Standing for the Truth Can Be Costly

When was the last time you took a moral stand and realized that it was going to cost you in the outer world though it was quite rewarding in your inner world because you stayed true to yourself? I think that the former Congressman from Illinois, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R) might have a few words to say about such a situation. I think that he could be joined by Rep. Liz Cheney (R) also. They both suffered the loss of their congressional seats partially due to their work on the January 6th Committee. They took a stand and they lived into the necessity that they had to be a part of the search for the truth around the issues that we all witnessed on January 6th.

Rep. Kinzinger has been clear in stating that if he had it to do again, that he would. He did not declare that he would do it to be reelected because it is clear that it would not help him since it contributed to his having to retire and return to CNN to work. It seems that it was a combination of redistricting and January 6ththat forced him to retire. Rep. Cheney on the other hand lost her seat and it seems rather clear that the work that she did on the January 6th Committee was a factor and perhaps the major factor.

So, while these are two very stellar examples of what standing for the truth can bring to your life. We who are paying attention observe many in our political square who have a very strange relationship with the truth. There are many who could be on this list, but the one that has been the most painful to witness is Governor DeSantis in Florida and this has been especially true regarding his efforts to obstruct the process of people receiving vaccinations for Covid-19 and his treatment of persons fleeing to Florida who are seeking asylum from horrible political, socio-economic, and other unbearable social oppression in their respective countries.

It is very difficult to understand the reasons that the person who touted the discovery of Covid-19 vaccinations two years ago is now equally as passionate about discouraging folks to get vaccinated and was the only state in the country to refuse to order the vaccinations for children. It is so clearly an example of commitment to a personal political agenda which has nothing to do with promoting the general welfare of his constituency. All of us know that the vaccinations and the medicine that has been made available has helped to save lives. It is quite disturbing for someone who is a public servant to find a case here and there of an unfortunate reaction to either vaccinations or treatment that did not end well and put that on the table as evidence about why the millions whose lives have been saved from these resources should not have them.

In addition to this indefensible behavior is the Governor’s strategy of putting some of the persons who are coming to his state as refugees on buses and sending them elsewhere. Who treats human beings this way except someone who has become completely blinded by a personal power-seeking agenda that is void of compassion, capacity for empathy or a sense of the ways in which all of us are connected? I wrote about this when he did it the first time and now, he has been joined by the Governor of Texas. This type of behavior does not serve anyone and can only be explained by someone who is wishing to engage in political grandstanding and is using the “the least of these “as the fodder for his political canon.

People will die who did not get vaccinated because they will listen to their governor and the disingenuous medical people who join him, though the medical folks took an oath to do no harm. Refugees are so vulnerable, and I do believe that everyone should be careful how the “least of these” are treated on their watch. Who do we want to be? Hopefully a nation that has a few bottom lines that will stand up for the truth even when is costly? Or a nation that only believes in power and using any means necessary to attain that power?

Who do you want to be? When was the last time you took a moral stand that cost you?

May there continue to be those among us like Reps. Kinzinger and Cheney who help us to see that there are some universal principles that we can stand together in affirming as we allow ourselves to transcend our differences of opinion. May we all work to be a half shade braver each day.