Thursday, January 30, 2025

Naval Academy Wisdom: Fidelity is Up; Obedience is Down

The NA parade belt buckle
To answer the question about what I’m seeing and hearing about current events from my vantage point: Honestly, it is ugly. I cannot express without sounding hyperbolic what would happen if employees obeyed all their new marching orders, but the folks I know who serve on the front lines and have not (yet) had their jobs terminated are being forced to wrestle with their values, their loyalties, and the feeling that they must choose between giving up their careers or their integrity. 

I don’t have to wonder what my late father, the Rev. Dr. Bob Walters would say about this; he often said it when asked, “What’s up?”
 
“Fidelity is up and obedience is down,” he'd respond with a mischievous grin. 

You see, my Dad was a US Naval Academy graduate who later served as a Marine Corps helicopter pilot,* and at the academy their parade belt buckles had the words Fidelity (top) and Obedience (bottom) stamped on them. "Fidelity is up, and obedience is down," they were taught to say. 

Many at the Naval Academy, Dad included, took this memory trick as a life lesson. Sometimes faithfulness to an institution requires disobeying orders that are disloyal to the true purpose of that institution. Dad indoctrinated me in this belief. And, yes, following it did get him (and me) institutionally shunned quite a few times. No regrets about any of those decisions, though. 

Dad gleaned the best parts of his military training and applied them to his missiology. Yes, he was willing to lay down his life to protect the vulnerable, but he was not seeking martyrdom. He taught me that peace and prosperity are built through sacrifice and teamwork; redemption and restorative justice through repentance, love, and solidarity. In our work we will encounter narcissists, tyrants, kleptocrats, and even sociopaths, and the more community building we can accomplish before catching their attention the better our chances of success (Hence he gave the NGO he co-founded the motto “Small footprint: Big Change”). 

 And so my beloved siblings, I’ll close with these words followed by a quote from a sermon Dad preached in 2001: 

Sometimes we leave unethical institutions in order to be part of the struggle; other times we remain in them for the very same reason.  




*And then he became a United Methodist pastor whose primary gravesite/memorial is in the heart of the DR Congo. Those stories can be found here. 



Matthew 10:16 (NRSVUE) 

“I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."

No comments:

Post a Comment