22-03-2013, 05:48 PM
Today I finished the final rewrite/update of my elderly essay, In the Blossom of Our Sins, for publication in a new collection to be published -- on the Internet, if not elsewhere -- by the estimable John Kelin.
Within the 2013 postscript I've added the following passage:
My re-evaluation of this work some 17 years after its initial publication has been deeply enriched by the historical scholarship and spiritual insights of James W. Douglass.
Today I blanch at my earlier bellicose imagery and attitudes. I have committed myself to the study Satyagraha and the non-violent resistance that "truth force" inspires.
Let's see how long that lasts. For I am an imperfect human being. I cannot claim the right to be thought of as a satyagrahi. Far from it. My blood still boils, my fists still clench, and my righteous indignation still prompts me to savage verbally not only the enemy, but even some well-meaning individuals who, through their arrogance and/or ignorance, cloud all-important issues relating to our shared quests for truth and justice for John Fitzgerald Kennedy and for the millions collaterally damaged by his assassins.
Listen to me. I'm still at it. "Arrogance ... ignorance ... "
Physician, heal thyself.
In that spirit, I take this opportunity to forswear vengeance and the bloodlust that drives it, and to devote my energies currently focused on deep political inquiry to the non-violent pursuit of justice and the truth from which it shall emerge.
Please note that I'm not totally buying what I'm selling. But hey, at least I'm trying -- and looking myself in the eyes.
All of this being stated for the record, Your Lordships, I reserve the rights to rip the bowels out of enemy agents and to refuse to suffer fools.
Sigh ...
This ain't gonna be easy.
Within the 2013 postscript I've added the following passage:
My re-evaluation of this work some 17 years after its initial publication has been deeply enriched by the historical scholarship and spiritual insights of James W. Douglass.
Today I blanch at my earlier bellicose imagery and attitudes. I have committed myself to the study Satyagraha and the non-violent resistance that "truth force" inspires.
Let's see how long that lasts. For I am an imperfect human being. I cannot claim the right to be thought of as a satyagrahi. Far from it. My blood still boils, my fists still clench, and my righteous indignation still prompts me to savage verbally not only the enemy, but even some well-meaning individuals who, through their arrogance and/or ignorance, cloud all-important issues relating to our shared quests for truth and justice for John Fitzgerald Kennedy and for the millions collaterally damaged by his assassins.
Listen to me. I'm still at it. "Arrogance ... ignorance ... "
Physician, heal thyself.
In that spirit, I take this opportunity to forswear vengeance and the bloodlust that drives it, and to devote my energies currently focused on deep political inquiry to the non-violent pursuit of justice and the truth from which it shall emerge.
Please note that I'm not totally buying what I'm selling. But hey, at least I'm trying -- and looking myself in the eyes.
All of this being stated for the record, Your Lordships, I reserve the rights to rip the bowels out of enemy agents and to refuse to suffer fools.
Sigh ...
This ain't gonna be easy.