A Lesson in Character
Did you know that the Spartan who dropped his shield in battle was punished with death, but no action was taken if he dropped any of his other equipment? The reason is more applicable to our COVID world today than ever…
As a society through the 20th and into the 21st centuries, the battle cry has become all about our freedoms, our rights, and to shout down those who oppress them.
In ancient Sparta, the man who dropped his shield in battle was sentenced to death. There was no punishment for dropping his helmet or his breastplate.
The reason is that the shield protects the whole group, the helmet and the breastplate protect the individual. It was about creating a strong united group, it was not about the individual. In fact the protection of the individual was seen as cowardly compared to the protection of the group.
In a 2021 COVID world we are not being asked to keep hold of our shield to protect the collective from a hoard of rampaging Persians intent on slaughtering us and raping our women. We are being asked to wear a mask.
Just think about that for a second…a mask.
Are we that narcissistic, self-absorbed, and concerned about our own rights, that we have lost complete sight of what is good for the human race as a whole?
Don’t get me wrong I think we have to handle the whole pandemic differently because complete shutdowns of business are only hurting the lowest wage earners and creating greater divisions between rich and poor….but that’s another story.
Why can’t we all just wear a mask? It’s not hard. It will help the individual as well as the group to get through this period of time quicker.
