Chivalry

My wife still giggles at me some times for being old fashioned.  I carry the groceries from the car.  I open the car door for her.  I open the house door.  I try to be chivalrous.  It's the way I was brought up, and the way I think all men should be brought up.  But I don't think I've ever seen a concept such as Chivalry put into words quite like this:

I said that chivalry — unlike the anti-chivalry movement — had a point. This is it. Chivalry calls for the strongest to serve and honor the weakest, realizing that the other option is for the strongest to dominate and abuse the weakest. Chivalry is one of the things that separates us from gorillas and wolves and rats. We, as chivalrous men, are called to use our strength in service to women, children, the infirm, and the elderly. 

(.....)

In the mean time, as a routine matter, chivalry is still essential. Men should carry bags, and hold doors, and pull out chairs, and offer seats to women, not because women are incapable of standing or opening their own doors, but because of what these acts represent — what they say. And what they say is simple: “I am bigger and stronger than you, but I will use my strength to honor you and protect you. I will not hurt you. I will not take advantage of you. I will humble myself before you and serve you.”

  (Emphasis in the original)

This guy gets it.  There comes a point in a man's life where he has the power and the ability to abuse just about anyone and everyone around him if he so chose to do so.  The whole point of Chivalry is to raise a man up from being just another animal, and make him a real Man.  Take away that code, take away that way of thinking, and you're just an ape hitting another ape with a stick, no matter what form that stick takes.