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His position, sometimes, is like that of Jesus weeping over
Jerusalem and remembering that he had wanted to save that city--and
that he had known how it could be saved; but he was rejected:
rejected as dangerous precisely because he was pointing the way to
safety.
Nevertheless, it is now, while non-conformity is feared and
mistrusted, that non-conformists must become more bold, more
persistent, more resolute. They are needed. But they must know their
true province and the authentic ways in which they can fulfill their
duty.
That is why I speak of the credo of the non-conformist. Which I
think should run something like this: “I believe that I must be my
true self, honestly revealing my opinions. And I believe that I
should act, not in the way that is most expected or easier, but as I
myself, think to be right. And I further believe that I must do all
in my power to make my true self my best self and be devoted to the
ains that inwardly command me.”
Something like that. For most people, most of the time, are not
their real selves, but selves that they assume each day like a mask
that conceals them. When they wake, they put on this mask, and only
rarely at unguarded moments do they partly remove it. And everyone
they know wears a similar mask. This has always been so, of course,
but today the mask is fastened on more tightly. For to be seen as we
are may lead some one to believe that we are some sort of a risk!
Tere is no future for us on that basis. The masks must come off. We
must show our true faces--and not be afraid if they are the faces of
non-conformists.
But can we succeed? That is the question most likely to be asked.
And the answer is that we do not know until we try. But we can
remember that history has demonstrated that something can be done by
non-conformists.
As I have already said, Jesus was a non-conformist. So were his
first disciples. But when Christianity was adopted by the declining
Roman Empire, it was not the religion of Jesus. It was very
different, and became the new conformity.
Then, did the purpose of Jesus fail? No, because as soon as his
gospel was submerged in the religion of the majority,
non-conformists arose to demand that the gospel of Jesus be given
its proper place. And because there were these non-conformists, the
gospel of Jesus was never lost, even though it was not fully
recognized. That is the mission of the non-conformist. He is not
likely--ever--to prevail completely. But neither is he likely to be
shorn of influence.
But, perhaps we say, in these latter days, the position of the
non-conformist has become much more precarious. He can be wiped
out--as, apparently he is in Communist countries, and as he was by
Hitler. But this is unnecessary pessimism. There is no evidence that
non-conformity does not exist in Communist countries; on the
contrary, immense efforts are needed to keep it suppressed. Hitler
failed at last, and so may all the other oppressors.
As for ourselves, with our heritage of freedom--a heritage disdained
by some, it is true, but still our heritage--we should have more
faith; and far more courage. There will be non-conformists. Never
doubt it. And there is no greater privilege than to be counted with
their numbers.
There will be non-conformists who will deny that arrogant and
ambitious men are fit judges of their patriotism. There will be
non-conformists who will not keep silence when the great traditions
of our national life are stained. And there will be non-conformists
in religion--upholding its purity and truth, and speaking out for
its justice and its charity. There will be those--now as at any
time--who will serve the righteousness they find in their own
consensus and with no other court of appeal than the honest verdicts
of their own minds.
What greater service is there to be rendered? What higher cause to
serve? Than to reject the shams and the disguises and the venerable
hypocrisies and live for the true and the real and the genuinely
good?
Let that be our resolve: that we shall be our true selves, honestly
and simply what we are; and try to make our true selves our best
selves in devotion to the aims that inwardly command us.
Let us be ready to gain the world for the things that we believe
in--or, if need be, for the sake of these same things, to lose it.
Knowing that at the least, we cannot wholly lose. For truth is not
vanquished when the time of judgment comes. And in history, the time
of judgment comes. And in history, the time of judgment comes
repeatedly.
Then let us follow our convictions--openly, valiantly, without
concealment--simply because they are convictions--and let us leave
the rest to God.
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