h another animal over its mate, but only a human can write a love sonnet to his beloved. Obviously, the monkeys’ lack of a written language has inhibited their intellectual development, but since we have progressed past that point ourselves, we can safely leave the problem to the monkeys. More important to us are the emotions which humans, alone among earthly creatures, experience in any noticeable way. The two most important for our purposes, as I have mentioned, are pride and shame. I have linked the two because it is impossible to have one in the absence of the other.
Let us now define these terms for future reference. To go back to the forest analogy, this will give us our hiking boots, allowing us to maintain a firm footing no matter what terrain we may encounter. Remembering the role that these emotions play will prevent us from slipping on rocks of frustration as we forge into the more confusing parts of the wilderness. With that said, let us define shame as the acute realization and acknowledgment that one has done something morally wrong. This does not necessarily need to be on a conscious level; such common responses as flushing or a “sinking feeling” are also demonstrations of shame. It is important not to confuse shame with guilt, as is so often done in our times. Shame does not involve dwelling on an offense; it should be a brief but very definite emotion.
The common complaint of modern “desensitization” arises from this. It is not that people are desensitized per se, but rather that they do not feel an appropriate level of shame. When hearing about daytime talk shows that border on pornography, I cannot help flushing for those involved with the shows. I was shocked, disappointed and ashamed the day that I learned of the sad case of Scott Amedure. Amedure was a gay man who was very much in love with one of his coworkers. One of the talk shows got wind of this and invited the coworker, who was a definite heterosexual, onto an episode about secret admirers. Please note that the other couples “united” on 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 mo