The evil of compromise

Title

Creator

Sinco, V.G.

Language

English

Source

Panorama Volume XX (No. 9) September 1968

Year

1968

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

Vol. XX THE PHILIPPINE MAGAZINE OF GOOD READING Entered as second class mail matter at the Manila Post Of f ioe on < Deer 7, 1955 MANILA, PHILIPPINES Na. 9 THE EVIL OF COMPROMISE Acts of compromise are sometimes necessary when circumstances require adjustment for the solution of problems involving conflicting questions. They may be defended as expedient measures. But a compromise is an evil when it involves the' yielding of a moral principle to secure a personal advantage or to avoid a difficult commitment. A decision that clearly violates^ an accepted ethical rule is an evil. An action that ignored an existing law is equally an evil. In each case, it makes no difference who the author may be, what motives he might have, or what prompts him to commit it. In all these1 cases : it ’ is an evil; and compromising/ with evil is never justifiable and never excusable. No amount of rationalization suffices to relieve the party df the guilt he has committed regardless of his status or the position he occupies, be that of 1a public official, a friend, a father, a son, or a daughter. There is a moral basis in the legal declaration which says that ignorance of the law excuses no one from complying therewith. Compromises- that involve a breach of moral standards, or a violation of a legal rule, or an infringement of a solemn contractual commitment indicate a pitiful paucity of a high sense of values. To the author they are likely to produce a feeling of1 degradation when they (Continued on page 47) like what we’re looking at now. Whether or not these little rebels can actually bring the university to a grinding halt, as they put it, they have already created such a mess that many campuses are frantic. It’s possible that the faculty will be forced to get jobs as plumbers or sit down with the students and really do a job of educating them. - By Stringfellow Barr, in College and University. THE EVIL OF . . . (Continued from page 1) have been repeatedly performed with apparent impunity. The depressing consequences may be hidden from third parties for a time; but sooner or later the evil doer, the compromiser of an evil, may himself suffer from a sense of guilt or a sense of inward inferiority despite any defensive pretension and any self-serving rationalization he might offer to justify his misdeed. When one finds himself in this predicament, there is only one way of escape open to him: To gather enough courage to admit in all frankness and honesty the moral lapses or the illegal omissions he has committed and then to turn over a new leaf and to follow the high ideal of integrity with patience and humility. ■ These are not idle words of self-righteousness. They should not even be taken as counsel of perfection. They are practical suggestions for a peaceful way of extricating oneself from a painful human situation that could become a heavy burden more and more difficult to bear with the passage of time. — V. G. Sinco, August 20, 1968. Se pt emb e r 1968 47

pages

1+

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