Virtue

Virtue is essential to a free and prosperous society. In order to have a society of pure liberty, we must protect the three basic negative rights: life, liberty, and property. If we want to maintain such a society, everyone has responsibilities.

Responsibilities

Firstly, you are responsible for not violating your neighbors rights. You must have the self-control to govern yourself in such a way that the government won't need to interfere in your life. Second, you have a responsibility to help your neighbors in need. Don't give the government cause to step in and use force to help the needy (like income redistribution). This only gives the government more power.

You also have a responsibility to vote and be involved in politics. Campaigning, writing to your Congressman, attending school board meetings. We have a responsibility to nominate and elect good leaders, and see to it that the laws we pass are good. We have a responsibility to serve on a jury, so we can ensure that our fellow-man gets justice. I am always so disappointed to hear friends try to weasel out of jury duty. If we want to maintain our free society, we all have responsibilities to fulfill.

Each individual has the responsibility to be virtuous, especially in their public life.

Virtue

So what is virtue? Virtue can be defined as “moral excellence”. A perfectly moral population would need no government to regulate them, but there are no perfectly moral people. (At least not here on Earth.) Still, it stands that the more virtuous the people are, the less government they need.

Virtue is living the best life that one can possibly conceive. Living virtuously is living in accordance with the Truth. Here at FRANK talks, I write about and defend the Christian worldview. I believe in the Christian worldview, and I maintain that everyone ought to believe it because it is True. If I happen to be wrong, then you ought to follow whatever is the Truth. (And if there is no such thing as Absolute Truth, then I'm not sure why I even bother communicating with you guys.)

You must ask yourself a few questions. Is God real? Is Christianity the True Religion? Is the Bible Authoritative? And if not/so how should I live my life? This is why two of my main themes in this blog are apologetics and holistic life. First, I want to help others be certain that Biblical Christianity is true beyond a reasonable doubt. Then I want to help them live the best life they can in all areas (Spiritual, Intellectual, Physical, Occupational, Social, Financial, and more).

How to Promote Virtue

Virtue cannot be forced. It cannot come from the top-down. This would not be virtue. Instead it must come from the “bottom-up”. The decision to act virtuously must come from the individual. Each person must seek the Truth, and the best way to live. Some will make mistakes, but they should be given the freedom to do so.

So how do we promote virtue in our society on a national level. As I said, it comes from the bottom up. Learning about virtue starts at home. Morals cannot be taught dispassionately from a textbook or a lecture. Our moral judgments are made in the emotional part of our brain. That is why morals should be taught to us by people we love and trust. This is why conservatives see the family unit as the essential building block to a free and prosperous society. Extended communities like churches help with this process of moral education.

What the Government Can Do

There are two things that the government can do to promote virtue. First, it is imperative that all levels of government protect the negative rights of their citizens. The government must punish those who violate (or maybe even threaten) the negative rights of others, and they must do so severely.

The second thing to do is to decentralize. The Tenth Amendment of the US Constitution delegates all unspecified power to the states. The states ought to delegate power to the counties, and counties to the towns. However, the real power lies in the private individuals and institutions. Each level of government, and each institution, has the right to set their own standards. 

Each individual has the freedom to move to any town, work for the company, or join the denomination whose standards he agrees with. If the standards are good, they will create prosperity when followed. The government must not enact policies which disrupt the fostering of virtue. Policies which inadvertently cause families to fall apart is most disheartening to conservatives.

Benefits of Virtue

The purpose of government is not to provide for people, but to protect their citizens' negative rights. It is then the people's responsibility to provide for themselves, and for those in need. This is why I believe that virtue is so essential to a free society. We need virtuous people who are willing to give to those in need. It also takes virtuous leaders to limit their own powers, or to accept limits on their powers, so that you can experience your God given freedom to it's fullest potential.

Please share this post if you liked it. Also, tell me what you think. Tweet at me @frank_perseo or comment on the Frank Talks Facebook page. Do you agree that virtue is essential to a free and prosperous society? What should we the people be doing (not under government compulsion) to make our nation better?