Ingratitude

In Jonathan Swift's book Gulliver's Travels, Gulliver makes several remarks regarding the civil laws and social livelihood of Lilliput, the fictional kingdom of little people. One of the comments he records is that of how severely the Lilliputians react to ingratitude. Swift goes so far as to make ingratitude a capital crime "for the reason that whoever makes ill returns to his benefactor must needs be a common enemy to all mankind."

We can't make every action against one's neighbor a felony, but Swift certainly sees a legitimate connection between the common defects of life and the more heinous acts that pervade society. His keen insight into what is in the heart of man makes us realize that our lives are not lived in a vacuum. Each of us is a link in the chain of society and civility is what keeps the society functioning rightly.

Common acts of honor are the basic building blocks of a well functioning community. When we people act as base and self centered as scavanging beasts civility is lost and all who are within that sphere of influence suffers. This is why "honor your father and mother" ranks high on the list of commandments, even before "thou shalt not kill." It might even be argued that the fifth commandment safeguarded to prevent infactions of the sixth commandment.

But if we think about the honor and gratitude that is due to God we see another, more severe, item of concern. In Romans Paul says that men, in their sinfulness, neither give thanks to God nor honor him. If we import Swift's thought, we might see that society is everyday dangling from a slim thread. If ill return is shown to our greatest Benefactor, then how much more a threat does man pose to his neighbor?