Bit late for that in my case, I've already learned its best to just keep my mouth shut, especially since the government is imprisoning people for jokes now.
Honestly, that is all the more reason to start speaking up.
That is completely unacceptable.
You're right, but I'm a coward.
Fuck yeah, the Pope. Never thought I'd say that before.
If that's actually a true reflection on your inner self, than you're already many steps ahead of others who don't recognize it at all. Courage starts with action, and every little action that makes the world a better place is worthwhile and you can start whenever. Even a simple act of kindness can transform things.
One guy gets an unfair trial (one which most of the world is infuriated about) and you're already weak at the knees? Come on, dude.
Courage is acting despite knowing the consequences. People who simply ignore those consequences are not courageous - they are reckless.
You have already taken the first step towards being courageous.
Its funny how Alex Jones thinks this guy is Satan yet the point he just made is Jones' primary selling point
and god forbid anything happens to him you bet the next one will be absolutely staunch conservative.
Someone will speak up for you, you just have to be there to stand behind them.
As long as they're calling for reasonable measures and not extremism I'm all for it, but uhh, Mr Francis, my support drained away pretty quick when they started chanting 'GIVE US AN INCH WE'LL TAKE A MILE' in response to bans being floated.
While I agree that a lot of the energy behind the youth-protests in favor of gun control is misguided, I also think Pope Francis's message is the correct one.
We shouldn't respond to these protests by silencing them. They should be engaged in a fair, articulate way. If their position is not nuanced, then they should be educated. If their position is too extreme, it should be moderated. But it should never, ever be silenced.
Unlike the anti-authoritarian hippies and class-conscious reformers of the 60's and 70's who are now they grey-faced power-suits and pant-suits of the current adminstrations the world over, who uphold an unsustainable status quo that they themselves rowed against, the current generations cannot give up their ideals. They cannot give up their commitments to their causes, no matter how naive or ignorant they may yet be. They can reform those commitments and learn to give depth to their ideals, but they should never abandon them. They, we, can never give up.
Because if they give up now, if these hard times give way to brief good times and these young people fall in line with the silent majority, I believe the hard times that follow will not be ones that we can come back from.
In fact, trying to silence them would only make them more extreme and feel even more pressured to enact change right this second. They are already in a cornered position, feeling helpless against the endless tide of violence washing against them - push them away and they will grow insular and radical - and you might make it even more difficult to reason or speak with them.
The only thing you can truly change in this world is yourself. Change yourself and you will be surprised by the changes that happen around you.
Stances on this issue aside, who thought chanting that was a good idea?
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