Loyalty

+JMJ+

4th day of the Octave of the Epiphany of Our Lord
January 9, 2018

For The Cascade Legion – May your members be ever loyal and true.

The tears that we all cry
Are as dark as the lies we deny
I hope the things that you would die for
Are worth it in the end

“Hollow Eyes” – Lost Society

Loyalty can have many meanings and different objects.  One can be loyal to different degrees, and one can be loyal to a cause, to a group, or to a person.  But the primary definition of loyalty has to do with friends.  “It is constituted centrally by perseverance in an association to which a person has become intrinsically committed as a matter of his or her identity. Its paradigmatic expression is found in close friendship, to which loyalty is integral…”¹  Friendship may be the paradigmatic expression, but it extends beyond that to the higher categories such as organizations, ethnic groups, nations, etc.

Prerequisites of Loyalty

Before one can say they are loyal, one has to have certain qualities that function as prerequisites to loyalty.  While what those qualities are is a matter open to debate, there are, I believe, several basic qualities that are prerequisites for loyalty most of which are found in the definition above.

• Honesty
• Association
• Identity
• Commitment
• Perseverance

We will look at these qualities each in turn and see how they are necessary for loyalty to exist.

Honesty

Honesty is clearly required.  If we lie to someone, we are in a sense misdirecting their decision making process to our benefit and against theirs.  Even if we think we are lying to protect them or such, what we are doing is interfering with their free will by misrepresenting information that will go to their making a choice.

The ethical and practical implications of interfering with free will are beyond the scope of this post, but in brief the argument would be along the lines of everyone has a right to make choices of their own volition, even bad ones, in accordance with the capacity of their prudence, intellect, maturity level, etc  If someone is making a bad choice, if we have legitimate authority over them, we can exercise that to stop them.  If we don’t, then we cannot usurp such authority via trickery in order to make them behave as we want.

Someone loyal would, definitely, inform the group or person or persons they are loyal to if he believes the object of loyalty is making a mistake.  But it is the height of disloyalty to exercise control over another’s will through the use of lies and deception.  Such behavior often leads to outright treachery.

 Association

“…an association…”

Can’t you see I’m easily bothered by persistence
One step from lashing out at you
You want in to get under my skin
And call yourself a friend

“Walk” – Pantera

One of the most basic prerequisites of loyalty would be association.  We cannot be loyal to something or someone we are not associated with.  To associate with someone means to work alongside of them, communicate with them, be mentioned with them.  A familiarity needs to be built which means to some degree our and their true natures need to be shown to each other.  However this association must be sincere and for the right reasons.  Judas, for example, used his association with Christ – his position as an Apostle – to further his disloyalty.   Jung states about Judas’ betrayal of Christ, “The Judas legend is itself a typical motif, namely that of the mischievous betrayal of the hero. One is reminded of Siegfried and Hagen, Baldur and Loki: Siegfried and Baldur were both murdered by a perfidious traitor from among their closest associates.”²

Identity

“…as a matter of his or her identity.”

Once we are associated with the object of our loyalty, we need to go further and make that part of our identity.  We make something part of our identity outwardly by announcing our membership, and we do it inwardly by feeling a sense of belonging.  If I say I am loyal to my family, I am, in fact, intrinsically committed to my family as a matter of my identity because it is my family and goes to my identity, in this case, by blood and/or kinship.  If I say I am loyal to the Church, again, I am committed to the Church as a matter of my identity because I am initiated (baptized) and a member of the Church.  And if I say I am loyal to my friend, there, too, I am committed to my friend as a matter of my identity.  I tell people, “This is my friend,” and presumably my friend tells people that I am their friend.  And when people see my friend, they associate that person with me, ascribing – sometimes unfairly – the character and actions of the friend to me and vice versa.  These relationships which call for loyalty are all relationships that help to define who we are.

In a psychological study, it was found that identity was key to group loyalty.³  It had nothing to do with how much energy, time, money, etc. that a person had expended on the group already.  It did have exactly to do with how much a person identified with the group.  The more the person identified with the group, the more loyal they were especially under circumstances that put loyalty to the test.

