The Trump-Biden Debate: Yikes! What next?

Is this Ali-Frazier? The End of the World? Some were saying the the future is at stake like never before.

Yes, some were saying it would be the biggest prize fight ever, something akin to the Thrilla from Manila, or Ali-Frazier. Some wondered whether the president could survive 15 rounds going toe-to-toe with his arch enemy.

Once the pre-game show was over we were live in Georgia. Moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper looked ready to go.

The President walks to the podium looking lost.

The former president is introduced and walks out looking testy.

The opening. The heavyweights have entered the ring.

President Biden sounds hoarse. Trump, the former president, appears restrained, makes an effort to appear friendly while wearing his traditional scowl. I turn to the peanut gallery (X, formerly known as Twitter) and listen to the comments.

* * *

--This has to be a set up to get rid of Biden! DEMs want him gone and have allowed this humiliating debate! Mission accomplished!

--One has to think they allowed this to happen so they could have reason to replace him at the convention. Seriously that was painful to watch.

--Really America? 
Are those your only options?

--What a terrible time to stop drinking. #debatenight

--https://x.com/rustyrockets/status/1806527566490067351

* * * *

Analysis
Many in the media were ready for this, but some Americans were not. Had they be reading and listening to media from a wide spectrum of viewpoints, they would have known how much the President's mental acuity has deteriorated. The majority of mainstream media seemed determined to conceal Biden's public rambles and muddled moments while conservative commentators, podcasters and radio hosts collected these clumsy stumbles for highlight reels. 

When articles commenting on President Biden's declining mental faculties would appear in the Wall Street Journal or elsewhere, you could count on immediate denials from a Liberal source saying, "It ain't so." (I think here of how the media avoided showing FDR in a wheelchair lest he appear weak.)

Now the question is why Dem insiders aware of his decline allowed this debate to happen at this time. Can it be that the first debate took place so early in this year's election cycle in order to set up a maneuver at the Dem's National Convention in Chicago this year?

Conservatives have been making hay with the polls showing Trump ahead in swing states. The fact that his lead is only marginal should be a signal that all is not well in the "Grand Old Party" either. Will Trump as candidate make it easier or harder for Republicans further down the food chain? 

* * * *

The response to Biden's performance was swift. "Joe, maybe it's time to hang up your cleats." Four of the five stories in today Atlantic enews skewered the President. The influential New York Times editorial board made an appeal for Biden to step out of the way.

Trump, who is accustomed to making news simply by being outrageous, was overshadowed by the swirl surrounding the President's embarrassingly poor showing. This was to be Joe Biden's moment. Unfortunately, with the bases loaded he struck out.

Tolstoy's The Forged Coupon Details the Interconnectedness of Human Actions

"For want of a nail the shoe lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail."
--Author unknown

Tolstoy's The Forged Coupon planted the seed for my recurring reflections on non-violence as a response to violence. I first read it around 30 years ago and, like all great literature, it made a lasting impression. If you've not read it, here is summary of the story.

The novella explores themes of morality, redemption, and the ripple effects of individual actions on society. The story is divided into two parts, each illustrating the consequences of a single act.

Part One
The story begins with a teenage boy, Mitya, who needs money to pay off a debt. He persuades his friend, Makhin, to help him forge a coupon (a form of a promissory note) to obtain a small sum of money. Mitya cashes the forged coupon at a shop, whuch sets off a chain of events. The shopkeeper, Ivan Mironov, is unable to detect the forgery and uses the coupon to pay a debt to a peasant, who is later arrested for trying to pass the forged coupon. The peasant’s arrest and subsequent treatment by the police and judicial system highlight the injustices within society, a secondary theme in the story. 

The novella itself turns out to be a sequence of stories, much like billiard balls colliding into one another with increasingly unfortunate consequences--theft, betrayal and ultimately murder by a man named Stepan, which becomes a turning point.

