The courage of one's convictions

"...Last, but by no means least, courage—moral courage, the courage of one's convictions, the courage to see things through. The world is in a constant conspiracy against the brave. It's the age-old struggle--the roar of the crowd on one side and the voice of your conscience on the other."  (Douglas MacArthur)  [maybe not a good example as he was reportedly a weenie and a mama's boy]



"It is curious—curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare." (Mark Twain)



In Washington state, we have a case that will be argued by the U.S. Supreme Court regarding whether or not signers of petitions to put initiatives and referendums on the ballot can be released to the public.  It all started when a group of citizens collected signatures to put on the ballot a vote granting same-sex couples the rights and benefits of marriage.  The state legislature had previously passed such a law and the signature collectors hoped that putting the issue to a vote would undermine it and cause it to fail.  Another group of people claimed that they would seek out the signers and publish their names.  The signers were afraid and unhappy about this.  They don't want their neighbors and friends know about their prejudices.  Now the Supreme Court must intervene.


We've become a society of back-seat grumblers and rabble-rousers.  It's all good to hide in a  crowd of grousers--safety in numbers and all that; but to set yourself apart, as an individual, as the neighbor who walks his dog every day, as that guy who wears rabbit slippers to pick up his mail, as the lady who plants flowers at the roundabout, no, we don't want anything to disrupt that identity.  We want to hate with impunity. 


It seems to me that if you are afraid of letting your beliefs to be known, that if you don't have the courage of your convictions, that it's time to take a serious look at your beliefs.  It may be that your "convictions" are at odds with what you know deep down to be right and just and true.  If signing a petition makes you afraid to be identified, then perhaps that inner voice is telling you there's something wrong with your values.