This is why things that have a strong identity obtain strong loyalty.  A good Catholic, for example, is required to identify with his faith.  This identification with the faith is exactly what leads people to fight for the Church, to be martyred for their faith, and to be the subject of attacks and endure them.

Friendship is another instance of strong identity.  The more one identifies as a friend to another, the more loyal a friend they will be.

Commitment

“…to which a person has become intrinsically committed”

Life has taught me that you can’t control someone’s loyalty.  No matter how good you are to them, doesn’t mean they’ll treat you the same.  No matter how much they mean to you, doesn’t mean they’ll value you the same.  Sometimes the people you love the most, turn out to be the people you can trust the least.

Trent Shelton

To be loyal, we need to be committed to something.  That means that we intend to make a reasonable effort to help that to which we are loyal, to give of ourselves, to sacrifice at some level.

Commitment is, in a sense, the act of loyalty where we prove and strengthen our loyalty promised or implied through our actions.  These actions cannot be halfhearted because there is no commitment of self.

And to the angel of the church of Laodicea, write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, who is the beginning of the creation of God: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold, nor hot. I would thou wert cold, or hot. But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth.  (Apocalypse 3:14-16)

In fact, it is better if there is no commitment rather than a halfhearted one.  If one is depending on us to be there for them and we are not, it would be better to be clear about that from the beginning because the person could have sought the aid of another.

Perseverance

“It [loyalty] is constituted centrally by perseverance in an association…”

Loyalty implies perseverance.  The association is not something that occurs occasionally, or for a time.  It is something that is continuous and holds together through difficult times.

Perseverance is a form of the Cardinal Virtue of Fortitude.

Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defense of a just cause. ⁴

As is true with all of the Cardinal Virtues, perseverance (Fortitude) needs to be modified by the other Virtues, especially Prudence and Justice.   Externally, Justice goes towards giving others their due.  Prudence tells us the right action to take and the right time to take it.  For the sake of Justice, we should only exhibit perseverance in an association to someone if they in turn persevere towards us; to do otherwise is to have misplaced loyalty.  For the sake of Prudence, we should only behave honorably to maintain the association, because it is never wise to bring dishonor upon one’s self.  To behave dishonorably in order to maintain the association, we have gone from loyalty to servitude.

But the well-established idea of a “loyal opposition” should give pause to the suggestion that loyalty requires complaisance or servility. … If the setting aside of good judgment is sought, there is nothing to stop a person—albeit with a heavy heart—from questioning whether the object of loyalty may have forfeited claims to it. The trust that tends to accompany loyalty need not encompass gullibility and credulity. In the ordinary course of events, the trust that accompanies loyalty has a judgment of trustworthiness as its background.⁵

That same trust is what makes honesty a prerequisite for loyalty.  If one lies, they cannot be trusted, and if they cannot be trusted, they do not deserve our loyalty.

Loyalty as a matter of Love

As the definition we are using states, “its paradigmatic expression is found in close friendship, to which loyalty is integral…”  The best expression of loyalty is found in close friendship, and close friendship is rooted in love.

It is he [Love] that bestows our every joy upon us, and it is through him that we are capable of the pleasures of society, aye, and friendship even, with the gods our masters.

~ Symposium – Plato

Even in the case of romantic love, a form of friendship is at the root of loyalty to the relationship.

It is base to indulge a vicious lover viciously, but noble to gratify a virtuous lover virtuously.  Now the vicious lover is the follower of the earthly Love who desires the body rather than the soul; his heart is set on what is mutable and must therefore be inconstant.  And as soon as the body he loves begins to pass the first flower of its beauty, he ‘spreads his wings and flies away,’ giving the lie to all his pretty speeches and dishonoring his vows, whereas the lover whose heart is touched by moral beauties is constant all his life, for he has become one with what will never fade.

