We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.

In adultery, there is usually tenderness and self-sacrifice; in murder, courage; in profanation and blasphemy, a certain satanic splendor. Judas elected those offenses unvisited by any virtues: abuse of confidence and informing.

Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow

Between the conception And the creation Between the emotion And the response Falls the Shadow

Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone

I have found (to my regret) that the degrees of shame and disgust which I actually feel at my own sins do not at all correspond to what my reason tells me about their comparative gravity. Just as the degree to which, in daily life, I feel the emotion of fear has little to do with my rational judgement of the danger. I'd sooner have really nasty seas when I'm in an open boat than look down in perfect (actual) safety from the edge of a cliff. Similarly, I have confessed ghastly uncharities with less relucatance than small unmentionables--or those sins which happen to be ungentlemanly as well as unchristian. Our emotional reactions to our own behavior are of limited ethical significance.

I don't know why I did it, I don't know why I enjoyed it, and I don't know why I'll do it again.

Ball State University 15-Jan-99 Ex-Convicts, MBA Grads Have Similar Ethical Standards MUNCIE, Ind. -- When it comes to ethical standards, convicts and MBA students rate about even, says a Ball State University researcher. A survey of a group of convicts found their ethical standards compare favorably to those of MBA students. But, when it comes to loyalty, convicted felons may have the edge, said Shaheen Borna, a marketing professor. A survey found that inmates were more loyal to their employers, placed higher priority on customer service and worked better in groups. The survey's participants were from three minimum security prisons located in three Midwestern states. Participants were mostly male (90 percent), white (80 percent), and young (48 percent were between 20-25 and 32 percent between 25-30). The average sentence served by respondents was 4.5 years. All respondents were convicted felons participating in some capacity in the prison education system. None were a Ball State student. The survey found: About 73 percent of MBA students and 60 percent of convicts would hire, if it was legal, a competitor's employees who knew the details of a profitable discovery. Both groups believe their own ethical standards are about the same as or superior to peers, past supervisors and business executives. When it came to priorities, convicts put customers first while students favored stockholders and customers second. Inmates were more "loyal" than their student counterparts. Convicts were more likely to do what was asked of them in ethically difficult or ethically doubtful situations. Students were more likely to quit when faced with obviously unethical behavior while inmates were more likely to leave when the behavior involved a deal with the government. Inmates placed greater importance on group trust and loyality. "With respect to priorities, little difference was found between the two groups," Borna said. "The differences that were found in response to questions had to do with inmates' loyalty or with inmates' high priority for customers -- hardly undesirable characteristics for a potential employee." Despite public perception, inmates in the prison education system, many convicts have the potential to become productive members of society if business executives are willing to provide opportunities, he said. "If a potential employer believes that the values and ethics of inmates in the prison education system are not that different from the values and ethics of students in graduate higher education, that manager might be much more willing to take a chance on an ex-con," Borna said. The research provides some evidence that organizations are missing out on the dual opportunity to lessen the correctional burden on society and add a valuable and loyal source of productivity, he said. The survey also emphasizes that university faculty should increase awareness of ethics in business decisions by having students participate in live situations instead of learn them from books or lectures. "Most groups, including convicted felons, know ethics and will usually do the right thing," Borna said. "The key issue in education may be getting students to recognize that most decisions have a moral dimension." (NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Borna at sborna@bsu.edu or at (765) 285-5191. For more stories visit the Ball State University News Center at newscenter.bsu.edu on the World Wide Web.)

"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better."

Never... think we have a due knowledge of ourselves till we have been exposed to various kinds of temptations, and tried on every side. Integrity on one side of our character is no voucher for integrity on another. We cannot tell how we should act if brought under temptations different from those we have hitherto experienced. This thought should keep us humble. We are sinners, but we do not know how great. He alone knows who died for our sins.

