Author: brucethecameron

Timothy Snyder in his book On Tyranny directs a chapter toward people who have the duty to carry arms – the armed forces, the police, and others under authority. When an authoritarian comes to power, these people will be the first to face the pressure to use force to implement the commands of those in power. What happens when the commands exceed what is right or lawful? Professor Snyder says “Be ready to say no.”

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“Be ready to say no.”

This instruction can apply to anyone under authority, armed or not.

Each of us has the responsibility (to ourselves, if no other) to know when we will refuse to obey an order. Where do we draw the line? We all need to figure out, in advance, in detail, the answer to that question. 

It is easy to see, however, that armed forces or police forces can face the quickest, most dire consequences for refusing to obey an order. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn tells of the Russian soldiers who refused the order to fire on an unarmed crowd during the Hungarian uprising of 1956. Solzhenitsyn says “They were immediately executed, as they knew they would be.”

“As they knew they would be.” These soldiers saw the entire picture – the command, the wrongness of the command, and the consequences of refusing to obey the command – and they thought it was worth it to refuse. They were ready to say no. 

In the U.S. military, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) states that it is the duty of the service member to disobey an unlawful order. An example would be the command to inflict torture on a prisoner in custody or the command to target or torture a family member of a prisoner, in order to force the prisoner to talk. Torture is forbidden under U.S. law and international law. The effects of reports of U.S. forces committing torture would be felt by U.S. soldiers in the custody of others. The effects of the adoption of torture as a matter of policy would be felt for generations to come:

• Enemy soldiers unwilling to ever surrender to U.S. forces, because they fear the torture to come, resulting in more “fights to the death” with more death on the U.S. side as well;
• Whole nations and peoples whose attitude toward the U.S. is formed by the knowledge that the U.S. officially regards their people as having no value, no human rights.

Some of these consequences are already present, due to the toleration of torture by U.S. administrations in the past. 

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C. S. Lewis, in a public letter on “The Conditions for a Just War,” argues that, alongside the questions (sometimes unclear) of a just or unjust war, there is a much clearer question of just and unjust actions within war.

A man is much more certain that he ought not murder prisoners or bomb civilians than he can ever be about the justice of a war . . . I feel certain that one Christian airman shot for refusing to bomb enemy civilians would be a more effective martyr [i.e., “witness”] . . . than a thousand Christians in jail for refusing to join the army.

A veteran of World War One, Lewis was well aware of the consequences that would follow when a subordinate refuses to wage war on civilians. He considers the witness of that refusal to a particular, wrongful, order, to be more powerful than a blanket refusal to obey any orders at all. As a Christian, he sees that there is a proper place for governmental authority, for the good of all. But there is a limit to that authority.

In American terms, the government is constituted among us to help us into a more perfect unity, bring us justice, insure tranquility, defend everyone, promote everyone’s well-being, and give all of us (and all of who come after us) the blessings that a free life can bring. When a government goes against this proper authority, it may rightly be resisted. 

However, for an individual to “be ready to say no,” they need to also be ready to take the consequences. 

Alexei Navalny, who perished in a Russian prison for defying the government of Vladimir Putin, described In his memoir Patriot what it took for him to have the courage and peace at heart to deal with the consequences of defying the government. 

Here are the techniques I worked out. Perhaps others may find them helpful in the future (but let’s hope they are not needed).

The first is frequently found in self-help books. Imagine the worst thing that can happen, and accept it. . . . Get into your prison bunk and wait to hear “Lights out.” The lights are switched off. You invite yourself to imagine, as realistically as possible, the worst thing that can happen. And then, as I said, accept it (skipping the stages of denial, anger, and bargaining).

. . . The second technique is so old you may roll your eyes heavenward when you hear it. It is religion. It is doable only for believers but does not demand zealous, fervent prayer by the prison barracks window three times a day (a very common phenomenon in prisons).

I have always thought, and said openly, that being a believer makes it easier to live your life and, to an even greater extent, engage in opposition politics. Faith makes life simpler.

