This week was the conclusion of Machiavelli's "The Prince" and he definitely did not fail to deliver in his final chapters. Once again you could see major correlations between his philosophies and modern day politics. As he says in his book you might not actually have all the great virtures but you must appear that you do. I draw this back to our politicians. The man we see on t.v. is clean shaven, happy, devoutly Christian, and a family man but in reality, he is practicing cut throat politics and rarely sees his family or attends church because he is too busy with his agenda to do so. This is a strict stereotype but I feel that for many of our politicians it is correct. However, many of our people do not press to see beyond the false visage because we (the general public) want our politicians to fit into the mold. Isn't it true that when politicians show their true colors we are much more likely to criticize them? According to a recent poll, nearly 1/4 of the nation believe President Obama is a Muslim. Why? Because he has failed to keep up the "Christian" appearance, now mind you he has claimed to be a Christian on several occasions, and I myself believe him, but too many people see his lack of attending church and his heritage, as a threat to the Christian nation. I am a Christian, and I find this appalling. God calls us not to judge, if President Obama says he is a Christian then we ought to believe him. We shouldn't harrass people because they are not "keeping up appearances".
So does Machiavelli have a point, is it necessary for a leader to keep up appearances, to seem virtuous in all aspects of his life? Take a look at our country's politics, and the evidence will show itself.
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