Part Two
The focus shifts to the manner in which the forces of good also have influence. Stepan, now in prison, is so weighed down with guilt that he is suicidal. Through another inmate he discovers redemption in Christ and his life is utterly, miraculously changed. His transformation touches others who also choose to break their cycles of violence and wrongdoing, thus illustrating Tolstoy’s belief in the power of forgiveness and moral integrity.

Themes

--Tolstoy examines how a single immoral act can have far-reaching consequences, affecting many lives and perpetuating further wrongdoing.

--The novella critiques the judicial and social systems, highlighting how they often fail to address the root causes of crime and instead exacerbate suffering.

--Despite the darkness of the unfolding events, Tolstoy emphasizes the possibility of redemption through personal transformation and forgiveness.

Why The Forged Coupon speaks to me

There is a sense in which the prison scenes especially resonated with me. While living in Puerto Rico I visited the Bayamon Prison once a week to assist a man who did ministry there. I met at least two murderers whose lives had been profoundly altered by the grace of God, and a number other incarcerated men with transformed hearts. (Tommy, James, Big John, Tony--I remember you all.)

I also witnessed how our actions can make a difference in the lives of others, for good or ill. Tolstoy seems to suggest that this is how the redemption and healing of society will come about, through individuals choosing love over hate, kindness over violence.

It seems that weekly we read about scandals in which government corruption or incompetence wastes hundreds of millions of dollars. "More government programs" is not the solution to what ails us as a society. Change must come through we the people. 

Little things can make big impacts. Or, as Bruce Barton observed, "Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think there are no little things."

 

Simple Simon Met A Pie Man. What's the Point? ChatGPT Explains.

Simple Simon met a pie man going to the fair. 
Said Simple Simon to the pie man, "let me taste your ware."
Said the pie man to Simple Simon, "first show me your penny."
Said Simple Simon to the pie man, "indeed I have not any."

While falling asleep the other night this Simple Simon nursery rhyme popped into my head. Or rather, the first half of the tale was there and I couldn't remember how it went after that. Evidently it was beckoning to me from my early childhood book of Mother Goose Rhymes, but I could recall neither the finish nor the point of the tale. So I asked Google for the rest of the text (above) and asked ChatGPT 3.5 to explain what it was about.

"Simple Simon" is a popular English nursery rhyme with a history that dates back several centuries. The rhyme's origin and meaning can be summarized as follows:

Origin

1. Early References: The earliest recorded version of "Simple Simon" appeared in a chapbook in 1764, although the character of Simple Simon dates back to at least the 17th century. The rhyme itself likely existed in oral tradition before it was first printed.
2. Chapbooks: These were small booklets that were cheaply produced and widely circulated. They often contained popular stories, poems, and songs, and "Simple Simon" was among these.
3. Character of Simple Simon: Simple Simon is depicted as a foolish or simple-minded character. Characters like Simple Simon were common in folklore and served as figures of fun or moral examples in stories and songs.
   [EdNote: See my story Jack and the Beanstalk, Revisited]

Meaning

1. Moral Lesson: The rhyme generally portrays Simple Simon as a naive or foolish person who lacks common sense. Each verse typically illustrates his simplicity and the consequences of his lack of wisdom. This serves as a cautionary tale, highlighting the importance of common sense and practical knowledge.
2. Entertainment: Like many nursery rhymes, "Simple Simon" was also intended to entertain. The absurdity and humor in Simon's actions are meant to amuse children while subtly teaching them lessons about behavior and intelligence.
3. Cultural Reflection: The rhyme reflects cultural attitudes toward simplicity and folly. Characters like Simple Simon often represent the everyman, whose mistakes and misunderstandings provide both humor and an opportunity for reflection on human nature.

Variations and Adaptations

Over time, many variations of the rhyme have appeared, with additional verses detailing more of Simple Simon's naive encounters and mishaps. Some versions of the nursery rhyme include additional verses where Simple Simon engages in other activities that highlight his naivety, such as fishing with a piece of bread, attempting to milk a cow with a sieve, or catching birds with a salt shaker. These variations continue to emphasize his lack of common sense and the humorous situations that result.

