and her story is awesome.
On December 8, 1941 Roosevelt gave his famous speech asking congress for a declaration of war on the empire of Japan. It's well documented that FDR wanted very badly for the vote to be unanimous. When he went on his radio show to talk to the nation he was eager to hammer the phrase "unanimous declaration of war" into the ears of the families hudled around their family room radios.
His vote sailed through the senate, unanimous. 88-0
Then The House of Representatives turned in their vote.
388-1
Rankin was given the floor to explain her vote.
"As a woman, I can't go to war and therefore I refuse to send anyone else."
Then end of her sentence was drowned out by boos and hisses, no one heard it.
The joint session of congress was 477 people, of the session she was the only woman.
In fact, she was the first woman to ever be elected to congress. She had been voted to the House of Representatives in the state of Montana. Rankin ran against an incumbent congressman who was wildly popular in Montana. He should have easily defeated her until it was confirmed he had serious ties to the Third Reich. This damning evidence paved the way for Rankin to gain the seat.
A few years later, there she stood facing the jeers of congress, and thanks to her FDR couldn't say "unanimous" on his radio show.
There's a real fear that comes with standing up for something you believe in. The fear, at its base, is the realization that your act of "taking a stand" could be met with real and serious consequences.
Fear of being rejected, fear of being isolated, fear of the reaction of others.
These feelings are amplified among Christians, namely because taking a stand as a Christian carries an extra burden, and here it is.
When you take a stand for Jesus, you suddenly define yourself as "Christian" to the people or person you're standing up to. That can mean a lot for you when it comes to the rejection, fear of isolation, and fear of reaction you're already dreading.
That defining moment is full of anxiety, because you know that now the person you are standing up has placed you in the "Christian" box, and that person, or people, will now believe all sorts of assumptions about you that may or may not be true.
It's the same reason people believe discussing politics among strangers is taboo.
We don't like to reveal what side we're on, it's scary.
That's why the whole "blessed are you when you are persecuted because of me" passage is so amazing.
The sermon on the mount is amazing in general. It's Jesus revealing his "platform" if you will.
Imagine a politician who appears on the scene, is incredibly engaging and powerful, gains a lot of followers, but for the most part no one knows his political platform, no one knows what he stands for.
Then one day he steps up in front of a huge crowd and lays it all out in plain sight. The bullet points of everything he believes in.
That's the sermon on the mount. Jesus has been intriguing to many people, but most of his disciples aren't totally sure of his beliefs.
He begins his "platform" with the beatitudes, and at the end of the list he says the "blessed are you when you're persecuted because of me" thing.
At the end of the sentence he adds "for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you."
Remember the isolation you feel when you take a stand?
Jesus is saying, "you're not alone, they persecuted many people before you."
Taking a stand for Christianity doesn't put you on your own, alone, it puts you in a massive group of people from different nations, different times, different cultures.
No, taking a stand in fact puts you in a group of people spanning across the globe. People who can't worship freely, people who point out wrong doings in their church, people who see injustice and call it out, people who refuse to let the evil things of the world stay in the dark, people who, because of Jesus, can't help but stand for things that others won't.
When you're standing up in front of the group jeering and booing at you, there's a voice in your head, telling you how alone you are.
Jesus whispers in the other ear, and tells you you're not alone, you're part of a group bigger than you could ever imagine.
PS: Jeanette Rankin also voted against WWI, the vote made her so unpopular she lost her seat and spent years trying to get back into congress. After all her hard work she got her seat back and fully realized her vote on WWII would carry the same reaction. She lost her seat again, moved back to Montana, and never regretted her vote. She later said "nothing in a democracy should ever be unanimous."
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