Civilization Values Part VI: Repenting as a Civilization

We’ve been doing something of a civilization primer series here of late. Civilization requires valuing God, life, family, truth, and property—which is shorthand for the Ten Commandments. Part I of this series was on Life; part II was on Truth; part III was on property ownership. Next up is valuing God, in three parts of the series. Part IV was on Freedom of Religion, and part V was on defining Civilizing Religion. 

Today’s part VI is on turning a society away from savagery and back toward civilization. For individuals we call that repentance. So, what does repentance look like for a society?

We just did a road trip by way of Colorado and the Continental Divide.
The hairpin turns, making sharp changes in direction
 and heading upward, are a good metaphor for repentance.

I can describe what it looks like. I don’t pretend to know how to initiate it, to get it underway. But I think civilization is something most people prefer to savagery. When the chaos gets intolerable, people want something better. It has happened at times, historically. Phases pass. The world domination attempts of the past century were quelled, although possibly not wiped out forever. But good people stood up and fought for freedom, prosperity, and civilization, rather than succumb to tyranny, poverty, and savagery. We could catalog a few such turnaround examples, but we’ll save that for another day beyond this series.

My hope is that we don’t need to reach a near rock bottom before turning upward.

As in the past several posts, the material below is from the Spherical Model website, Civilization vs. Savagery section, published there in 2010.

______________________

Converting from Savagery to Civilization

As we find our society decaying further and further south into Savagery, the question is, what can we do to get back to Civilization? Repent. In religion, when you have sinned (committed an act that doesn’t qualify as civilized), you as an individual must follow a process to get out of the dishonorable position.

·       Recognize that you have done wrong—get past denial.

·       Confess that you are wrong (depending on situation, this may need to be public).

·       Make restitution. (Include your plans to make restitution when asking forgiveness of anyone you have wronged, which is part of the confession step.)

·       Change your way of thinking to prevent yourself from falling into the negative behavior again, and then live honorably from this point onward.

Steps aren’t that different for a society that needs to repent. When society has been going the wrong direction and decaying, it needs to recognize the wrong, then admit the wrong, make restitution, and then change and continue on the new path.

Society repents when a critical mass of individuals in the community take the necessary steps to change. When one person changes, that is a beginning. When an entire family changes, that family becomes a civilized societal unit. When that family joins with other families that have chosen to give up savage behaviors and continue with civilized behaviors, that becomes a larger civilized society. When a strong majority of families in a community choose civilization, they can benefit the large society and pull it upward, and have the strength, then, to separate out the savage actors, so that the civilization is no longer at risk of being decayed by them.

At every step it is a matter of choosing. Government cannot force Civilization on a people, so the solution isn’t governmental intervention. The role of government is, at the lowest possible level, to support people in protecting their hard-won Civilization. It has to be the Civilized people themselves who set the standard for living among them. A family has that right. A church has that right. A school has that right. And as you get larger, when the strong majority, a critical mass, choose to live in a civilized way, they can set law—as a municipality, a city or county, and a state. Civilization can only happen at a national level when the lower levels have already made the changes.

family illustration found here

The good news is that you can enjoy many the benefits of Civilization in even the smallest unit—the family. When parents and children live together in peace and love, adhering to the requirements of Civilization, they benefit. Beyond the family, the benefits grow as larger units become Civilized, but a single family in and of itself can flourish. So helping our own family, and then preserving the concept of family, is where most of us should be spending our energies. We’re almost ready for “Family is the Basic Unit of Civilization.” But first, let’s go through a reminder list (incomplete, as any list must be) of what civilized people will and will not do.

Civilized Behaviors

·       Civilized people work to support themselves and their families.

·       Civilized people welcome children into their family with rejoicing and commit to nurturing the child physically, emotionally, educationally, and spiritually to ensure that the next generation remains civilized.

·       Civilized people will give freely from their surplus wealth and time to help shore up people going through hard times.

·       Civilized people are honest in their dealings with others, in business and in personal relationships.

·       Civilized people are peacefully law-abiding in a community with fair, people-led laws.

·       Civilized people don’t get intoxicated or use recreational mind-altering drugs.

·       Civilized people never attack their civilized neighbors in anger, nor provoke their neighbors. If there are disputes, they work them out, with the help of courts if other negotiations fail to resolve.

