I am looking for a work written by F. Forrester Church (it may have
been a preformed speech, or a letter). I remember first reading it in
an anthology of speeches that I checked out from the library. I had to
memorize it for school and still remember some of it. I had a time
limit so I had to condense the speech. This is what I remember about
the speech, and I have a pretty good memory so it is 99% word for
word:
“Think about it. Never in the recent history of our country has there
been so strong a consensus as there apparently is today around the
President’s decision to bomb Libya in reprisal for the Libyan directed
bombing of a West German nightclub, in which one American G.I. was
killed. According to the New York Times, 77% of Americans favor this
decision while just 14% oppose it, even though a majority of those
questioned also believe that this action will increase terrorist
activity, not diminish it. At the same time, the President’s favorable
rating on his conducting of our foreign policy has soared this week to
an unprecedented 76%. Throughout the week my conviction grew that this
action was terribly, terribly wrong. This morning I want to tell you
why. Jesus taught us that we must not answer evil with evil. And
history teaches that we must choose our enemies carefully because we
will become like them. Not only that, but when we do, unconscious of
the good in our enemies and terrified by their evil, we eventually
will become like them at their least attractive. Accordingly, when we
react to terrorism with bombs of our own, killing innocent civilian
and even children, we too become terrorists. This past week, we have
added a tragic new chapter to the primitive ethics of an eye for an
eye and a tooth for a tooth. It could be subtitled “a baby for a
baby.” One infant is blown out of the side of an airplane, another
blown out of her crib by our bombs. Former President Jimmy Carter said
in an interview on Thursday, that if his daughter, Amy, had been
killed in this manner, he would devote his life to exacting revenge
upon whoever had done it. This is not a part of Christian theology,
but it is certainly understandable from a human point of view. On the
other hand, such revenge is a part of teachings of Islam. Our
government claims that we have taken a major step to end terrorism by
showing that no terrorist act will go unanswered. This betrays a
complete lack of understanding both of the nature of terrorism itself,
and of the Islamic faith. What we forget is this. If, as they are
often taught, instant bliss is the reward for death in a holy cause,
religious zealots - whether terrorist, holy innocent, or both - are
delighted to don the martyr’s crown. I don’t know what the answer to
terrorism is. And it is frustrating not to have a quick-fix, a
solution that will surely work. Because of this frustration, to
counter our sense of helplessness we are tempted to try anything. I
understand that. But when our solution adds to the problem, even from
a pragmatic point of view, without any consideration of the moral
issues involved, we surely should forebear. I deeply believe that our
bombing of Libya was wrong. Whether or not the perception is a fair
one, in fighting terrorism in Rambo or Lone Ranger fashion, in moving
outside the courts of law and the courts of world opinion, we have
confused the moral issue, the question of good and evil. This does
three things. It compromises us. It alienates our friends. And it had
an incendiary effect upon the very zealots we are trying to subdue. I
have been thinking a great deal this week about my father, Frank
Church, who served in the U. S. Senate for 24 years. So let me close,
not with my own words, but with his. “The United States must not adopt
the tactics of the enemy. Means are as important as ends. Crisis makes
it tempting to ignore the wise restraint that makes us free; but each
time we do so, each time the means we use are wrong, our inner
strength, the strength, which makes us free, is lessened. Elsewhere he
said, speaking of the founders of our country, “They acted on their
faith, not their fear. They did not believe in fighting fire with
fire; crime with crime; evil with evil; or delinquency by becoming
delinquents.”
My question is could you please find me the title of this speech/work
as well as links to websites and, if necessary, the name of a book
that I would be able to find this speech/work in.
Thanks! |
