Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger, Hopalong Cassidy, Gunsmoke, and The Rifleman, have been favorites of any child who loves Westerns. There are times when I’m channel surfing that I still stop to watch a rerun of Gunsmoke or The Rifleman.

Before Chuck Conners played the role of McCain, he had served in the Army, and played for the Dodgers, Cubs and Celtics.  When The Rifleman series was cancelled, Conners landed the starring role of Captain Jason McCord in Branded.

In the show, McCord is a graduate of West Point and the sole survivor of the Bitter Creek massacre. He is unjustly deemed to have been a coward and is dismissed in disgrace.

A question in the theme song summarizes the show: What do you do when you’re branded, and you know you’re a man?

Conners, as Lucas McCain and Jason McCord, was a man of integrity, and in both roles, he reflects the principle of Proverbs 28:6: Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.

Like McCord, a person can be falsely accused of misdeeds he’s never done.  This can occur because the facts aren’t known or because a person is angry and is trying to harm the innocent.

Solomon said, The loose tongue of the godless spreads destruction; the common sense of the godly preserves them. ~Proverbs 11:9

Thanks to Ryan Lochte and his swim buddies, I’ve been thinking about integrity and wondering: Is their behavior indicative of a lack of integrity, or is it a commentary on the moral fiber of our nation?  Should we be surprised when these young men spin the truth and lie when this has become the norm in Washington?

I’ll close with this video clip from Branded….