Real courage: Nobel Peace Prize should honor those who are really ... heroes

The world paused this past week when Malala Yousafzai, the 16-year-old Pakistani girl who stood up to the Taliban to demand an education, was passed over for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The award went instead to a group that is monitoring and disposing of chemical weapons.

And there, in an instant, we see that the Nobel Peace Prize is no longer living up to its storied history.

What could be more brave, or more important a sacrifice and risk, than to stand up to thugs who want to deny what would be in most any other country a basic human right -- the right to an education?

This young woman stood up not only for herself, but for every other young woman denied the right to a full life. And she faced great personal risk and a serious injury to do so.

That is courage. That is significance. That is what a Peace Prize should be given for -- great acts of courage that make a difference in the world.

The Nobel Committee missed a chance to send the message that it only takes one person -- of any age -- brave enough to speak against a wrong to start the process of righting it.

What a shame.

Published in Editorials on October 14, 2013 1:26 PM