The initial position for this exercise is the same as the previous one. You lie in your bunk looking up at the one above and ask yourself whether you are a Christian in your heart of hearts. . . .[A]re you a disciple of the religion whose founder sacrificed himself for others, paying the price for their sins? Do you believe in the immortality of the soul and the rest of that cool stuff? If you can honestly answer yes, what is there left for you to worry about? . . . Don’t worry about the morrow, because the morrow is perfectly capable of taking care of itself.

My job is to seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and leave it to good old Jesus and the rest of his family to deal with everything else. They won’t let me down and will sort out all my headaches. As they say in prison here, they will take my punches for me.

And that’s how his memoirs end.

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The Commands of Donald Trump

This issue, this call to readiness, come to us at this time because of the elevation of Donald Trump to be the next U.S. president. 

In 2016, when he first ran for president, candidate Trump said that he would have no hesitation in ordering the members of the armed services to torture people in their custody. 

When he was  told that “the military will refuse because they’ve been trained to turn down and refuse illegal orders. So what would you do, as commander-in-chief, if the U.S. military refused to carry out those orders?”Trump said “They won’t refuse. They’re not going to refuse me. Believe me. . . . We should go for waterboarding and we should go tougher than waterboarding. That’s my opinion.”

When asked about targeting terrorists’ families, Trump replied,  “I’m a leader. I’ve always been a leader. I’ve never had any problem leading people. If I say do it, they’re going to do it. That’s what leadership is all about.”

“They won’t refuse. . . . they’re not going to refuse me. . . . I’m a leader. . . . 

   If I say do it, they’re going to do it.”

The day after this declaration (which was greeted by applause by the audience of a Republican debate) his campaign issued a statement that, of course, Trump as president would obey the law. However, after Trump’s first term was over, a number of high-level officials have indicated that, while in office, he did in fact give or discuss giving unlawful orders – firing on unarmed citizens, executing political opponents – that the high-level officials talked him out of, ignored, or simply did not carry out. (By and large, these interactions were not publicly known at the time. They were revealed in books written later.)

The implications for a second Trump term are dire. 

The officials that a re-empowered President Trump appoints, will not be people ready to say “no” to his orders. If high-level officials, military officers, state authorities, or police leaders do not say “no,” then that responsibility will fall on mid-level officers and enlisted personnel – people who have little power to protect themselves from the consequences of refusal. But refusing to obey will still be the right thing to do. 

Military personnel may appeal to the UCMJ for the authority to refuse to engage in torture, to fire on civilians, or other unlawful orders. Even if this appeal to the law may be in vain in a lawless administration, it is still an appeal to what is right. And there is a higher authority. 

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The Higher Authority

Anyone – military or not, armed or not – who considers the consequences of refusing to obey an order, may find courage in knowing, as Navalny did, that there is a higher authority. A higher authority not only to appeal to, but to rely on. For many of us, the pledge to a “nation under God” does not consist only of empty words. Nor are they words that elevate any nation over another. Every nation is a nation under God. Every nation is answerable to a higher authority. As we all are.

Which means that refusing to obey an unlawful order is not only a duty for the sake of our nation and those we deal with. Saying “no” connects us to the only power that has the power to make us promises. 

The only way to serve our nation, where it is going wrong, is by working to make it right. Torture, war on civilians, and other human rights violations do not establish or ennoble a nation. They debase it. And these wrongs cannot be simply ignored or waved off. They need to be faced, admitted, and addressed. Victims need to be faced, addressed, and redressed wherever possible. Nations need to own their history – good and bad – just as individuals do. It is no good to talk about unity, justice, tranquility, defense, well-being, and blessings of liberty unless it is done on the basis of honesty. 

And honesty demands that we say “no” to false ways. 

Alexei Navalny, facing the consequences of his refusal to obey, found peace in accepting the consequences that he saw coming. For him, 

My job is to seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and leave it to good old Jesus and the rest of his family to deal with everything else. They won’t let me down and will sort out all my headaches. As they say in prison here, they will take my punches for me.

Not many of us will be called on to make the total sacrifice that Alexei Navalny faced. 

We are, however – all of us – called on to “Be ready to say no.”

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Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny, chapter 7

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Mortal Danger

Uniform Code of Military Justice

         See also, Section 240A of Title 18, U.S. Code 

C. S. Lewis letter, 1939,“The Conditions for a Just War,” in God in the Dock

Alexei Navalny, Patriot

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/3/4/1495933/-The-Leader

I am a Navy Veteran, though there are few times that this deserves mentioning and only a few stories that come up from my time at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. 

