Even at the risk of being heroes…
Sometimes in life, you have to “throw yourself under the bus” as the phrase goes. In other words, if you have strong convictions about something, you find it necessary to stand up for it, even in the face of strong opposition or ridicule. At least, this is how I was raised, and what I believe.
I was reminded of a movie quote I have always liked last week. It is from “A Man For All Seasons” and the scene involves a man explaining to his daughter why he is unable to swear allegiance to someone he does not believe in, even when he must pay personally for that conviction.
But look now. If we lived in a state where virtue was profitable… …common sense would make us saintly. But since we see that avarice, anger, pride and stupidity… …commonly profit far beyond charity, modesty, justice and thought… …perhaps we must stand fast a little… …even at the risk of being heroes.
The opportunity to embody this concept has presented itself to me many times throughout my life, and I have always tried (and sometimes failed) to rise to the occasion. One recent example of this would be my “anti-Obama” post from last week. In the face of what is widely heralded as one of the best speeches of our generation (acclaim that I agree with, by the way) I felt the need to state my feelings about one small aspect of the speech that I found troubling. I have received quite a bit of negative feedback as a result, but, I’m fine with that. First of all, it makes me feel good to think that the man I will be voting for in November has such strident supporters. Additionally, the more discussion it creates, the more it has accomplished its mission.
But I digress… there are much larger and more prominent examples of this throughout history. We do not need to go beyond the history of our relatively young country to find example after example…
In 1955 Rosa Parks began a domino effect of change in the nation and world by simply remaining in her seat and refusing to surrender it to a white passenger. Among the many results of her actions was the coming of age of a young activist named Martin Luther King during the ensuing Montgomery Bus Boycott. By standing her ground, despite the absolute certainty of personal inconvenience or harm, Rosa Parks changed the world, and is now known as the “mother of the modern day civil rights movement”
In 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton helped organize and hold the first Women’s Rights Convention. For that convention, she wrote a Declaration of Sentiments which in essence formalized and launched the women’s movement in this country.
Not everything needs to be a protest, battle or stand, either. Good people, doing good things, offering random acts of kindness and consideration make a difference every day. Yesterday, I linked to a great story about how the movie Pay it Forward was effecting peoples lives years after the its release. The concept was not original to that movie and is in fact credited back at least as far as Benjamin Franklin. Today, and everyday, Rachel’s Challenge fosters that legacy of hope, summed up best in the following quote from one of Rachel Scott’s high school essays:
“I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion then it will start a chain reaction of the same”
All of these people, and so many others like them (i.e. Thurgood Marshall, Rodolfo Gonzales too name just two) have something in common, they stood for something. They had a belief and stuck to it, and worked to make a difference in the world.
All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men (or women) to do nothing.
What do you believe in, and how are you manifesting that belief in the world?
Yeah. I believe that whatever you do, whenever you should always try not to hurt someone else. I think it’s making a difference with how I raise my children…
Comment by Devilbluedress — March 25, 2008 @ 6:41 pm
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~~~~STANDS AND APPLAUDS~~~~~
How wonderfully written! It reminds me of the song lyrics “you’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything”. You are both so right! Kudos!!!!!!
Comment by Twila Marie — March 30, 2008 @ 8:32 am
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