A rchive Date
[ 04-03-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.S ]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/editorial/1799746

Real courage, right here in Houston

Feb. 28, 2003, 8:55PM

Grace under pressure: Hemingway's famously simple definition of courage. Physical courage, yes.

But what about moral courage? The kind of courage that leads one to place herself under the pressure in the first place. Grace to take on the pressure. We don't see enough of it any more. Standing up, speaking out for one's beliefs. Even, or rather especially, when it's immensely unpopular.

Martin Luther King Jr

., called it the "vocation of agony." He also said, "

Men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war

Men - and women - in Houston can attest to that. With a war with Iraq looming large, these subjects have been much on American minds. Even here, where our City Council last week defeated two resolutions that would have urged President

Bush

to seek other means of resolving the Iraqi crisis.

Whether one agrees with the president or not, we have to be thankful that we live in a place, unlike Iraq, where we can have such debates.

One of the morally courageous people who forced that local issue was Frances "Sissy" Farenthold. (I can hear the wails now: "Farenthold and the rest of those looney liberals!" But that's exactly my point.) Farenthold, long an icon of Texas liberal politics and now active with the Houston Coalition for Justice Not War, has shown moral courage in a number of fights over the years.

It's certainly not the first time I've lost

," Farenthold laughed after City Council had finished last week. "

I just don't think we can stop

Farenthold is also the president and chair of the board of the Rothko Chapel here. The legacy of John and Dominique de Menil, the chapel is neither church nor art gallery, as some mistakenly think. It's a nondenominational spiritual refuge and "

a rallying place for all people concerned with peace, freedom, and social justice throughout the world

." It's one of those treasures that, so typical of Houston, is better known around the world than right here in its own hometown.

It's also a place where sometimes unpopular political stands are taken or represented. Such might be said of the Chapel's decision to resume this year presenting the Oscar Romero Award for Commitment to Truth and Freedom.

The recipient in the March 30 ceremony is to be Ishi Menuchin, a former Israeli paratroop brigade lieutenant and chairman of something called

Yesh Gvul

(There's a Limit). It's a group that supports Israeli soldiers who refuse assignments "of repressive or aggressive nature"; conscientious objectors of a sort who face a grave moral and political dilemma in carrying out their government's policies in the West Bank and occupied territories.

Menuchin, says a Rothko press release, "took the risk of punishment by the authorities and condemnation by fellow citizens, and had the courage to voice nationally and internationally the moral concerns of many Israeli citizens and members of the armed forces. ... "

Now, the Rothoko Chapel, like many nonprofit institutions, has a continuing need for community and financial support. Because of the sometimes controversial nature of what the chapel does, it has problems raising that support that other institutions don't. Even in better economic times.

Because of the "progressive" nature of some of its programming it usually gets pretty cool receptions from the charitable decision-makers of corporate boardrooms.

The decision to honor Menuchin won't change that. It won't be popular. It won't be politically correct. It certainly won't be timely. And it definitely won't make the job of funding and preserving the Rothko any easier.

But there it is. A morally courageous decision to do what one thinks is right, even in the face of potentially dire consequences. Grace to take on the pressure.

You have to admire that. Even people who disagree with Farenthold's politics; people who seem to spend a lot of time talking about the need for "core values."

Oscar Romero

, the Salvadoran archbishop who confronted the brutal military in El Salvador, was assassinated in 1980, just moments after he had delivered his final homily. In it he said, "

One must not love oneself so much, as to avoid getting involved in the risks of life that history demands of us

." Enough said.

Michel, the Chronicle's associate editor, is a member of the Editorial Board. frank.michel@chron.com

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