When I think of Veterans of my era, it is more in line to think of my brother Dave and my cousin Jim, who actually went to Viet Nam. 

But when I think of *Veterans,* I think of Mom and Dad. 

Mom, a WAC (E-5) who served in London and Paris. Dad, a weatherman (Capt) in the Army Air Corps, who served all across sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. And then add into that image, my uncles of that WW II generation: Uncle Harry (who flew planes for the US Army, though I am not sure he was in the Army), Uncle Ben, Uncle Paul, Uncle Jim – Army and Navy, Europe and the Pacific. 

Growing up in the 1950s, when my parents had friends come over, there were almost always Veterans among them. Not many stories, but it got mentioned. WW II was all over the TV: “Victory at Sea,” “Combat” (with Vic Morrow). 

But I think the underlying benefit of being the child of two Veterans was the simple, active patriotism of the house. My mother was once unhappy at seeing a flag – even a crayon-colored paper flag – lying on the floor. The 4th of July, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day (my father still called it Armistice Day) were a part of my childhood. My mother and I went downtown for President Kennedy’s funeral procession. I loved the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the White House and Capitol buildings downtown. My cousin Jim and I took a bus downtown to see the Senate in session, sit in the back of a congressional hearing, and wander around the House of Representatives Office Building basement. (Yeah, times were different then.) I grew up with a quiet, steady love of this country.

And this patriotism was there, even though my father and mother did not always agree politically. [“I’ve just cancelled your vote” was said on more than one Election Day.] It was there, even when my father and I could disagree about the Viet Nam war. He finally did allow an anti-war statement to stand, as long as he was satisfied that I wasn’t opposing the country or impugning the motives of everyone who supported the war. 

Dad worked for the National Bureau of Standards. Though he could joke about “government work,” for him government work was work that was to be done well. There was a controversy at the Bureau of Standards, starting under the Truman administration and coming to a head under the Eisenhower administration, where political pressure was put on the government scientists to change their conclusions to help a business with political connections. It was resolved, the scientists held firm, the Director of the Bureau (who had been fired) was re-instated, and my father’s resentment at political pressure was life-long. 

Dad considered that public service was service to the people, to the nation, and not to the changing political administrations (almost equally divided in his time between “R” and “D”). In the same way he respected my brother David’s work as a policeman. The work needs to be done and it needs to be done well. I’m proud to say that I have heard both my father and my brother used as examples of how service to the nation, to the state, to the people, ought to be done. (I include Mom in that list as well.)

And I should add that my parents’ love and respect for the nation went to all the people. They didn’t have any place in their patriotism for white supremacy or a supposed white nationalism, which they considered “a steaming pile of horse’sh” (my father’s phrasing). My father’s Pennsylvania roots went back to the 1680s. My mother’s parents were both born in Austria-Hungary. They considered that old-timers, newcomers, and the people still coming in were how you define “American.” Immigrants were not “them”; they were us. I sang “Give me your tired, your poor” with the Wheaton High School Chorus, and it was a song that could bring my mother to tears. 

I have been a part of this country now through 36 years under Democratic Presidents and 40 years under Republican. I have seen party control of the White House change ten times now. Although I have concerns about the future of our country – our Democracy, our Constitution, our Laws – it is still my country. “America The Beautiful” still sings “God shed his grace on thee” and still sings “God mend thine every flaw.” Like every nation, America is a nation under God, who is the Lord of the nations. Like every nation, it is – we are – a nation with work to do to live up to our words and our ideals. 

And so, on Veterans Day, I remember  

• Mom and Dad,
• the uncles, 
• Dave and Jim, 
• Jared and Trisch, 
• G’pa Weninger (WW I), 
• G’g’g’pa Cameron (Civil War), 
• G’g’g’g’g’pa Rush (Revolutionary War) . . . (Jacob Rush, Penn Militia, Somerset Co — not to forget the *very* distant cousin Benjamin Rush who signed the Declaration). 

