The dissident temperament has been present in all times and places, though only ever among a small minority of citizens. Its characteristic, speaking broadly, is a cast of mind that, presented with a proposition about the world, has little interest in where that proposition originated, or how popular it is, or how many powerful and credentialed persons have assented to it, or what might be lost in the way of property, status, or even life, in denying it. To the dissident, the only thing worth pondering about the proposition is, is it true? If it is, then no king’s command can falsify it; and if it is not, then not even the assent of a hundred million will make it true.
Via Audacious Epigone.
Before clicking the link, can you guess which stout-hearted, free thinker said the above? Was it Galileo? Solzhenitsyn? Perhaps some lesser known Medieval monk? What brave soul grips the sword and presses the shield against the rampaging bloodlust of the stupid, deceitful, witch-burning mob?
Hint: It wasn’t Lena Dunham. Nor Hugo Schwyzer. Nor Rich Lowry. It certainly wasn’t a typical SWPL plucked from the soft ensconcing of SWPLdom.
This one person and a few lonely allies is supposed to fill the Cathedral with fright? You scoff. But it only takes 10% of a population, committed to an idea, to change the course of history. Raise your shield, for your enemies are not as invincible as they seem, even now when they hurl themselves at you tooth, claw… and underbelly.
[crypto-donation-box]
