Jamboree Tales
Day 7 - Principle and Honor
A very long time ago there lived a man in ancient Greece
called Socrates. Socrates had an incredible mind and spent his life seeking
truth. He was a great teacher of honor and principle and was a genius
in the area of rational logic. Socrates once created a functioning government
in his mind by using conversation with other people and applying logic
with it. These conversations were recorded by one of his students named
Plato. The story is called "The Republic" and it is considered one of
the masterpieces of human literature. Thomas Jefferson and others used
much of it when they created the government of the United States in 1776.
Socrates, because he would never lie, made enemies in his
home of Athens, Greece. He was brought to trial on trumped up charges
and found guilty and sentenced to die by drinking a poison called hemlock.
Socrates could have left the country and lived but reasoned that he knew
the laws of Athens and still chose to live there and therefore was honor
bound to obey those laws and any judgements that came from them. In the
end he drank the hemlock at the hour that he was supposed to and died.
Socrates lived a life of honor, principle and truth that
few men have equaled. Each of you as you live your life needs to have
a set of principles about right and wrong and a code of honor that helps
you live those principles. The Ten Commandments, the Scout Oath and Law
are a good place to start. As you lay in your tent tonight think about
what principles you should use to guide your life and the decisions you
make. Then stick to them as you live your remaining days. Goodnight gentlemen!
Day 8 =>
by David L. Eby
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