Your Weekly Minute for Peace
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
John F. Kennedy
From Socrates to Rotary: a shared ethic of word and deed
Comparing Socrates’ three filters and Rotary International’s Four-Way Test reveals a surprising ethical continuity between antiquity and the contemporary world.
Socrates already proposed a discipline of speech based on three simple requirements: “Is it true? Is it good? Is it useful?” Rotary adopts this same logic, extending it to the field of action: “Is it true? Is it fair? Is it a source of goodwill and friendship? Is it equitable and beneficial to everyone?”
The correspondence is striking.
Truth forms the common foundation.
Socratic kindness finds its extension in loyalty and the promotion of goodwill.
As for utility, it becomes the pursuit of a shared benefit.
In both approaches, speech is never neutral: it engages the responsibility of the one who utters it.
Despite a separation of more than twenty-four centuries, Greek philosophy and Rotary ethics converge towards the same ambition: to sustainably improve the quality of human relations.
Members of the Angelina Rotary Club recently participated in several workdays at the Lufkin Pregnancy Help Center, assembling outreach bags for expectant mothers in our community.
Each bag included diapers, baby wipes, sanitary napkins, a water bottle, chap stick, and a snack. Also included was a folder containing information about services available through the Pregnancy Help Center and other local agencies that support mothers and families.
In total, Rotarians assembled 500 outreach bags for distribution throughout the community.
According to Shanie Sanford, Executive Director
of the Pregnancy Help Center, several clients have already registered to receive services after receiving bags from the first distribution efforts — an early sign that this project is already making a meaningful impact.
Angelina Rotary Club is proud to support organizations that provide hope, care, and practical assistance to families in East Texas.
New Members Inducted!
Angelina Rotary Club welcomed two new members to their club at the Club Assembly on May 14th. Roman Green Collins and Julie Jumper-Morris were inducted into membership by Club President Elect Ellen Moreau.
