The Interaction of Values and Religion

I'm well aware that atrocities have been committed in the name of religion. But so have acts of great love and self-sacrifice. Any student of values should reflect upon the intersection of values and religion. Rather than theorize, I'll give a real life example.

I have way too much to accomplish in any given day. Today was no exception. After getting the children off to school, I needed to work on a presentation, then hit the bank and Circuit City to trade in a meg of ram for one that would actually work in my computer. I had exactly 45 minutes to accomplish the bank run and Circuit City before I'd need to be back home to get up my 102-year-old granny.

But on the way out of the neighborhood, I noticed a stalled pick-up truck in the exit lane with its hood up. Two Mexicans and an African-American - all construction workers - sat beside it. I mention their race and employment because to some people, that would be significant to the story. They might stop for someone they knew, or someone in a Ferrari, or a highly esteemed member of the community, or a "hot chick." But a few construction workers?

I didn't immediately stop, reciting convenient excuses such as

• "They didn't wave me down, so they've probably already called a friend or a wrecker."
• "Somebody else can stop who's not in such a hurry."
• "If they're still there when I return, maybe I can work them in later today."
• "Maybe it's a set-up to rob me."
  

But within 30 seconds, I knew that I had to return. A recent sermon by our pastor related Jesus' parable of "The Good Samaritan," where the priest and Levite passed by the poor fellow who'd been robbed and beaten. I'm sure they recited good reasons similar to mine: "I'm already late for an important meeting. Maybe it's a set-up. Somebody else with more time and expertise will surely stop." But finally, a Samaritan took pity on the fellow, put him on his donkey, rented a room for him and paid for his care.

The parallel hit too close to home. I turned around, got jumper cables from my house, jumped off their truck, and followed them to a safe place where they could get better help. I declined their offer for money.

Professionally, my day has been a loss. So I helped the three stranded workers, got granny up, took dad to a doctor's visit, and picked up a sick kid from school. I'm further behind on my writing, my Web work, etc., etc. My "to do" list grew instead of shrunk.

But my religion impacts not just my "to do" list, but also how I feel about a day and how I define success. From my religious perspective, the day was a huge success. According to my religion, when I serve "the least of these," those who may have nothing to give in return, I've actually served God. If I fail to provide for my own (sick children, granny and dad), I'm spiritually bankrupt.

If my life is all about loving God and loving people, then today goes down as a huge success. That's how religion can impact my practical, day to day choices.

Character and Business Success

Here's a bit of recent news to motivate your students, teachers, or business colleagues, reinforcing the need for character. We tend to think that A's in school will automatically translate into an A+ career. But without character, skills and experience, you'll probably be disappointed.

Today I received a press release that one of our country's most successful, respected investment companies, The Vanguard Group, has just handed the reigns of their organization to a new leader. What kind of leader did they want? See how, in his first sentence, the former CEO describes the new one:

"Bill McNabb is a man of great integrity, values, character, talent, experience, and accomplishment."

Press releases by major companies are worded with great thought and precision. Note that the first three qualifications speak of character. If you were promoted on the basis of these traits, would you qualify for a promotion?

Teaching Character in Math Classes

I've received several e-mails from educators regarding how to teach character in a Math class. But every way I imagine tying the two together seamlessly seems to me to be rather artificial; e.g., lessons from the lives of great mathematicians, or integrating a moral into a math word problem.

Example Word Problem:

Henry was dating Sally. He was also cheating on Sally with Jane. How many girlfriends does Henry have now?
Answer: None. Sally and Jane found out about each other and talked.
Moral: Cheating gets you into trouble.

Hmmm...so maybe this relational triangle could somehow connect to geometry!