I remember a country that people are still working at, constituted to becoming more perfectly united, with justice and defense for all, hopefully with more tranquility, working for the well-being of everyone and securing the blessings of liberty not only for us, but for the generations to come. 

It’s worth the work. And it’s our job to make it worth the sacrifice of those who have gone before us. 

Happy Veterans Day.

I ran into a referral to the

Haitian Community Help and Support Center, Springfield, Ohio. 

[ https://haitiansupportcenterspringfield.org ] 

(1530 S Yellow Springs St., Springfield, Oh 45506] 

Check them out for their services, PayPal account, etc. 

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I was blown away by the profiles of the four officers: 

Viles Dorsainvil – President

He has a bachelor’s degree in Governance and International Relations (GIR) at Queensland University in Haiti. He has a Diploma in Ministerial Studies and a Master of Divinity at the United Theological College of the West Indies in Jamaica. . . .Based on my faith in Jesus-Christ, I have always relied on this biblical verse found in the gospel according to Saint Luke 22:27, “But I am among you as one who serves.”

Reginald Silencieux – Vice President

Married and father of three children. He is a civil engineer, Lawyer, communicator, and theologian. Senior Pastor of the First Haitian Evangelical Church of Springfield and First Haitian Evangelical Church of Columbus. . . . As a Pastor, serving people at my church and the community at large is an obligation. If you say you are a follower of Jesus-Christ, there is no way that you will not have a heart to serve.

Lindsay Aime – Treasurer

He has a bachelor’s in law. He has served as Coordinator ‘Rebati Sante Mantal’ (Rebuild Mental Health) for 6 years. This organization is based in the USA and Haiti. . . . I have to Springfield for more than 5 years and I have been supporting Haitians in various ways especially with their language barrier since I am bilingual. . . . My background as a pastor’s son has given the ability to interact with people and give the services they need with respect and dignity.

Rose-Thamar Joseph – Secretary

She has taken undergraduate classes in Social Work at the Haiti State University and has a Diploma in Administrative Assistant . She worked for more than 6 years at American Red Cross as Operations Administrative Assistant (Haiti). She is currently a Student in Social Work at Clark State Community College.  For me, Community Services is vocational,

“I’ve always wanted and enjoyed helping people. This is one of the reasons that I have chosen Social Work as major in college. Being part of this big project and being able to help my fellows Haitians and any other immigrants is like my dream becomes reality. I know that we have a long road ahead, but my commitment is bigger than any obstacle. My motto is simple ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'”

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When I was in North Carolina, I met a few Haitian immigrants who came to Charlotte by way of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services. (They later re-located farther north, where there was a larger Haitian community.) They seemed like admirable young men, looking for a better life. 

The story of people such as them coming to a town to work in the factories that needed workers, reminds me of my Grandpa Weninger at the beginning of the 20th Century — coming to Akron, Ohio; speaking only German; living in the German-speaking community; going to a German-speaking church; working in the tire plants of Akron. 

 And also serving in the US Army during WW I (speaking mostly German!)

Fast-forward 125 years, and the Weningers were the parents of a WW II WAC; with 3 or 4 WW II Vets as Sons in Law; other veterans, teachers, accountants, policemen, pastors, etc in the next generations. 

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As Ronald Reagan (!) said: 

Our nation is a nation of immigrants. More than any other country, our strength comes from our own immigrant heritage and our capacity to welcome those from other lands.

Caspian:             “I was wishing that I came of a more honorable lineage.”

Aslan:             “You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve. And that is both honor enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content.”

How should we teach American history to America’s children? 

We want our children to identify themselves as citizens of this country. Their country. We want them to appreciate, and even love, the aspects of this country that we appreciate and love. To give thanks for, and pray for, this country as their home. 

We also want them to know the truth about our country’s history. They will not understand the country that they live in unless they face the facts of the events and actions that have led up to this present moment. And not all of these actions have been good. 

There is no way to teach American history, as if “we” in America have done all things well over the course of our history. As if all the things that were NOT done well, just “happened,” or were done by . . . , I guess, by someone else. If we are going to identify ourselves as citizens of America – if that is our identity – then we need to face the fact that some things done in this country, in the name of America, were poorly done. Wrongly done. 

