Death (or at least the deep coma) of the Honor System.

I hear it all around me - the moaning, fretting, worrying, suspicion. Many people are afraid of what the future, in the hands of a more government-driven system, holds for them. I, for one, want to remain hopeful and give the new establishment the benefit of the doubt (which is a favor many refused to bestow upon the previous administration). Although I’m not a big fan of some things that will undoubtedly soon become irreversible policy, I’m still not going to give in to the temptation (just yet) to cover myself in sackcloth and ashes and hunker down in the basement waiting for the jack-booted socialist army to beat down my door and haul me off to a Gulag for tearing the tag off my mattress. I just don’t think it’s going to be as bad as some are saying – in fact some things may actually improve.

Nevertheless, there is something historic going on here in our country that I think is sad - and it’s not the predominance of one particular party in Washington DC. It’s something we as a nation have brought upon ourselves. It is the death (or severe mauling) of the Honor System.

You see, capitalism, free enterprise, all the entrepreneurial liberties I love – are, in a grand sense, the Honor System. Just like the snack bar in the Academy Band’s break room. You see, as long as people do as they should (even when no one’s looking), that system is the easiest, least time-consuming, most efficient way to do the business of raising money to pay for flowers and picnics. Of course, when people (yes, I have been guilty of this because chocolate is involved) don’t maintain their integrity or even care that they should, the Honor System crumbles and has to be replaced by the Regulatory System (shudder).

“No Butterfinger for YOU!! Now we have vending machine. Pay first!”

What? I can’t just take the Twix now and put cash in the kitty after I get change back from the chow hall lady?

“NO!! Too many times you forget to pay back and we end up short!”

Please. I promise I’ll change. I’ve learned my lesson.

“NO!! The bandocraticans have spoken. NO Zagnut for YOU!!!”

We hate the cold heartless vending machine and we pine for our dearly departed unfettered free and easy wicker basket of candy and ceramic money jar. We used to be able to tell the band association what kind of candy we wanted, and they could respond quickly to our needs the next time they went to the grocery store. Everything was easy and flexible.

But the money started disappearing, so we had to replace the ceramic jar with a locked box with a thin slot for the money (but how can we make change?). That worked for a while, but then people just started taking the candy and conveniently forgetting to pay back. So now we have the vending machine. It works. You can prove it does. But we had to buy it with candy-payer money. If the one or two people who have the key happen to be on tour or on leave, no one can restock the candy. So many types of candy and snacks won’t fit into the machine, so we’re limited now in what candy we can buy. And let’s not forget how from time to time the edge of the candy wrapper gets caught on something and won’t fall and, even though you’ve paid, you still get NO WATCHAMACALLIT FOR YOOOU!!!

Who can I blame for this new Regulatory System? The band association? Vending machine manufacturers? Not really. I have to blame myself, of course. I forgot the key law of freedom: “Without Honor there can be no Honor System.” I hang my head in disgust tempered by shame. I don’t really like Almond Joy, but HoH’os won’t fit in Big Brother’s vending machine. And it’s all my fault.

Thankfully for me, the band, and America, only part of my story is true. In reality we don’t have a vending machine, just the money lock box. Still a bit encumbering, but not so bad…yet. If we further lose our sense of honor, the vending machine, out of necessity, gets voted in. Or worse – no candy, no picnics or flowers.

And this, Americans, is where we stand. It’s a wake-up call. If we want to be trusted to make more of our own decisions then we have to be more trustworthy. We have to be accountable to something above and beyond the system, because the system isn’t big enough (YET!!) to really hinder us that much. Let’s remember that we are ALL indeed accountable to God Almighty. I hope more and more people turn to Him and follow in His ways. If they do, they will share without having to be forced to, consider others before themselves without having to be made to, leave alone what isn’t theirs without having to be watched, fulfill the mission of government with voluntary “socialism.”

We’ve been witnessing the replacement of the Honor System with the Regulatory System in so many places and stations of our daily activities for many many years. Without integrity it WILL ONLY GET WORSE. And without submission to God, there WILL BE AN EROSION OF INTEGRITY. We are even now paying the price for wrongs done in the past – even by those who professed faith. I don’t want my children to do that. Whether or not they will depends not just on their integrity, but on that of all of us. Let’s pray sincerely for a real revival of the heart of America (not just in church attendance numbers).

Blessings to you and keep reaching though…