Introduction
Appeal 1, Concerning our sinking Ship of State and the need to
be honest with the people about remedies and consequences
Appeal 2, That our titanic Ship of State is sinking and that the
Watchman ought to warn the passengers
Appeal 3, What to do--what was Jonah's special touch that
when Nineveh heard his warning the people responded?
Appeal 4, That those who trade in Wisdom have the greater burden
to produce change
Appeal 5, That the man who has seen and not declared it, be he accursed
Appeal 6, That our government has been so prostituted by wealth and
power there is no man to court the good virtues; therefore, be it accursed
Appeal 7, That our people should never be left wondering in the breach,
"What happened to the Captain?"
Appeal 8, The consequences of the Watchman sleeping during the night
Appeal 9, Giving credit where credit is due and the Song of the Pearl
Appeal 10, That fishing for truth is after the manner of a fisherman, and our
concern that our leaders may be contemplating the "down and dirty" rule
Appeal 11, How one must approach Truth
Appeal 12, That the poor man's Wisdom is despised and not heard
Appeal 13, On the Perfection of God and His Righteousness
Appeal 14, On the prophet: that he can never overstep God's Word
Appeal 15, On the Pearl, the Word, the Shepherd, and the King
and how they are all one
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Appeal 16, On the Commission of Christ
Appeal 17, On setting captives free
Appeal 18, On the comparison of Paul to Jesus
Appeal 19, That the discernment of Truth requires no special degrees
Appeal 20, That the key to one's salvation is to discern those things
which lead to evil and avoid them
Appeal 21, That the key to one's salvation is in seeking understanding
and giving honor to the Truth acquired thereby
Appeal 22, That modern Christians fail to sacrifice for Truth when
others would far more willingly meet the standard
Appeal 23, That the apostle Paul abrogated his agreement with
St. Peter et al., and that "Paul acceded to the Council of eleven apostles",
as claimed, is not true
Appeal 24, That it is time to release the reins which restrain Truth,
and that Mr. Buckley could help in many ways
Appeal 25, On the need to listen to the pleas of the Many
Appeal 26, The search for Human Dignity: how Mr. Buckley's Bishop
appears to base his authority on his own powers and not the teachings
of Jesus [sic. "No one is likely to come along (including Jesus?-- ed. note)
who can override Church canon"]
Appeal 27, Last call? Can any Dignity be revealed among those
who pander to liars and prefer Darkness?
Appeal 28, That in the Day of Judgment the Righteous are as the sun,
and that day comes sooner than Mr. Buckley supposes
Appeal 29, Why the doors holding back the Light remain closed
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Appeal 30, Why the doors holding back the Light remain closed [continued]
Appeal 31, On the Marriage to Truth
Appeal 32, That the revelation of God's Desire is as a Jewish Marriage
Appeal 33, Concerning the correction of a blatant lie in the Pope's book,
and other matters why men fail to come to the Truth
Appeal 34, Remember the poor of Jerusalem
This is a "philosophical" conversation between William F. Buckley Jr. and the author. The entire conversation involves about a thousand pages of published material. This portion consits of the transmittal letters of the conversation.
The letters between Mr. Buckley and myself allow one to obtain a grasp of the conversation and the seriousness of its consequences. With many of the author's letters were prepared and enclosed books furthering the argument of each letter. Each book became part of a greater volume involving the Wisdom of the great philosophers through the aeons – from the Far East, Near East, Greece, Rome – and all were placed upon a mountain as it were, whom we called the prophets of Israel, including Jesus Christ. As the author ran up and down the mountain, drawing upon the support of a sage, prophet, or, as particular to Mr. Buckley's foundations, a Christian Saint, one after another, the 1,000 page volume took its form. The author called these men supporting his thesis, his Great Troop, and he, after the manner of another allegory used in the argument, the author applied his Great Troop as in a chess match, to put Mr. Buckley and his Bishop in check: that they are in error.
Since Mr. Buckley's foundations are Christian, the over-view of the conversation quite naturally takes the form of a Christian argument; however, as will be noted in one of the early letters, Mr. Buckley wished the author Happy New Year during the time of the Jewish New Year. The conversation, incidentally, took place over a period of about two and a half years.
