We know there are values tested by generations upon generations to be worthy of acquiring and translating into actual living.

• Faith, Hope, Love for truth, Love for fellowmen, Love for righteousness, Love for God
• Desire for knowledge, understanding, wisdom
• Discipline of body, mind, heart. spirit

Even people who claim they do not have a God will admit that they believe in some things they claim to be right. They too have conscience.

Suppose a person has these in life, he would probably have a great influence in the lives of many other people, unless prevented by circumstances.

Socrates, the great philosopher who had the habit of questioning in order to pursue truth, may have lost his case during his time. But we know he is remembered by countless students from generation to generation. People who convicted him and killed him just because of philosophical argumentation proved themselves inferior to Socrates himself. What can be wrong with questioning for the sake of reasoning in order to arrive at truth ? The leaders of his time turned out to be “killers” of the human right to question, aside from being violators of a God-given Law to love and to give every human being the dignity of being God’s creation. But Socrates took a stand.

We need such characters and not those who resort to violence due to reasons of their own at the expense of lives of other people. Perhaps if Socrates incited people to de-stabilize a government, to rise up in arms, or to disobey authorities, then his character would be clouded with doubts. Did you know that Socrates was poor in his time ? They probably kept him poor out of jealousy or envy since he was receiving the attention of listeners during his time. Socrates had questions of faith in a god. But who was more godless after his enemies killed him? Was it Socrates who did not kill or the intelligent killers ? Could it have been Socrates who was materially poor and could not have helped his enemies understand what he was saying (For he could have invested on occassions to develop good rapport with the religious leaders — if he had the means for the purpose.) or the wealthy leaders who could have supplied Socrates better means to provide for his family, as a sign of friendly gesture to respect his right to express his beliefs and reasons ? Socrates taught us to have faith in the power of reasoning in order to arrive at truth and what is moral or what is immoral. The killers of Socrates tried to kill that same faith in a God-given ability to reason out.

A re-enactment of his case in the present time and in the future will make him the ultimate winning character. Made to decide on who is the real evil, I cannot ever say it might be Socrates. Made to decide who is the greater good, I would have voted for Socrates.

Today, even the Catholic Church upholds Socrates as an idealist, a moral reformer, a believer in the immortality of the soul, and “equal” to Saints. His way of teaching or questioning is still utilized in man’s struggle to understand faith in God. It tries to contend that man is ignorant about the topic. Yet in the process of questioning, as we should encourage people to do likewise, the knowledge of truth clarifies God in relation to Man. That clarification will facilitate man’s genuine conversion from a believer only in thoughts to a believer in practical living.

If you have the character of Socrates in our present time, you would easily find happiness and success with a very inquisitive mind.