The election is over. But it did not solve any problems nor resolve any issues with which the nation must deal. The President's avoidance of any specific methods to meet the difficulties ahead leaves us in a political and moral haze.
It is interesting to note how easily we ignore, twist or reverse political and moral principles to adjust for our preferences and prejudices. For instance, the Republican party was formed as a free working man's party to end the system of cheap slave labor which threatened the livelihood of every free man. It wanted a strong central government to limit the extension of slavery. They were "black" Republicans. The doctrine of State's Rights was developed by the Democratic party and the "silk stocking" Whigs (Lincoln's phrase) to protect the institution of slavery, to prevent the more populous northern states from imposing limits on the "peculiar institution". What a change has occurred! The Democratic party has become the working man's party with national political programs to protect those workers and consumers who are subject to exploitation by industrial giants. The Republican party beats the drums for State's rights, because dividing authority among the states cripples the effectiveness of legislation which limits such exploitation. The two parties have exchanged constituents and political theories.
The moral issues involved go beyond anything the "moral majority" comprehends or contemplates. The conduct of our relations with our Latin-American neighbors leaves us no grounds for criticism of any other nation. Long before a Communist power was on the scene we invaded Central America to depose opponents and install friends in governments there. Russia's adventures in Poland, Hungary and Afganistan only duplicate our incursions into Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Guatemala and El Salvador. Accusations by both sides are simply cases of the pot calling the kettle black.
We have been getting a lot of "righteous indignation" about terrorists lately. But persons who are terrorists to us are patriotic martyrs to Libyans, Iranians and the PLO. At the time of the Watts riots in Los Angeles I was teaching a Bible class. Some of the class members, at one session, were angry over the riots in that city, and demanded enforcement of law and order. I asked them to explain the difference between the Watts riots and the Boston Tea Party, a glowing example of American patriotism. The members stumbled around looking for differences. Finally one man clarified matters: "In Watts, it's them. In the Boston Tea Party, it's us." So much for the administration's righteous indignation.
The CIA manual for the Contra in Nicaragua leaves the administration with dirty hands and face. It suggests "selective violence" - they mean murder - against supporters of the government. This is American terrorism. If the President and his appointees at the CIA knew about the manual and permitted it to be printed, they have betrayed the American people. If Mr. Reagan didn't know about it he is not the responsible leader his advertising agency pictures him as being. After the CIA, during the Nixon administration, gave its support to the Chilean generals who murdered democratically elected Salvatore Allende, President of Chile, any protestations of innocence on its part are suspect. Coupled with the CIA involvement in mining the harbors of Nicaragua, and the incendiary raids on that country's oil storage tanks the administration is establishing a record of terrorism under the subterfuge of protecting national interests. There is a big doubt about the administration's morality.
What to do?
We need to capture and develop the experience for which one description is "born again". At birth we leave the world of the womb and enter into a new world of independent action. At a second birth we enter into another new world of different principles, experiences and values. One of those values is intellectual honesty, a willingness to admit violations of moral principles and not try to argue evil into good. Lincoln Steffens once spoke of honest crooks and dishonest crooks. An honest crook knew he was dishonest and never used pious phrases. He could be changed. A dishonest crook did not realize he was dishonest. Even though he mouthed pious verbiage, he was hopelessly lost.
A second value is the ability to see things from a different angle, even from the point of view of an enemy. For instance, think about two hundred million Russians facing more than thirty thousand nuclear warheads, five thousand of which are only twenty minutes away. Remember that the man whose finger is in the button that can launch those missiles has described Russia as the focus of all the evil which must be destroyed. Do you wonder that the Russians build more and more missiles as a deterrent force?
Unfortunately, both nations are under the rule of power-hungry leaders. Ours are determined to be Number One in military power. Russian leaders are determined no one shall be more powerful than they. Each side whips up a tempest of fear and hate against each other. And the masses of people on both sides are condemned to life in fear that some joker will outlaw the other nation and "start bombing in five minutes".
Our hope is that we experience a birth into a new world of different values that place cooperation above conquest, acceptance above fear, friendship above hate, peace above war, and a future better than the present.
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