Brittney Griner: I have become increasingly interested in the plight of Brittney Griner. While visiting Russia to play basketball (she is a WNBA star), she was detained due to having brought cannabis into the country. While there is much more detail to the story, she has become the most recent political causality of tensions between the U.S. and Russia. The White House has offered a “trade,” and while it would release a Russian criminal and allow him to return to Russia, I am a fan. While I am reluctant to post such views, my heart is grieved. Nine years in a Russian prison for cannabis? Undoubtedly, Putin and company have seized an opportunity to make a statement, leverage power, and assert themselves. I do hope that the U.S. government will continue to do all that they can to bring her home.
Definition of Character: Stanley Grenz and Jay Smith define “character” in the following way in their book, Pocket Dictionary of Ethics: “As an ethical term, character refers to the traits of an individual that may be deemed morally blameworthy or praiseworthy. The term is often used in a positive sense to refer to the possession of virtues that result in a person being lauded as morally upright or that are believed to foster right actions. In classical ethics, character was believed to be the product of the practice of specific virtues or vices, or the formation of moral habits.” Character affects action and action affects character. This is a basic Aristotelian insight. Even little behaviors can have a cumulative effect over time.
Enjoyable Read on the Virtue of Honesty: Christian B Miller is the A C Reid Professor of Philosophy at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. He writes a relatively short, helpful, and interesting article on the virtue of honesty: “The Virtue of Honesty Requires More Than Just Telling the Truth”. As a Christian, this speaks to a genuine, transparent, and authentic existence.
Demotivation for the Day: See another amazing message below! All managers and CEOs might use this.
B.J. Condrey, Ph.D. 