Now. It is at this point that things become tricky. The leaders and rule-makers of America have, over the centuries, divided the people of this land into different groups. Native Americans and Europeans. The English and the Spanish. People from Great Britain and people from Africa. People in favor of independence and people loyal to the King. People who owned human beings as slaves and people held in slavery. Soldiers who fought for the Union and soldiers who fought for the Confederacy. English speakers and speakers of other languages. 

Some of these divisions are with us to this very day. 

For example. At one time, Black citizens of Webster Groves, Missouri, were not permitted into the Webster Groves Municipal Swimming Pool. Then, after some controversy, they were (and are) permitted/welcomed into the pool. Does it renew that controversy, if we teach those events to our children? Can Black students and White students alike, learn that history together? Will it mean something different to each of them? 

Now multiply that example to all of the history of America. Native and colonist. Newer immigrant and still-newer immigrant. The history of slavery. The red-lining of the city of St. Louis. The treatment of German-speakers during World War One and the treatment of Spanish speakers today. [Add your own examples here.] 

At what point can an American student (of European background, say) learn about the treatment of Americans of Japanese background during World War Two? I was in 7th grade, I think, when a fellow student made a report in class of what his parents’ generation went through in the internment camps of America. This was in 1961-1962. We were all 12 years old, or so. All of our parents had gone through the War. Most of us had parents who went into the service; for me, it was both parents and all of my uncles. But for one classmate, his parents had not been permitted that history. And his history was also American history. Our history. 

To be frank, much of the resistance to teaching American history as it really is and as it really was, proceeds from the recognition that what I called “the leaders and rule-makers of America” have been mostly White people. Treating White people differently than others. If I had lived in Webster Groves when Black children were excluded from the swimming pool, that rule would not have affected me. I wish that the rule had never been in place, but there it is. 

The question of honesty in history is not only a question about children. How should those of us – of any age – who consider ourselves America’s children, think about America’s history? Our history? 

Listen to Aslan. 

When Prince Caspian, at the point of becoming King Caspian, says that he wished that he came “of a more honorable lineage,” Aslan says: 

         “You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve. And that is both honor enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content.”

Aslan addressed all the children of Narnia as “Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve.” This is – following the Biblical example – a title of honor and a badge of shame. We can apply this title, as Aslan did, to the whole human race. We can apply it (as C. S. Lewis did), each of us, to our own nation’s history. We can apply it, each of us, to our own family history.* And each of us can apply it to ourselves. Honor enough; shame enough. 

But also joy and hope enough. The history of our country is not completed. The history of our own day is not yet written. The history of our own actions and decisions will be written by those who follow us. We can’t rest with the past; we can’t magically imagine a new future. We deal with today. We live with our own nation, our own America today. Honor enough; shame enough. 

Be content. And let’s get to work. 

*[I can give a personal example of a family example of honor and shame, good and bad, acclaim and question, from material about my own family, found in the books on my own bookshelves. I intend to do this in a later article. For the sake of my children and grandchildren.]

** The quote at the beginning is from Prince Caspian, the final chapter.

Everything changes today.

After having spent my entire life (up to this point) as a Lutheran, today I become a Septuagenarian. This means, apparently, that I will have to start reading the Old Testament in Greek. To begin this process, let me give you Psalm 117, translated from the Greek:

Αλληλουια.
Αἰνεῖτε τὸν κύριον, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη,
ἐπαινέσατε αὐτόν, πάντες οἱ λαοί,
ὅτι ἐκραταιώθη τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς,
καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια τοῦ κυρίου μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα

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Old joke:

Q – – “Have you been a Lutheran all your life?”

A – – “Not yet.”

Not like the mighty woman with a torch

Of world-wide welcome — No! the fear-washed voice

Calls us to cowering hide behind a wall

With golden letters of the words, “Not you!”

The light of freedom then is hid away

From huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

Too wretched are the homeless, tired, poor

Who might bring down our city on the hill.

 

And yet the woman with the torch still cries;

To us, not to the ancient lands, she speaks;

She lifts her lamp to people, who are gifts!

She looks, not up to gleaming cities high,

But valleys filled with exiles sent — like us

The sons and daughters still of immigrants.

 

Dec 20, 2018