I often wonder why I bother to object to the many injustices being perpetrated by our Nation’s current administration. What possible influence can I have? Who cares what I think about any of it?
This morning I ran across this quote by Cole Arthur Riley, and was reminded of why I persist:
Our resistance is not predicated on how likely it will be to alter the conscience of the oppressor.
We resist to retain our own conscience. And to awaken all others who are still in possession of their own souls.
-Cole Arthur Riley
Darrell Parsons
Talbot County
Talbot County
Bob Kopec says
Well said. Trump is a bully, although very weak. Unemployment is up along with prices on most things. People are being rounded up and detained reminiscent of the start of Hitler’s Nazi rein. I shudder to think what this country and world will look like after 3.5 more years of Trump.
Margot McClellan says
Thank you for reminding us of this. It is easy to lose sight of the importance of maintaining our own humanity in inhumane times.
Rick Hughes says
Wonderful quote, thanks for sharing. I have saved it.
Please join us to demonstrate your resistance at the next NO KINGS rally on October 18th in Easton or locations around the country!
trudy wonder says
Please continue to object; in whatever way you can muster. Alone, we feel small. Together, we are unstoppable.
Never forget… One act may seem like a drop — but a million drops make a flood.
Lyn Banghart says
Thank you for this Darrell! I love the quote and as you know, I am right there with you! My letter will be coming soon!
Anne C Stalfort says
Well said. Thanks for the reminder.
Caroline Thomas says
Thanks so much for sharing.
Deborah colborn says
Thank you, Darrell, that is succinct and right on. It’s the right thing to do
The Rt. Rev. Joel Marcus Johnson, Bishop of The Chesapeake, Ret. says
What wise words!
Wilson Dean says
In these troubling times when it seems as though nothing we can do can make a difference, we should read and re-read this quote often. Alone we are ineffective, but when millions of people across our country act forcefully with this quote in mind, we will present a formidable opposition to the devastating damage being done by Trump and his fellow travelers.
Eva M. Smorzaniuk says
Thank you Darrell! So many of us are discouraged by the rapid disassembly of our democracy, especially when it seems so many are complicit. This reminds us that not speaking up makes one part of the problem.
Kent Robertson says
It is also why conservatives persist in opposing the policies of woke progressives. I only hope that before I die we will return to a country where differences of opinion can be discussed openly without reprisals, demonization, and hatred. How are we to solve our problems if we can’t talk about them in a civil manner?
We needn’t be so polarized. I liked Al Sikes’ 9/11 article in which he quoted Yale theologian Mirosav Volf:
Enormous problems happen, Volf says, when we exclude our enemy from the community of humans and when we exclude ourselves from the community of sinners, when we forget that our enemy is not a subhuman monster but a human being, when we forget that we are not the perfect good but also flawed persons. By remembering this, our hatred doesn’t kill us or absorb us, and we can actually go out and work for justice.”
Deirdre LaMotte says
Kent, I agree. This will not happen until democracy
supporting people are willing to oppose a one-man
ruled GOP.
I have never in my life heard such sewer language
and outright indecency then from this group in charge.
It has become not about “policy”, as it should, but of
a lack of basic morality.
Kent Robertson says
Having read many of your replies over the last year, Ms LaMotte, I have no hope that you and I could have a civil discussion. You have decided before ever meeting me or knowing why I supported Trump over Clinton or Harris. You have lumped me together with half the country as lacking basic morality.
So no, if you were the deciding voice, there would be little hope for civil discussion.