Honor is the defining quality of a warrior. It’s also the defining quality of a real man, for a human male who doesn’t live with honor is more a child than a man, a coward than a warrior. Honor is what holds a man steady in times of tribulation, as well as in times of plenty. It’s what gives him the respect of both his enemies, and his allies. It’s what makes him a good father, husband, and friend, always. As honor becomes less apparent and a less valued characteristic in our modern man we suffer, our society decays.

Honor is a characteristic that is being ripped from our society. As humanity is being replaced by the machine, honor leaves the battlefield. A war needs a just cause, without it, war is senseless. It also needs honor. The coward who straps a bomb to the back of a youth, and sends him to a crowded market, feels as though he has a just cause he’s fighting for; however delusional and disgusting it may be, he feels justified. What he doesn’t act with, however, is honor. He’s faceless. Spineless. He doesn’t have the heart, nor the spine, to fight another armed man – the actual object of his hate – so he kills the unarmed, the innocent, through a human vessel he’s coerced.

King Agis was shown a new catapult, which could shoot a killing dart 200 yards.

When he saw this, he wept. “Alas,” he said. “Valor is no more”. ~ From The Warrior Ethos

Honor isn’t merely being taken from battle, but from every facet of our lives. Sport is one of the few honorable institutions left in the world. It’s a training and proving ground for our young men, where they’re taught to value hard work, discipline, and respect. It’s where men meet in competition, the man whose preparation was the greatest usually wins; or does he?

Last night I watched the best basketball player in the world, Lebron James, flop and embellished every bump and collision he was involved in. Michael, Magic, or Larry would never act like such a child; like such a fool. They may have trash talked, pushed, and punched, but they did so with honor. They did it face-to-face, without cheating. They let their 10,000 + hours of hard work lead them to victory, or an honorable defeat.

When I was a kid, my old man always made me own up to my mistakes, and there were many an opportunity to do so. It wasn’t the mistake that angered him, it’s how I responded to it that could. Would I man up and accept responsibility, or would I blame the other guy, look for an easy way out, or even lie?

Today, the truth is rarely spoken, few stand up and take responsibility for anything, and men of honor are a relic, just like the sword, and the pen.

A Real Man Has Honor

I’ve written multiple articles on the topic of being a real man, a warrior, or an alpha male. I’ve listed characteristics, defining inner qualities, and attributes that a guy must possess if he’s to be called any of the three. Of all the characteristics mentioned, there is none as important, nor as scarce, as honor.

Honor is the defining quality that distinguishes weak men and cowards, from great men, and Legendary warriors. It’s with honor that a man stands firm when all else around him crumbles, when all those around him lie, cheat, and move drastically away from the people they are within their souls. Honor is what keeps a man firm and true. Today’s enemy is rarely seen, you know where a man of honor stands without him having to say a word.

It’s honor that makes a man’s spirit pure, his actions just. Honor is what makes a man a good friend. It’s what makes him trustworthy and loyal. It’s he whom we call when we’re down on our luck, our backs against the wall, and we need someone to have our back and no one else will. The man with honor is honorable and just to both his friends and enemies, because honor doesn’t waver.

A man with honor holds the same values and virtues close in times of plenty, and times of tribulation.

Anyone can be a warrior for a day, a real man for a month, or an alpha male for a year, but to be those things always, requires honor. Yet so few have it in today’s society, it’s no wonder that there’s such a loud cry for real men. We need them. We want them. We can’t find them anywhere. As honor leaves us, real men follow suit.

We’ve Bred Weakness. Weakness That Has Killed Honor.

The insecurity of the modern man has led to his weakness, spinelessness, and utter lack of honor. This insecurity is something we’ve created. It’s a learned trait, not an innate one. It’s been bread into our sons, beaten into our men.

Men of today try to fill the void left by insecurity with displays of excess and overt power, yet are too afraid to be in the arena themselves. They want to show they have more money than everyone else, the truth is usually somewhere in between. They want to show they’re a strong man, but true strength is internal. Insecurity is what leads men to beat women and abuse children. It’s weakness. Strength leads men to protect them.

There was a time when a man was responsible for not only himself, but his family. There still are men that take this responsibility with pride, but they’re fewer in number than ever before.

There was a time when a boy was responsible for his own financial health at a young age, but that too has changed. We give to our children before they’ve learned what it means to earn. As they grow up, they want, but they don’t want to do the work needed to earn what they want. Then the government gives, without people earning what they’re receiving.

There was a time when a boy stood up to a bully with his fists. He may earn a bloody nose, even a broken bone in doing so, but those scars were earned and worn with pride. Today our society rewards weakness more than it does strength. The bullies of today cut others down with words, and the boy who stands and fights is scolded more than the bully who attacks the psyche, the emotions of his peers.

There was a time when a bully would give you a wedgie or stuff you in a locker – I call those the good ol’ days. Today, a bully makes you feel worthless, shuns you from your peers, singles you out, makes fun of how you dress, talk, or look. A victim of bullying can’t defend against that hate with mere words, he needs physical justice. But we’ve taken the physical justice out of our schools, the honor out of our kids. With the change of the nature of bullying has come a change in the nature of the retaliation to it. We haven’t taught our sons strength, be it the bully or the victim, both act with weakness, and we all suffer as a result. Read More on Page 2 >>>