“Courage without conscience is a wild beast.”

—Robert Green Ingersoll

Moral courage isn’t an esoteric branch of philosophy; it is the standing for what is right

in the face of danger; as such it is the foundation of success or failure both in one’s

personal life but also on the world stage in action that changes history. By standing up

for our moral values as Medical Whistleblowers, we are now, in all

reality, poised to change our nation. We have found through

years of retaliation, endless case appeals, that our courage based

in our moral values doesn’t always produce an immediate benefit.

Our Medical Whistleblowers have been tested in the face of their

families, their community, their professional colleagues, and even

in front of their religious faith. It is in these choices that we find

our moral values most tested.

As we feel more threatened in our own security, the sense of commitment to such moral

values as compassion and fairness may then go

out the window. Humans, we are told are

primarily self-interested and will choose their own

security and safety and their own need for

resources as their primary goal. Maslow’s

hierarchy of needs takes over. Self preservation

insists that we secure the necessities for our own

life before we can act on our values. This is why an attack on our very ability to survive,

tests our moral courage and builds in us a solidarity and a commonality of values which

we have learned to put above our own needs. So by definition, someone with true

moral courage must have been tested to the level at which he/she feared for his/her

ability to survive. This is the very definition of the kind of trauma that causes the soul

wounding we have learned to call Post Traumatic Stress. Perhaps there is no one who

is truly a hero who has not faced this personal challenge and possible personal failure.

This is what defines those who truly have

the moral compass to lead us.

Those, who when given the podium or the

cloak of authority, use the power it instills, to

instead gain advantage for themselves, are

not the morally courageous. Instead there is

a self sacrifice necessary to demonstrate

moral courage, a willingness to put oneself at risk so that

others may be protected and enjoy the human values we all

expound. Notoriety is not necessary for the principle of moral

courage to be evident, and the characteristic of human

courage is seen in one’s family life, one’s workplace as well

as the national or world stage. There seem to be three

defining principles of moral courage - a commitment to the

deeply held values or principles, the wiliness to brave danger

necessary to present those principles to others, and

endurance in the face of that danger.

In some of our moral choices we face the choice between good and evil, but we may

also face the choice between two

different competing values such as

compassion vs. fairness. When faced

with difficult decisions in the medical

community, we are asked about our

cohesion to the peer group, our need for

professional acceptance, our need for

financial security and reward, our loyalty

to friends and colleagues, and our

adherence to the established hierarchy

of dominance and control. When we uphold moral principles as higher than these other

values, we are facing choices of one good versus another. It is in this arena that we

hone our greatest understanding of what is truly important to us. Many who have been

great heroes have sacrificed other important goals in their own lives, in order to make

one goal preeminent. Not all of us can withstand this kind of testing, often we become

strangers to those who felt they knew us, often we gain new comrades along the way

who share our passion for the principles we uphold. Never is the journey without

sacrifice. It is in the nature of the sacrifice that we define ourselves.

“You gain strength, courage, and

confidence by every experience in which

you really stop to look fear in the face. You

are able to say, “I lived through this horror.

I can take the next thing that comes along.”

...You must do the thing you think you

cannot do.”

—Eleanor Roosevelt

For Further Spiritual Support for Whistleblowers:

Email or Write to

Dr. Janet Parker DVM

Executive Director

Medical Whistleblower

P.O. Box C

Lawrence, KS 66044

MedicalWhistleblower@gmail.com

Please indicate your faith so that we can tailor support services appropriate to your Faith belief. Medical Whistleblower provides advocacy, emotional, social and spiritual support to all regardless of religious faith, national origin, disability, sex, sexual orientation, race, creed, or color. Therefore we do not take a religious viewpoint but instead reach out in an interfaith non-creedal manner to everyone regardless of spiritual background or faith belief. Medical Whistleblower believes that inner spiritual strength and religious spiritual support is necessary for those who are courageous enough to “Tell Truth to Power.” We support you in whatever faith belief that you find meaningful.