Cultural Impact
"Simple Simon" has remained a part of English-speaking culture for generations, often used as a reference to someone who is perceived as foolish or lacking in intelligence. The rhyme's enduring popularity speaks to its effectiveness in combining entertainment with a moral lesson, a hallmark of traditional nursery rhymes.

* * * 

What do you think? 

A Message from The Twilight Zone: People Are Alike All Over

I've recently been watching episodes of the old Twlight Zone series which first aired in 1959 and ran for many seasons. Last night I saw an episode that brought to mind a real life incident from a century ago. But first, the fictional tale from the Twlight Zone: "People Are Alike All Over." 

In this story two astronauts, Sam Conrad and Warren Marcusson, embark on a mission to Mars. When they crash land on the planet, Marcusson dies, but before he passes away he reassures Conrad that people are alike everywhere, implying they will find kindness and hospitality on Mars.

When their spaceship crash lands, Conrad is alone, a stranger in a strange land. When the Martians open the spacecraft door, however, they are very human looking, and quite friendly. They provide him with a luxurious home that is surprisingly similar to those on Earth. Briefly all seems well, but then Conrad discovers that his new home is actually a cage in a Martian zoo, and he is the exhibit. He opens the drapes and sees a crowd standing there enjoying this new specimen for display. The sign in front of his barred window reads Earthling in His Natural Habitat.

What's ironic is that this really is the way  people are here on earth. The incident I noted in paragraph one is the story of Ota Benga, which I wrote about in February 2019. Ota Benga was a pygmy from the African bush country who had been brought to North America as a sideshow. He was taken first to St. Louis to be displayed in the 1904 World's Fair there, and then to the Bronx Zoo in 1906. Ota Benga was an immediate sensation. His home was in the monkey house. 

It's a true story which you can read more about here: 

Ota Benga Story Challenges Our Illusions About How Enlightened We Are 

* * * 

EdNote: It's amusing how space travel was portrayed on TV in the late 1950s. Whether it be Mars or the surface of an asteroid, our space adventurers always seemed to have air to breathe. 

Various Perspectives on Non-Violence as a Response to Violence

One of my favorite novellas is Tolstoy's The Forged Coupon which explores themes of morality, redemption, and the ripple effects of individual actions on society. The story shows how interconnected we are, especially the manner in which even our smallest actions have consequences beyond our selves. 

The first half of the book details the negative consequences that flow out of a seemingly insignificant act. The second half shows the power of a single good act and its reverberations. The trigger event is a non-violent response to a violence assault.

It could have been a hundred different things, but Tolstoy had a point he wished to make. Every now and then I return to this story and reflect on the issue he raises. Did Jesus really mean it when he said, "But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also."? 

Here are some challenging statements from a variety of viewpoints. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. Indeed, it is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. I believe in this method because I think it is the only way to reestablish a broken community.
--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Lecture 

"Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. Indeed, it is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it."

--Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

There is no principle worth the name if it is not wholly good. I swear by non-violence because I know that it alone conduces to the highest good of mankind, not merely in the next world, but in this also. I object to violence because, when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary, the evil it does is permanent.
--Mahatma Gandhi

Time and again, people struggling not for some token reform but for complete liberation — the reclamation of control over our own lives and the power to negotiate our own relationships with the people and world around us — will find that nonviolence does not work, that we face a self-perpetuating power structure that is immune to appeals to conscience and strong enough to plow over the disobedient and uncooperative.
--Peter Geiderloos

We who advocate peace are becoming an irrelevance when we speak peace. The government speaks rubber bullets, live bullets, tear gas, police dogs, detention, and death.
--Desmond Tutu

Non-violence is backed by the theory of soul-force in which suffering is courted in the hope of ultimately winning over the opponent. But what happens when such an attempt fails to achieve the object? It is here that soul-force has to be combined with physical force so as not to remain at the mercy of a tyrannical and ruthless enemy.
--Bhagat Singh

There should be neither harming nor reciprocating harm.
--Abu Said, Hadith 32

Evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism – it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.
--Barack Obama

