Throughout history people have stood up for their beliefs even if the beliefs are against popular opinion. Socrates and Stanley Rother are examples of people who faced this phenomenon. Both had different beliefs than that in power and both acted on those beliefs. Socrates and Rother were very similar in that they believed in following divine authority over legal authority. Both of their values were so great that they were willing to die for what they believed in. Through their similar situations, Socrates and Rother show that choosing a higher power over government can lead to cognitive dissonance, and lead to the decision to die for what they believe in. The Oracle at Delphi told Socrates, a philosopher, that he was the wisest of all men because he knows that he knows nothing. Thus Socrates believed it was his civic duty to question wise men and expose their ignorance. Socrates believed that the Gods were the only all…show more content… Rother and his missionary team were based out the Mayan village Tzutujil in Santiago. There they strengthened the Mayan’s Christian faith by rebuilding the local church and hospital, translating the New Testament into Tzutujil, and holding catholic services. During this time, Guatemala was ruled by Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio a member of the leftist institutional democratic party who with the help of the military government supported communist views by criminalizing and killing those who aided the impoverished, ill, and illiterate. Although Rother was not a political activist many of his priestly actions were seen as a public defiance to the military. This however did not stop Rother from helping the Mayan people. He believed it was his duty as a follower and missionary of God to protect them. Rother, like Socrates, chose to follow a higher power than the power of the
