Truth comes in different packages: For the Communist from the writings of Karl Marx; for the Libertarian from Mises, or Rand, or Rothbard; for the Muslim from the Koran; for the Christian from the Bible; and for the humanists that are now in charge, from aberrant human minds.
John the Baptist confronted King Herod about breaking the law by marrying his brothers wife and as a result was imprisoned and later beheaded at the request of Herodius, the illegitimate wife. A British writer calls the Iraqi "insurgents" martyrs. Jesus, Himself, is the Archi-Martyr having been The Sacrifice for the redemption of God's chosen.
There are different categories of truth speaking and results vary. Nathan the prophet directly elicited a confession from King David by leading him into a decision that displayed his own sin. King David heard the rebuke, repented before God and sought forgiveness.
In 1977 Anita Bryant stood against the Florida sodomites and their anti-discrimination law. She was successful in getting the law repealed. Her stand resulted in the loss of her marriage, her career, her Christian friends, and her personal dignity. In 1998 the law was restored. This talented lady never regained her reputation and evil venom is still available on the computer twenty-eight years later.
Charles Lindbergh stood against WWII and the "Jews" he believed were promoting it. He was extensively vilified by the press and the Roosevelt Administration. Though his inordinate talents with aircraft kept him engaged, his loyal and talented wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, suffered great anquish.
For ten years until he was imprisoned in 1943 Dietrich Bonhoeffer worked and stood firm against Hitler and the Nazi regime . He kept Protestant churches outside Germany informed and ran a school to educated students against it. Ultimately, in neutral Sweden, he joined in a conspiracy with the English Bishop of Chichester to overthrow or assassinate Der Fuhrer. At a time when most church leaders were conceding to the evils of the Nazi regime, Bonhoeffer resisted it. Following the decade of struggle, in 1942 he wrote in a Christmas letter to his fellow resisters,
"We have been silent witnesses of evil deeds: we have been drenched by many storms; we have learnt the arts of equivocation and pretence; experience has made us suspicious of others and kept us from being truthful and open; intolerable conflicts have worn us down and even made us cynical. Are we still of any use?"
From prison came these prose poems entitled Stations on the Road to Freedom:
(Discipline)
"If you set out to seek freedom, then learn above all things to govern your soul and your senses, for fear that your passions and longings may lead you away from the path you should follow. Chaste be your mind and your body, and both in subjection, obediently, steadfastly seeking the aim set before them; only through discipline may a man learn to be free."
(Action)
"Daring to do what is right, not what fancy may tell you valiantly grasping occasions, not cravenly doubting - freedom comes only through deeds, not through thoughts taking wing. Faint not nor fear, but go out to the storm and the action, Trusting in God whose commandment you faithfully follow; freedom exultant will welcome your spirit with joy."
(Suffering)
"A change has come indeed. Your hands, so strong and active, are bound; in helplessness now you see your action is ended; you sigh in relief, you cause committing to stronger hands; so now you may rest contented. Only for one blissful moment could you draw near to touch freedom; then that it might be perfected in glory, you gave it to God."
(Death)
"Come now thou greatest of feasts on the journey to freedom eternal; death, cast aside all the burdensome chains, and demolish the walls of our temporal body, the walls of our souls that are blinded, so that at last we may see that which here remains hidden. Freedom how long we have sought thee in discipline, action and suffering; dying we now may behold thee revealed in the Lord."
On April 9th, 1945 eleven days before Flossemburg Concentration Camp was liberated Dietrich Bonhoeffer was hanged. He was 39 years old and engaged to be married.
Resistance had cost his own life as well as his brother, Klaus, and two brothers-in-law, all involved in the conspiracy.
Bonhoeffer's resistance to Hitler offers us a lesson. The building blocks are being laid for tyrannical control of the world in a similar fashion to Hitler's construct in Germany. Resistance is similar to the Nazi era: it is lonely, there are few willing to participate; most are sympathetic to the State and willing to compromise; since all the power is vested in the state, resistance is futile and truth falls on deaf ears. Bonhoeffer carried on his resistance for ten years before he was imprisoned. Americans are still free to write and speak against the great evil, but if the German pattern continues it will soon become dangerous.
Power is not always evil. Power used in accord with the legal mandates of God is legitimate; power used to extend the plans of men is evil.
Now it seems that our own fellow citizen, Cindy Sheehan, has inextricably involved herself in a costly quest for honesty and truth from a tyrannical regime that possesses neither. Already, some members of her family have denounced her activities and her husband is seeking a divorce. She has lost a son, several members of her own family, and her husband. Her mother has succumbed to a stroke and she is just beginning to feel the wrath of the war mongers whose depth of wisdom and compassion is razor thin.
Truth is unacceptable to those who reserve the right to know both good and evil. Since they subjugate and encapsulate both, they sacrifice immutable Truth for their own evil opinions. When men of this ilk are in power, though be they brilliant in mind, they minister only the evil desire of their own hearts.
President George W. Bush is not King David and the confrontational quest of Cindy Sheehan will not be met with the humble repentance and contrition that characterized a man after God's own Heart. No, the style of this government was set at Waco, at the kidnapping of Ilian Gonzales, and the savage war in Iraq. This is a regime of ninja policemen, shock and awe, intimidation, retaliation, torture, and revenge.
Nevertheless, those of us who seek righteousness must remember that American citizens, like their former German counterparts, voted for the perpetrators of this regime and many are still supporters. We are living under the government we deserve and as we continue to push Truth and Justice forward, we are enjoined to obey those we have elected.