Symposium – Plato

If friendship is based on anything except the higher form of Love, that which values the soul and person qua person, loyalty is doomed to failure.  In the case of romance, the lower form of Love is usually the form of lust, and as Plato points out looks fade and so will the baser form of Love.  In the case of friendship, it is not lust, but any other attribute that is not of the soul and inconstant: money, fame, usefulness, etc.  If the friendship exists based on anything mutable and inconstant, the friendship is vicious and loyalty will not be present.  As soon as the basis of the friendship changes or leaves, as material things are wont to do, commitment and perseverance will expire and the loyalty, and often the friendship, will end.

Socrates says that in order to retain that friendship – and the loyalty – one should be faithful to one’s friends lest they be abandoned.

“…it would be well that each man should consider how much he can be worth to his friends, and that he should endeavour to render himself as valuable as he can in their regard, to the end they might not abandon him; for when I hear one complain that his friend has betrayed him; another that he, whom he thought faithful, has preferred a small gain to the preservation of his friendship, I reflect on these stories, and ask whether, as we sell a good-for-nothing slave for what we can get for him, we are not likewise tempted to get rid of an ill-friend when we are offered more for him than he is worth? because I do not see men part with their slaves if they be good, nor abandon their friends if they be faithful.”⁶

 Loyalty As A Matter of Honor

If one is to be considered honorable, one must be first considered loyal.

Honor is a matter of carrying out, acting, and living the values of respect, duty, loyalty, selfless service, integrity and personal courage in everything one does; it is honesty, fairness, and moral fortitude in one’s beliefs and actions.⁷

Loyalty also goes to the notion of honor when honor is taken to mean “Adherence to what is right or to a conventional standard of conduct.”  Being loyal is considered the right thing to do with someone or something one shares an identity with.  Being disloyal to one’s family, church, or friends is considered dishonorable.  Loyalty is considered a laudable value, and disloyalty is considered to impugn one’s character.

Without loyalty, honor falls apart.  The reason for this is in the case of disinterest of loyalty, or as Apocalypse says, being lukewarm, there is no commitment and as stated above, honor requires selfless service, integrity, and courage all of which demand commitment.  The association is not one of loyalty, but one more probably coming from convenience as in the case of a “fair-weather friend.”

Even worse is when there is disloyalty.  That often results in treachery as in the cases of Judas and Brutus who feigned loyalty and then used the close association to betray those they pretended to be loyal to.  This subversion of loyalty turns something that is valued into a weapon.

causes, effects, and implications of disloyalty

One can look at the listed prerequisites for loyalty and perhaps say that disloyalty occurs either because one of those qualities wasn’t truly present, or because it became absent.

In one place, Jung ascribed disloyalty in the form of treachery to envy. ” At the same time it [Judas Myth] is an event that was repeated many times in history, for instance in the case of Caesar and Brutus.  Through the myth is extremely old it is still a subject for repetition, as it expresses the simple fact that envy does not let mankind sleep in peace.” ⁸  This is of interest because Jung gives the cause – envy – and the result – murderous treachery.  Envy can be looked at as a lack or loss of commitment.  One is more committed to one’s self than the object of one’s professed loyalty.  In the case of weak morals, this can arise in the form of envy.  “My commitment to him is not worth as much as my commitment to me.  He has something I do not and that I want or deserve.  Therefore, I will act in such a way as to either obtain it or stop him from possessing it.”

Jung further goes on to say, “This [Judas] myth is moving and tragic, because the noble hero is not felled in a fair fight but through treachery.” ⁹  Indeed, Judas betrays Christ by being disloyal to Him.  He is not committed, he is not honest, and his association with Christ and identification as an Apostle he actually uses to his advantage to betray Jesus to the authorities.  He removes or misuses every prerequisite for loyalty that has been defined so far.  That is what makes his betrayal so tragic and treacherous.  Judas was as disloyal as one could possibly get.

