Thursday, April 24, 2008

Integrity, the Second Principle


Integrity

The second principle that the citizens of a nation ought to possess is integrity. We learn from the Book of Proverbs that the integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them (Prov. 11,3). In my previous post, I discussed few important ethical standards which are based from Chinese philosophy, the Bible and the Qur’an. Closely related to ethics is Integrity which is the firm resolve to follow or obey an ethical code.
Integrity, as Wikipedia puts it, “is the basing of one's actions on an internally consistent framework of principles…One is said to have integrity to the extent that everything one does and believes is based on the same core set of values. While those values may change, it is their consistency with each other and with the person's actions that determine the person's integrity…The concept of integrity is directly linked to responsibility in that implementation spawning from principles is designed with a specific outcome in mind. When the action fails to achieve the desired effect, a change of principles is indicated. Accountability is achieved when a faulty principle is identified and changed to produce a more useful action.”

Chris Zach Hidalgo connects integrity with truth and honesty as its guideline, benchmark, a point of reference or a goal. To him integrity is a skill that is developed and learned overtime. One needs to train himself in and practice integrity, since it is a trait that is taught and learned over an entire lifetime. He compared integrity with a building or a plant that one constructs or plants and maintains or waters in order to keep it standing or living. Like the building and the plant, integrity may collapse or wither and die. But, for Hidalgo, though the building may fall and the plant may die, you can always re-build it or plant a new seed, which again you need to maintain or take good care of.

Hidalgo said that people can tweak or modify their definition of integrity to suit their needs, desires and ambitions at the time. For that reason, it's possible to have a large number of definitions of the word or state of affairs in a person's life--but that doesn't necessarily mean they're all sound definitions. He gave other definitions of integrity:
Integrity will:
1. begin and continue as a personal ON-GOING decision to stand firm on principals that are inherently good.
2. most likely take the long, straight and narrow road and does not cave into cheating
3. tell the truth over a lie despite the consequences
4. suffer the consequences instead of compromise itself
5. help to steer a person clear of those that easily bow to a corrupt nature
6. be apt to lend a helping hand simply as a by-product of this special lifestyle decision
7. diminish and eventually disappear if you choose to ignore and abandon it's blessing
8. set you apart from a great number of people who have chosen to follow the lead of a different drummer
9. sometimes separate you from the "in" crowd, but that's not always the case
10. on some occasions, make other people feel uncomfortable around you because of their own insecurities, problems and guilt
11. impress others only because of your decision to adhere to such a (sometimes) difficult lifestyle
12. sometimes put you into tight situations that APPEAR to be needlessly difficult
13. allow for rebuilding. It will come back and continue to blossom if you choose and allow it to grow within
Integrity will NOT:
14. allow for decisions that may compromise personal belief and faith
15. always APPEAR to help a situation
16. be an easy decision for all situations
17. be Disneyland and roses all the time
18. give in to peer pressure simply because "everyone's doing it"
19. give up on you--you can always re-establish integrity by making a conscious effort to re-build what past mistakes have broken down
20. in an obvious way come to the rescue of a person

Our country now, more than ever, needs Filipinos with integrity. It is a virtue that we can have if we choose to have it every day and in every circumstance of our life. We have to possess clear principles that will govern our life and the ends that we will seek give purpose to our daily decisions. As a nation, we need to have a national creed which will give us a point of reference for navigating the sometimes-stormy seas of national journey. Without a set of such beliefs, we will have no rudder, and we’ll easily be blown about by the winds of fashion and selfishness. We need a National Credo to guide us and prevent confusion along the way.

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