Wednesday, August 25
Speak the Word
“Friends believe that we are called to speak the truth. A single standard of truth requires us to conduct ourselves in ways that are honest, direct and plain. It follows that we object to taking an oath, which presupposes a variable standard of truth. Be true to your word.”
From “Advices and queries” - Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
A few weeks ago, I was channel surfing, looking for something well made and uplifting on satellite TV. I've always been a fan of old Hollywood movies and I got lucky. "Friendly Persuasion" featuring Gary Cooper, Dorothy McGuire and Anthony Perkins had just started and I was sucked into the cinematography, the dialog and the sweetness of this movie about a conflicted Indiana Quaker family during the American Civil War. Link
For some reason, I am reminded of this movie lately and I wonder about the legacy of simplicity and non-violence that Quakers have given America and the world. The movie showed a way of life centered on self realization and thoughtful contemplation. Gary Cooper was the perfect actor to portray the complex, flawed and strong Quaker farmer. Dorothy McGuire was great as the dogmatic and caring Quaker mother. Anthony Perkins was terrific and so believable as the teen age son driven to bear arms in defense of his home. The characters were bound by the Quaker ways which taught against pride, vanity, aggression and hate. Each character's struggle to supress, overcome and accept these human flaws makes the movie great. As a family and as individuals they transcended the violent times and their weaknesses with their love for each other.
The movie reminded me of a neighbor I knew when I was in grade school. Her name was Doris Putz and she was a German immigrant married to an American soldier turned banker. She made the best pastries and I always looked forward to baby sitting for her daughters because of the treats she'd have for me. She had a special soft-spot for my Dad because he enjoyed her baking so much and she'd often give me bag or basket of goodies to take back home for him.
One evening, I was supposed to babysit and my Dad and I walked across the alley to the Putz house a little early. He was talking to her husband, Dick, in the kitchen while snagging her latest confections and I was watching TV in the living room. The youngest was crying and didn't sound good.
"Very fussy she is," said Doris as she hurried into the kitchen.
"Dick, come and look at the baby. She is not right," and they both went into baby Keri's room. Dad and I could hear the commotion and finally they both came back and said that Dick would go and Doris would stay because the baby was sick. Dick left and Dad and I started to leave.
"Wince, please eat a pastry and have a cup of coffee before you go. Keri is sick but she will sleep soon."
We hung around and then Dad coaxed Doris into talking about her life in Germany. I recall that she was from somewhere around Mannheim and had been a child when the Nazis took over Germany.
"My parents thought he was just another politician and we didn't worry about Jews and wars. We worried about our shops and going to church and the shortages and how expensive things always were." She stopped and listened for Keri.
"Ah, she sleeps now," she said.
"The Germans are not bad people. We didn't know how terrible the Nazis were and then the wars started. Bombs, more shortages, and finally nothing. My mother and I lived in a bombed out basement for more than a year. So many people starved or were killed by the bombs. The only help we could get was from the Quakers. They saved our lives in my town. There was no one else and they never said a bad thing about anybody. Then the Americans came and Dick found me. " She smiled and offered my father another homemade donut and some coffee.
Over the years, I've forgotten much of this conversation but I remember how Doris almost cried thinking about the kindness and support of the Quakers after World War II. The American Friends and British Friends Service Committees were recognized for their outstanding refugee work during World War II and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947.
What seemed to amaze Doris about the Quakers was that they did not blame, shame or condemn her and her people. They gave food, blankets, refugee assistance and much more with love and no lectures. They didn't try to convert anyone either. They are still doing good work in the world in Iraq and Afghanistan and anywhere the message of unconditional love and peace on earth is needed.
I compare the works and words of these non-posturing and quiet American patriots with the words and works of the Swift Boat Vets. It's really an unfair comparison, though, since Quakers are non-partisan and the Boaters are partisan. The one thing that is common to both groups is that they recognize the power of words.
The Quaker belief encourages people to value words and recognize their power for good or harm.
The Swift Boaters devalue words and manipulate them for political gain.
The Boaters junk up the collective conscious with distortions and false connections because they want their leader to continue to lead American. They put the words, "Kerry is not to be trusted," out into the air waves and they use the defining moments in their lives to tear down one man at the expense of millions who survived Viet Nam and have worked for thirty years to put that disaster behind them.
I think of Anthony Perkin's character in "Friendly Persuasion" and how much he agonized about the thought of killing another person to defend his own home. The act of killing was painful and personal in this film and it endangered a person's soul. Simple. No special effects or nonsense. People who killed and were killed were not heroes deserving of medals nor were they deserving of ridicule for not being the perfect killing machine. They were human beings loved by their families and deserving of life.
Kerry and his associates are criticized because they thought about killing the enemy and thought about ways to stay alive. Kerry and his associates are criticized for accepting medals. Kerry and his associates are condemned for reporting the war atrocities they'd seen and heard about and for becoming activists against the war. Kerry was not the only vet who volunteered and served and came to realize that the reasons for the war and effects of the war in terms of atrocities needed to be challenged. The Viet Nam War was the most criticized and protested war on the planet and the most devastating to the US in terms of lives lost and values challenged. It was a horror show and needed to end.
The SBVT are bullshit artists and everyone should recognize this by now. Daily headlines scream another direct connection between these gutless, slime merchants and the Bush campaign. The FEC forbids such connections, but the Republicans don't care. They own America and in some respects, the world. They have created their own dictionary of "doublespeak" to justify their actions and convince the unwary that they know the "truth" while decapitating their political opponents.
They simply speak the word (e.g., patriotism, terrorism, homeland, evildoer) and either challenge its true meaning if necessary or bludgeon their opponents with a revised version of it. The patriotism of activists for peace is a threat to the powers that be these days. Kerry is now suddenly the anti-patriot because he spoke out against the evils he had seen and heard about. Democrat lawmakers are shut out of committee meetings, shunned, or punished for their opposition just as Ted Kennedy was when his name suddenly appeared on the airlines terrorist lists.
Dissent, debate, patriotism, diversity, compassion, tolerance, are powerful words with precise meanings that have undergone the Bush administration "doublespin" revision. Maybe it's time to examine the true meaning of fascism before it becomes something "necessary" for our "security."
