Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince, he describes the characteristics a Prince should have.   One of the characteristics a prince should live by is keeping his word, Machiavelli says “[h]ow praiseworthy it is for a prince to keep his word and live by honesty…”(C, 237).    Machiavelli acknowledges that a prince who honors his word is generally praised by others. A prince should present the appearance of being a compassionate, trustworthy, kind, honest, and moral ruler.  Prince gains esteem and glory through his courage. He must undertake great enterprises that allow him to display his abilities. The prince must have the wisdom to choose the least risky venture and act on it courageously.  New York Times article “Obama Defends Tax Deal, but His Party Stays Hostile,” Obama defending his tax cut deal with the Republican to his own party.  Obama made this decision because “it was ’a good deal for the American people’” (Herszenhorn).  Many Democrats in the Senate and House are outraged by the idea of continuing former president George W. Bush’s tax policies for two more years.  President Obama made a decision to keep his word from keeping the American people from out of harm.  Even though many Democrats are opposing this idea, like Machiavelli says “it is not necessary, the, for a prince to have all of the qualities mentioned above, but certainly necessary that he appear to have them”(C, 237).    President Obama made a statement about not hurting the American people and he has to uphold this if he wants to be respected. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/us/politics/08cong.html?ref=todayspaper

Roman Catholic Church Sex Abuse Cases/Confucius

“For more than two decades, the Catholic Church has grappled with a series of clergy sexual abuse scandals and lawsuits. The cases have cost an estimated $2 billion in settlements and have shaken the faith of many of the church’s members.”

There were number of cases: Gilbert Gauthe in Louisiana was sentenced to 20 years in prison for molesting at least 35 children, Father John J. Geoghan was accused of abusing more than 130 boys over three decades, the priest, Brendan Smith, who was exposed 15 years later as the most notorious child-abuser in the history of the Irish church. There were number of cases in different countries of the EU.

As the reaction on that “the Vatican issued revisions to its internal laws on July 15 making it easier to discipline sex-abuser priests.” The overall document codified existing procedures that allow the Vatican to try priests accused of child sexual abuse using faster juridical procedures rather than full ecclesiastical trials.

Church is nor necessarily governed by good people. Confucius said in the Analects, “2-1. The Master said, ‘He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.’”  Probably he thought too well about people as we see from the article even in the holy institution there are awful problems and Confucius ideology can not be applied to the contemporary world.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/roman_catholic_church_sex_abuse_cases/index.html?scp=1&sq=catholic%20children%20abuse&st=cse

Confucius/Afghan Wives

“Even the poorest families in Afghanistan have matches and cooking fuel. The combination usually sustains life. But it also can be the makings of a horrifying escape: from poverty, from forced marriages, from the abuse and despondency that can be the fate of Afghan women.”

“There is little chance for education, little choice about whom a woman marries, no choice at all about her role in her own house. Her primary job is to serve her husband’s family. Outside that world, she is an outcast.”

According to the Human Development Index, Afghanistan is the second least developed country in the world. Every half hour, an average of one woman dies from pregnancy-related complications, another dies of tuberculosis and 14 children die, largely from preventable causes.

Historically women were not treated fairly out there, also while in power in Afghanistan, the Taliban became notorious internationally for their treatment of women.

“Women were forced to wear the burqa in public, because, according to a Taliban spokesman, “the face of a woman is a source of corruption” for men not related to them. They were not allowed to work, they were not allowed to be educated after the age of eight, and until then were permitted only to study the Qur’an. Women seeking an education were forced to attend underground schools such as the Golden Needle Sewing School, where they and their teachers risked execution if caught. They were not allowed to be treated by male doctors unless accompanied by a male chaperon, which led to illnesses remaining untreated. They faced public  flogging execution for violations of the Taliban’s laws. The Taliban allowed and in some cases encouraged marriage for girls under the age of 16. Amnesty International reported that 80 percent of Afghan marriages were considered to be by force.”

Confucius said , “Analects 7:23: The Master said, Women and little people are hard to handle. If you let them get close, they presume, and if you keep them at a distance, they resent it.” That obviously shows his attitude toward women, although some scholars might doubt it. Pretty much women were created to serve men, and a man could divorce a wife on a ground of being to talkative. Although Confucius’s attitude toward women was not that impressive still it wasn’t that oppressive as he propagated very humanistic ideals.