What is Loyalty?

The following is an editorial.

Loyalty is simply defined as devotion to a particular person or cause--and we here in America are all about it. We exercise patronage in our political system, we are die-hard sports fans, and we are fiercely loyal to our freedoms. We remember the Alamo, remember the Maine, (try to) remember our mother's birthdays.

Yet, loyalty has gotten us in quite a fix lately. Loyalty got in the way of doing the right thing in Iraq during Abu Ghraib; it got in the way of effective governance during the scandal at the Attorney General's office; and it is especially being questioned in the political arena after convicted felon Norman Hsu donated large sums of money to the Hillary Clinton campaign. In modern times, "blind loyalty" has gotten such a bad rap that, unless you are the family dog, you don't want to be described as such.

But I look around and ask, where has loyalty gotten us today? What do we have to show for it?

Well, the answer is simple: a nation. The loyalty of our founding fathers to that idea of independence, their loyalty to each other, and their loyalty to generations of Americans yet unborn allows us to sit in comfort and exercise freedoms unmatched elsewhere in the world.

Not all loyalty is created equal, however, and it should never be used to excuse or rationalize a course of action that you know is wrong. No one needs a lecture on the difference between right and wrong, but we all must look deep into our hearts to find where our true loyalties lie.

We should never be afraid to question our loyalties, and if need be, to change them. There are certain loyalties that will never change--for our President and military members, their loyalties always lie in the Constitution of the United States. However, as Mark Twain once said, "Loyalty to petrified opinions never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul in this world--and never will." If our loyalties get in the way of progress, of justice, of equality, of peace, or of human life--it is time to rethink where our efforts truly belong.

There are loyalties that I think we can all agree on: loyalty to the future of our nation; loyalty to the children of the world--their education, their well-being, and their continued safety; loyalty to end the unnecessary deaths of innocent men, women, and children everywhere; loyalty to our men and women serving in combat; loyalty to the prospects of peace above all; loyalty to a better world for us all.

For, if we are not committed to these principles, what are we doing here on Earth? Progress, justice, equality, peace, and life. Made strong by our loyalty, these principles will bring us all to a better day.