Men of Mark

Yes, it may seem a bit peculiar that in the 19th century there were many books published on the theme "Men of Mark." The Biblical book of Revelation warns against us as Christians from taking upon our bodies, hand and forehead, the "mark" of the beast, which is thought by many to be the number 666 and yet Ralph Waldo Emerson rattles on about the virtues of being a man of "mark." In a lecture delivered in 1844, Emerson says: "The consideration of an eminent citizen, of a noted merchant, of a man of mark in his profession; a naval and military honor, a general's commission, a marshal's baton, a ducal coronet, the laurel of poets, and, anyhow procured, the acknowledgment of eminent merit, —have this lustre for each candidate that they enable him to walk erect and unashamed in the presence of some persons before whom he felt himself inferior." So is John saying that it is wrong to be a distinguished person and to strive to do amazing good deeds? Is there any physical mark that these "men of mark" share in common with each other? This terms seems to be used mainly to refer to WASP men, as I seem to remember someone saying, and yet plenty of unrenowned non-WASPs have scars and birthmarks and also have done good deeds of various kinds and have earned various laurels and honors by their good deeds. Many of us here in white U.S.A. look upon this regard for "mark" as a quaint usage obviously tied to a certain train of thought originating in 18th or 19th century England and America. Nobody uses this term anymore, and yet many out-of-date non-WASPs are still playing by the 19th century rulebook in which being "better" than other races was part of the Christian missionary method of a bygone era of centuries past. I am sure I could find more examples of such thinking in 19th century missionary lore but we in America have been taught in the 20th century by our missionary gurus in Springfield to not try to be "better" than other races in such obviously advantageous ways and to sort of step aside and let the local natives do their thing without any help  from us in order to give them a chance to improve themselves and so that they can stick it to America. And what reward do we get for obeying the "indigenous missionary" rulebook? Nothing really, just basically a huge pie smashed in face. So I was robbed and yet I am expected to be grateful for nothing. I think this whole thing stinks but it's too late now to fix it. I was just another casualty of the "indigenous" missionary scam.