·       Civilized people do not have sex outside of marriage. Once married they remain faithful and committed for life. When there are marital problems, they seek help to work through the problem, rather than leaving the marriage, as long as the spouse has not committed serious uncivilized acts that might not be recoverable: adultery, addiction, abuse (specifically defined), or abandonment.

·       Civilized people never participate in pornography, neither in production, dissemination, nor use. All aspects of pornography are savage.

·       Civilized people never even consider prostitution, as every aspect of the practice is savage.

·       Civilized people never even consider committing a sexual act that is not mutually desired; i.e., rape, incest, child abuse are nonexistent among civilized people. The acts can only be committed by a savage, and every effort should be made to keep such savages from having freedom to commit their crime within the civilization.

·       Civilized people will not allow uncivilized behavior among them; they hold people accountable. Depending on the uncivilized act and the willingness of the perpetrator to repent, being held accountable could include lawful punishment, ostracism from some segments from society (excommunication from a church, for example), limitations in employment (people shacking up together, for example, could be limited from having teaching or other positions that influence children), or simply a stern correction followed by an offer to help change.

·       Civilized people are quick to forgive the repentant, but never by releasing the wrongdoer from making restitution; both the person repenting and the society require the restitution to prevent Civilization’s decay.

One thing about a repenting society: it’s done by a critical mass of individuals doing the necessary repentance in their own lives. I have control over my own life. Maybe I have some influence over a small circle. I can share ideas that might help a larger circle. I pray it happens soon. My tolerance for savagery is low.

Upcoming is the remaining portion of the series, on valuing family. My guess is it will take more than one additional post.

Barbaric or Savage

In the Spherical Model, I use the word savage as the negative, southern hemisphere quality of the social sphere. There are a number of examples in the news these days: i.e., the beheadings of journalists, the execution of non-Muslims who refuse to convert.

Sometimes the news stories and commentary use the word barbaric, and sometimes savage. So I’m spending a day quibbling over word choice while horrendous things are happening—in hopes that greater understanding will help move the world in the right direction.

The words savage and barbaric are essentially synonyms. In my thesaurus, the first synonym for savage is barbarous. And under barbarous/barbaric, savage is listed in the mix. There may be differences, but they’re somewhat subtle. Still, I chose one over the other.

The word barbaric is a word that historically meant, in the ancient world, someone from some culture other than Greek, Roman, or Christian. It could mean less civilized, less technologically advanced, less developed—because much of the world beyond the empires was often backward, or primitive, in those ways. But not always; sometimes it just referred to something foreign or strange, not the way of the culture doing the naming.

Sometimes (often today) the word barbaric is used to refer to behavior: crude, uncouth, boorish, unmannerly, wild, unrestrained—but also brutal or cruel.

The word savage can also refer to a culture that is primitive: lacking in technology and education, possibly lacking in writing. In some circles there’s the idea of the “noble savage,” someone from a primitive culture who is nevertheless more “civilized,” more wise about nature and living a good life, than the supposedly civilized person. But this is pretty much a myth. There may be people within primitive societies who live in a civilized way; they are, then, by definition, civilized, not savage. The mythologized ones are more likely to be looked at through a lens focused on a specific thing, with much else left purposely out of focus.

This is part of an agenda to equate all cultures as equally valid. It’s a lie. You can have a lot of differences between cultures that may be equally valid—food, music, dance, language. But you still only get civilization when you have a religious people, who recognize that their rights come from God, who live a code of behavior essentially equivalent to the Ten Commandments—valuing God, family, life, honesty, and doing good to others.

I chose the word savage, in the Spherical Model, because the behavior description is more accurate. Also, there’s no confusion with the Barbary Coast, an area known for piracy—definitely a barbaric, or savage, behavior—where the word is not actually related to barbarian, but to Berbers, the north African peoples.

So, while barbaric is also the antipathy of civilization, the important contrast is between the bad behavior and our goal: civilization.

I’ve been reading a novel in which the comparison between civilization and barbarians keeps coming up. I’m not sure whether to recommend this book/series—The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss. I read the first one for book club last month, The Name of the Wind. It was an interesting read, a slightly magical world something like our Middle Ages Europe, but not really that. It’s a quest story, with a young man coming of age. But in the near 700 pages of book one, he makes almost no progress on the stated quest. I am now almost 800 pages into the second book, The Wise Man’s Fear, and other than a sentence or two, there’s still been no progress toward the stated quest. [I don’t think book 3 is written yet, so who knows if the quest will be completed, or whether how Kvothe got where he is will be explained.] Nevertheless, some interesting stuff happens.

