1998 Volume 121 No 1–4 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

THE CARDINAL PRINCIPLES
What does our word mean
By Rev. David Turner, O.S.B.
Editor's note: One of the goals of General Council President
Robert Deloian is to return to the Fraternity's founding principles.
With that in mind, we thought it appropriate to ask Fr.
David Turner, Minnesota '70, a former General Council member
and chaplain of Benedictine University, to begin a series of columns
on living our principles. Fr. Turner welcomes comments
from readers. Write him at Benedictine University, 5700 College
Road, Lisle Illinois 60532-0900 or e-mail: dturner@ben.edu.
"Let your signature to The Bond..." There
comes that point in our initiation ceremony
where the presiding officer invites us to sign
The Bond of the Phi Delta Theta. What does that
action mean to most people today Or, for that
matter, let me ask that same question I once
asked a group of fraternity men sitting before
me, "What is the value of your word Does giving
your word mean anything in today's
world"
The scene was a disciplinary hearing. I was
the chairman of the board of fraternity affairs.
Sitting with me on the disciplinary committee
were officers of the IFC and other board members:
a lawyer from town, a businessman, an administrator
from the university's fund raising staff The issue involved was
hazing. What added to the problem was the fact that all of the
men sitting before me had put their signatures to a document
developed by the dean of fraternities that each chapter on
campus was to sign. The officers each signed a statement indicating
that they themselves would not haze nor would they
allow others in their chapters to haze. This scenario is only a
small sample of what appears to be a developing behavioral
problem in today's world: the value or the trustworthiness of
one's word.
Already in the ancient world, as we can see from accounts
recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures, there was the issue of a
person giving "testimony," swearing that what was said was the
truth. The oath called upon God as a witness: "What I say is
the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help
me God." Perhaps the fact that I hear students on my own
campus punctuate their conversations with each other with "I
swear to God" when no "swearing" is either needed or appropriate
may be reason enough for us to look at ourselves, at our
observable behaviors, and question what it is that we do and
say. We can look at many of our past actions and seriously ask
ourselves, "Is the fact that my signature is appended to a copy
of The Bond something I take seriously" What is the value of
my word
Back in 1996 when The Scroll editor asked me to give
thought to writing this series of articles, he sent me a photocopy
of a piece that appeared in the December 8th issue of
The Cincinnati Enquirer where the headline read: "Poll: Everyone
else is lying." Julie Irwin, a writer for that paper reported
on studies made by a Los Angeles-based ethics institute which
found that 57 percent of young people reported they had
cheated on an exam in the previous year, though over 85 percent
said such cheating was wrong! Do ideals match behavior
Are we "walking the talk"
The poll reported other findings: 23 percent said they would
He about their children's ages to save $20 on admission
to an amusement park; 17 percent said
they would hide previous injuries on an application
for health insurance to save at least $50 on
monthly premiums; if their classmates had obtained
the answers to an exam worth 50 percent
of the final grade, 12 percent said they would
cheat on the exam.
I'm really back to my fundamental question:
"What is the value of a person's word today" If
we look up the word "bond" in, say, The Unabridged
Edition of the Random House Dictionary
of the English Language we would find the
statement "My word is my bond," indicating the "firm assurance"
that a listener should know what one says is the truth.
During this 1998 spring semester, I am teaching a course in
research writings in the social sciences. During the past week
(as I am writing this) we discussed the issue of critiquing
sources of evidence. The author gave an example of research
which demonstrated that people wanted "violent news." It was
discovered that news directors put on the air "what people
want and demand." Should we ask why all the "news" about
President Clinton during the first week of February took up so
much of the program's time Is there any point of expecting
the "truth" Is there any evidence that people take oaths seriously
Perhaps by the time of the printing of this article all the
flap may be over. But what does this teach us The desire of a
news person to "make it first"
To be the one who "cracked the scoop"
I recall how months prior to the death of Cardinal Joseph
Bernardin of Chicago, when he was accused of sexual misconduct,
(which was recanted later by the accuser), the news crews
literally camped outside his house waiting for opportunities to
ask their questions. Are we nothing more than a world of voyeurs,
people waiting to see the supposed or alleged wrongdoing
of others
William H. Willimon and Thomas H. Naylor wrote a book
published back in 1995 titled The Abandoned Generation.
Willimon, a member of Pi Kappa Alpha, is currently the dean
of chapel and professor of Christian ministry at Duke Univerhttp://www.phidelt-ghq.
com THE SCROLL WINTER 1998