A Sermonette is a good place to reprint a confession of faith. This one is bit old (over 51 years) but (unfortunately) is still pertinent. It was uttered by Corliss Lamont, son of a Chairman of the Board of the infamous J. P. Morgan investment bank , who became a committed social activist during the Depression. In the 1950s, along with many others, he became the target of Senator Joseph McCarthy, godfather to Karl Rove and the current crop of illegitimate offspring of that vile opportunist (aka the Republican party). I grew up in the McCarthy days and recall vividly the pall it cast over political life in the US, so I have a special warm spot in my heart for those who stood up to that sonofabitch.
Here's his confession of faith made before the New York City Teachers Union in November of 1954:
Many people have asked me over the past year or so how it feels to tangle with the Senator from Wisconsin....Welll, there is a certain philosophy involved here, and I shall give you frankly my confession of faith. In the great battle that is being waged today for America's freedom our chief aim must be, neither to avoid trouble, nor to stay out of jail, nor even to preserve our lives, but to keep on fifghting for civil liberties, for democracy, for constitutional rights, and whatever else we believe in. Our central purpose is not a ripe old age -- although that would be nice -- but the generous expenditure of our energies for the good of our country and the welfare of humanity .... For my own part I must admit that nothing gives me greater pleasure than a good fight in a good cause. If I can contribute something to the downfall of Joe McCarthy and what he stands for, I shall be a happy man indeed. [Corliss Lamont, "A Good Fight,", Monthly Review, January 1955, Reprinted in Monthly Review, January 2005, p. 59.]
Lamont did indeed live a long and fruitful life. He died in 1995 at the age of 93. I saw him in person only once, in the 1960s. I remember him as a good speaker but with a certain curmudgeonly demeanor. I'm not sure that is deserved, but that's what I remember. He was a true person of The Enlightenment who would be considered an extremist by modern political standards.
That speaks volumes about modern political standards.
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Life doesn't really become meaningful until you've got something more than its preservation to live for.
Steve: True but not very informative. What do you mean by "preservation of life"? Just surviving? One could argue that the essence of life is to reproduce itself -- or not.
I don't want to argue with what is clearly a meaningful claim on your part, but in truth, it doesn't have much meaning by itself. The "something more" could be the desire to do great evil or the desire to have the best stamp collection in the world, etc., etc., and what you say would be true as well. For Corliss Lamont it was a lot of good causes, and I suppose for me, too, although trying to find out how the world works is on my list of things that make my life meaningful. God isn't.
It's truly frightening to hear rumblings down your way about treason charges against the NYT because it refused to cede editorial policy to the President, or our own Canadian Prime Minister simply shutting out the media because they won't do things his way. Echoes of Pravda and totalitarianism. It boggles the mind that ordinary people can't see the blatant contradiction of regimes that wave the flag of freedom to justify undermining just that. It reminds me that our freedoms are constantly under threat, and that those threats tend to sneak in the back door, when we're looking the wrong way or not paying attention.
Do you ever think about all of the people streaming around you as you drive on the freeway? Sometimes I get this astonishing experience that I really have too much faith in my ability to go 80 mph in the designated lanes... with these other people who dodge back and forth at 85 or 90 ...and too much faith that my car will protect me from death if something goes wrong... What do the other people think? Do they doubt themselves?
How is it that we have faith in our government to protect us from things like terrorism? The same guys are throwing our money at flag burning and bridges to nowhere and saving the slave trade in the Marinas Islands.... and... and.they SAY that they are protecting us.... Do we believe them??? And we have people running the government like Karl Rove who we ALL know is a Turn Blossom of epic proportions! What in the world are we thinking???? How do we let these folks take the wheel and how do we let them drive at all????
I think there is an awful lot of blind faith... and I really mean BLIND faith that things will go along just fine and we will live happily ever after. Maybe this ... is it stupidity? is this naiveté? Is it just a way to survive.... like the herd of gnus running past hundreds of prides of hungry lions.... I AM going to survive... the others won't, BUT I will....
And could it be that our gnu mind set which allows us to think things are okay - when they really aren't - is the same mind set that lets us push on in the face of bad stuff? I don't know. MmmmmmAAAAAAaaaaaaawwwwww....
