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The New Webster Dictionary of the English Language describes courage as “that quality of the mind which enables men to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness or without fear.” It is also referred to as “bravery.” On the other hand, the same dictionary describes arrogance as “the disposition to make exorbitant claims of rank, dignity, or estimation; the pride which exalts one’s own importance; and pride with contempt of others.”

Reliable Criteria for Correct Judgment

Besides, the arrogant is viewed as one who believes to be determined and who assumes to be powerful enough as to achieve what he wants by all means. In fact, nothing would stand in his way even if many were to suffer as a result and lose their lives. In view of this, we can easily analyze every single political leader anywhere in the world in virtue of what he says and does. In the Holy Scriptures we read the famous statement of the Master Teacher of all times saying: Judge a tree by the fruit it gives. This means that if the tree looks like an orange tree but it bears lemons, then we have to call it lemon tree.

The courageous political leader is one who reveals concern for the welfare of all people without exception. He would not do anything knowingly that would make innocent people suffer and die unnecessarily. Such a leader is characterized by several spiritually oriented qualities and is referred by people in general as being humble, modest, determined, trustworthy, reliable and truthful, in addition to other positive and constructive qualities.

People from very walk of life and profession speak well of him and they all feel sure that he has been a blessing to the nation and the rest of the world. A courageous political leader is referred to as a statesman who puts top priority on the vital needs of people everywhere related to health care, environmental protection, education and human rights. Such a beloved leader rejects the eye-for-an-eye and the tooth-for-a-tooth philosophy. With patience and perseverance, when things go wrong he would go in search of the source of existing problems and then he would provide us with effective remedies or solutions.

When Nelson Mandela became the first Black President of the apartheid nation of South Africa, the whole news media reporters were expecting from him some kind of revenge against the previous minority government that put him unjustly in jail for 27 years. As we recall, this minority government, for many decades, made the millions of Blacks in this southern African country suffer so much. Blacks were humiliated by being deprived of a good education, adequate health care, appropriate housing facilities, in addition to other vital needs.

Courageous Leaders in Perspective

In his first speech to the nation as President, Nelson Mandela soon convinced the whole world that he was an excellent and courageous political leader, a statesman in his own right. When asked how he was going to deal with the former members of the minority government for having oppressed the vast majority of Blacks for a long time, he replied saying: “Let bygones be bygones. All the people in this nation are South Africans and we need all to work together hand in hand to make South Africa a great, prosperous and progressive nation.”

Nelson Mandela quickly convinced the world that he was a man of courage because he had the ability to express in his speeches and actions love, compassion and care for all people without exception. Of course, the world has been blessed with many courageous political leaders whose ultimate goal was to do only what was positive and constructive in the best interest of all people without exception. In fact, all people are members of one earthly community.

Former President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias attributed the success of his nation to his putting top priority on the health care, education and housing facilities for all the people of his nation without any exception. He even succeeded to make Costa Rica having the lowest infant mortality of any other nation in both North and South America. He attributed the secret of his nation’s enormous recovery to the fact that he kept the nation virtually demilitarized, with hardly any money at all “wasted on weapons and on the military.”

Oscar Arias was a man of courage that admired immensely former U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower who admonished the U.S. Congress during his farewell speech, saying: “Remember that all people of all nations want peace, only their government wants war.” And then he said to the members of the U.S. Congress: “Keep in mind that every dollar you spend on the weapons and the military is a theft from the hungry and the poor.” Likewise, Eisenhower was a courageous political leader because as a former U.S. military general he knew well that in a war everyone is a loser, no one a winner.

Pope John Paul II was not only a religious leader but he was also a political leader. As we know, the Vatican is a politically independent nation, which is viewed as the smallest in the world and where the pope serves as the sovereign of this territory. He was, indeed, a great political leader characterized by courage. In every word he uttered during his the 26 years of pontifical rule he proved to be a statesman, a courageous leader of all people everywhere.

Characteristic of Courage

One cannot be viewed as a courageous leader unless his words and actions are constantly geared toward the universal welfare of all people without exception. Hence, we may understand why people of the caliber of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Mahatma Gandhi of India, the Dalai Lama of Tibet, Bishop Tutu of South Africa, and so many heads of state of several countries, particularly the smaller ones, have been viewed as courageous simply because they were concerned with the universal welfare of all people without exception.

What are the characteristics of courageous leaders in any sphere of society, be it political, religious, you name it? They all want to pursue actions that are geared toward the universal welfare of all people without exception that are not harmful to anyone not even to one single person. Courageous leaders praise good actions and defend them even when observed in the humble and unknown. At the same time, such courageous leaders condemn evil actions even when stemming from people that occupy positions of high authority.

