I watched the film V for Vendetta the other day, (as recommended by Claire!) and was so struck by it I had to write a blog post about it. I'll start with this quote, from the letter which Evie finds in the hole in the wall, the emotiveness of it is simply stunning.
"Our integrity sells for so little, but it is all we really have. It is the very last inch of us. But within that inch we are free."
It is such a poignant quote, and also meaningful to the Why Revolution campaign. Because by encouraging people to not just do good deeds that involve giving, or complimenting friends, but also to forgive or help someone who might have hurt you in the past, we are encouraging people to use their integrity. It is something that we give up so freely, all of us have been in a situation where something bad is happening, yet we have not had the courage to stand up for what we believe in. In class when the popular kids were making the class geek's life a misery, when we hear someone talking about someone behind their back... all the times we have seen unpleasant things happen and done nothing, we have let our integrity be bought by those we see as cleverer, more popular, more fashionable... but as the old saying goes 'there are three types of people in the world. Those those do evil things, those who see evil but do nothing, and those who stand up and be counted'. And when we are sitting on the bus seeing the bigger, louder kids picking on the nerdy kid, we have to think 'Which type of person am I and which do I want to be? Because I have been that nerdy, unpopular kid getting picked on on the bus, and I can tell you from my heart, just one person saying "hey cut it out, leave her alone" makes an ocean of difference.
I recently watched a program recently about Cyntoia Brown, a young woman who committed murder at just 15, and is serving a life sentence in Tennessee women's prison. She had had a harder life than any of us can even begin to contemplate, fell into drugs, crime, and prostitution, eventually shooting a 42 year old man who had picked her up for sex, mistakenly believing he was reaching for a gun. She received little education, but is unusually intelligent and insightful. She described her integrity as being 'Like a jewel which has been thrown far out to sea, and I guess I have to search until I find it again". No matter what we have done, no matter how many times we have seen something happening that we disagree with and done nothing, there is always a way to find that jewel. I agree with the quote from V for Vendetta, except for one point, we do not sell our integrity, but we let the opinions of others hide it, we let it be thrown out to sea, but equally, every single one of us is capable of finding that precious jewel again, if we believe in ourselves.
" First they came for the communists,
ReplyDeleteand I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me."
Martin Niemöller was a German pastor and theologian born in Lippstadt, Germany, in 1892 (wiki)
Often I want to speak out but I am afraid, of what the others will do, of what people will think of me. I admire those that always stick to their principles, who are willing to "stand up & be counted".