Last updated: December 7, 2025

According to Joanne Freeman, history professor at Yale, we are living in a time of “extreme contingency.” The political landscape in the United States is dire. I tediously and obsessively watch the news daily, with growing concern. Universities, corporations, media outlets, and law firms are being extorted by officials in the White House. The economy of the United States is spiraling downward, driven largely by the imposition of steep tariffs and an increasing number of layoffs. Masked agents sweep up immigrants and citizens alike, and detention camps are being set up across the country to hold all of these people, who are often denied due process and are deported to their country of birth or even sometimes rendered to third countries. Our president, on at least seven different occasions, has illegally directed the military to blow up small boats in international waters close to Venezuela that were allegedly carrying drugs, bound for our shores. So far, over 30 people that we know of, have been murdered in this way. (update on December 7, 2025 indicates the death toll to be at least 87.) President Trump has repeatedly declared emergencies that do not exist to carry out his unpopular polices. And this isn’t even an exhaustive list.

It doesn’t include all the norms and democratic guard rails that the Trump Administration is blowing through by aggregating power in the executive branch, particularly in the presidency. And it doesn’t include the corruption of government officials and especially members of the Trump family who are prospering financially from people looking to buy influence. And it doesn’t address the extreme mid-cycle gerrymandering of electoral districts and the abdication of power by the legislative branch of the government. And the gutting of the EPA and the exploitation of government agencies, especially the DOJ, that is weaponized to attack whomever is perceived to be an enemy of the administration. And the pardoning of the January 6 insurrectionists. And even that isn’t all. Every single day there is some new travesty–it’s completely exhausting to try to keep track of everything.

So I watch, but have I acted? Since Trump was sworn into office in January, I have been alert and found it hard to look away, but even harder to risk taking action. Fearful of Big Brother, I did not protest or call my elected congress members or subscribe to left-leaning media sites or post or react to political posts on social media. Because I have fortunately not been affected very much personally, I guess I have been trying to lay low and fly under the radar, while still staying informed and following through on my responsibility to vote. But what about standing up with and for the less privileged and more vulnerable people in our country? And what about the self-censoring that connotes silent approval or complicitity with the policies of the administration?

So slowly, over the past few months, my thinking started to change and I began taking baby steps (always a good thing) to counteract my fear. First I sent an anonymous postcard to the White House–then I subscribed to a few left-leaning webcasts on YouTube–then I made a couple of politically-motivated posts on Facebook.

It’s become increasingly clear to me that we are in a fight to keep our democracy intact, or rather to recover parts of our democracy that are being stripped away. I think it was finally the sending of troops and threats to send troops into our cities, in response to nonexistent emergencies, that started pushing me to speak up. It has even begun to seem like we are getting to a place where voting alone may not be enough and that speaking up repeatedly becomes essential. And so now here I am, showing up at the page. No longer willing to stay silent, I even dug up the courage to go to the No Kings protest on Saturday with some friends. Here’s the design for the sign I took.

There are many ways for us to stand up for our democracy, but they demand of us courage. And courage does not come to us in a flash of lightning or by magic. It is an element that must be cultivated over time, and eventually turned into habit. Courage is a concrete, hopeful response to fear–a fear that can be completely debilitating. Here is one of my favorite quotes on the subject:

Making a bold move is the only way to advance toward the grandest vision the universe has for you.  If you allow it, fear will completely immobilize you.  And once it has you in its grip, it will fight to keep you from ever becoming your best self.  What I know for sure is this: Whatever you fear most has no power – it is your fear that has the power.  The thing itself cannot touch you.  But your fear can rob you of your life.  Each time you give in to it, you lose strength, while your fear gains it.  That’s why you must decide that no matter how difficult the path ahead seems, you will push past your anxiety and keep on stepping.