Dr. King's policy was, if you are nonviolent, if you suffer, your opponent will see your suffering and will be moved to change his heart. That’s very good. He only made one fallacious assumption. In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has none.
--Stokely Carmichael

There are different forms of anarchy and different currents in it. I must, first say very simply what anarchy I have in view. By anarchy I mean first an absolute rejection of violence.
--Jacques Ellul

The power of unarmed nonviolence is any day far superior to that of armed force.    
--Mahatma Gandhi

Can the hungry go on a hunger strike? Non-violence is a piece of theatre. You need an audience. What can you do when you have no audience? People have the right to resist annihilation.
--Arundhati Roy

Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.
--Thomas Edison

* * * 

For more on this subject, see: Leo Tolstoy on Pacifism and Non-Resistence to Evil

https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2024/06/leo-tolstoy-on-pacifism-and-non.html

Reflections on Bob Dylan's "Not Dark Yet"

‘This thing I feel, I can’t name it straight out but it seems important, do you feel it too?’ — this sort of direct question is not for the squeamish."
– David Foster Wallace, “Octet”

Something I’ve often wondered is why we’re so fascinated by things that frighten us. When I say “we” I do not mean to suggest that this is universal, but it does seem fairly pervasive. When sitting around a campfire we enjoy ghost stories that succeed in actually scaring us. We get a rush out of the horrors that give us nightmares. It’s a strange thing when we’re forced to choose between competing desires, whether to cover our eyes or to stare.

Sometimes I wonder if Death, or what is euphemistically called the Void or the Grim Reaper, is the real horror behind many of these stories and thereby the thing that fascinates and frightens us most deeply. Just as Victor Frankl identified the search for meaning as man’s ultimate quest, so it is that death renders all our quests meaningless. Meaninglessness is the close companion of Despair.

Despair is a scary matter that has been part of the human condition from the beginning. The Bible addresses this strangely suffocating mindset in the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes. From the outset the tone is set: "Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” Many of the passages in this book were so devoid of hope that Martin Luther wanted to extract it from the Sacred Scriptures.

And yet, the despair found in Ecclesiastes may well be one of the foundation stones of wisdom.

There's something compelling about despair in a certain sense. It's akin to resignation, a resignation to fate, to a recognition of one's powerlessness and life's futility, a futility that may be the first step toward the humility that gives birth to wisdom. It's the ultimate undercutting of one's sense of self-importance, as Borges lays out in A Yellow Rose.

"Not Dark Yet" speaks directly to this matter.

Shadows are falling and I’ve been here all day 
It’s too hot to sleep, time is running away 
Feel like my soul has turned into steel 
I’ve still got the scars that the sun didn’t heal 
There’s not even room enough to be anywhere 
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

Christopher Ricks in his Dylan’s Visions of Sin begins his fifteen-page discussion of this song with a one-word summation: Apocalypse. I can see this and he easily demonstrates that an apocalyptic theme is a recurring thread throughout Dylan's five decade career, explicit examples a-plenty beginning with "A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall" and "All Along the Watchtower" to "Whatcha Gonna Do When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky", and now here in "Not Dark Yet".

A portion of his segment on this song deals with how much Dylan’s "Not Dark Yet" corresponds with Keats’ "Ode to a Nightingale", a poem that attempts to put into words what one senses when standing on the precipice, at the edge of the abyss.

As Ricks puts it, “'Not Dark Yet' seeks – in the great phrase from Freud – to make friends with the necessity of dying.”

Well, my sense of humanity has gone down the drain 
Behind every beautiful thing there’s been some kind of pain 
She wrote me a letter and she wrote it so kind 
She put down in writing what was in her mind 
I just don’t see why I should even care 
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

There’s that written letter again. You may recall it from the last stanza of "Desolation Row". Something about seeing it in writing cuts us more deeply than just hearing it. We hear it, and then somehow alter it so we don’t quite hear it the way it was meant, or in some way we conveniently forget, or soften it, or dismiss it because… well, she was just frustrated and didn’t mean it. Now it’s right there, in ink, and it can’t be denied or ignored.