I had been warned about book two, because there are some rather ridiculous prurient parts with a fairy—going on for at least a hundred pages. Not too explicit, fortunately, but still evidence that the author doesn’t really understand civilization.

But I am tuned in to pick up little conversations about civilization. And this second book has some of that. At one point the main character, Kvothe, is sent on a quest by the Maer (minor king) to get rid of thieves who have been making the roads dangerous, interfering with trade, and confiscating tax money that has to be replaced. One of the mercenaries sent with him is from a different culture, the Adem. The descriptions of the look of the people is what we’d consider northern European—all seem to have sandy colored hair and gray eyes. But their culture seems to be a pretty good replication of some Asian cultures.

Tempi is mostly silent, but dangerous in a fight. Like a ninja. He has trouble with the language, foreign to him. But eventually Kvothe begins to communicate better with him, and learn from him. Chapter 82 (starting on page 545) is called “Barbarians,” referring to those outside of Tempi’s native culture. The differences include how they speak. Tempi’s people, use fewer words and more subtle hand signals And they try to follow some inexplicable guidance from within called Lethani. They also have many layers of meaning, like you might find in Korean, and tonality, like you might find in Mandarin. So it’s not a direct correlation with something specific in the nonfictional world.

Kvothe is telling the story here:

  I nodded slowly, trying to imagine what it must be like for Tempi, constantly assaulted by people too rude to keep their expressions to themselves. People whose hands constantly made gestures that were nonsense. “It must be very hard for you, out here.”

  “Not so hard.” Understatement. “When I leave Ademre, I know this. Not civilization. Barbarians are rude.”

  “Barbarians?’

  He made a wide gesture, encompassing our clearing, the forest, all of Vintas. “Everyone here like dogs.” He made a grotesquely exaggerated expression of rage showing all his teeth, snarling and rolling his eyes madly. “That is all you know.” He shrugged nonchalant acceptance, as if to say he didn’t hold it against us.

  “What of children?” I asked. “Children smile before they talk. Is that wrong?”

  Tempi shook his head. “All children barbarians. All smile with face. All children rude. But they go old. Watch. Learn.” He paused thoughtfully. Choosing his words. “Barbarians have no woman to teach them civilization. Barbarians cannot learn.” 

That detail, of women needed to teach civilization, caught my attention. 

Later in the book, Kvothe travels with Tempi to his home town of Haert, and begins to learn from the people there. Their school teaches “Lethani,” which is unknowable, maybe like chi, and fighting skills—very much like Asian martial arts, including patterns of practice called Ketan, which sound a lot like katas, or my Tai Chi routine (but performed perfectly, at the slow pace of honey spilled on a table, which I have not accomplished).

Women do the teaching, and are considered the better fighters. Kvothe is surprised by that:

  Vashet [his teacher] nodded, pleased [at what he had noticed in a spar between two young boys]. “They fight like puppies. They are young, and boys. They are full of anger and impatience. Women have less trouble with these things. It’s part of what makes us better fighters.”

            I was more than slightly surprised to hear her say that. “Women are better fighters?” I asked carefully, not wanting to contradict her.

            “Generally speaking,” she said matter-of-factly. “There are exceptions, of course, but as a whole women are better.”

            “But men are stronger,” I said. “Taller. They have better reach.”

            She turned to look at me, slightly amused. “Are you stronger and taller than me then?”

            I smiled. “Obviously not. But as a whole, you have to admit, men are bigger and stronger.”

            Vashet shrugged. “And that would matter if fighting were the same as splitting wood or hauling hay. That is like saying a sword is better the longer and heavier it is. Foolishness. Perhaps for thugs this is true. But after taking the red [refers to the uniform color, becoming a traveling guardian, called mercenary for lack of a better translation], the key is knowing when to fight. Men are full of anger, so they have trouble with this. Women less so” [p. 763].

It’s an interesting view. In our culture, I think it is assumed emotion is female, and logic is male—even though that is stereotypical and right only about 50% of the time for either sex. It’s probably right only about as often in their fictional world as well.

