I’m beginning to think that we accept things like waterboarding because we’ve developed a warped sense of what “courage” is.
As the US has moved from David to Goliath, we’ve had to redefine what it means to be courageous. Even though we may want David anymore, we want the people doing our unpleasant tasks to think they’re more like David than Goliath. So being part of an overwhelming force with a huge technical advantage is considered courageous. Bill Maher’s timing was off, but he had a point.
In recent times, I have seen the following hailed as “courageous”
- A Jesuit magazine siding with Notre Dame in the Obama invitation scandal.
- A mother publicly complaining about how boring her kids are, then using her widely read blog to attack someone who disagreed.
Jim Manzi seems to get what real courage is. It is not being willing to do nasty stuff in order to keep ourselves and our loved ones secure. It’s not attacking those we disagree with from a position of safety.
It is in stating true to our principles even when doing so is dangerous.
I pray the Holy Spirit will fill us with genuine courage.
