The equations and definitions constraining human and humane conduct have largely become statistics by a society saturated in the sensual and the sensational.Value systems relate to the dynamics of materialistic configurations instead of the applicability of good conduct, consideration for others, respect for authority and even parents.
The resilience of the human spirit may endure, as it has in centuries of natural and man-made catastrophes, and evolved over time to predominate over individual and societal anomalies, but to what extent has the human collective transmigrated into the quintessential replica of that divine lifeforce most of us pray to for charting the course of our lives?

How many of us see ourselves as our brother’s – and sister’s keepers?  And how many of us can see a suffering child and feel constrained to intercede on its behalf, even if it creates problems for us in our personal lives?

The quality of mercy is largely constrained within the parameters of our individual comfort zones – and this also applies to leaders of nations.

To be a real leader, and a good human being, one has to adopt and maintain principled positions, even when the world turns against you for refusing to compromise integrity for the convenience of popularity.

It is a rare human being, and one whose self-respect and moral code are unshakeable, who can withstand against the buffeting of a societal, national, regional, and global tsunami and emerge with moral pristinity.

Too many persons are like chaff blowing hither-thither in the wind of public opinion, without consideration for truths and the greater good.

But the Lord adjured us to build our houses upon the rock of truth so that it can withstand against the elements and endure – and all our religions teach us that good triumphs against evil, light over darkness.

It is extremely difficult to refuse our peers in the pursuit of wrongdoing, especially when ostracism from their society would ensue as a consequence, unless one has a strong and in-built moral code that transposes one above the norm to rise unsullied by the machinations of those who take joy in marginalizing the existence of others – or policy-makers who gain satisfaction in strategizing the dislocation of the socio-economic contours of vulnerable societies.

The sad reality that has hallmarked the evolutionary processes of societies is that moral integrity has majorly been relegated to a dimension of alienation within the mainstream norm, and the acquisition of power and wealth have taken precedence over the adjurations of all our holy texts.

The hypocrisy of many elders who attend mosques, mandirs, temples, churches, and other places of worship, whose lifestyles cannot bear scrutiny, have created agnostics and cynics out of the younger generation, so authority figures – and consequentially the supreme being they purport to worship, have become suspect and unworthy of respect.

This phenomenon has fractured societies, because the various religions of the world have historically and traditionally been the grounding force melding families and societies into a cohesive unit, mainly harmonizing within the philosophies of their doctrines to create communities and countries with soul.

The churches may today be full, but the mechanical, materialistic applications have, except for exceptional instances, created poverty of the soul of humankind.