In a World of Bad Behavior, a Call for Personal Accountability

When I was a boy of about five, I loved thumbing through my grandmother’s nature books.

One day I came across a full color photo of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. I was fascinated by the image, and my grandmother gave me a brief tutorial on metamorphosis. It was the biggest word I’d ever heard.

Later that day I was introduced to another big word: conscience.

When my grandmother left the room, I carefully and quietly tore the photo out of the book.

Something inside my five-year-old brain a...