We live just to die and we try to justify
The bottomless pit of our soulless lies
Pull my eyes and feed them to the weakest of the weak
I’ve seen the past, the future, but what the fuck does it mean to me

“Hollow Eyes” – Lost Society

 

The net effect of disloyalty in the case of Judas, according to Scripture, is desolation.  Judas obtained land from his betrayal of Christ and in shame hung himself over that land.  When he did so, his abdomen burst open and soaked the land with blood.  From that point on, people refused to use that land seeing it as cursed.

Men, brethren, the scripture must needs be fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was the leader of them that apprehended Jesus:  Who was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.  And he indeed hath possessed a field of the reward of iniquity, and being hanged, burst asunder in the midst: and all his bowels gushed out.  And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: so that the same field was called in their tongue, Haceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.  For it is written in the book of Psalms: Let their habitation become desolate, and let there be none to dwell therein. And his bishopric let another take.  (Acts 1:16-20)

Land is symbolic of one’s legacy.  It is something that is passed down for generations, or at least used to be.  In this case, not only is Judas dishonored, his legacy has become desolate.  His memory will forever be one of dishonor and accepted by none.  It is cursed.

Likewise is the person and reputation of someone who is disloyal, and even more so if they have been treacherous.  Upon learning that someone has been disloyal, people of prudence will be reluctant to become friends or even associated with the individual.  For sure, some will still be willing to befriend such a person, but those are people of the same mindset who might seduce a partner from a spouse thinking, “They will leave the spouse for me, but they will never do the same to me.”  When one is of poor character and dishonorable, it is possible for them to change, but such change does not happen overnight and is, for many reasons, unlikely in general.   People who are disloyal, and therefore dishonorable, are best avoided until such a time as they have proven themselves made worthy again by their actions.

“We ought to take,” said Socrates, “a man who were the reverse of all those we have mentioned, who would be temperate in his manners, faithful in his promises, and sincere in all his actions; who would think it a point of honour not to be outdone in civilities so that it would be of advantage to have to do with him.”  “But how can we be certain of all this,” said Critobulus, “before we have tried him?”  “When we would give our judgment of statuaries, we have no regard,” replied Socrates, “to what they say of themselves, but consider their works; and he who has already made good statues is the person of whom we have the best opinion for those he shall make for the future.  Apply this to the question you asked me, and be assured that a man who has served his former friends well will be likely to show no less affection for those that come after; as we may strongly conjecture that a groom, whom we have formerly seen dress horses very well, is capable of dressing others.”¹⁰

Is there no standard anymore?
What it takes, who I am, where I’ve been
Belong
You can’t be something you’re not
Be yourself, by yourself
Stay away from me
A lesson learned in life
Known from the dawn of time

Respect, walk

“Walk” – Pantera

Additional Material

Van Vugt, Mark and Claire M. Hart, “Social Identity as Social Glue: The Origins of Group Loyalty”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2004, Vol. 86, No. 4, 585–598.  Available as a PDF download here:  Social Identity as Social Glue – The Origins of Group Loyalty

Excerpts from the Memorable Thoughts of Socrates by Xenophon: Socrates on Friendship

The whole text of the Memorable Thoughts of Socrates by Xenophon is available on Project Gutenberg here.

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on “Loyalty” may be found here.

Lost Society performing “Hollow Eyes”

Pantera performing “Walk”

1. Kleinig, John, “Loyalty”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL=<https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2017/entries/loyalty/>.
2. Carl Jung, Collected Works 5. Para 42.
3. Van Vugt, Mark and Claire M. Hart, “Social Identity as Social Glue: The Origins of Group Loyalty”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2004, Vol. 86, No. 4, 585–598.  Download link at end of post.
4. Catechism of the Catholic Church Part 3, Section 1, Chapter 1, Article 7, 1808.
5. Kleinig, John, ibid.
6. Morley, Henry, ed. Edward Bysshe, trans. The Memorable Thoughts of Socrates by Xenophon, Book 2, Chapter V.
7. Partially attributable to The U.S. Army Core Values: Honor. URL=<https://www.army.mil/values/>.
8. Carl Jung, CW 5, Para 42
9. Carl Jung, CW 5, Para 42
10. Morley, ibid, Chapter VI