In the spring of 2008, reports of bribery were blossoming throughout the world. In China, Zhou Liangluo, a former Beijing district chief, was sentenced to death for accepting U.S. $2.37 million for special favors to ten companies.1 In Russia, financial watchdog Sergei Smirnov was charged with extorting U.S. $21,000 from a corrupt businessman caught in an audit.2 In the U.S., Tony Rezko was convicted on 16 counts of trading political influence for money in Illinois.3 Indeed, bribery is so pervasive that one might be tempted to cave in to the practice, believing there is no alternative.

“Not, so,” argues legal scholar and Federal Judge John Noonan. In his authoritative book Bribes, he offers answers to common excuses for this practice and then states his basic case for rejecting bribery in every form:

1. Everybody does it: Some argue, “What has been done everywhere at every time cannot be contrary to human nature or destructive of the human pursuit of the Good,”4 but the premise is false. Though pervasive, bribery is far from universal. And even if it were universal, morality is not established by counting noses.5

2. It is necessary to do it: Then how can it be that the vast majority of companies have actually prospered without it?6

3. Reciprocities are formally indistinguishable: While there are borderline cases, most gifts, tips, and contributions are clearly different from bribes.7

4. It is immorally enforced: Some warn, “When certain exchanges are categorized as bribes, enforcement of their condemnation is inconsistent; intemperate; hypocritical; an expression envy.”8 But this argument could be applied to all ethical issues and would result in the collapse of all moral and legal standards.9

5. The material effect of the exchanges commonly condemned is either trivial or undemonstrated: Some say that the bribery taboos “should be discarded when no actual injury which they avert can be identified.”10 But, man does not live by material effects alone. There is nothing trivial about the collapse of moral ideals.11

Noonan goes on to assert: 1. Bribery is universally shameful. Every country criminalizes it. “In no country do bribetakers speak publicly of their bribes, or bribegivers announce the bribes they pay.”12 2. Bribery is a sellout to the rich. “If bribes were not morally objectionable, we would live in a world of pure plutocracy where wealth would be the measure of all things.”13 3. Bribery is a betrayal of trust. “The trust [vested in an official] cannot be repudiated without denying the responsibility inherent in the role and thereby denying the role itself.”14 4. Bribery violates a divine paradigm. “As the God of Job and Jesus does not take or give bribes, so cannot those who imitate Him.”15

Of course, it is a painful thing to lose business, but it is a catastrophe both to lose one’s integrity and to feed the monster that is the culture of bribery.
 
Footnotes:
 
1  Lydia Chen, “Former Beijing District Chief Gets Death for Graft,” ShanghaiDaily.com, March 28, 2008, http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=353836&type=National (accessed June 7, 2008).
 
2  “Moscow Financial Watchdog Inspector Accused of Bribe Taking,” NOVOSTI, Russian News and Information Agency Website, June 6, 2008, http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080605/109312526.html (accessed June 7, 2008).
 
3  Bob Secter and Jeff Coen, “Rezko Convicted of Corruption,” Chicago Tribune Website, June 4, 2008, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-rezko-verdict-web,0,2256058.story?page=1 (accessed June 7, 2008).
 
4  John T. Noonan, Jr., Bribes (New York: Macmillan, 1984), 685.
 
5  Ibid., 693.
 
6  Ibid.
 
7  Ibid., 695.
 
8  Ibid., 690.
 
9  Ibid., 699.
 
10  Ibid., 691.
 
11  Ibid., 700.
 
12  Ibid., 702.
 
13  Ibid., 703.
 
14  Ibid., 705.
 
15  Ibid.
 
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“The Power of Shame: The International Battle against Corruption”

article adopted from Kairos Journal

First Baptist Church of Perryville is located at 4800 West Pulaski Hwy., Perryville, MD