n the show were heterosexual. The host introduced the coworker and prepared him to meet his secret admirer. When the coworker, who was almost certainly visualizing a beautiful woman, was introduced to Amedure, he went into a fit of rage and stormed off of the set. Later, after the taping, he hunted down Amedure and fatally shot him. The show made various shameful remonstrances afterward, but this is irrelevant because it never should have happened. Even a simple question, posed to the coworker, along the lines of, “Your secret admirer is a man. Does this make you feel uncomfortable?” could have prevented this senseless tragedy, but it appears these concerns were forsaken in pursuit of one of the basest emotions: greed. A society where materialistic concerns and greed replace shame has a very basic and very grave problem.
The lack of shame in our society dovetails with the near-disappearance of another strictly human emotion, pride. Here we are not referring to pride in the biblical sense, but rather we will define pride as the sense of self-worth and responsibility that arises from the realization that one has done something morally right. In simpler terms, pride is the emotion that results from having a “good reputation.” As opposed to shame, pride should hopefully be a more permanent feeling which leads those who have it not to do things that are morally wrong. It is commonly said that such people “respect themselves too much” to do wrong. Please note that this is not merely conscience. A conscience can be taught, but only by life experience will one gain the pride to apply it regularly. To return again to the wilderness analogy, conscience is the moral compass that is often invoked, but one will not bother with his compass unless he recognizes the danger of becoming lost. This is the role of pride.
In his article “The Power of a Good Name,” Armstrong Williams considers this issue from his perspective as a young black man growing up in South Carolina, but his thoughts and opinions can be applied to anyone in modern society. Williams writes:
- “I thought about the power of a good name when I heard Gen. Colin Powell say that we need to restore a sense of shame in our neighborhoods. He’s right. If pride in a good name keeps families and neighborhoods straight, a sense of shame is the reverse side of that coin.
- “Doing drugs, abusing alcohol, stealing, getting a young woman pregnant out of wedlock – today, none of these behaviors are the deep embarrassment they should be… Many [children born out of wedlock] will grow up without the security and guidance of a caring father and mother committed to each other.
- “Once the social ties and mutual obligations of the family disintegrate, communities fall apart…
- “Cultural influences such as television and movies portray mostly a world in which respect goes to the most violent. Life is considered cheap.
- “Meanwhile, the small signs of civility and respect that sustain civilization are vanishing from schools, stores, and streets…[E]ncouraged by the pervasive profanity on television and music, kids don’t think twice about aggressive or vulgar language. Many of today’s kids have failed because their sense of shame has failed.
Williams cites several staggering statistics which make painfully clear that society, particularly American society, has a huge problem. More than 30 percent of American births occur out of wedlock, and this statistic does not include pregnant women out of wedlock who receive abortions. Violent crime has increased by 550 percent since 1960. As Williams puts it, “No neighborhood is immune. In Wake County, North Carolina, police arrested 73 students from 12 high schools for dealing drugs, some of them right in the classroom.” (Italics supplied.)
Williams traces the problem to the fact that children no longer worry about maintaining a positive self-image. As Williams says, “They were born into families with poor reputations, not caring about keeping a good name.” His statement indicates that the root cause of this sad situation is the breakdown of the family str