The beginning thesis of the conversation has to do with the author's observation that our ship of state is going to sink if one of our leaders (such as Mr. Buckley) does not stand up and explain to the people how the interest payable against our National Debt has been sinking this nation. Another allegory used is as a rusting building which, unattended as in the case at hand, is about to collapse. Passer-bys are not concerned because they cannot see the rust or its consequences.
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Our leaders, including Mr. Buckley, have been aware of the plight of our ship of state but have already reserved the life-boats for themselves, the author argued; and through thirty-four appeals he asked Mr. Buckley if "we ought to warn the passengers", using as a foundation Cicero's rule, that "a people must be told by their leaders the truth about matters which concern them." Mr. Buckley answered in words to the effect that the author should warn them; for him, Prudential calls. It is the argument between the rich man and Jesus, put into a modern scenario, where the rich man wished that he could follow Jesus but had to return home to take care of his affairs; or, in another context, a replay of the proverb, "the poor man's wisdom is despised" whereas (Psalm 12) "the wicked are extolled on every side." The other part of the argument which set our foundation is that from Xenophon, Cicero and Hobbs, "that a people tend to resemble their leaders." Our leaders are corrupt; therefore the people are corrupt. In the beginning of the conversation, it is acknowledged that our people, as in Sodom and Gomorrah – as opposed to Nineveh – would not listen to a warning anyway.
This, the fraud of our National Debt, is the first lie in the conversation which the author and his Great Troop appealed to be exposed.
The second lie which was exposed through the discourse involved the foundations of Paul the apostle, who also lied and misrepresented himself to the early Christian Church led by Saint Peter and Saint James. Mr. Buckley's foundations were upon the apostle Paul, who initiated the doctrine of anti-Semitism, which the author traced through our books in considerable detail. The foundations Mr. Buckley used to justify why he need not warn the passengers included those foundations set by the apostle Paul (we refer to Paul's precept of faith versus works ), which the author showed were corrupt, leading even to the implication of the Pope in a terrible lie.
The third lie which was exposed through the discourse involved a statement made by Pope John-Paul II in his book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, where he misquotes the Koran in a significant way. For following Pauline anti-Semitic doctrine Popes from the time of the Crusades until now have taught that the Jews were despised of God and their Law old and obsolete (thus justifying the holocaust); because the Koran endorses the Law of Moses without equivocation, and the Pauline doctrine is against the Law of Moses, it follows that the Popes are by following a false doctrine falsely denegrating the Koran.
Thus, believers of the Koran, as with the Jews, are condemned until they repent and follow Jesus, follows the modern Pauline argument. The other part of the Church canon is that the Koran does not accept Jesus as the Messiah (Christ) but only as a prophet, which argument is the foundation of the Pope's condemnation of the people of the Koran. But the opposite is true, for the Koran calls Jesus as a Word of God, the Messiah. In one of the author's book enclosures to Mr. Buckley, called On the Breakage of the Holy Catholic Church, he asked Mr. Buckley to inform the Pope of the noted Church error; i.e. that he should pass that book on to the Pope. The book was sent to Mr. Buckley well before the Pope published his book, and had Mr. Buckley done as the author pleaded the Pope would not now be found in perpetuating a significant lie. Of course, at the foundation of our argument is that nothing Holy to God can lie [sic. His Holiness the Pope just lost his title].
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The warp, as in a tapestry, of the discourse is that of the sages and prophets who all agreed that "a fat belly" [rich man] has never been known to produce much wisdom; but from poor men come much enlightenment, as in the cases of Socrates, Diogenes, Jesus, Buddha [meaning "the enlightened one"], etc. These men of the Great Troop : the rabbis, prophets, philosophers, etc., all participated in casting light upon many of Mr. Buckley's erroneous foundations, political and religious (leading the author in the grand finale to expose the Pope); and whether he spoke of exposing a secular or nonsecular lie, the final outcome of the discourse tends to be silence. And silence, the author argued all along, is that great evil which Hitler used, as well as other tyrants before him, to perpetrate his holocaust. "If you know something which affects the lives of a multitude," our Great Troop argued, "you cannot remain silent."
Threaded throughout the conversation was the ever present calamity around us: the seven million homeless people who have been thrown onto our streets with no rights to raise a shelter. In San Francisco and Berkeley they have no right to beg, and, as with the Jews in the early part of the holocaust, they are denied the right to work. The author argued that our government's deceit has perpetrated the homeless state of our people (a consequence of our sinking ship of state), and until someone comes forth to explain what our Congress and Presidents since Reagan have intentionally engineered, the homeless state of our people will continue to grow.
