A recent Take by my good friend Joel Abbott really got me thinking.
Few things are more uncomfortable than holding a conviction when the world seems hell-bent on sweeping it aside. It's easy to blend in, to nod along, to prioritize comfort over conscience. But history tells us a reoccurring truth: nearly every generation faces a moment where silence equates to surrender, where comfort breeds complicity.
Here at The Bee and Not the Bee, we know that we can't be complicit. The war that's upon us to destroy our nation and our religious freedom won't be fought across battlefields as it was in the past. It will be fought in classrooms, boardrooms, the political theater, and on internet forums and social media. It's a cultural war, fought with words, tweets, posts, actions, and the courage to stand defiant even when the consequences are severe.
And since the odds seem against the cause of freedom, the number of men willing to stand for the cause seems to be dwindling. We were warned about this by the founding fathers. Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press - they're all fragile. It takes men willing to sacrifice their own comforts in order to establish these freedoms for others. But what do we do when there aren't enough good men of valor left to fight?
I have to admit, when I look around, I see very few voices remaining that stand up and bravely fight for those that need help. But there are some. Women are being abused by trans athletes in their own sports leagues, and Riley Gaines has boldly stepped up to defend them. Christians are facing decades in prison for praying near abortion clinics, and the likes of Jordan Peterson, Matt Walsh, Joel Berry and Seth Dillon (disclaimer, that's my bro) have gone scorched earth to defend them. Children are being preyed upon by an education system that seems hell-bent on confusing them into rejecting their own bodies and their own parents, yet Chaya Raichik has stepped up to expose much of this, even at great personal cost. And while there are some that stand up against this insanity, I look around at the battlefield and wonder how many more men (and women) of honor and courage will step up in the coming years and truly put their neck on the line to defend reason and the truth?
And it's this question that brings to mind Napoleon's "Battery of Men Without Fear." During the siege of Fort Mulgrave during the French Revolution, Napoleon was having difficulty finding troops to man the most dangerous post, just below the fort in a very vulnerable position. It had a pretty bad reputation, considering nearly every man that had approached the fort to secure the position had died. So Napoleon did something genius ... he simply renamed it: "Batterie des hommes sans peur", or, the "Battery of the Men Without Fear." Almost instantly, he had a full set of recruits willing to step up and put their lives on the line to prove that they were, indeed, men of true valor. They took their positions, and many died. But ultimately, due to their sacrifice, the battle was won.
This, my friends, is the spirit we need. We need men that rally around the cause, to show that they have resolve to do what's right, even when the cost is high. They won't do this for personal gain. In fact, it might mean losing a job, walking away from wealth, or sacrificing social standing to defend those that need it. One day, it may even demand risking your very life. The future is uncertain, but the battle is already waging today.
Those of us on the front lines have been called to be the "Men Without Fear" of our time, not on blood-soaked fields, but in the messy trenches of everyday life. Yes, there will be consequences. Disapproval, isolation, even threats. But remember, the alternative is far worse: a life lived in silent complicity, a world shaped by the will of the loudest (and often times, the worst) among us.
Will you stick with The Bee and others that are defending freedom in their own way and answer the call? Remember the "Men Without Fear," and choose to be counted among them. In the end, the price of silence is far greater than the cost of courage. Let history remember us not for silence, but for the battles we dared to fight, the stands we dared to take, even when the tide turned against us.
