Virtue Virtue vs. Impurity “The moral excellence evident in my life as I consistently do what is right.”

Showing integrity by making good choices in every situation. Virtues" are attitudes, dispositions, or character traits that enable us to be and to act in ways that develop this potential. They enable us to pursue the ideals we have adopted. Honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and prudence are all examples of virtues.

Virtues are habits. That is, once they are acquired, they become characteristic of a person. For example, a person who has developed the virtue of generosity is often referred to as a generous person because he or she tends to be generous in all circumstances. Moreover, a person who has developed virtues will be naturally disposed to act in ways that are consistent with moral principles. The virtuous person is the ethical person.

At the heart of the virtue approach to ethics is the idea of "community". A person's character traits are not developed in isolation, but within and by the communities to which he or she belongs, including family, church, school, and other private and public associations. As people grow and mature, their personalities are deeply affected by the values that their communities prize, by the personality traits that their communities encourage, and by the role models that their communities put forth for imitation through traditional stories, fiction, movies, television, and so on. The virtue approach urges us to pay attention to the contours of our communities and the habits of character they encourage and instill.

The moral life, then, is not simply a matter of following moral rules and of learning to apply them to specific situations. The moral life is also a matter of trying to determine the kind of people we should be and of attending to the development of character within our communities and ourselves. Attaining virtue! It is not the rules we live by, but the character that determines the rules. This is virtue.

What are the principles of virtue? 1) Stand firm: Freedom is not the right to do what you want, but the ability to do what you ought. 2) Lead the way: Does your conduct set an example that others could follow? 3) Maintain consistency: Discipline yourself every moment to do what is right. 4) Make wise friends: Seek friends who challenge you to moral excellence. 5) Invest in others: Know the character traits that have affected you the most and affect others with the same.

We now have schools set up for the training in ethics and virtue for teachers that are interested. At Ethics Camp, teachers learn to integrate character education into their curricula. The Markkula Ethics Center offers five sessions tailored to the needs of K-12 for teachers in public, private, parochial, traditional, and alternative classrooms. They believe that virtue needs to be put back into the classroom again. But it is difficult because they have to go through people with no virtue to get there.

We should know that too much of anything, even a good thing, may prove to be our undoing...[We] need ... to set definite boundaries on our appetites." --The Book of Virtues, by William J. Bennett Making decisions that may be a sacrifice to us at the time, may change your whole future, and your children’s.

Americans “know more about sport than they do about politics, science, technology, economics or their own Constitution. They discuss sport with friends, relatives, and strangers more quickly and intensely, with more passion and conviction, than any other subject.” Where should our passions be? Virtue is where our heart is, the things we talk about, the things we do. Our discipline to do that which is right and not be attached to the results.

You’ve switched on the television to watch your favorite basketball or football team play. But, as usual, you have to mute the commercials. But this time, you’ve got the worst stuff you’ve ever seen coming into your living room. You have to switch it off because it’s so bad. And then you go away wondering how in the world you, as a Christian, can enjoy a wonderful sport with all these terrible things related to sports invading your home. How do you deal with it? What is the virtues involved with this scenario?

Virtue: 1) Moral excellence and righteousness; goodness. 2) An example or kind of moral excellence: the virtue of patience.      3) Chastity, especially in a woman, but pertaining also to a man. The home is the chief school for virtue, the family is the main place to practice it. When it (virtue) is found in the homes in America, then and only then will a moral excellence take it’s place in the United States of America.

A person of virtue doesn’t hide their faults, they repent of them! “It is a revenge the devil sometimes takes upon the virtuous, that he entraps them by the force of the very passion they have suppressed and think themselves superior to." A person of virtue doesn’t hide their faults, they repent of them!

One of the problems of the human race is the conflict of conflicting virtues. What causes conflicting virtues?     Tradition?    Experience?     Trials?     Pride?    Arrogance?    Education?    Justification?

Where did they get their virtue from? What did these men stand for? Did they do what was right? Was there moral excellence? Where did they get their virtue from?

Did Michael Schiavo really do what his wife wanted; Was Terri actually in a persistent vegetative state (PVS); Does anyone really have the right to take food and water away from a person? We may be able to answer these questions.

Could he be so caring that he doesn’t want her to suffer any more? Michael Schiavo, the husband and legal guardian of Terri, would have you believe he is a loving, loyal husband to Terri, saying that he is only trying to fulfill his wife’s wishes. But if he is really so loving, why has he been known to ask questions such as “When is she going to die?” and even asking if there was a way to accelerate her death. Can he truly be as loving as he is trying to act? Could he be so caring that he doesn’t want her to suffer any more?

What right does he have making decisions for Terri? What about loyalty, has he been loyal to his wife? Let’s take a look at his life. He has two children with his girlfriend he has been with for years. But she is not only his girlfriend, they have had a civil ceremony making them married in the eyes of the law! He is now married to two women at the same time, (according to law) which makes him a bigamist. What right does he have making decisions for Terri?

What would you do if you had to make the decision for her life What would you do if you had to make the decision for her life? Knowing that in order to do what is right, you must know what is right. Ask yourself all the right questions, then determine a virtuous answer for this situation.