Hero is an ancient concept
Today it is trivialized as Propaganda
What makes a hero a hero? This term has been bandied about to include entire professions which has changed the historical usage of the term. There may indeed be heroes among us but how is the term defined so that it cannot be used by politicians as propaganda to cover their ineptness during crises? Let us look at the concept historically and bionically to discern the truth of the concept.
Historically the concept of heroism has been associated with military warfare {I say military because since President Hoover military terminology has been applied to civilian and social programs thus diluting the historical meaning of certain terms}. First, let us define our terms to prevent the fallacy of conflation and equivocation. Hero means, “person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life:” “Nobility of purpose” has traditionally been associated with: Duty and Honor. Duty is, “something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation.” Whereas honor is, “honesty, fairness, or integrity in one’s beliefs and actions.” I have discussed the concept of fairness in another post, Fairness: Doctrine of Satan. The Western concept of honor and thus heroism relies heavily on the Hellenistic concepts defined in the Iliad: honor and glory. Honor was the Hellenistic militaristic code that warriors, usually the wealthy elites, needed to fulfill in order to obtain glory or kleos. The term kleos means to be talked about usually in poetry, songs and/or stories; i.e., to be remembered even in death. Achilles was the hero because he exchanged living immortality for immortality of death because he fulfilled the honor code of duty.
In Abraham Lincoln’s War of the States, he needed something to inspire soldiers to do their duty as he defined the term: to die for the Union. The Medal of Honor {MOH} was introduced to recognize those military people who went above their duty even at the risk of death. Most of the living recipients of the MOH do not classify themselves as heroes; they accepted the medal for those who did not come home from America’s frequent military adventurisms. The reason usually given for not calling one’s self a hero: they were simply doing their duty as required by the circumstances. Without a doubt the MOH was developed for political reasons and unfortunately has been given for political reasons at times like the twenty MOH given out at the massacre of the Sioux at Wounded Knee. Unfortunately, the application of military terms to non-military issues distorts the traditional concepts of heroism, duty and honor until they have become political propaganda terms of little significance except to manipulate certain persons or professions to endure conditions they would otherwise reject.
Firemen, Rescue Workers, labeled Heroes
Since many died doing their duty during 9/11
In our time heroism has been applied to entire professions, especially those that have suffered dramatic losses. The Rescue workers/Firemen who searched the Twin Towers and died in the dramatic collapse of said towers is a powerful example. Yet, did these people go above their duty? Did not their duty require them to enter burning buildings to rescue people? If they were doing their duty, for which they were hired and paid, then why are they called heroes? Because the government required heroes to deflect attention from its failures and its desire to grab additional power during this crisis, power that it has abused and refused to give back to the people. I am not minimizing the tragedy of their deaths nor of the sufferings of those whose health was ruined by those who did their duty; but, they were doing their duty.
What does the Bible have to say about those who do their duty? Christ told the parable of the slave who did his duty (Lk 17:7-10). The slave worked all day doing his duty. At the end of the day his duty included preparing food and drink for his master before he could feed himself. He did not deserve praise because he did his duty, he did what was expected of him. This applies to those who have a legal duty that may also involve danger such as the firemen. What did they do but their duty? They should be honored for doing their duty, inspiring others to also do their duty in the profession. The disgrace was labeling them as heroes for governmental propaganda purposes; a disgrace the government seems incapable of preventing itself from repeating in its hunger for more and more power.
Today’s New Heroes Because Government
Needs them to be due to its Ineptness
The newest trend in defining heroism is applying the label to healthcare workers: doctors, nurses, EMT, housekeeping and other hospital-based support staff. The public cheering of these professionals going to work smacks of gross propaganda. I am a healthcare worker. I have always worked in a hostile environment and before that I was in the military, another hostile environment; yet, I was doing my duty. These are doing their duty. They should be commended for doing their duty but what are they doing that goes beyond their duty? Hospitals have always been bastions of infection and death. It was only during the golden era of antibiotics that infections seemed to be controlled; which they were not. Government made the shortages in facilities, support services and trained professionals by its inane and continuous regulation based on ignorance both of healthcare and economics. Now that this has been uncovered, government seeks to deflect responsibility from itself and focus attention on healthcare workers as heroes though many have had their pay and hours severely cut. The switch to telemedicine, ostensibly to protect healthcare workers, is simply the excuse to cut these professionals while providing substandard healthcare. Healthcare requires hands-on assessment which is nearly impossible via telemedicine. This is another government bait and switch tactic for which it practices with impunity while imprisoning others for following its example; like the Social Security Ponzi Scheme legalized by the Supreme Court.
The Bible does hint that lost people have a reason for creating heroes (Ro 5:7). Paul is writing to the church at Rome whose society was based on duty and honor, fulfilling one’s duty. He acknowledges that few people would sacrifice themselves for a righteous, as defined by the Bible, person; but, one might even dare to die for a good person. The lost consider the righteousness of Christ to be foolishness, they cannot understand it because their sin nature rejects God and His truths (Ro 1:18; 1Co 2:14). But, for those the lost defines as good, which does not include God who is the only source of true good (Mk 10:18), they might die; in fact, the government encourages them to die as an example to others. This was the reason for the MOH and the current usage of the term heroes. This is to inspire others to sacrifice themselves so government, those in power, can continue to govern. Thus, honor, kleos, is given to these heroes; much speaking without any real reward. These empty words ring hollow when compared to their true sacrifice.
Commonality of ALL Governments
Government’s Sole Aim is to secure Power
Herein is the truth. Christians who die for the faith are doing their duty; they are not heroes. The Lost who die without salvation have not even done their duty; ergo, they are not heroes. There are NO heroes. This is a government propagandistic concept. The saved who die go to be with Christ (Ph 1:23; Re 21:7-8). The Lost who die receive the reward of their works; the second death (Re 20:14-15). Which are you?