It’s the reality of the thing that especially hurts, causing us to distrust the beautiful, to recognize the ways in which we deceive ourselves when things seem good, forgetting that nothing ever really lasts. We’re outside the Gates of Eden now.

Well, I’ve been to London and I’ve been to gay Paree 
I’ve followed the river and I got to the sea 
I’ve been down on the bottom of a world full of lies 
I ain’t looking for nothing in anyone’s eyes 
Sometimes my burden seems more than I can bear 
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

Yes, this is what Camus wrestled in his essay on Sisyphus. “Sometimes my burden seems more than I can bear.” And what’s the use in looking for hope in someone else’s eyes at this point of the game. Death will render all my achievements meaningless in the end anyways.

‘This thing I feel, I can’t name it straight out but it seems important, do you feel it too?’ — this sort of direct question is not for the squeamish. – David Foster Wallace, “Octet”

For two years or more one of the websites to which I returned for thought stimulation was The Floating Library, which appeared to be hosted by a man named Dr. Sineokov. I had always assumed this was some elderly Russian philosopher who migrated to the West, something akin to a reclusive Solzhenitsyn in New England. What a surprise, and shock, to one day visit The Floating Library only to find that the caretaker/webmaster of this literary site was a young man of 27 who now committed suicide, at age 27.

The shock hit me more deeply than I expected. In part, because I identified with so many of the quotes he seemed to unearth on such a regular basis. Nevertheless, there were clues here, too, as toward the end they seemed to be especially bleak. Quotes from Orwell, Pessoa, Virginia Woolf, Yeats, Louise Glück, Thomas Mann's Death in Venice, and E.M. Cioran's The Trouble with Being Born.

In what we have agreed to call “civilization,” there resides, undeniably, a diabolic principle man has become conscious of too late, when it was no longer possible to remedy it. — E. M. Cioran, The Trouble With Being Born

Dylan reflects similar sentiments in the final stanza.

I was born here and I’ll die here against my will 
I know it looks like I’m moving, but I’m standing still 
Every nerve in my body is so vacant and numb 
I can’t even remember what it was I came here to get away from 
Don’t even hear a murmur of a prayer 
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

“Suddenly I was alone with . . . I felt, that afternoon of my childhood, that a very serious event had just occurred. It was my first awakening, the first indication, the premonitory sign of consciousness. Before that I had been only a being. From that moment, I was more and less than that. Each self begins with a rift and a revelation.” — E. M. Cioran, The Trouble With Being Born

For Dylan this rift and revelation occurred early in life. You don’t write songs like "Hard Rain" as a jester.

But Ricks takes a different tack here. He examines this song in a chapter titled Fortitude. In spite of the apparent futility of our life situation, our human condition and circumstances, we press on. Camus concluded that Sisyphus can choose to live for those special moments of relief from eternally rolling that boulder up the hill and utilize his time sauntering down the hill to take in the fragrance of the flowers, to absorb the splendor of the vista before shouldering his burden again.

Despair is a fiercer companion for some than for others. This is why a wise man once exhorted us to "be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

Four centuries ago one of the foundation stones of the Reformation was the profound insight that “the just shall live by faith.” That message delivered countless millions from the burden of a crushing works-based medieval Catholicism. But in our modern/postmodern world it would seem to have become an overused coin, and two other “heavenly graces” have become even more necessary and needful: hope and charity.

In a world full of lies, in a world as dark as ours, hope is a miracle whose source is unseen, for what we see is a sinking twilight.

Artwork on this site is produced by ennyman

Leo Tolstoy on Pacifism and Non-Resistence to Evil

Leo Tolstoy, 1897

A conscientious objector is an individual who refuses to perform military service or participate in armed conflict due to deeply held ethical, moral, or religious beliefs. The concept is rooted in the conviction that certain actions, particularly those involving violence and killing, are fundamentally incompatible with one's principles. 

