Last night my husband and I watched The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler. There were more than a few times I found myself reaching for tissues. Of course, the imagery of the plight of the Jewish people during Word War II always tugs at the heart strings, especially the scenes where the mothers were willing to give up their children in order to have a chance at sparing their lives from what would inevitably become the Holocaust in which six million Jews were murdered.
When I realize how much one woman can change things(Irena saved 2500 children in Warsaw, Poland) I was also saddened by the fact that so many of us today, don't take a stand like that. I went to bed feeling that we would never see her kind in this world again. Too many of us don't want to rock the boat or offend our group of friends or put ourselves in danger - not even for something so important as our faith, our belief system.
This morning when I read the news; however, I was full of hope that there are people who are willing to stand up. First, I reminded myself of all of the stir going on over President Obama speaking at Notre Dame's commencement. All of those bishops, cardinals, and Catholics across the country courageously speaking out against a wrong are standing up.
Then I read the headlines about Miss California's comments during the Miss USA contest that was held Sunday. It distresses me to no end that it seems increasingly alllowable to discredit and discount someone's belief just because it doesn't match yours. Last time I checked we lived in a country where we are allowed to speak freely. Unfortunately, the prevailing idea of the day is that we can have "free speech" if we say something you like or we agree with you blindly. This tactic seems to be a hallmark of the opponents to Prop 8 in California. Perez Hilton, the openly gay judge and infamous blogger who asked the question to Miss Prejean went to call her something I would rather not repeat on his web site.
But I digress. I applaud Carrie Prejean for standing up for what she believes in and giving an open and honest answer with the world watching regardless of the criticism or harrassment that would follow. I admire her for not changing her belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman just to win a title or impress the judges.
When any of us are faced with a situation like Irena Sendler's or Carrie Prejean's what would we do? As the U2 song says I can stand up for hope, faith, love or do you take the road often more traveled and sit by doing nothing?
