Ly Tong has guts and is my kind of hero. He acts. He does not babble nonsense and platitudes like so many so-called "educated", "law-and-order" common folks do.
You could have guessed that I was easily and deeply affected by words. Today, somebody's words hit me hard for their lonesome tone. I no longer fancy that I understand humans, especially a person of complex personality like him. But I think despite an aura of cynicism and skepticism he projects, he still hankers and hungers for a tender touch, understanding, and acceptance.
As for myself, I let pride, distaste with cowards who ironically love power, and concern with logical reasoning color my perception of my friends. Still, how one reacts to the Ly Tong saga is a good litmus test of the person's character. How one reacts to Ly Tong's actions says a lot of who he is. How many people in this world can behave like Ly Tong, especially now we learned that he pleaded not guilty and has parted company with his lawyers? Freedom and self-preservation are two of the strongest drives in humans. Yet Ly Tong is willing to disregard them because of his political principles. The same thing can be said of Father Nguyen Van Ly and Le Thi Cong Nhan and others. What burned me up was to see cowards who hid behind "law and order" slogan to besmirch Ly Tong's character. As I said before, laws are not absolute and inviolable. Sometimes we must knowingly break them for a higher cause. Laws must serve men, not the other way around. Laws are relative. Only tyrants and cowards and idiots would hang their hats on laws at all times. Bertrand Russell went to prison several times in defiance of the laws of which he regarded as imperfect and unjust.
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