A Tribute to Courage Hoped For
March 1st, 2026A Testimony to Courage in Difficult Times
Most of us grew up hearing the classic Hans Christian Anderson story of the Emperor’s New Clothes. The story valorizes a young girl who is willing to speak the truth right in the face of the masses who were all too willing to go along with the “mass deception” of the day. There have been remarkable people all through history who have exemplified this kind of boldness. Think, for example, about 22-year-old Vibia Perpetua who in the year 203 A.D. was willing to go to the arena and be killed by wild animals rather than renounce her faith in Jesus Christ. Remember Dietrich Bonhoeffer who in 1934 founded the “confessing Church” in the midst of a wayward national church that allowed German nationalism to eclipse fidelity to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Recall Rosa Parks, a dedicated member of the AME church, who in 1955 refused to relinquish her seat on a segregated bus in Montogomery, Alabama. The list goes on and on. It’s Malala Yousafzai speaking out against the Taliban in Pakistan on behalf of the right for girls to receive an education. It’s famous people like Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi, and it’s people most have never heard of like John Rabe who stopped war crimes, Hugh Thompson, Jr, who protected innocent civilians in the Vietnam War, or Wang Weilin, known as the “Tank Man” who stood in front of a Tank during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
In this blog I would like to highlight a particular moment of bravery in American history which most historians believed almost instantaneously “turned the tide” in a dark chapter of American history. This dark chapter refers to a four-year period (1950-1954) in our history when fear of communism led Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin to accuse many loyal Americans with unsubstantiated accusations. McCarthyism, as it was called, ended up ruining careers (thousands were fired from their jobs without evidence), causing widespread fear, and restricting civil liberties and free speech across the nation. Ordinary people feared who they might have been seen with or feared being labeled “disloyal.” I bring this difficult chapter forward because the overwhelming sense in the country was one of fear of speaking up lest you yourself be labeled a traitor to the country. So, the vast majority of people went along with it. But one day the whole monster of McCarthyism came tumbling down like a house of cards, all because of the bravery of one person. It happened on June 9, 1954. Senator McCarthy had claimed with little more than hearsay evidence that many officers and soldiers in the military were secret communists. Hearings were held and they became the first televised congressional hearings in our history. They were broadcast from gavel to gavel. It is estimated that between 20 million and 80 million people watched the hearings, which was up to half the population of the entire country at the time. The hearings lasted for almost two months, beginning April 22nd and continuing through June 17th. But, it is what happened on June 9, 1954 which will be remembered in history. On that day, the Army’s lead counsel, Joseph Welch was defending various respected military leaders from spurious innuendos when Senator McCarthy shifted his line of attack and began to go after one of the young lawyers who worked for Mr. Welch named Fred Fisher. It was a “guilt by association” attack with no evidence. But, at this particular moment, nearing the end of the hearings, something happened which changed history. Lead counsel Joseph Welch turned to Senator McCarthy and famously said, “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?” That one question, repeated twice, broke the back of McCarthyism. It was like somebody had turned a light on in a dark room. Suddenly, ordinary Americans realized how un-American all this was. It took one statement of courage to bring down what seemed like an impregnable wall. Before this famous question, 50% of Americans supported the accusations of Senator McCarthy. After this famous question, only 34% of Americans supported him. It was like the veil was lifted. The lawyer had the courage to say, “but the Emperor has no clothes.” Before the year was out, on December 2, 1954, Senator McCarthy’s behavior was formally condemned by a vote of 67 to 22 in the Senate. His power and influence collapsed and in a little more than two years McCarthy had died, cementing his real legacy in the history books.
Today, there are many things which have become normalized which are not normal, and should never be regarded as normal in America. But they go on and on because we have not reached that “have-you-no-decency” moment. At some point, that will happen. I don’t know if it will be this year or this decade, but at some point it will happen.
Calling Canada the 51st State and seeking to annex Greenland through coercion is not normal….have you no decency, sir?
Arresting several hundred confirmed American citizens in their own homes or workplaces using masked agents is not normal… have you no decency, sir?
Renaming the Kennedy Center, the Trump Kennedy Center, or the Department of Defense the Department of War is not normal… have you no decency, sir?
Using Executive Orders to individually attack law firms or academics who have committed no other crime than exercising their freedom of speech to criticize the government is not normal… have you no decency, sir?
These are just a few examples. Citing these particular examples does not mean that there are not other examples in this administration which could be cited that are commendable. Back in the McCarthy era there were communists who had infiltrated the government and needed to be exposed. But, it was the unleashing of McCarthyism which posed an even greater threat to the otherwise normal and necessary work of any government. In the same way, I am concerned about certain patterns which are accumulating to a point where, on a certain day, no one knows when, somebody is going to say, “have you no decency, sir?” It will be the straw that breaks this period of temporary insanity. It is truly tragic that the evangelical church has been seriously co-opted during this sad period. But Walter Percy spoke wisdom when he said of the disgraced Pentecostal evangelist of his time, “just because Jimmy Swaggert believes in God doesn’t mean that God does not exist.” We may not be able to salvage the word “evangelical” but the great, historic Apostolic faith will continue on. In the meantime, I await the “have you no decency, sir?” moment. We desperately need it.
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