- Moderator
- #1
This came out of another thread, where a discussion of people we considered heros came out.
Who do you consider a hero and why? What is a hero?
To me, the what is is someone I admire who I felt has done great things (even if only in a small arena) and/or transcended horrible things to become a great person. It's also someone who faces great adversity for a greater good.
My list of hero's is always growing, but they include the following.
James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner: these 3 young, American Civil Righst Activists were among the many that went south during the Freedom Summer of 1964 to help register black voters. They were ambushed and murdered by members of the KKK, and attempts to attain justice for their deaths covered up by corrupt police and government officials. What they were doing was life changing in the south, and dangerous - dangrous to an entrenched way of life that couldn't abide the thought of equal rights - voting rights - for black people and did everything in it's power to stop it, including murder. What they did was very brave and made a difference - their subsequent murders put the issue on every front page. They changed the United States of America and put Civil Rights in every living room.
Doctors Without Borders - this isn't one person, but many, and they are all heros. They enter dangerous areas, war zones, epidemic disease zones - to treat and help people. They don't have to do this. They are volunteers. They are often the only medical people in reach for desperate people. They war violence, political violence, and disease outbreaks. This really hit home recently when the news reported 4 hospitals in one week had been shelled in the Syrian conflict.
Journalists - this is another group, and a controversial one. But good journalists face many dangers trying to report on what is going on around the world. They have been killed, imprisoned, threatened when trying to cover conflicts or events in closed societies. Without them we would no little (other than government approved) news about the Syrian conflict, Afghanistan, Ukraine, North Korea and many other contentious places. Democracy and real freedom is impossible without the press keeping people informed and the more sources of information we have, the better informed we are about issues. I may not always agree - but I salute them.
Menachin Begin and Nelson Mandella. These two I put together as a pair because they are very similar, though I didn't see that at first. At one time, I was very critical of Begin, because he was a terrorist and responsible for a huge upswing in Irgun terrorist activity targeting civilians. Yet I considered Mandella a hero. In a thread a long while back I got into a discussion with another member about this. Yes, Begin was a terrorist - but what made him great was that he transcended that and began working for peace with Israel's enemies instead of conflict. Likewise with Mandella, I hadn't realize he had been an active terrorist but knew him mainly for what he did after being released from prison. Like Begin, Mandella was responsible for some horrific violence, and his time in prison tempored that, and brought about a new approach on bringing down apartheid. But most important, imo was what he did after - the truth and reconciliation effort, that kept South Africa together as a country and united it's people. That's a huge thing - look at what's happened in similar African countries (Rhodesia/Zimbabwe) - for example. It is that which makes Mandella a hero and a great man. In these two, we have imperfect heros who transcended their flaws and made something great.
Izzeldin Abulaish. Izzeldin is a Palestinian doctor born and raised in the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza. He was a doctor in an Israeli hospital and treated both Israeli and Palestinian patients. After his 3 daughters were killed by Israeli strike during the 2008 Gaza war it would have been so easy to take that grief and turn it into hatred, but he didn't. He wrote a book called "I shall not hate" and their deaths strengthened his resolve to work towards peace and promote reconciliation between Israeli's and Palestinians.
There are more heros...everyday heros, I'll think of more.
Who are your heros?
Who do you consider a hero and why? What is a hero?
To me, the what is is someone I admire who I felt has done great things (even if only in a small arena) and/or transcended horrible things to become a great person. It's also someone who faces great adversity for a greater good.
My list of hero's is always growing, but they include the following.
James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner: these 3 young, American Civil Righst Activists were among the many that went south during the Freedom Summer of 1964 to help register black voters. They were ambushed and murdered by members of the KKK, and attempts to attain justice for their deaths covered up by corrupt police and government officials. What they were doing was life changing in the south, and dangerous - dangrous to an entrenched way of life that couldn't abide the thought of equal rights - voting rights - for black people and did everything in it's power to stop it, including murder. What they did was very brave and made a difference - their subsequent murders put the issue on every front page. They changed the United States of America and put Civil Rights in every living room.
Doctors Without Borders - this isn't one person, but many, and they are all heros. They enter dangerous areas, war zones, epidemic disease zones - to treat and help people. They don't have to do this. They are volunteers. They are often the only medical people in reach for desperate people. They war violence, political violence, and disease outbreaks. This really hit home recently when the news reported 4 hospitals in one week had been shelled in the Syrian conflict.
Journalists - this is another group, and a controversial one. But good journalists face many dangers trying to report on what is going on around the world. They have been killed, imprisoned, threatened when trying to cover conflicts or events in closed societies. Without them we would no little (other than government approved) news about the Syrian conflict, Afghanistan, Ukraine, North Korea and many other contentious places. Democracy and real freedom is impossible without the press keeping people informed and the more sources of information we have, the better informed we are about issues. I may not always agree - but I salute them.
Menachin Begin and Nelson Mandella. These two I put together as a pair because they are very similar, though I didn't see that at first. At one time, I was very critical of Begin, because he was a terrorist and responsible for a huge upswing in Irgun terrorist activity targeting civilians. Yet I considered Mandella a hero. In a thread a long while back I got into a discussion with another member about this. Yes, Begin was a terrorist - but what made him great was that he transcended that and began working for peace with Israel's enemies instead of conflict. Likewise with Mandella, I hadn't realize he had been an active terrorist but knew him mainly for what he did after being released from prison. Like Begin, Mandella was responsible for some horrific violence, and his time in prison tempored that, and brought about a new approach on bringing down apartheid. But most important, imo was what he did after - the truth and reconciliation effort, that kept South Africa together as a country and united it's people. That's a huge thing - look at what's happened in similar African countries (Rhodesia/Zimbabwe) - for example. It is that which makes Mandella a hero and a great man. In these two, we have imperfect heros who transcended their flaws and made something great.
Izzeldin Abulaish. Izzeldin is a Palestinian doctor born and raised in the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza. He was a doctor in an Israeli hospital and treated both Israeli and Palestinian patients. After his 3 daughters were killed by Israeli strike during the 2008 Gaza war it would have been so easy to take that grief and turn it into hatred, but he didn't. He wrote a book called "I shall not hate" and their deaths strengthened his resolve to work towards peace and promote reconciliation between Israeli's and Palestinians.
There are more heros...everyday heros, I'll think of more.
Who are your heros?