By staying away from the polls in droves. In 2000, According to the certified vote, Bush's winning margin in Florida was 537 votes out of over 6 million votes cast; that margin represents about 0.009% of the total votes cast. It's also about 0.02% of the 2.5 million registered Florida voters who did not vote for President - another testimony to low voter turnout that was 51.2% (of all eligible voters) nationwide in this election. http://tinyurl.com/q2xmn In other words, about 25% of the eligible voters in this country (along with the Supreme Court and the Electorial College) gave us Mr. Bush. The numbers weren't much better in 2004. For God's sake, in Iraq, under penalty of death if they voted, and knowing they'd be marked with indelible ink if they did (so the terrorists could easily identify them), over 80% of eligible voters voted.Don't like the way things are going? Get off your fat ass, register and vote!!! and take some like-minded friends with you.Remember MoM's 1st rule of politics - If you don't vote, don't bitch.MoM
Revere:
I was just identifying with Lamont's statements that our chief aim must not be to preserve our lives, and that our central purpose is not to live to a ripe old age. A life lived for nothing more than avoiding death seems like a rather small life. Life becomes meaningful when you've got something worth dieing for.
Steve: I knew you were. But I was pushing you a bit. Hope you don't mind.
"Live free or Die" - Patrick Henry
Whatever happened to people willing to stick up for their principles? Lamont is one such man. Too bad they are an endangered species.
Why have the people of our country bought into the lies of the past 100 yrs that have completely eroded the Constitution and Bill of rights?
I know why..... the reason for it is that in order for a constitutional republic and democracy to work you have to have an educated public. We haven't had that for 50 yrs! Each generation has been given a more watered down curriculum and now they learn more about global warming than history, more about sex ed and diversity than literacy! It's important to remember our roots in order to give the future wings.
I am sad to say it looks like we are headed the way of the Romans. Bread and Circuses are the downfall.... Socialist Celebs and keeping up with the Joneses and we are bankrupting our future on the backs of our children.
People are spoon fed pablum for all of their lifes and all of a sudden you want them to grow up?
In school you are not taught to investigate, research and draw your own conclusions. You are told what is the party line and you are graded on how well you can memorize and regurgitate it.
Perhaps we do have a predilection for a herd or pack mentality. I think it would not be so prevalent if our individuality were valued more. Instead we homogenize our milk , mono-crop our food, factory farm our animals and mass manufacture almost all substances we come into contact with. We even brand name our food.
Differences that use to provide strength are now frowned upon.
We are intent upon streamlining our experiences. We want faster, better, less complex - less work. The experience of working for something to come to fruition is no longer savoured. People view the process of acquiring knowledge as pure tedium.
If you have no passion in your daily life, self-motivation, sheer curiosity, you will not develop a passion for theories, for the abstract.
People no longer 'stand up on the soap box' instead protesters are 'allowed an area'.
Our privacies are eroded and we are being micromanaged into being consumers of things.
Did you touch something natural today? Did you learn something? Did you express your individual self? Do you care about what is going on?
Those are the important things. To me at least.
Revere:
Of course you're right. My "something worth dieing for" might be much different than someone else's. For today, I'll just enjoy the common ground. There'll be plenty of time for soul-saving later. :)
Trina said, "People are spoon fed pablum for all...", and then she said, "We even brand name our food."Indeed we do.(I don't know, just struck me funny.)
McCarthy ended up being right.
Google Venona Papers. Top levels of government were loaded with communists. Klaus Fuchs and the Rosenbaums gave the USSR the bomb. The USSR killed millions of its own people in the name of communist principles. Even brights like Oppenheimer was initially fooled by Communist ideals. Imagine if Communists had become a force in the US like in so many other cultures. The world as we know it wouldn't exist. We should all thank God people like McCarthy stood up against an evil as great as Nazism...an evil responsible for the murder of over 100 million world-wide in the last century. McCarthy stood squarely against evil.
Venona Papers. Google away.
mccarthy: LOL. The Rosenbaums? I guess to "you people" all Jewish names sound alike. You're a card.