Voters will choose conviction, courage and masculinity every time

OPINION:

In his Dec. 27 opinion piece in this newspaper, Don Feder wrote, “Donald Trump’s victory marks a return of masculinity for the United States of America.”

The premise of Mr. Feder’s argument is simple and clear: “The popular mandate of President-elect Donald Trump is an affirmation of traditional masculinity. The war on men, orchestrated by the extreme left, has suffered a serious setback with his election. Mr. Trump was told [time and again] that he’d have to soften his message to appeal to … voters. He didn’t, and it doesn’t seem to have hurt him.”

Mr. Feder is absolutely right. If the 2024 election proved anything, it is this: The American electorate is begging for a few good men to step to the front and lead. In other words, when given a choice between a feminist candidate muttering platitudes of nebulous joy and a man’s man who, after nearly getting killed by a sniper’s bullet, raises his fist and shouts, “Fight, fight, fight,” we will choose conviction, courage and masculinity every time.

In the waning days of the fall of 1555, Bishop Nicholas Ridley and Bishop Hugh Latimer were burned at the stake in Oxford, England, because of their opposition to the government’s compromise of their religious freedom. As their executioners were preparing to light them on fire, Latimer is recorded to have turned to his fellow martyr and said, “Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.” And thus, the flame of freedom burned across all of Great Britain.

History records a similar story of Polycarp, an early church father and disciple of the apostle John himself who, after refusing to renounce his faith, was marched into a Roman stadium and given one last chance to “soften his message” and recant. As Polycarp entered the coliseum and faced a mob of spectators calling for his death, the Roman proconsul said to him, “Take an oath, and I’ll let you go. … [Refuse], and I will have you burned alive.”

It was at that time we are told that Polycarp heard a message similar to that of Hugh Latimer, but this was a voice straight from heaven and not that of a fellow martyr: “Be strong, Polycarp, and act like a man.” Emboldened by the very voice of God, the old saint looked his interrogators in the eye and said, “If you vainly suppose that I will swear by the divine power of Caesar … you do not know who I am.”

Martin Luther followed Polycarp’s example over a millennium later when he stood before the Diet of Worms. Likewise, threatened with execution by fire, the German monk famously responded: “I cannot and will not recant. … Here I stand; I can do no other.”

And then, a couple of hundred years after that, we have the story of John Wesley, who, in the face of mockery and ridicule for his unwavering commitment to the message of holiness, reportedly admonished his followers to “set themselves afire with enthusiasm, and, in so doing, the world will beat a path to their doorstep just to watch them burn.”

The moral of all this is the same: Traditional masculinity — i.e., conviction and unwavering determination — isn’t toxic, but rather, it’s the stuff that creates movements and inspires the masses. Men of courage, though they are of flawed character, are always preferred to demagogues who cave to political pressure or pander to every popular fad.

Mr. Trump’s 2024 victory proved that the majority of American voters want strong leadership. Our instincts told us that the Democratic Party is made up of a bunch of characterless children who dodge every difficulty and run from every conflict and challenge.

We voted for Mr. Trump rather than Vice President Kamala Harris because we recognized the difference between a man who literally stood in the line of fire and lived to shout “Fight!” as opposed to someone who didn’t even have the courage to engage in a three-hour conversation with Joe Rogan.

We voted for Mr. Trump because we refused to be led by a perpetual adolescent incapable of wrestling with the inevitable adversities of life. We wanted an adult — a man — willing to run toward danger rather than a woman promising us sanctimony and safe spaces.

In the face of lies, lawfare, the threat of imprisonment and financial failure, Donald Trump “played the man.” Rather than softening his message,” he “set himself afire with enthusiasm,” and America beat a path to the ballot box “just to watch him burn.” The result was an electoral landslide. Why? Because the voters were begging for traditional masculinity to return to our halls of power.

• Everett Piper (dreverettpiper.com, @dreverettpiper), a columnist for The Washington Times, is a former university president and radio host. He is the author of “Not a Daycare: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth” (Regnery). He can be reached at epiper@dreverettpiper.com.