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In 1946, a sixteen-year-old boy in Mississippi held his older brother as he died, shot by a deputy marshal.  He fled to California and swore he would never return.

Fourteen years later, he went back.  Ten years after that, lawmen beat and tortured him in a jail cell.  He stayed anyway, and he spent the next fifty years serving the community that had tried to destroy him.

His name was John Perkins.  He had something we all need today.

Twenty-four centuries ago, Thucydides watched Greek cities rename vice as virtue.  Centuries later, Roman historians blamed easy wealth for the same rot.  From Thucydides to Sir John Glubb, historians have noticed a pattern:  When a society begins to celebrate what it once considered shameful, the shared values holding it together are falling apart.

Are too many voices in American media, politics, and elite circles celebrating the profane rather than virtue?

If so, what’s the cost?

If you agree the cost is too high, then how can ordinary Americans restore what has been proven best for the common good?

America is in a character war.  Sometimes the enemy is in the other party or next door.  Most often, it’s the person in our mirror.  How are we making decisions and behaving?

History offers no guarantee that we can restore our republic to its original greatness.  But it is clear that the time for courageous good character is now.

Consider these four questions:

Q1 - MEANING

What Is Courageous Good Character?

Courageous good character means doing what is right, especially when it costs you something.  It begins with faith, is guided by truth, and is proven by integrity.

Without good character, courage can be foolish or evil.  Without courage, good character is simply a thought.  You need both.

Courageous

Here is how great thinkers have described courage:

  1. Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics described courage as the virtue between cowardice and recklessness.  It’s neither running from danger nor charging blindly into it, but facing the right danger for the right reason.
  2. Ronald Reagan said in A Time for Choosing, October 27, 1964, “There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers.  We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.”
  3. Hillsdale College’s Honor Code says self-government “commands courage in pursuit of justice.”  
  4. Winston Churchill wrote in 1931, “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities… because it is the quality which guarantees all others.”   

This is why Courageous Good Character Prevails is Simple Liberty’s first value.

Courage is powerful when balanced with serving a higher purpose, virtue, wisdom, discernment, and discipline. 

Courage in Action

In 1960, John Perkins had safety, a family, and a good job in California.  Mississippi hadn’t changed, but  his faith had.  So he went back.

In 1970, lawmen beat and tortured him.  He could have quit or fought back.  He chose love, and fifty more years of service.

That’s Aristotle’s courage:  Facing the right danger for the right reason.

Good Character

Merriam-Webster defines character, in part, as “moral excellence and firmness.”  Good character is not what we intend.  It is what we consistently do.

  1. The Bible says in James 2:17 (NIV), “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
  2. Aristotle wrote in Nicomachean Ethics, “We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.”
  3. The U.S. Military Academy’s Honor Code says, “A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.”
  4. I like to say, “Character is proven by the decisions we make and actions we take when no one’s looking and no credit is given.”

America treats good character as essential.  To become a citizen, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services requires that “an applicant for naturalization must show that he or she has been, and continues to be, a person of good moral character.”  

If we require it to become an American, shouldn’t we expect it of every American?

Bad character is the reverse:  Good intentions with no follow-through, or no intention of good at all.  We pay its cost every day in our families, communities, and government.

Good Character in Action

After that beating in 1970, John Perkins had every reason to hate.  Instead, he saw what hate had done to the men who beat him, and he pitied them.

Then he lived that choice for fifty years, in courtrooms, classrooms, and clinics, never trading his integrity for revenge.

That’s good character:  Not acting on feelings, but on faith, truth, virtue, and a higher purpose.

Prevails

To prevail is not to win every battle.  It is to outlast what opposes you.  Bad character can win, but its selfish nature is self-defeating in the long run.  In contrast, consistent courageous good character endures because it is what people need, trust, and build on.

That is the heart of Simple Liberty’s first value, Courageous Good Character Prevails: 

We find the best way and do what is right for the common good, based on facts and historical evidence, even when it costs us.  

This humble discipline sustains a virtuous republic.

Prevails in Action

Few people remember the names of the men who beat John Perkins in 1970.  He went on to advise six presidents and receive nineteen honorary doctorates, and the work he began in Mississippi continues today.

Hate had its moment.  Courageous good character outlasts it.

Q2 - EVIDENCE

Why Is It True That We Need Good Character?

 Three witnesses agree that we do:  Our Founders, history, and today’s facts.

Our Founders set the standard.  John Adams wrote in 1798, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

In his Farewell Address, George Washington called religion and morality “indispensable supports” of political prosperity.  A republic gives citizens freedom.  Only character keeps that freedom from being abused.

History confirms it.  From Athens to Rome, historians have traced the same pattern:  When truth and integrity erode, trust follows, and decline, sometimes even collapse, is not far behind.

Today’s facts show the cost.

 

When character fails, ordinary citizens pay the bill.

Evidence in Action

Bad character in Mississippi took the life of John Perkins’s brother.  Good character, lived out for fifty years, built a health center, housing, a co-op, and tutoring for sharecroppers’ children.

Both are evidence.  Character, good or bad, always shows up in results.

Q3 - IMPACT

What Is the Impact of Courageous Good Character?

Character is an inheritance.  Every generation passes either a gift or a debt to the next.

Our nation’s sustainability.  In 1986, the national debt was about $2.2 trillion.  Today it is over $40 trillion, nearly $300,000 per household.  Every dollar we borrow today is a bill our children and grandchildren will pay.  Voters allowing politicians to spend what our government has not earned does not start as a budget problem.  It is first a character flaw.

Our children.  In 1999, 28% of high school students reported persistent sadness or hopelessness.  By 2023, it was 40%.  The issue is complicated, but the path to solutions is simple.  When more adults consistently demonstrate courageous good character, children feel more loved and secure, and they learn healthy habits.

Impact in Action

In 1989, John Perkins gathered Christian leaders from across America to do what he had done in Mississippi:  Live among the poor and serve them.  The Christian Community Development Association grew from 37 founding members to hundreds of churches and organizations nationwide.

His character did not end with his life.  It multiplied.  That is the impact of courageous good character:  It outlives us.

Q4 - SOLUTION

Why Is Courageous Good Character Best for the Common Good?

Laws can restrain bad behavior, and they should.  However, a free nation cannot hire enough police, auditors, or regulators to make up for citizens who will not govern themselves.

That is why our Founders designed a Constitution for self-government, with limited government and few laws, resting on citizens of good character.  They tied liberty to virtue and built structures to balance human passion with reason.

Courageous good character is not an option.  It must prevail if America is to thrive.

It isn’t just demanded of the powerful or the famous.  Its greatest strength is in everyday Americans like you and me.

John Perkins never held elected office.  Yet he changed his community, his state, and helped create a national movement anyway - one choice at a time - because he refused to let hate, fear, or comfort decide for him.  His faith and character decided instead.

America doesn’t need millions of heroes.  It needs millions of ordinary citizens who choose good character over temptation, short-term gain, and selfishness.  Here are three steps:

  1. Master it yourself.  Start with the person in the mirror.  Tell the truth, keep your word, and do what is right when it costs you, before you expect it of anyone else.
  2. Stand firm, kindly.  When you are tempted or pressured to compromise your character, decline calmly and respectfully.  Kindness keeps the door open.  Firmness sets the example, keeps your integrity intact, and protects those you love.
  3. Model it and mentor it.  Children learn more from what we do than what we say.  So do adults.  Live it in front of them, and where you have influence and respect, help others grow in it too.

America will improve when more citizens have courageous good character.  It starts with one.  It starts with you.  It starts with me.

We can do this.

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 John Perkins Sources