Success Without Honor -- Honor is Ultimate, though much Derided

I do not share Mr. Suissa's shock about the Penn State perversions, although I do share his utter dismay and contempt.

For decades in this country, we have been educating our youth to question the existence of good and evil, as though morality were merely a matter of individual preference, or "what tastes good." I am not surprised that high-profile athletes and academic leaders were hesitant to do anything about the evil behavior of one of their own.

There is no honor in a nation which prolongs childhood to the point where grown men still live at home, hoping for the love, financial support, and unending affection of parents, still riddling with their own guilt because they did not prepare their children for the real world.

There is no honor in a nation in which success at all costs has demanded so much from so many, including the young people who have been harassed by predatory adults looking to fulfill their empty or undo their private shame -- and this speaks to vicarious demands on our youth, not just physical and sexual abuse.

There is no honor in a nation that ascribes more value to a sports program than to preparing young people with a thorough, stable post-secondary education imparting a negotiable trade.

There is not honor when men presume on their own innate -- yet still non-existent -- goodness, refusing to recognize the wickedness that plagues even the most upright of individuals; that trust is a qualified endowment which must be verified from day to day based on the conduct, not the accepted opinion, of an individual.

There is no honor in a nation that sets up statues to honor a man still living, whose many flaws are still flagrantly available for perusal and shame.

When "the right thing to do" has become "making do with what you think is right, is it any wonder that the spiritual and mental well-being of our youth becomes so disregarded?

I appreciate your comments, Mr. Suissa. I just hope that an acceptance of right and wrong breaks forth in the midst of this scandal, that men and women will trust the wisdom of our forebearers as opposed to the intuition of our feelings.