Keith and Lincoln Steffens
Keith and Lincoln Steffens
The problem Sarah Palin has, someone just said,
is that she doesn't KNOW what she doesn't know.
Keith Olbermann has delivered two rants ("Comments")
in the last couple of weeks that are truly works of art.
One was on "real" Americans.
The other - on Monday - was on LOVE, the
Califonia ban on gay marriage, and Christianity.
Christian love and the McNamara brothers:
When the McNamara brothers, union leaders,
were put on trial for dynamiting a newspaper
building in Los Angeles in 1911, with Clarence
Darrow as their lawyer, there was at least as much
outrage as at 9/11/2003. Seeing that his case
was in trouble Darrow was interested in a settlement
and Lincoln Steffens offered to rry to get community
and business leaders to support such a settlement.
HE did this successfully - including the notoriously
anti-Union Chandlers of the Los Angeles Times.
Everything was going forward until the Sunday before
the settlement was to be announced. At which point
Christian churches all across the country called for the
death of the McNamara brothers.
Steffens argument to the leaders for accepting the
settlement was the effectiveness of the Christian
'golden rule'. He regarded his effort as an
"experiment"
to see whether the righteous - not just "sinners" could
accept the message of Jesus. "Mercy" (and forgiveness), he
said, "is scientific."
"I read the New Testament to discover the vision
and
plan of Christ. It was astonishing, radical, complete,
but when I went to the churches I did not hear it preached,
and of course the Christians did not practice it. I preached
Christianity and the effect was a shock to the congregations.
I preached in Christ's spirit, too, quietly, literally, with none
of the force with which I had heard Christian ministers
proclaim righteousness and denounce sinners.
My sermons were as loving as the Sermon on the Mount,
for, verily, I believed then that the righteous can be and
must be saved . . . not only the sinners. No use. The regular
members of the Christian churches, thinking they have
Christianity, can no more get it than the righteous, thinking
they are good, can be made good -- for anything. Christianity
will not work with Christians.
But as Jesus learned by hard experience and taught so
clearly,
Christianity does work with sinners. I proved that for myself.
I preached Christianity. Whenever I wanted to get something done
I appealed to sinners for help, and the help came."
(Lincoln Steffens, <em>An Autobiography</em>, page
670.)
I cannot tell the whole story of what happened.
But I can urge
you to read Steffens wonderful chapters, pages 658-689 of his
Autobiography
(your public library? - soon the copyright, hopefully will run out,
and we will be able to read it on the internet, as we should have
long ago. No one is making money on this book.
It should be in the public domain.!!!!!)
Keith makes clear that the stand of the churches on the
Gay Marriage ban was also a failure to understand Jesus'
and other people's message of Love.
Christianity as HATE has got to stop.
Keith's "comment" on this should somehow be sent to
EVERY church and Christian organization, and to such
Christians as are known in the U.S..
