that history was full of humble men whose personal quest for truth led to vast movements: Lao Tzu, Gautama Buddha, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, and so many others. But their influence is fleeting, especially in a 21st Century global society.
The Challenge to Pursue Truth and Justice in an Unjust World
Global awareness demonstrates the growing levels of injustice. Patrick Martin, writing forGlobal Research (November 17, 2010), states that even in the prosperous United States, 17.4 million families in 2009 “were too poor to buy adequate food.” According to Martin, “50 million people [are] living below the official poverty line…”
These percentages on population are greater in under-developed and less-developed countries where additional problems like the lack of clean drinking water play a vital factor in life and death. Some observers call this genocide produced by global corporate exploitation.
If the Jewish legend of the Just is true, human history is poised to receive someone impelled to correct the cosmological equilibrium by vanquishing evil. For human history to survive, good people must come forward.
Sources:
- Jeanette Friedman and David Gold, Why Should I Care? Lessons From the Holocaust (The Wordsmithy, LLC, 2009).
- Bryan MaGee, The History of Thought: The Essential Guide to the History of Western Philosophy (QPB, 1998).
- Sharon Linnea, Raoul Wallenberg: The Man Who Stopped Death (The Jewish Publication Society, 1993).
- Joseph Stoutzenberger, Praying With Francis of Assisi (Word Among Us Press, 2004).
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