Another thread within our discourse is that we have become a nation of the fatherless (the principles of our founding fathers are denied; we follow a new Law of Hell: it is every man for himself); and we, in fact, because of the high divorce rate and decline in virtue, have become fatherless. This leads back to the capstone of the conversation, how a people tend to resemble their leaders [sic. "I said that all men are liars"]; and, even looking upon the Pope we find a liar. "We are fatherless!" [a play upon the Pope's name] our Great Troop complained.
The book is about exposing lies and their liars so that we can get on with the truth. "If we knew the lies which have been destroying multitudes, wouldn't we all feel much better?" ourGreat Troop ask. Whether it is the lie which has been sinking our ship of state or many of the other significant lies and liars I pointed out to Mr. Buckley, there is a fear among men to expose lies. Until the lies are exposed multitudes will continue to suffer and be oppressed. Whether we ask about the 7 millions of homeless who are being persecuted by our own people (treated like vermin; for it is their own fault that they failed, people seem to justify) – are we persecuting more people here than the Chinese? – ; or whether we ask about the multitudes of Moslems or Jews who continue to be murdered because of a lie, we always come down to this final thought: that just one man exposing a lie can save a multitude. The final comment in our small letter which became a Great Volume is this:
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That had God sent you, instead of Moses, to Egypt to rescue the Jews you would have returned empty handed..
It attempts to bridge biases in its discourse; but most people prefer to keep their biases. In the final analysis Mr. Buckley, though evading many of our Great Troop's strikes, was forthcoming in his answers, helping to facilitate the argument--which is an excellence of his well acclaimed throughout the world--and he was tolerant of the Great Troop's continuing jabs and demands upon him. Because Mr. Buckley answered us where there was until his answer no man who would answer us, we called him a righteous man. Now we seek another to set beside him...
Nevertheless we follow yet another dictum, that the longer one allows a threat to grow on one's borders, the greater the calamity; the longer a hole in a ship is ignored the worse the flotsam. The consequence of the discourse, of course, has an end. Thus, the author too has a responsibility to keep not silent.
Mel West
Berkeley, CA
September 9, 1995
Having seen the Jews [Children of Israel] restored to the Holy Land, which was May 15, 1948, after a long 2,000 year exile, according to the criteria given them in their Holy Scriptures (the Bible); we have living examples of a people who know without a doubt the meaning of Liberty.
Applying their experience and teachings, to defend similarly persecuted peoples in America, I thought to write to Mr. Buckley in December 1992, who took the time to answer our complaint: that some seven million homeless Americans (and there will be more) suffer because our leaders have forgotten the meaning of Liberty. Out of our discussion with Mr. Buckley came a series of Small Books which continued our argument that our present form of government is exceedingly unjust and must be changed and then extended to reflections towards world peace. These books are: Against Leviathan, works associated with it, including Financial Institution Credit Watch and The Second Coming of the American Revolution; then we delved into ethics and morality in On The Breakage of the Holy Catholic Church, Works and Days among the Hyperboreans, Planks towards Freedom, Quest for Human Dignity, The Mehl Commentary, Duty and Profit, and Immoral Coercion, From Dust & Ashes to Joy, Who is of the Truth and now this work, Rooting out His Faith ...This work contains the cover letters of the former works and serves as a synopsis of the whole.
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Xenophon, Cicero and then Hobbs said that a people tend to resemble their leaders. Our leaders are corrupt; so it is with our people. Since our leaders and people are leading the world, it follows that the world is being led into corruption. This includes our religious institutions. Here we focus on the Christian Church, how it has been corrupted and has been corrupting our leaders. We focus on this church because its disciples wield the greatest power in the world. One wrong calculation by them will annihilate the world. As noted in Against Leviathan, Duty and Profit, Immoral Coercion, and our satire, Quest for Human Dignity, our leaders have already made enough miscalculations that the world I inherited as a youth has been substantially destroyed. I mean the trees, the creatures, the land, air and water and now the climate. Because the Church did not restrain them-- though many of our miscreant leaders carry Bibles under their arms-- we must therefore examine the Church.