We are all familiar with the Master Teacher of Nazareth. He did not hesitate to condemn the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who were viewed as leaders in those days. He did not hesitate to condemn likewise and the evil intent of King Herod, whom he called “fox,” which in today’s language could be translated as “son of a bitch.” In view of such illustrations relative to courage and courageous leaders, we should now find it relatively easy to recognize arrogance and arrogant leaders that are doing so much harm to the world at large.

Since the heads of state seem to be in a position to wield plenty of power for the better or the worse, we need to concentrate in our analysis on the political leaders of our time. We need to use the brains that God gave us to make a value judgment free of any indoctrination, manipulation and deceit. We need simply to ask ourselves: Are the actions of this or that political leader being positive and constructive, that is, geared toward the universal welfare of all people without exception? Or, do such actions reveal to be negative and destructive that may lead to so much pain and suffering of innocent people in particular?

We are all familiar with such names as Adolph Hitler, Mao Tze Tung, Vladimir Lenin, Josef Stalin, Idi Amin, Augusto Pinochet, and Sese Seko Mobutu, in addition to numerous others. What did these heads of state have in common? They were all arrogant whose actions were constantly characterized by arrogance that made tens of thousands and even millions of people suffer crucial pain, agony and death. Besides, they all had the guts to view their phenomenal arrogance and vicious behavior in terms of “genuine courage” on their part!

Comprehension of Arrogance

According to ascetical writers, courage is viewed to be one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is a divine element that the almighty and loving heavenly Father bestows on His good and faithful children. On the other hand, arrogance is considered to be a satanic device, which the devil uses as a successful instrument to inflict endless pain on millions of people as to promote misery and death. Also, we learn from ascetical writers that the “devil is the father of lies or of half-truths.” Hence, we may easily understand why those political leaders who have proved to be fully arrogant talk constantly of their “courage” to take bold (meaning “arrogant”) steps against the so called enemy.

For arrogant political leaders, the enemy is anyone who performs actions that are not conducive to their evil and vicious intent. What is really sad here lies in the fact that, in a number of instances, such arrogant political leaders manage to deceive many of their listeners from every walk of life and profession. It is the sacrosanct duty of every citizen of every nation to learn in distinguishing between courage and arrogance, between courageous and arrogant political leaders. Educational, civic, humanitarian and religious organizations, in addition to many others, ought to encourage the moral support of courageous political leaders while, at the same time, they should discourage endorsement of arrogant political leaders in anything they try to do.

Endorsement or rejection of political leaders ought never to be based on party affiliation, religious creeds, background education, cultural link and the equivalent. Endorsement or rejection of such political leaders ought to be based merely on “what” they are doing in relation to the welfare of all people everywhere. Let us keep in mind that actions speak louder than words. Hence, we are here faced with the importance of analyzing their actions with such questions: Is what this political leader doing conducive to the welfare of all people without exception? …. Or is it conducive to the welfare of some to the exclusion of others? Are the means being used by such a political leader negative and destructive or are they positive and constructive?

What is the eventual social philosophy of this political leader? Is it based on the belief of the eye for an eye and the tooth for a tooth philosophy? Or is it based on traditional assumption that one may catch more flies with honey? Is it based on the conviction that all problems we encounter at the global level could be best solved through the military and the waging of wars, through the manufacture of more devastating weapons? Or is it based on the conviction that violence breeds more violence and that more violence breeds more violence?

Supporting the Right Political Leader

If we were to support a political leader merely because he professes belief in God or in some sacred book, we may likely regret it. We need to explore further elements. In his behavior, does he act as though people of all nations were not necessarily children of the same God? If that were to be the case, then we may conclude that he is obviously an arrogant and dangerous person. One of the leading concerns today seems to be the Iraqi war. In this regard, the American people should simply ask the following questions about the caliber of their top political leader, the first U.S. president of the 21st century.

In accordance with the Geneva Convention, was the U.S. invasion of Iraq justifiable? Were the reasons given for such an invasion that cost the destruction of the infrastructure of the Iraqi community, the death of tens of thousands of innocent people and the massacre and maiming of many young Americans appropriate? How does this U.S. political leader view the continued manufacture of devastating weapons and the military? Are they viewed as a sine qua non condition to get what he wants by hook or by crook? Does he realize that the only road to peace would be through the development of an international program of disarmament and arms control?

These questions may apply to all political leaders across every continent. Any political leader that proves to be arrogant should be viewed as dangerous and we should pray God for his replacement. Any political leader that proves to be courageous should be viewed as beneficial. As we have seen earlier, the Master Teacher would never support an arrogant political leader. In fact, this explains why the Master Teacher referred to the arrogant political leader of his time, King Herod, by one strong word: fox, which translated in today’s language, would be “son of a bitch.” It is very important for all people on earth to have courageous top political leaders who spend all of their resources on the health care, environmental protection, human rights and education of their people, while promoting an international program of disarmament and arms control. Many problems would be solved and the world would be much safer.

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