In the hours and days after a near-miss assassination attempt on Donald Trump — and his defiant reaction in real time — we have discussed the quality of courage in multiple contexts. Trump’s first social-media statement exhorted his followers and all Americans to “FEAR NOT,” but to trust in their own ability to defy their enemies and to rally together for our common values.
At the time, I wrote that this presents a real test for us, individually and as a nation, to choose whether to retreat, blindly retaliate, or stand defiant with wisdom and courage:
In the face of wickedness and evil in any context, do we hug the ground and find a corner into which to crawl and protect ourselves out of very rational and understandable fear? Do we panic and retaliate blindly and stupidly, out of anger and fear, another impulse that feeds wickedness and evil? Or if we are still able, do we…