There was a knowledge in the world which restrained corruption, but that knowledge has been abandoned in favor of a new law based on exploitation. That new law is the Law of Hell: it is every man for himself; you're on your own kid. Because of this new law, when one complains about injustice one receives blank stares.
The Thesis of the Bible (Holy Scriptures) is to promote justice, which it views as defending the meek and the poor against the Nazi-like tempers which tread on them. If you take time to read the Psalms of David, for instance, you will get this message. If you can't take the time, read Psalm 12. The message of the entire Bible is carried in Psalm 12.
One cannot defend the poor and the meek and, at the same time, disparage and desolate a group of people. As you can see in Psalm 12 and can verify throughout the Holy Scriptures (except the epistles of Paul), all of the poor and the meek of the world are defended by the Holy Scriptures. Paul switched this gospel to include only those covered under his particular gospel which, incidentally, contradicted the Holy Scriptures, making all of the foundations of Jesus Christ old and obsolete. This resulted in a series of teachings which are now known to us as anti-Semitism; and we have seen their effect in Martin Luther's tract (see Maravot's_Homepage2.html ) which begins with, "What shall we Christians do with this damned, rejected race of the Jews?" This led to Hitler's final solution in the Holocaust. We back- tracked this hateful mentality in On the Breakage of the Holy Catholic Church, through the Church Fathers to the Apostle Paul. Even saintly men like St. Maximos the Confessor--whose wonderful teachings you shall hear in our work-- got contaminated through Paul's spoiled and rancorous epistles. Witness:
St. Maximos, Fifth Century of Various Texts #37[580-662 A.D.] When the Law is understood only according to the letter, it is hostile to the truth, as the Jews were, and as is anyone else who possesses their mentality.
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The Jewish Mentality was obedience to the Law of Moses. That same mentality is also in the Koran. Paul and his later disciples condemned both the Jews and their Law, setting standards for continuing condemnations of not only the Jews but any others honoring the law, as seen in St. Maximos' comment. Because of these teachings, Christian Pastors who even now collect your offerings for the poor, have their hearts still on condemning all people who do not accept their Pauline doctrine. While St. Maximos lived there was one who protested this doctrine, whose name was Mohammed, who wrote a book called the Koran which was dedicated to confirming and honoring the Law of Moses.
The Christian Communities (now called Greek Orthodox), which lived at the time of Mohammed, practiced a monastic way of life, following as closely as they could the teachings of Jesus. Jesus' sayings, besides confirming and honoring the Law of Moses, boil down to this:
That His Word is from the Father which includes the Law of Moses and the prophets [re: John 8.55; see From Dust & Ashes to Joy pp. 4,5], that the Father and His Word are Spirit [John 6.63]; and finally that in Christ ye might have peace, but in the world ye shall have tribulation [John 16.33].
This leads to the conclusion (for the ascetics and monks) that separation from the world will not only bring them peace but lead them to be one with Christ and, thus, one with God and His Kingdom. By being separated from the world and unto the Spirit, they concluded, they could reach higher levels of intellect and through higher intellect be able to better commune with God. The result of their high state of consciousness we have planted in the Preface to Duty and Profit .
We discover that the Pauline dogma against the Law did not release them totally unto the Spirit, for they held onto a certain prejudice, against the Law, and now manifests itself among Christian Communities as a complete intellectual blockage against the end Desire of the Holy Scriptures. The desire of the Holy Scriptures includes shouldering a curious Tent of Refuge [Tabernacle] through a sealed gate, called the Golden Gate , which faces the Temple mount. From Dust & Ashes to Joy explains why this is important.
Continuing the Tabernacle portion of the argument with Mr. Buckley, we enjoined him and his Bishop [re: From Dust & Ashes to Joy – see Maravot's_Homepage3.html] to honor it as a sanctification pronounced in the Holy Scriptures, which concerns not only the Marriage of God to all nations and restoration of the Jews to the Holy Land, but also the renewal of the Temple. We described how this Promise of being Sanctified in Israel and the Tabernacle relates to Jesus' concept of His Second Coming. Keyed to the Promise, of course, is the pledge to provide a refuge for the poor of all nations (which presumes a time when all the world is exploited by a few greedy sociopaths and brother fights against brother).