Unless you assume, not emotions, but specific emotions. Females are less likely to fly to anger, to enjoy harming physically in retaliation for offense; females are more likely to care for and nurture others. Females are less likely to seek to conquer, and more likely to seek reconciliation and collaboration. Some emotions are more civilized than others. And, in general, women tend toward those emotions more than men do.

Maybe that is why God designed the family to have women in the position to civilize the next generation. Men are needed too—to teach hard work, honesty, honor, courage, and being gentle even when you have the strength to be coercive. Those are important in civilization too. But men are more likely to exhibit those characteristics if they were raised by a good woman and have committed in marriage to a good woman.

Children benefit from the civilizing nurturing of mothers as well as the example of a civilized father. Both. In the family, the microcosm of civilization. Parents, “Raise up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

There is so much ugly savagery in today’s world. There is news that we can’t even bear to view—because you can’t unview such things. But in the sacred family home, there can be civilization. And from there it can spread.

Happy Birthday, Boy Scouts of America

I have been gathering info for a post about the Boy Scouts, since they were in the news this week. I have more than I think can fit into one post, and since the big decision from Wednesday got more or less put off for a couple of months, I thought I could put info together under less urgency. But then I realized today is the anniversary of the founding: Boy Scouts of America was founded February 8, 1910, so the organization is 103 years old. So, today we'll celebrate, and save controversy for another day.

The cake from our Eagle Court of Honor back in 2005

The purpose of the organization is to raise boys into men—men of integrity and honor, men who will be valuable contributors to our civilization. The organization has been pretty effective at meeting this goal. The oath and law provide some of the method:

The Scout Oath
On my honor I will do my best

 To do my duty to God and my country

 and to obey the Scout Law;

 To help other people at all times;

 To keep myself physically strong,

 mentally awake, and morally straight. 

Boy Scout Law

A Scout is:

• Trustworthy,
• Loyal,
• Helpful,
• Friendly,
• Courteous,
• Kind,
• Obedient,
• Cheerful,
• Thrifty,
• Brave,
• Clean,
• and Reverent.

If you know what civilization looks like, and the qualities a person needs to acquire to positively contribute to making society civilized, could you come up with a better list? I’ve tried to do that at Spherical Model. Generally, obey the Ten Commandments. I’ve included on occasion a couple of other lists, like the one in I Corinthians 13, paraphrased here:  

·         be long-suffering

·         be kind

·         don’t envy

·         don’t be self-important

·         don’t behave unseemly

·         don’t be self-centered

·         don’t be easily provoked

·         think no evil

·         avoid iniquity

·         rejoice in truth

·         bear difficulties with patience

·         believe in God and truth

·         be hopeful

·         endure 

The lists for “how to be civilized” are similar enough that I think it’s possible to say that we know what behavior is required for a civilized culture. But all of the behaviors are not what you’d call natural for 12-year-old boys. They need to be taught, and they need to be able follow the model of men who have grown from uncivilized rowdy boys into fine and honorable men and fathers. 

Mr. Spherical Model was a scoutmaster for many years (and still has a volunteer role with the troop), starting well before our boys got through their cub scout years. Our older son got to the level of Life Scout, next to the highest rank. He reached that at 13, and then we moved, and the new local troop wasn’t as good at advancement. He came close, just before turning 18, at finishing the requirements for an Eagle, but college classes and work got in the way. Still, it was a good accomplishment, and the principles took root. For our second son, Mr. Spherical Model became the scoutmaster again. This was a challenging troop, made up of bright, quirky characters—who had a history of taking on the challenge of doing in adult volunteer leaders. But in Mr. Spherical Model they had met their match. And most of these young men earned their Eagle rank, including our son Economic Sphere. Today they’re educated, working, married—and surprisingly civilized. 

The photo is from Shawn Rogers' Facebook page;
he and his son were in that jamboree crowd

Only 5% of young men who begin scouting eventually reach the rank of Eagle. But some troops are much more successful than others. My assertion is that the successful ones combine more religion into the teachings. Yes, they go camping and learn woodsman and survival skills. But they take a minute at their meetings and around the campfire to develop the young man’s spirit. Not all really good men can be a good scoutmaster, but a scoutmaster has to be a really good man. 

In another post I’ll talk about the membership controversy that’s going on. But today, let’s just honor this organization that has gone about the business of inculcating the next generation with civilizing principles with remarkable success for over a century.