Rather, I think the best way I've seen to integrate character and math was modeled for me by Dr. William Craig, one of my graduate school professors. In a "History of Philosophy" class, the brilliant professor (two earned Ph.D.'s) would devote 5 minutes at the beginning of class to a sort of real-life moment. One day, he started class with something like this:

"You know, you can make A's in my class, while flunking in real life. I remember a time when I was struggling with balancing studies with my marriage. I was working on my Ph.D. at the University of Munich, Germany. The academic load was overwhelming. My main professor would keep pulling out books in French and German that he said were must reads for my dissertation. When I talked to a professor about my struggles, he advised me, 'Look around you. People around here with Ph.D.'s are a dime a dozen. But how many people do you see who have a really great marriage? Whatever the cost, don't neglect your relationship with your wife.' It really put things in perspective for me."

Well, that was 25 years ago, and I'm not sure how much I remember today about Kant and Hegel. But I'll never forget that simple life story from a teacher who cared as much about my life as about my passing his class.

My advice for leading a Math class? Introduce character by saying,

"Class, I've been thinking...if I teach so wonderfully that all of you pass my class with A's and B's, but you flunk out in life, I've not helped you very much. The infamous Unabomber, who killed people by sending them bombs in the mail, was gifted at Math, having taught Math at a respected university. He made "A's" in Math, but flunked out in life. Today he's in prison.

For what it's worth, I'd like to devote a couple of minutes at the first of class (or on Monday of each week) to discuss some life lessons I've either learned or am in the process of learning. I'm not saying I'm the perfect model of these things, but I've come to realize that often my
character has meant more to my success than whether I made an "A" or a "C" in a class."

Then, either tell a story from your life about how you learned the importance of telling the truth, not cheating, caring about others, diligence, etc.; or, tell the story of another person whom you respect. (I've got over 100 of such stories, which I call "Intercom Insights," categorized by character trait, with discussion questions, in the members' section of our character education site at www.character-education.info .) Even if you use the story of another person, I'd try to tie it in
to your personal life as well. Students like to know how your life experiences have impacted your life.

Of course, character is often better caught than taught (although a combination of both is ideal). Students will pick on on how you respect them in class, how you deal with discipline issues, how you try to treat students fairly, creating a culture of caring in the classroom. Welcoming student input into the teaching process ("Tell me personally when you think I'm either unfair or teaching poorly.") shows respect for students' opinions and helps prepare them to get customer feedback when they later run a business.

Another Possible Introduction

In introducing character to a Math class, here's another possible introduction:

"Mastering this class and making "A's" won't guarantee your success. Studies by the Carnegie Institute of Technology found that "even in such technical lines as engineering, about 15 percent of one's financial success is due to one's technical knowledge and about 85 percent is due to skill in human engineering - to personality and the ability to lead people." (How to Win Friends and Influence People, p. xiv)

Discussion: Does this mean that Math isn't important? (No. You wouldn't get the engineering job without doing well at Math.) What does it mean? (You need to know more than Math to be successful.)

With that introduction, you understand why I'll occasionally share a life story or lead a discussion on a character trait or relational issue. This quarter, in addition to becoming better students, I hope we become better people."

Tom Brady on Commitment and Initiative

When talking to my own children and classrooms about character, I find that real life stories of people they admire can really inspire. With the Patriot's extraordinary season (all wins and no losses in the regular season!), quarterback Tom Brady has been much in the news. Kids admire him and are naturally interested in how he became so successful in his field. So I read a biography on him and pulled from a few other resources to show how qualities such as commitment, initiative, endurance and proactive behavior contributed to his success. Hope it's useful to you!

Tom Brady: On Commitment and Initiative
Or, Playing Fourth String, Getting Third-Rate Treatment
But Going the Second Mile with First-Rate Effort

(Teacher Hint: Go to www.youtube.com and type in "Tom Brady" to find some cool clips of Brady in action. I really liked one with music in the background entitled "Tom Brady: My Hero". Play a bit before you speak to remind your students how awesome a player he is. Or, you might want to start with the first of a video, and show the rest after the story.)

