Integrity is the concept of consistency and stability in action, values, methods, principles, expectations, and the outcomes to be expected from acting in such a manner. In ethics, integrity is the component element regarded as apparent through the honesty of one’s actions. Integrity’s the opposite of hypocrisy. Integrity is a virtue.

The other day we discussed my Dad. We described and discussed the integrity and steadfast nature that made him alive and vital as a man and as a citizen. That very quality made him who he was wasn’t so much an innate, bedrock deep, cells-structure locked program as much as it was something given him over the course of his childhood. He was taught what to do and how to actually cherish it as a birthright.

The birthright was free choice. He was taught the difference between RIGHT and WRONG. He was taught he had a responsibility to act in a manner reflected well on him; but it also reflected positively or negatively on those who raised him from infancy to manhood. He was told he was the gift his parental authority (he was raised by his uncle and aunt) sent out into the world as the living representation of what they believed in.

He and his peers were the greatest gift given the world. So many people now are presenting a different face to the world.

In Native American culture a society of people represented their religious hierarchy through the usage of “False Faces”, masks depicting the Gods’ appearance in dreams and visions. They were grotesque and disfigured as you’d expect from a dream. The wearers danced and depicted the actions of the Gods so they could entertain and bring the audience’s attention to the reality there was a power greater than they. The dancers made the dreams more important because they described the effects of immorality, inconstancy and elasticity in moral action. They showed the penalty for violation of principles: a fall from grace.

Today’s a different day. We have smaller attendance in religious observances and church attendance. We have little to no moral education and tutelage offered in structured formats. Children are having children. And, the child-parent, having little to no moral judgment given them, is passing on the ignorance of propriety and proper social interaction. These child-parents are sending unguided missiles into the community. These kids are without a sense of dignity and moral structure. The community must adjust to fit. The community fails in this task. Community is rigid where it applies to individuals.

Melissa Harris-Perry, MSNBC commentator and Tulane University professor, said: “I have no intention of apologizing for saying that our children, all of our children, are part of more than our households they are part of our communities and deserve to have the care, attention, resources, respect and opportunities of those communities.”

She later said: “I believe wholeheartedly, and without apology, that we have a collective responsibility to the children of our communities even if we did not conceive and bear them. Of course, parents can and should raise their children with their own values. But they should be able to do so in a community that provides safe places to play, quality food to eat, terrific schools to attend, and economic opportunities to support them. No individual household can do that alone. We have to build that world together.”

A noble thought, but how do we select and choose our representatives to present the social mores and moral foundation makes our kids acceptable citizens? It’s proven from experience in Nazi Germany’s State Schools and Communist Bloc countries children are warehoused and indoctrinated with state ideology and the theology of the state more than allowed a wellspring of free thought and appreciable individuality development. Family values weren’t taught as an extension of ethical upbringing.

The state, as indicated by Ms. Harris-Perry, wants to be the main focus of your child’s upbringing and should administer to their development, care and education. Meanwhile you must house, feed and stand down from any interaction indicating YOUR moral structure or the expectations you have for your child to be a better person as an individual.

This is scary.

Thanks for listening.