For Leo Tolstoy, pacifism and non-resistance to evil were fundamental beliefs rooted in the teachings of Jesus Christ, specifically Matthew 5:39, "Resist not evil." 

 

Tolstoy's influence went beyond being one of the greatest and most influential authors of all time, nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature each year from 1902-1906. He was also nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize. (1901, 1902 and 1909.) His novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina have often been cited as two of the greatest books of all time.

Though Count Tolstoy grew up in upper crust society, in his mid-forties he underwent a moral crisis that resulted in his embrace a life of self-renunciation and anarchism, which at that time meant owing no allegiance to any state or political power. His ideas on non-violent resistance had a profound impact on future leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, and the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. It was a stance toward life that he took seriously.

It is also a conviction that stands at odds with many other Christian leaders throughout the centuries. The first who came to mind, and the reason I decided to write about this, was C.S. Lewis, who in his writings defended the idea that Christians could participate in war, especially in the defense of justice and in resisting evil. One of his radio talks during World War II addressed this and was later published in a small volume titled The Weight of Glory.

Saint Augustine supported the notion of war under certain conditions.He made a distinction between just and unjust wars. This notion of "Just War Theory" was expanded upon in greater detail by Thomas Aquinas eight centuries later. Martin Luther viewed military service as acceptable for Christians as a form of service to lawful authority. And Dietrich Bonhoffer participated in a plot to assassinate Hitler.

In short, these and many other Christians has found ways to reconcile their faith with military service. But who is right? 

Tolstoy stands in separate camp. His understanding of the teachings of Jesus, especially as delineated in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) forbids Christians from taking up arms to go to war.

 

In the year 1884 Tolstoy wrote a book titled "What I Believe," in which he made a sincere statement of his beliefs. The response to this book prompted to amplify his convictions with a follow-up titled "The Kingdom of God Is Within You." The preface begins as follows:

In affirming my belief in Christ's teaching, I could not help explaining why I do not believe, and consider as mistaken, the Church's doctrine, which is usually called Christianity.

Among the many points in which this doctrine falls short of the doctrine of Christ I pointed out as the principal one the absence of any commandment of non-resistance to evil by force. The perversion of Christ's teaching by the teaching of the Church is more clearly apparent in this than in any other point of difference.

* * *

Many Christians today would find Tolstoy's ideas so radical that they are not worth the slightest consideration. I myself feel challenged by them. Would any of the original Apostles become soldiers for the Roman Empire had they been recruited for military service?

The entire document is online courtesy of the Gutenberg Project. Here is a link followed by a couple excerpts.

TOLSTOY’S “The Kingdom of God Is Within You"

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43302/43302-h/43302-h.htm

"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."—John viii. 32.

THE DOCTRINE OF NON-RESISTANCE TO EVIL BY FORCE HAS BEEN PROFESSED BY A MINORITY OF MEN FROM THE VERY FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY.

Among the first responses called forth by my book were some letters from American Quakers. In these letters, expressing their sympathy with my views on the unlawfulness for a Christian of war and the use of force of any kind, the Quakers gave me details of their own so-called sect, which for more than two hundred years has actually professed the teaching of Christ on non-resistance to evil by force, and does not make use of weapons in self-defense. The Quakers sent me also their pamphlets, journals, and books, from which I learnt how they had, years ago, established beyond doubt the duty for a Christian of fulfilling the command of non-resistance to evil by force, and had exposed the error of the Church's teaching in allowing war and capital punishment.

In a whole series of arguments and texts showing that war—that is, the wounding and killing of men—is inconsistent with a religion founded on peace and good will toward men, the Quakers maintain and prove that nothing has contributed so much to the obscuring of Christian truth in the eyes of the heathen, and has hindered so much the diffusion of Christianity through the world, as the disregard of this command by men calling themselves Christians, and the permission of war and violence to Christians.