Brady Today

Tom Brady makes it look so easy. Moments before lightning fast defensive tackles and 300 pound linemen close in to take his head off, Brady steps back to avoid one collision, to the side to avoid another, patiently waiting for his receivers to complete their patterns. Now. He throws. Completes. Touchdown, New England.

It happens so often that he's widely regarded as one of the best quarterbacks ever. At age 30, he's led his team to three Super Bowls, received two Super Bowl Most Valuable Player awards, been invited to four Pro Bowls, and holds the NFL record for the most regular season touchdown passes. No wonder he's been named "Sportsman of the Year" by both Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News. (1)

It may look easy and natural for him today, but those skills didn't come naturally. It took supreme commitment to growing and learning, often under difficult circumstances.

The High School Brady

Tommy entered high school built like a beanpole - a slow-footed beanpole. Not very impressive in a game that emphasizes size and speed. But he was super-competitive and wanted to excel.

So he did more than attend regular practices. He went the extra mile by attending quarterback camps in Arizona and the University of Southern California. He even spent personal time with a throwing guru who ran a school for quarterbacks. This guy had broken down the art of passing into the most minute detail to discover what works and what doesn't . Tommy took tons of notes, to which he still refers today. (2)

And the "extra mile" stuff continued. After school during the off season, many kids throw their backpacks onto the bedroom floor to watch TV, play games and goof off until bedtime. But Tommy completed his homework and met up with his friends at the Pacific Athletic Club to work out for three or four hours.

When his coach, Tom McKenzie, lamented to Tommy's dad that he had "a Division 1 arm, but a Division 5 lower body," Tommy took it as a challenge. Every morning before school, he'd practice a tedious footwork drill called "The Five Dots," which most players loathed. According to Brady, "I've never been real fleet of foot. I enjoyed the struggle of it. I gained a lot out of it, in terms of mental toughness."

According to his coach, "Tom Brady is the only student athlete I ever saw who took advantage of every opportunity that was provided to him." (3)

His high school team wasn't that great, but he made the best of it, winning about as many games as he lost.

The College Brady

By high school graduation, he was still a beanpole. But they put together a video-tape of Tom's games and sent it to fifty-five universities. Their diligence paid off and the University of Michigan, a football powerhouse, recruited him to play for their Wolverines. But then things got strange. Before he even made it to the campus, the two coaches who recruited him and believed in him left the school.

His first year, he kept the bench warm with the third string. The second year, he played a bit in only two games. His very first pass was intercepted and run back for a touchdown. Not exactly a stellar debut. He'd throw five total passes that year. (4)

But he kept practicing, kept learning, and developed a great network of relationships with his people skills. Surely next year would be his year.

But before his third year, appendicitis robbed him of 30 pounds that he didn't need to lose. Now he was an even skinnier bean pole. Thoughts of quitting and giving up were getting the best of him. Instead of turning inward, he began to talk to the athletic department counselor, Greg Harden. From meetings with Harden, he developed a game plan for problem solving and becoming a better person. It helped.

At Spring camp, he found himself third in line behind the starting quarterback and another quarterback, Brian Griese, who's father had been a legendary quarterback. The latter won the starting position and Brady would get to play in only four games, throwing only twelve passes. Griese would graduate, leaving the slot for Brady to fill, but did Brady want it anymore? He'd been practicing his heart out for three long years to throw a total of 17 passes. In his mind, he wasn't given equal treatment. He considered changing schools. But outside of football, he loved his friends, his classes, and his volunteer work at a children's hospital. He decided to stick with it. (5)

His fourth year, he would clearly be the starting quarterback, but then things got strange again. Michigan recruited a phenomenal high school quarterback from a nearby town who had already been featured in Sports Illustrated. Being a local hero, there was pressure to move him quickly up to starting quarterback. So what did Brady think when his head coach referred to Henson, the new be, as "without question the most talented quarterback I've ever been around"? (6)

Brady started as quarterback the rest of the season, winning 10 games and losing three. But there would be a fifth year, allowable since he didn't play as a Freshman. Surely he'd established himself by now. But that would be too easy. Influential alumni were pressuring the coaches to play Henson, the new quarterback.

