There's this story I remember from college. I wrote about it in another context on another blog, but it bears repeating, at least in part, here:

In book 2 of The Republic, Plato told the story of Gyges of Lydia, a trusted shepherd for King Candaules. One day, there was an earthquake and a cave opened up. Gyges entered it and found a mummified king on a throne wearing a gold ring that rendered Gyges invisible when worn (ever wonder where JRR got the inspiration for a magic Ring that made you invisible while corrupting your soul?). He pocketed the ring and arranged to be one of the people who gave a report to the king on his flocks (kind of a sheep damage report). There, under the cloak of invisibility, he killed the king, took his wife for his own and staged a coup d'etat, crowning himself monarch (read the rest of the original post on Like Nobody's Business).

It reminds me that righteousness isn't always a factor of goodness--sometimes, it's a factor of how likely one is to get caught. Hat tip to the good folks at Dispatches from the Culture Wars who brought us this righteous hate-filled rant by Oklahoma legislator, Sally Kern.

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