Oprah Winfrey (2014)

I would just amplify that confronting our fear of speaking up definitely has a spiritual aspect, and that gradually moving out with faith in God is one response, one way to begin adopting courage. God does not promise to take away our fear, but does promise to be with us always. Fear can feel overwhelming, especially if we think that we must face this fear alone. But we can rely on God, and if we see someone else acting courageously, it gives us a model to emulate. In this way, there is a contagious element to courage, and it’s really helpful to have friends to en-courage you to speak up. Importantly, I did not go to this protest by myself. If you are worried about our democracy, just know that you are not alone. Here’s a quote about how faith enables courage and how we are not alone, even if it feels that way.

Courage can be awakened only when we experience our dilemma as rooted neither in others nor ourselves, but in the fabric of existence itself. This is why faith is the only adequate courage–it enables us to resist self-deception and live in the full face of life as tragic. Faith is the courage to act as if we were not cosmically alone.

W. Paul Jones (1997)

I want to say more about finding the courage to speak up about our democracy. I recently came across this quote, attributed to Robert F. Kennedy Sr., that is a good civic reminder and extremely pertinent:

Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted, when we tolerate what we know is wrong, when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy or too frightened, when we fail to speak up and speak out, we strike a blow against freedom, decency and justice.

Robert F. Kennedy Sr. (circa 1967)

What is helping me to speak up is a lifetime of patient persistence, of taking the more difficult path, of pursuing small acts of courage, of working through hard decisions, of trying my best to face my fears. And of listening to my anger. Thomas Clarke says fear and anger are “inseparable twins” that are “precious gifts of God.” Sometimes we are afraid to show anger and sometimes we are angry at the fact that we are afraid, and they are definitely intertwined. Channeling our anger against injustice into action can help us rise up against fear.

In a similar way, patience and courage are also twin virtues. The Greek term for patient endurance, hypomone, is related to the idea of having the strength and fortitude to carry a heavy yoke. Perhaps this kind of strength, which we can harness by joining patience together with courage, could be called perseverence. I believe that finding this tenacity comes from self-awareness that can lead us to overcome fear and anger.

Without fear, courage and patience lose their meaning. We are courageous only in the face of that which makes us afraid. And anger provides courage and patience with a certain toughness and sturdiness. We shall not be moved. We shall overcome. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Thomas E. Clarke (1997)

So lastly, I’ve written this blog post to share with you that I am continuously re-finding my voice (part of the innate tenets of feminism) and will not be silenced. I found the courage to go to the No Kings rally (I’m the one in the purple shirt in this photo at the capitol ha-ha), and you too can face your fears about speaking up. You may be tired of hearing me say it on this blog, but we must do what we have the power to do, by taking baby steps and speaking up in whatever way we can. And we need to always remember that we the people are the ones with the power! Be of good courage! Sending prayers for peace and grace to you all!

If you liked this blog post, you might like these related current events links: The Courage to be Seen, No Time for Despair, When News is Bad, and Earth Day–22 April 2018.

UPDATE: This blog post was updated on October 26, 2025 to add the quote by Robert F. Kennedy Sr. and to make minor editorial changes and again on November 24, 2025 to include an additional image.

Reference 1: Jones, W. Paul, “Courage as the Heart of Faith,” Weavings, Volume XII, Number 3, May/June 1997, pp. 6-18.

Reference 2: Clarke, Thomas E., “Fear and Anger on Our Side,” Weavings, Volume XII, Number 3, May/June 1997, pp. 19-26.

Image 1: Facebook photo, خؤشةويستيةكى بئ كؤتا, posted August 9, 2014, accessed October 10, 2025.

Image 2: Instagram posting by dariendemocrats, Darien, CT, posted June 13, 2025, accessed October 20, 2025.

Image 3: No Kings Protest Sign, Julie Henkener, 2025.

Image 4: Pinterest pin, David Wolfe, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/359725089009793336/, accessed October 10, 2025.

Image 5: Detail of the official handwritten copy of the Constitution Preamble, engrossed by Jacob Shallus, public domain.

Image 6: Langford, Katie, ‘No Kings’ protests in Denver, across Colorado draw tens of thousands in opposition to Trump, photograph by Cheney Orr/The New York Times, published in The Denver Post, October 18, 2025.