day no. 15,588: intellectual eunuch societies

"The service officer is not expected to be an intellectual eunuch, oblivious to all of the faults in the institution to which he gives his loyalty. To the contrary, the nature of that loyalty requires that he will use his force toward the righting of those things which reason convinces him are going wrong, though making certain that his action will not do more damage than repair." -- The Armed Forces Officer, U.S. Department of Defense (1950)

Loyalty does not require cutting one's self off from reality. You can love and be loyal to something without having to pretend it doesn't have any problem or defend any of its faults per se. Loyalty insists on seeing the faults of its beloved, but does not insist on separating from the beloved because of them. 

It is the same with participation in a local church. A member does not have to pretend that their church has no problems or defend each of its faults in order to be a loyal member. On the contrary, members are obligated to see shortcomings. But what makes them a member is what they do about the problems. Members are not required to be blind to issues. They are required to be active in addressing them. That is what makes one a faithful member of an organization.

“No one doubts that an ordinary man can get on with this world: but we demand not strength enough to get on with it, but strength enough to get it on. Can he hate it enough to change it, and yet love it enough to think it is worth changing?” - G.K. Chesterton

Love of the body produces acknowledgment of the body's deficiencies combined with commitment to strengthening those weaknesses. It loves the body enough to want to grow strong where it is weak which requires seeing holes and seeking to fill them.