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Threaded through our works is the idea that the principles applied to set the Jews free from affliction will also set those Americans persecuted in our streets free. If you, the reader, feel shame over the treatment of the Jews, particularly during the formative days of the Holocaust-- when they were forced into homelessness and then denied the right to beg (then 6 million of them murdered)-- then you should be more particularly ashamed of the treatment of our 7 millions of homeless in America. They too have been forced out of their homes, denied the right to even raise a tent over their head, denied equal access to work (as they have no phones nor address by which a prospective employer may contact them [In San Francisco and Berkeley those who can afford to rent a motel or hotel room are forced to move every 29 days!]); besides these atrocities, the homeless, lacking a shelter and means to get work, are then even denied the right to beg! This horrible and villainous practice has gone unnoticed, it seems, because most Americans have been falsely taught that because the homeless failed to achieve in our society it is not the fault of our society. Our argument with Mr. Buckley has been to the effect that the Homeless were not homeless before about 1985, that the condition is an effect of the Reagan-Bush (and now Clinton) Estate and the lies it has perpetrated upon the American people [re: Duty & Profit and Immoral Coercion ].
Our government engineered (and continues to do so) our state of homelessness.
We concluded in our argument that a people who will not challenge the lies which perpetrate our homelessness will not likely challenge the lies which the Apostle Paul engineered, or any other lies fostered by the Church (whose members should have defended the rights and dignity of the homeless and haven't). Thus, the way we treat our own poor is a reflection upon our churches-- of all kinds and dominions-- as well as our other "ethical" foundations.
Counting the numbers of multitudes shivering in tunnels and under bridges (who are usually chased out of their refuges), we can say as a general principle that the American people have devolved to a state where there is complete ignorance of those virtues which enabled tolerance and mercy: where liberty and providing for the common welfare have been replaced by a law which we call the Law of Hell: it is every man for himself; you're on your own kid.
This mentality has also undermined our foundations in the Holy Scriptures. The desire of the Holy Scriptures, as said, is easy to explain [re: Psalm 12]: of overcoming oppression, providing for the afflicted and the poor, and setting captives free. Our forefathers, through the Constitution, had, in fact, hoped to bring the desire of the Holy Scriptures into reality: when all men can live in liberty, justice for all, and peace. But this is hard to manifest when, at the same time, there are ministers teaching their congregations that certain peoples are to be despised (and thus it is okay to kill them). It is because of this relationship, then, in our argument with Mr. Buckley, that we cannot separate modern political realities from the desires of the Holy Scriptures. This is serviceable, we think, because our application of the desire of the Holy Scriptures is more meaningful when we contrast it against modern political realities and failures.
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In the debate I took a formless nature. The principal characteristic of my form was that I would assume the spirit of a gathering of the important sages in history, which we call, a Great Troop ; and we would use their arguments to defend not only our poor but also others similarly treated around the world, as for example in Bosnia and Israel. We apply our Great Troop as an eternal, common body of knowledge, and these include the teachings of Jesus Christ and the prophets of Israel.
In our argument with Mr. Buckley, whose status as an informed American and leader is well known, we quoted sages and scriptures why our leaders are in default of every moral institution honored by man; that they are consuming us with their avarice and lies about our National Debt [re: Against Leviathan, Duty and Profit and Immoral Coercion ] and its effects, causing homelessness and other ruptures in our lives; and pleaded for the case of a Wise Man to step forward to defend us from the indignity. We saw Mr. Buckley..
Because the argument involves ethics reflecting upon the Body of Christ and how we should thus recognize Christ, Mr. Buckley's argument carried us forward to a discussion on the epiphany of Christ's Second Coming. One can derive in the progress of our argument that the epiphany of the Second Coming must, to defend His Name, at least reproach this, the greatest nation on earth, for persecuting 7 million homeless people, and therewith showing its implications and effects.
Here our Great Troop continues to explore details Promised in Christ's epiphany, where our Great Troop maintains that coaxing a spirit to defend the Homeless will lead to a spirit of reconciliation which can solve other problems that are currently blocking the epiphany Mr. Buckley is looking forward to [see Duty and Profit and Immoral Coercion , The Mehl Commentary and From Dust & Ashes to Joy for more details on that epiphany].
We have played the argument as a contest, following the allegory of a Joust between our Great Troop and Mr. Buckley and his Bishop, or a game of chess. In the grande finale, Who is of the Truth, we put Mr. Buckley's Bishop in check.
