“The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself…” Albert Camus
Inflammatory rhetoric precedes bloodshed. Never in history has a war been avoided through words. Ultimately a die is cast, and speech must surrender to armed conflict. Only after the despots are defeated, can reason prevail.
Abraham Lincoln once said “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.” In America today that is the challenge. With a media in bed with its government and those who oppose it threatened and intimidated, how can the truth survive and prevail?
Today we face the challenges of a new world conflict and a way to disseminate the truth about our enemies.
In Hitler’s Germany free speech was punishable by death, and those who dared speak against the Fuhrer were sentenced to die. These tactics went unnoticed (or did they), just as the terrorists of today threaten and murder those who speak against their tyranny.
What are the options for those who find it impossible to sit idly by and watch the world deny itself out of existence?
Pre-World War II, a group of students arose in Germany dedicated to speaking out against the Nazis. They called themselves The White Rose Society.
They bought a typewriter and duplicating machine and wrote their first leaflet with the heading: *Leaflets of The White Rose.
In that history making effort, they wrote:
“Nothing is so unworthy of a nation as allowing itself to be governed without opposition by a clique that has yielded to base instinct… Western civilization must defend itself against fascism and offer passive resistance, before the nation’s last young man has given his blood on some battlefield.”
War was inevitable and many lost their lives battling fascism, but their bravery lives on in testament to those who stand against evil.
Silencing those who oppose the evil intentions of any government or people presents a great risk. Recent attempts by our own administration to silence and influence those who speak against it are a frightening reminder of the dangers of curtailing free speech.
When a people succumb to these methods, they are faced with two inevitable outcomes: the failure of good people to accept evil for what it is and the inherent nature of human beings to deny what appears impossible to overcome.
These two hindrances to action are alive and well today.
The White Rose Society members believed their cause was just and their duty to the truth irrevocable.
The current battle against the lies and propaganda of groups who seek to destroy western civilization are met with lethargy on the part of governments throughout the world. Truth and a regard for human life have fallen victim to the politics of global dominion predicated on an oil-based economy.
Who is left to pick up the sword and battle against evil if our leaders will not?
Just as pre-World War II, we are faced with a mindset that would rather ignore the inevitable than face bloodshed on a global scale.
There was no doubt Hitler was evil and determined, still there was denial and refusal to accept the ultimate task ahead. Such battles fought countless times are ignored until good’s back leans heavily against that preverbal wall.
What is the responsibility of today’s White Rose Society? Who are the members and will they succeed in opening the eyes of those who refuse to see?
Can they awaken a world so caught up in the poison of political correctness their message most often falls on deaf ears?
I am struck with the irony that since political correctness reared its ugly head, the world is awash in incivility and violence as never before in history.
The advent of the Internet has given rise to a new team of fighters. Emails travel throughout cyberspace at breakneck speed, filled with warnings, information and an attempt to awake the sleeping tiger.
It is a pre-war mentality that exists in the underground. Where once a White Rose Society was bound by a leaflet, it can now avail itself of a computer terminal, a bookstore or a television appearance to convey its message.
If the outreach is so much greater why is the result of the effort so much less?
Simply because the enemy has succeeded in beating the warriors at their own game.
They employ propaganda and are so well funded nothing can stop their march against the truth. The Nazis taught the armies of darkness well the force of the written word.
If the game is rigged why even join the table?
For the same reason the White Rose Society risked life and limb to warn the world and the German people against the fascism, for the same reason Sir Edmund Hillary climbed Mt Everest-simply, because it is there.
As long as evil exists the world must find the balance, and good must be empowered to rise against destruction and tyranny. Those who ignore their duty cannot be counted and sitting on sidelines in this battle is unacceptable.
Ultimately, malevolence forces good’s hand and all must enter the fray.
The United States stayed out of World War II longer than we should have because we were unprepared. We were unwilling to face the reality of a war machine bent on global domination reeking havoc in the world.
In today’s battle for the planet’s soul, anyone who believes only Europe is at risk, or Israel is all evil, is misled. Those who deny the Devil will eventually succumb to his power.
The universal psyche was designed to allow mankind the belief good eventually overcomes when the question of whose virtue is virtuous is disputed. The fatal flaw in this system is that good is reactive while the powers of darkness are proactive. As the saying goes, Satan never sleeps.
There is a plethora of White Rosers battling today to force the world to open its eyes and stand tall before we are all pushed down. Why must the good suffer for the stupidity of their leaders?
Once more, in a not too distant future, we will do battle. It has already begun and is being forcefully denied, even as the towers collapsed, a gunman shot up an army base and a man hid a bomb in his underwear.
And still we sleep. Sleep, as our enemy is emboldened by our own foolishness, corruption and refusal of those in power to accept their responsibility for a better world. Oblivious, as they prepare to attack, while we drool snoring into our pillows.
If the sounds of bombs do not open our eyes, can mere words? That will be the ultimate question and perhaps the last we will ever ask.
This point-and often-counter-point presentation is sprinkled with humor and sadness and attempts to tackle serious and relevant issues of the day. The series began in 2008, appears both in print in the USA and on numerous websites and is followed regularly by readership from around the world.