* * * 

And a little further on:

Conscientious objectors at Camp Pike, AK

But in the recent cases of refusal on the part of Mennonites to serve in the army on religious grounds, the government authorities have acted in the following manner:

To begin with, they have recourse to every means of coercion used in our times to "correct" the culprit and bring him to "a better mind," and these measures are carried out with the greatest secrecy. I know that in the case of one man who declined to serve in 1884 in Moscow, the official correspondence on the subject had two months after his refusal accumulated into a big folio, and was kept absolutely secret among the Ministry.

They usually begin by sending the culprit to the priests, and the latter, to their shame be it said, always exhort him to obedience. But since the exhortation in Christ's name to forswear Christ is for the most part unsuccessful, after he has received the admonitions of the spiritual authorities, they send him to the gendarmes, and the latter, finding, as a rule, no political cause for offense in him, dispatch him back again, and then he is sent to the learned men, to the doctors, and to the madhouse. During all these vicissitudes he is deprived of liberty and has to endure every kind of humiliation and suffering as a convicted criminal. (All this has been repeated in four cases.) The doctors let him out of the madhouse, and then every kind of secret shift is employed to prevent him from going free—whereby others would be encouraged to refuse to serve as he has done—and at the same time to avoid leaving him among the soldiers, for fear they too should learn from him that military service is not at all their duty by the law of God, as they are assured, but quite contrary to it.

The most convenient thing for the government would be to kill the non-resistant by flogging him to death or some other means, as was done in former days. But to put a man openly to death because he believes in the creed we all confess is impossible. To let a man alone who has refused obedience is also impossible. And so the government tries either to compel the man by ill-treatment to renounce Christ, or in some way or other to get rid of him unobserved, without openly putting him to death, and to hide somehow both the action and the man himself from other people. And so all kinds of shifts and wiles and cruelties are set on foot against him. They either send him to the frontier or provoke him to insubordination, and then try him for breach of discipline and shut him up in the prison of the disciplinary battalion, where they can ill treat him freely unseen by anyone, or they declare him mad, and lock him up in a lunatic asylum. They sent one man in this way to Tashkend—that is, they pretended to transfer him to the Tashkend army; another to Omsk; a third they convicted of insubordination and shut up in prison; a fourth they sent to a lunatic asylum.

* * *

The position of Christian humanity with its prisons, galleys, gibbets, its factories and accumulation of capital, its taxes, churches, gin-palaces, licensed brothels, its ever-increasing armament and its millions of brutalized men, ready, like chained dogs, to attack anyone against whom their master incites them, would be terrible indeed if it were the product of violence, but it is pre-eminently the product of public opinion. And what has been established by public opinion can be destroyed by public opinion—and, indeed, is being destroyed by public opinion.

The time will come and is inevitably coming when all institutions based on force will disappear through their uselessness, stupidity, and even inconvenience becoming obvious to all.

The time must come when the men of our modern world who fill offices based upon violence will find themselves in the position of the emperor in Andersen's tale of "The Emperor's New Clothes," when the child seeing the emperor undressed, cried in all simplicity, "Look, he is naked!" And then all the rest, who had seen him and said nothing, could not help recognizing it too.

The story is that there was once an emperor, very fond of new clothes. And to him came two tailors, who promised to make him some extraordinary clothes. The emperor engages them and they begin to sew at them, but they explain that the clothes have the extraordinary property of remaining invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position. The courtiers come to look at the tailors' work and see nothing, for the men are plying their needles in empty space. But remembering the extraordinary property of the clothes, they all declare they see them and are loud in their admiration. The emperor does the same himself. The day of the procession comes in which the emperor is to go out in his new clothes. The emperor undresses and puts on his new clothes, that is to say, remains naked, and naked he walks through the town. But remembering the magic property of the clothes, no one ventures to say that he has nothing on till a little child cries out: "Look, he is naked!"

This will be exactly the situation of all who continue through inertia to fill offices which have long become useless, directly as someone who has no interest in concealing their uselessness exclaims in all simplicity: "But these people have been of no use to anyone for a long time past!"

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What do you think? Is Christianity compatible with military service? Can a nation armed to the teeth with missiles and bombs, and supplying such to the rest of the world, be considered a Christian nation?