So here's how it played out. The coach announced that Brady would play the first quarter, Henson the second quarter, and whoever played the best would play the second half. It was a slam on Brady, the deserving fifth year senior. It would have been easy for Brady to take the low road, rallying his friends around his cause and dividing the team. Instead, he kept working and pursuing team unity. After the seventh game Brady established himself as the starter for the rest of the year.

After his final game as a Wolverine, Brady's quarterback coach told him that the circumstances he'd played under would have broken most athletes. But Brady endured. (7)

After college, he could have smugly assumed that he knew everything he needed to know about football. Instead, he attended a performance clinic to try to pick up foot speed. I mean, come on, after four years of coaching in high school and five years of coaching in college, don't you think he knew enough about how to run? Not Brady. There were still weaknesses to shore up and there was always more to learn, always an extra mile that he could go. (8)

The Pro Brady

His next stop was the NFL Scouting Combine, a place where coaches and scouts have the opportunity to watch their potential drafts in action. The gathering includes interviews, psychological testing, strength and agility tests, and the 40-yard dash.

Although the assessors noted some great traits in Brady, most saw him as a gamble. The most prominent of the evaluators concluded that he "didn't have the total package of skills." (9) One offensive coordinator assessed Brady as rather average, with his inability to establish himself at Michigan counting against him. To some, he was still a "skinny quarterback who didn't run well." (10)

Still, he hoped to be picked early in the draft. Sitting at home listening to the draft with his family, they saw one round after another passing him by. After the fifth round, the Brady bunch was depressed. According to his sister Nancy, "What with what happened at Michigan, and now having this infuriating and disappointing couple of days, he just wanted to take a walk...." While he was out walking, head coach Bill Belichick called from the Patriots, picking him on the sixth round, the 199th draft pick.

Dick Rehbein (the quarterback coach) and Belicheck saw something in Brady that others apparently didn't. During those college years, Brady was put in a bad position, but made the most out of it. They were impressed with "what he did with the opportunities he had." (11)

But at New England, he'd have to start out once again at the bottom. Now for anyone who's played second string, you know the demoralizing feeling of working hard all week to sit on the bench during the games, hoping that, just maybe, your team will get so far ahead that they call in the second string. But he wasn't on second string. He wasn't even on third string. Brady started fourth-string for the Patriots. (12)

Although he'd filled out a little by this time, the Patriot's owner still referred to Brady as, you guessed it, a "beanpole," after their first meeting. (13) But what he lacked in physical intimidation, he made up for with his work ethic, team spirit, and a rare ability to care for and energize those around him. Package all that together and it's called leadership. As one biographer put it, "Brady had that unique ability to make the person he is talking to feel as though the rest of the world has fallen away and there is only this one conversation happening anywhere." (14)

He'd spend extra time watching film of their opponents, although he didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of playing in the game. The defensive coordinator noticed that Brady would work out harder than anyone else in the weight room. He threw himself into off-season workouts, whether or not he was required to attend. That helped add about 20 pounds of needed muscle. After a normal practice day, he'd lead a group of others at the bottom of the totem pole to run through the plays until they had them down. And they got better, and better. The coaches took notice and liked what they saw.

So Brady found himself the backup quarterback during his second year. And when the starting quarterback got injured, Brady took over. Because of his intense preparation during good times and bad, he was there to answer the door when opportunity knocked. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Brady once noted that the most difficult wins are the most memorable. I think you could say that about his life. As Brady said, "Who wants everything to come easy?" (15)

Action Points

So do you consider yourself the "beanpole" of your team or organization - the one who doesn't look the part or make heads turn? Do you go to all the regular practices, but still find yourself benched? Do you do the assigned homework but don't get the grades you want?

