By Fr. Glenn Jones:
Crime, corruption … disrespect, hatred … vengeance, racism. So many ills in society, and sad to say, there always have been. It is of little surprise that civilizations, regardless of how initially successful, eventually fall when moral depravity becomes widespread; the world has seen it time and time again. But, as the saying goes, those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. Well, maybe … unless we can break the cycle. But … can we break the cycle, or is humanity destined to perpetually go round and round like a hamster on its wheel? That’s the challenge that society must address, else they, too, will become little more than a footnote.
And then you have the question of competing systems—which one is best … which one is most beneficial … which one is the most stable? Absolute dictatorships seem to be one of the most stable, but hardly the most beneficial to its citizens who tend to fall under hard oppression (e.g., North Korea). Democracies, as Plato observed and we not infrequently experience, tend to become popularity contests or are “bought” or won through corruption. Oligarchies and monarchies not much better than watered-down dictatorships. And anarchies depend on the “might is right” philosophy, ending up as dictatorships over time as prevalent factions fight it out.
What to do? What to do?
Christians recognize that in the fallen state of Man, evils and vice will always be present. The lure of money, power, status, fame … all these things tend to work against the good when sought in excess. But there are ways to use such things rightly, beneficially. Morally.
The philosopher John Locke posited: “The strength of society lies in the moral integrity of its citizens”—a truth that rings throughout history. Self-control and selflessness are foundations upon which society is built, with each citizen a brick in that society’s construction.
We here in New Mexico have lots of old adobe churches, and if the adobes (the dried mud bricks) don’t remain stable and incorrupt, eventually the buildings will experience catastrophic failure. Thus, constant attention is needed to keep the edifice stable. Vibration, moisture, infestations—all work to undermine the building, and so vigilance and repair is essential. Similarly, vice and corruption eat away at the building blocks of society and, if society is not careful to prevent decay, its own edifice will crumble and fall.
The seventeenth century philosopher John Locke observed: “The strength of society lies in the moral integrity of its citizens,” capturing a timeless truth recognized by both Scripture and history: the health of any community, no matter how powerful or prosperous, depends on the virtue of its people. Order, stability, and harmony can never endure where moral corruption is widespread.
Scripture repeatedly reminds us that society reflects of the heart of its citizens: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34), and “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” (Psalm 127:1) Ancient Israel’s history itself shows an example this principle: when the people walked faithfully with God, their land flourished; when they turned to idols and injustice, the nation decayed from within. Moral integrity sustains not only the individual soul but the social order built upon it.
To speak of “moral integrity” is to speak of inner unity between belief and action. Integrity signifies a person whose inner convictions and outward deeds are ethically aligned. Scripturally, such integrity is the fruit of wisdom and fear of the Lord. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord” (Psalm 1:1–2). The righteous man is stable like “a tree planted by streams of water,” providing fruit in due season—an image of both inner virtue and social benefit.
St. John Chrysostom noted that no city can be rightly governed if its citizens are enslaved to vice: “It is not the walls, nor the magnitude of buildings, that make a city, but the virtue of its inhabitants.” He foresaw what history confirms: every great civilization collapses not primarily from external invasion, but from internal decay of moral character—corruption, indifference, and greed hollow out a people long before their institutions fall. St. Augustine contrasted the “earthly city” built on self-love, with the “City of God” founded upon love of God. The former ends in pride, violence, and disunity; the latter in harmony, justice, and peace. The Christian citizen, he writes, contributes to his earthly nation by living righteously within it. Thus, personal holiness becomes public service in its highest form. Moral integrity, therefore, is not only a private virtue but a communal one.
The connection between personal holiness and social integrity finds highest expression in the teachings of Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) reveals that the kingdom of God begins in the purified heart. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” When Christ tells His disciples, “You are the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world”, He entrusts them with the renewal of society through their moral presence. Salt gives flavor and preserves what would otherwise decay; light exposes what moral darkness would conceal.
Modernity’s crises—fragmentation, distrust, violence—are the visible exhaustion of a moral order untethered from God. We try to secure social peace by external control rather than inner formation. But as Tertullian foresaw of the Roman Empire, “What God does not inhabit cannot endure.”
“Apart from me you can do nothing,” Jesus declares (John 15:5). Society’s strength is inseparable from the inner transformation of its citizens by divine charity. When Christians live their faith authentically—speaking truth, working honestly, forgiving offenses—they fortify the moral foundations of their nation far more than any policy reform. Every life lived uprightly becomes a buttress of society. The heart of the citizen shapes the destiny of the city. The just man, the virtuous family, the honest laborer, the faithful believer—all are living stones in the edifice of civilization. The true strength of a society, therefore, lies in citizens who build upon the foundation of God’s law written not merely on tablets of stone but on hearts transformed by grace.
Editor’s note: Rev. Glenn Jones is the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and former pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Los Alamos.