Among the many great moments from of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s address in Athens yesterday — there was one more powerful than all of the rest.
It’s worth taking a closer listen to his words.
Standing in Greece, surrounded by thousands of years of history, Rubio began talking about what makes someone a hero.
His answer had nothing to do with fame, power or popularity.
It came down to duty.
But as Rubio explained, there is a stark difference between the heroes of the West and those celebrated by its enemies.
Rubio had spent much of the speech explaining how ancient Greece helped shape the political and moral traditions that eventually became part of Western civilization.
Now he was talking about one of the most basic ideas that came out of that tradition — that character is revealed when doing the right thing becomes difficult.
These are the same traits that have made the Western civilization what it is today.
RUBIO: “Our heroes, the heroes of the West are those who choose to remain faithful to their duty precisely when it is most difficult and painful to do so.”
“The man who is bound by his word, the soldier who will not abandon his post, the captain, the proverbial captain who goes down with the ship.”
“This is wholly different from what we see now, for example from fanatics like the radical mullahs of Iran, whose cult of death hails child suicide bombers as national heroes and portrays martyrdom as an end to itself.”
“Our heroes, our heroes may be willing to die for their cause, but our heroes do not worship death.”
“It is precisely because we value life that we come to recognize the heroism in those that would sooner sacrifice it, than to betray their principles.”
That is the kind of heroism Rubio says the West must never lose sight of.
Not a culture that glorifies death for its own sake, but one that values life enough to recognize the people who are willing to sacrifice theirs to protect it.
This was the distinction he wanted the audience to walk away with.
The soldier of the West fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.
It’s a very powerful message.
