Marilynne Robinson: "The Tyranny of Petty Coercion"

From her book _The Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Thought_, pp. 255-263.

1. Courage--specifically moral courage, the courage to stand up for truth--is in short supply these days, and its dearth is especially felt in our political life.

2. Group boundaries are constantly policed to ensure certain words, words that have fallen out of style like "liberal" or "Christian" are not used. If such words are used, they're quickly labeled "partisan" or "-bashing" and the offender is simply written off and ignored.

3. To use such unfashionable words in the strong sense in which you know them to be true and valuable is an example of an act of courage, and one we need to see more often.