If that sounds like you (and it often sounds like me!) remember how Brady defeated discouragement and went the extra mile by preparing a little harder, getting outside counsel and continuing to learn. If initiative and hard work make a top-rated professional football player out of a slow beanpole, maybe it can pay off for the rest of us.

Tom Brady on Standing Alone

Tom Brady, the super-successful quarterback for the New England Patriots, doesn't try to be "just another jock." Elwood Reid, one of his college professors, noted that Brady was his own person. The other jocks in his class were too cool to do homework or act interested in his class. Not Brady. He was polite, sincere, did his reading, brought his books to class. Reid expected the other athletes to treat him with contempt, making fun of the skinny athlete.

But to Reid's surprise, "the most disruptive guys in the class did more than leave the quarterback alone. They seemed to look up to him. In fact, they seemed to look up to him more because he wasn't following their lead." I suppose you can't very well lead the crowd if you're following it. (16)

Brady on Commitment to the Team

"All I ever wanted was the camaraderie, to share some memories with so many other guys." (17)

Brady On Not Talking Down to People

According to head coach Belichick, Brady "doesn't put himself above anybody, above the equipment manager, above the guy on the practice squad, or above a defensive player. He has respect for them doing their jobs." (18)

Discussion Questions

1. What are some obstacles that Brady had to overcome?
2. How did he show initiative and commitment to overcome them?
3. In what areas of life do you and those you know need extra initiative and commitment?
4. What can you do today and this week to overcome life's challenges?

End Notes

1. Wikipedia on Tom Brady.
2. Moving the Chains: Tom Brady and the Pursuit of Everything, by Charles P. Pierce (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006), pp. 38-40.
3. Ibid., p. 41.
4. Ibid., pp. 59,60.
5. Ibid., pp. 61-65.
6. Ibid., pp. 67,68.
7. Ibid., p. 78.
8. Ibid., p. 89.
9. Ibid., pp. 89,90.
10. Ibid., pp. 90,91.
11. Ibid., p. 92.
12. Ibid., p. 94.
13. Ibid., p. 95.
14. Ibid., p. 8.
15. Ibid., p. 18; also The Education of a Coach, by David Halberstam, (New York: Hyperion, 2005), pp. 214-221.
16. Ibid., Pierce, pp. 4,5.
17. Ibid., p. 27.
18. Ibid., p. 159.

(Copyright February, 2008, Steve Miller and Legacy Educational Resources, http://www.character-education.info , all rights reserved. For permission to reprint on another site or blog, e-mail steve miller at smillero@mindspring.com )

New Character Forum!

We're starting a character education forum this month at http://www.characterforum.info . Our purpose is to start making our character initiative more two-way, giving everyone the opportunity to chime in about what's working and what's not. If we get enough response, we can gain a lot of wisdom through posting questions, getting responses from across the globe, and sharing resources. Since we have from 450 to 600 people visiting our character site
( www.character-education.info ) daily, there's a vast amount of wisdom we'd like to draw from. One conversation has already begun. Hopefully, we'll start hearing from others soon.

Lessons from Coach Belichick

The New England Patriots won every regular season game this year. In a game as highly competitive as professional football, where you compete every week against the best of the best players, this is an almost unthinkable accomplishment. They're one of only two teams to have won three Super Bowls in four years and are in the playoffs as I type. Head coach Bill Belichick is considered one of the top coaches ever. What can we learn from him?

One of my top lessons from Belichick is perseverance. Many don't realize the hard times he had to endure to reach this pinnacle of success. Since pro football is so highly publicized and so widely followed, illustrations of character from this field can make their mark. Here's a story after reading his bio. Hope you can use it!

Bill the Failure

The Cleveland Browns' head coach was one unpopular guy. In five years he'd produced only one winning season. As if losing games wasn't bad enough, he fired Cleveland's favorite quarterback.

