Faith of my father’s, a closer look essay

Faith of My Father’s, a Closer LookTranslation into Public WritingThe book “ Faith of My Fathers” where John McCain proudly claims the faith of his fathers as his own may have provided a false positive image of the character of John McCain. A closer look at his book will show us the truth about his weak character. John McCain discussed his life as a student and how he worked his way to becoming where he is at the moment. John McCain revealed that as a student he drank, he was a womanizer and he admitted to the fact that he was not one of the more disciplined students. It is absurd how John McCain simply brushed all these negative behavior aside. These acts were obviously done by a person with low moral character.

The sad part is that John McCain expects the readers of his book to give him a moral pass just because the same drinking and bad habits were inherited by him from his fathers. He claimed in his book that despite all his indiscretions everything would turn out fine because he had his father’s faith. There is a clear negative reliance on the fact that just because he had his father’s faith or just because some of his bad habits like drinking were also done by his father then his acts would be considered by the society as okay. It is even more saddening to note that John McCain does not realize that his father’s faith and his father’s bad habits do not constitute a valid excuse to be drinking, to be womanizing or to do the other disgraceful acts he had done which he also indicated in his book. Instead too much reliance on these excuses clearly illustrates a weak character and a displaced sense of morals.

John McCain said he knew that his fathers knew that when the time comes he would make the right decisions as he said in his book to quote: “ He knew I would fight, and I think he trusted me to do my duty when my moment arrived. I don’t know if I deserved his trust, but I am proud to have had it” (cited in: Faith of My Father’s by John McCain). John McCain thought that just because he would have the chance to prove himself when the moment comes then everything that he would do before that moment comes would be okay. That kind of attitude clearly implies a person of weak character who does wrong things but justifies them for an uncertain future moment where he would at that time make the right decision. The test of true great character however is not only proven on great moments.  The test of true great character is based on the decisions we have made and the decisions we continue to make on a daily basis. This is regardless if such decision is of great importance or not.  John McCain throughout his life failed this test and instead makes an excuse for it by implying that it was okay because he had his father’s faith.

The book also showcases how John McCain lacks his own set of beliefs instead borrows those of his fathers. From the start because John McCain knew that he was of military lineage he knew that he would end up serving. John McCain was confident because of the faith of his fathers. He knew that eventually he would turn out to be someone his fathers could be proud of. He even remarkably used this faith to get him out of certain situations to quote from his book: “ It was my father’s and grandfather’s faith. A filthy, crippled, broken man, all I had left of my dignity was the faith of my fathers. It was enough (cited in: Faith of My Father’s by John McCain).” The seeming strength of this faith ironically is the obvious weakness of John McCain’s character.

Why is it a weakness? There is no argument that such faith is one of the greatest gifts we can have from our fathers. However no matter how similar we are to our fathers we will always have our own faiths. We will always have beliefs that differ from our fathers. There are others who rely on their father’s faith they use it as a reference to make there own. John McCain however conveniently borrowed his father’s faith. He did not mention in his book any convictions that he had for his own. All he had were his father’s and grandfather’s faith and according to him it was enough. This is proof that due to over reliance to his father’s faith he did not even once created a single faith or conviction of his own all of his convictions are copied from his father.

There is however no argument that the faith handed down to us by our fathers is strong. Still the fact remains no faith and no conviction given to us even by our fathers can ever be stronger than that of our own. Nothing is stronger than our own faith and convictions because these are not borrowed.; ReflectionThe target audience of this translation are preferably the people who have read the book “ Faith of My Father’s” including those who are interested in reading this book and those who are interested to know more about the character of John McCain. The topic of the translation is of course the interpretation of the book of John McCain. The very purpose of the translation is to make everyone realize that the seemingly positive image of John McCain as portrayed in his book may not be at all positive. Instead this translation offers an opposite view of the image which the book of John McCain wanted to present. It is submitted that the translation can be published in both the Gazette and the Independent consequently it is contended that the more appropriate medium is the Gazette.

The reason for such contention is that because the contents of the said paper show us that they are leaning towards John McCain as a candidate. Therefore it can be deducted that the readers of the Gazette more likely favor John McCain. The translation if it were to be published in the said paper would elicit a strong reaction from its readers. Providing that they are more likely to support John McCain they will not like the translation but most if not all will realize that there is truth to it. This would be exactly the kind of reaction this translation wishes to elicitWorks CitedFaith of My Fathers by John McCainReleased August 1999