Stucky Question of the Day: Heroes

Continuing along Buchanan’s article today; WHO IS YOUR HERO? Alternatively, is your hero today the same as it was 20 years ago? Or, perhaps you have no heroes, cuz that’s all bullshit?

I learned much English via comic books. Really. So, it’s no surprise that as I child I loved Superman. He also came from a foreign place, and was handsome and strong. Lol

During my middle years as a Christian I greatly admired Brother Lawrence, a 1600’s era monk in France. He worked most of his life in a kitchen, and then later as a shoe cobbler. I practically memorized his small book, “The Practice of the Presence of God”. He believed that everything, no matter how mundane, could be a medium of God’s love. The task mattered less than motivation behind it. He wrote, — “Nor is it needful that we should have great things to do. . . We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him, and that done, if there is nothing else to call me, I prostrate myself in worship before him, who has given me grace to work; afterwards I rise happier than a king. It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God.” I wanted to be just like that.

I don’t have any heroes at the present time. Although, Thor comes close. He defeated the Ice Giants, and now we have Globull Warming.

No need to read the below thoughts on heroes … just answer the damned question!

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I must admit, I am sick and tired of the way the world today uses the word “hero” because it is used so freely, without thought. Every dead cop suddenly turns into a hero. Every dead soldier is a hero. Was Sullinger a hero for landing the airplane safely on the Hudson River … or, was he just doing his job? Listen to what George Carlin has to say about this in the excerpt below, from his book – “When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops”. (A hilarious book.)

“The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said that changing the name of Newark Airport to Liberty International Airport would be a way of honoring “the more than 3000 heroes who died for their country in the World Trade Center.” Pardon me for pointing this out, folks, but stock traders, clerks, receptionists, cooks, waiters and building maintenance people in the World Trade Center didn’t die for their country. They died because they went to work. Not one of them would have shown up for work that day if you had told them they would die as a result. Try to get your heroes straight. Not everyone who died in 9/11 was a hero. Hero is a very special word, that’s why we reserve it for certain special people. … If everyone’s a hero, then the word doesn’t mean much anymore. And sooner or later we’ll have to give the real heroes (the heroic ones) a new name, to distinguish them from the rest of the pack. Too bad “superheroes” is already taken; it would have been perfect. But relax, folks, if I know us, “megahero” can’t be too far over the horizon. Although to be honest, I kind of like the alliteration in “hyperhero.”

It wasn’t always this way. “Hero” is an ancient Greek concept. A hero was a mortal who had done something so far beyond the normal scope of human experience that he (or, she) left an immortal memory behind him when he died, and thus received worship like that due the gods. Oftentimes, these heroes were great benefactors of humankind, such as Hercules, who killed monsters or, Asclepius, the first doctor. However, they also included people, such as Oedipus and Medea, who committed heinous crimes. In other words, a hero was always extraordinary and expanded people’s sense of what was possible for a human being. Heroism was tightly linked to morality.

Soooo … heroes help define the limits of our aspirations. Our ideals (courage, honor, justice, etc.) define us. In turn, we largely define our ideals by the heroes we choose. Our heroes are symbols for us of all the qualities we would like to possess and all the ambitions we would like to satisfy.

A person who chooses George Washington as a hero is going to have a very different sense of what human excellence involves than someone who chooses Lil Wayne. The ideals to which we aspire greatly determine the ways in which we behave. What kind of behavior would you expect from a person who listens to, and wants to emulate, these craptastic lyrics — “Baby, can I be the worm in ya apple butt? I’ll suck the front of dat pussy from da back of ya”. Thugs and hoodlums? Exactly.

Speaking of George Washington as a hero, what is a common retort, especially from libtards? “YEAH, BUT … BUT … HE OWNED SLAVES!! AAAARGH!!!!”.   I understand their cynicism — sort of — because they view this as a betrayal of ideals. But, cynicism is too often merely an excuse for not doing anything.

What these people lack is an understanding about the limits of human nature. They mistakenly expect heroes to be Gods.

But, the frailties of heroic people make them more like us. Therefore, what was possible for them … IS now more possible for us. They stumbled, they wavered, they made fools of themselves, they did stupid shit. Yet, they rose and accomplished deeds of triumphant beauty. Instead of being a reason for scorn, they should be a beacon of hope because we too have great human frailties. And if our heroes overcame similar frailties, then we just might be inspired to do the same.

A society without heroes is one that produces small, selfish characters preoccupied with comfort and security, advancement, promotion and self-interest, and who will not live or die for something greater than themselves. When you think about it, that fairly accurately describes the world we live in.

Where have all the heroes gone??

Author: Stucky

I'm right, you're wrong. Deal with it. View all posts by Stucky