The press crucified him. At games, fans would chant, "Bill must go! Bill must go!" Bumper stickers called him an idiot. It got so bad that his children couldn't ride the bus to school because of other students' cruel comments. He received so many death threats that the police had to stake out near his home. He endured for four long years. But in the end, he probably did well to escape Cleveland with his life.

From One Failure to Another

After such a horror story in Cleveland, you might wonder why anyone would risk repeating it. But Bill loved football. At age nine he was scouting teams with his dad and studying film of teams. His dad didn't push him into coaching. In school and at home he incessantly talked football, studied football and dreamed up plays. And getting older didn't put out his fire for the game.

So when things got tough, he just worked harder.

But it takes more than football knowledge to be a head coach. Maybe Bill didn't have what it takes to motivate players, deal with the public, and chat with the press.

So everyone, including Bill, must have worried that his next head coaching job might be a repeat of the last. But he took the chance by accepting the invitation to lead the New England Patriots. The first year looked like another failure - a dismal 5 wins and 11 losses, the same record as his last season in Cleveland.

On Top of the World

But he didn't give up.

Rather than believe the crowds and the press in Cleveland, rather than listen to the detractors who doubted him in New England, he kept on working. He learned from his failures. And behind the scenes, he was building a coaching staff and a team for the future. Not a team built around a couple of flashy superstars, but a team of dedicated players who worked as a team, thought as a team and got credit as a team.

And it worked.

Today, Bill Belichick is universally acknowledged as a brilliant strategist - one of the top coaches to ever coach pro football. Two of his Super Bowl defensive game plans are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His Patriots dominate the world of professional football, having won five straight division titles (six overall). They are one of only two teams to have ever won three Super Bowls in four years .

But it could have never happen had he thrown in the towel after five humiliating years in Cleveland and a horrid first year in New England.

Reflections

Have you ever failed? Do certain subjects or skills or sports elude your grasp? Don't give up!

When people put you down, remember how the newspapers, radio and TV commentators put down Belichick. When they laugh at you, remember the bumper stickers that read, "Belichick is an idiot!" When you go through weeks and months of failure, remember Belichick's years of failure.

I suppose you could say that the road to success is paved with failures.

Discussion

1. In what ways did Bill Belichick fail?
2. In what ways did people reject him?
3. How would you have felt if you were rejected in the same way?
4. What do you think kept him going?
5. How have you faced rejection?
6. How do you know when to quit and when to keep going?
7. How can we overcome failure?

End Notes

(Copyright December, 2007 by Steve Miller and Legacy Educational Resources ( www.character-education.info ). Facts from The Education of a Coach, by David Halberstam (New York: Hyperion, 2005) and Wikipedia on Bill Bellichick.)

Why Character Education?

The knights of old lived and died by a code of ethics. Kings knew that disloyal or unscrupulous knights were more dangerous than no knights at all. In the late 20th century, many parents and educators forgot their duty to instill character in the next generation of leaders. The results have been devastating.

Imagining that good grades in the three R's would produce a good society, we sowed academics and reaped smart criminals - from a Math professor at Berkeley who terrorized us as the "Unabomber" to the brilliant leaders of Enron who stole our life savings.

On a local level, in an interview with educator Phillip Page, one businessman said,

"The scariest thing is the smart, unethical employee. I'd rather hire an illiterate but ethical employee than a brilliant unethical one."

Although the statement at first appears extreme, his rationale was that an extremely intelligent, but unethical employee will devise a way to rob him blind.

As Warren Buffett, America's most successful investor, advised,

''Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you.'' (From Omaha World Herald, February 1, 1994)

So let's commit ourselves to educate citizens to be both ethical AND literate. Fortunately, our country is rekindling its passion for character. Most states have now mandated character education in their schools. I hope this blog can help in some small way as we motivate one another to pursue character and to pass it on to the next generation.