As a young lad, I remember reading a story about Sir Isaac Newton that left a profound impression on me. He had worked for hours on his scientific inquiries into the very core of the physical universe, exhaustedly laboring by candlelight. By his side over the weeks sat his beloved dog. On one occasion when Newton left the room for a moment the dog jumped up to follow him and inadvertently bumped into the side of the desk, knocking over the candle and setting the papers ablaze. All that seminal work was reduced in moments to a pile of ashes. When Newton returned to his study to see what remained of his work, his heart was broken beyond repair. Rescuing what little was left of the room, he sat down and wept with his face in his hands. Gently stroking the dog, he said, "You will never, never know what you have done." [great illustration of our inability to comprehend the magnitude of our sins]

Every time I have the chance, I always take the road less traveled. Fewer cops.

RECALL The maker of all human beings is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to the serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart. This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units. This defect has been technically termed, "Subsequential Internal Non-Morality", or more commonly known as S-I-N, as it is primarily symptomized by loss of moral judgment. Some other symptoms: a) Loss of direction b) Foul vocal emissions c) Amnesia of origin d) Lack of peace and joy e) Selfish, or violent, behavior f) Depression or confusion in the mental component g) Fearful The manufacturer, who is neither liable or at fault for this defect, is providing factory authorized repair and service, free of charge to correct this SIN defect. The number to call for the recall station in your area is: P-R-A-Y-E-R. Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN by pressing R-E-P-E-N-T-A-N-C-E. Next, download J-E-S-U-S into the heart. No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, the JESUS repair will replace it with: a) Love b) Joy c) Peace d) Longsuffering e) Gentleness f) Goodness g) Faith h) Meekness i) Temperance Please see operating manual, HOLY BIBLE, for further details on the use of these fixes. WARNING: Continuing to operate the human unit without correction, voids the manufacturer's warranty, exposing owner to dangers and problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded. For free emergency service, call on J-E-S-U-S. DANGER: The human units not receiving this recall action will have to be scrapped in the furnace. This Action was Authorized by: The Creator.

In his work Diffusion of Innovations, Everett Rogers suggests that if 16 percent of a defined constituency adopts a new way of doing things, it creates a movement (262). The odds are in favor of the innovation--that in time upwards to 86 percents of the total population will adopt this new way of thinking and living. I don't know of any suburban church that has reached 17 percent of its households loctated within its area. My thoughts: is this the breakpoint for revival? Another quote from later in the book "Polls would suggest that only 16 percent of the people who live around us are truly immoral." (page 180, statistic cited from Gallup and Jones The Saints Among Us page 10).

Garden of Eden: the old game of two truths and a lie "your eyes will be opened, you will become like God, you will know good from evil"

So, as we have said, the trouble is in our heredity, not in our behaviour. Unless we can change our parentage there is no deliverance for us. ... But here is our problem. We were born sinners; how then can we cut off our sinful heredity? Seeing that we were born in Adam, how can we get out of Adam? Let me say at once, the Blood cannot take us out of Adam. There is only one way. Since we came in by birth we must go out by death. To do away with our sinfulness we must do away with our life. [speaking of depravity of man and God's plan of adoption for us]

There is a certain safeguard that the natural character of intelligent men possesses within itself. It provides benefit and safety to all, especially to democracies against tyrants. And what is it? Mistrust. Guard that, and don't let it go. You can come to no harm if you preserve it.

When Americans and Australians rated themselves on more than seventeen hundred psychological qualities, four traits emerged as salient. The adjectives that defined these four seminal traits were all undesirable and, by implication, bad. They were (1) quarrelsome and spiteful; (2) impulsive and undisciplined; (3) withdrawn and untalkative; and (4) hypersensitive and emotional. [The reference is to Ashton, Lee, and Goldberg, "A Hierarchichal Analysis of 1,710 English Personality-Descriptive Adjectives", <i>Journal of Personality and Social Psychology</i> 87 (2004): 707-721.]

Aldous Huxley's Underlying Motives

For myself, as, no doubt, for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaningless was essentially an instrument of liberation. The liberation we desired was simultaneously liberation from a certain political and economic system and liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom; we objected to the political and economic system because it was unjust. [my note: At the time he made this remark he had changed his mind - he is explaining his rationale when younger.]