Each member of our Great Troop speaks for himself, but, as will be seen in examining all of our works, they all have a common voice.
At the foundation of the Jewish, Christian, and Moslem faiths is a simple precept: that God cannot lie, neither can his prophets lie. Nor His Christ. A binder in that foundation is that Christ carries God's Eternal Truth. If one comes with a message which contravenes the foundation delivered at Mount Sinai (applying first to the Jews), he is a false prophet or false Christ. Fundamental to this progression, then, is that Christ would (as is the case with the Father of the Holy Scriptures) point out a lie when He sees one. For surely we can all agree, who have read either the Holy Scriptures or American Fundamentals of Law, there is no place in an honest covenant-- be it our Constitution or the Holy Scriptures-- where one is asked to trust in or believe in a lie or a liar. A convicted liar, who repents and does not lie again, we are asked to redeem. This is fundamental to our original system of justice.
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Fundamental to the epiphany of Christ is the idea that the Holy Scriptures ask man to reason with them [see Isaiah 1.18]. They present, in fact, a solution for these times – an age when the wickedest men are extolled [re: Psalm 12] – and this solution we have threaded through our Buckley Series argument. One of the items in the Holy Scriptures' Catalogue of Solutions has to do with the concept of bringing forth a Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven. This has been addressed as a Marriage of all the nations to God [re: From Dust & Ashes to Joy and Philistia Triumph thou because of me -- the precepts of these books were placed in The Acceptable Day of the Lord ]. All of the prophets and saints of the Holy Scriptures agree that in that Kingdom there is no room for unrepentant liars (and other similarly hardened criminals). And certainly there can be no room in the Kingdom for a nation, be they Nazis or Americans, who persecute so many homeless and poor as those 7 million now languishing in our streets.
Another related controversy the Holy Scriptures have with the Pauline Church has to do with their repudiation of the Kingdom and its Spiritual King Messiah, who sits upon the throne of David in Jerusalem when Israel is restored to the Holy Land [sic. as the Second Coming of Christ ]. The modern church is flip-flopping on this matter; but until Israel was recently restored this was the general interpretation of the Kingdom of God:
St. Maximos the Confessor, On the Lord's Prayer..we should next invoke the rule of the Kingdom of God the Father with the words, 'Thy kingdom come' (Matt. 6.10), that is, "May the Holy Spirit come'; for, having put away these things, we are now made into a temple for God through the Holy Spirit by the teaching and practice of gentleness. 'For on whom shall I rest,' says Scripture, 'but on him who is gentle and humble and trembles at my words?' (cf. Isa. 66.2). It is clear from this that the Kingdom of God the Father belongs to the humble and the gentle. For 'blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the earth' (Matt. 5.5).
Our forefathers thought to lead the way, as it were, to bring forth the Kingdom of God on earth. As we can see in our traditions and procedures [as in our dollar bill] our government devoted great thought to form a nation which trusts in God, whose people become a temple of God. As noted above, the Pauline plan to put God's temple in our hearts has not worked; in fact, the average American is far worse and more threatening to the world than Sodom and Gomorrah were. Hence we return to Christ's idea of the Kingdom, which, being of David, poses the question:
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Psalm 15 ..who shall abide in thy Tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy Holy Hill?
15.2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.
In From Dust & Ashes to Joy we describe the motive of the LORD's Tabernacle and His Holy Hill, how they shall become a refuge for many in these times. The Holy Scriptures intend to turn the Holy Land into a Sanctuary which would defend anyone seeking refuge from persecution. A very good idea, we think.
Until this is done there will not be peace in Jerusalem – nor in the world.
In Who is of the Truth, we focus on certain obstacles which stand in the way of creating the Sanctuary, which scriptures call a Tabernacle of Refuge [tabernacle means tent]. Witness:
Isaiah 4.6 [when the Children of Israel are redeemed from the Spirit of Judgment and the Spirit of Burning and restored to the Holy Land--see From Dust & Ashes to Joy ed. note] And there shall be a Tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.
If a people have no shame in preventing some 7 million homeless from having the right of a tent over their heads, how can they ever appreciate our Tent of Refuge? In truth just to raise the Tent of Refuge we are blocked by obdurate hearts who believe that the Temple of God is in them (that they are gods) as was also the case with the Pharaoh when the Children of Israel were brought out of their captivity in Egypt circa 1492 B.C.
If you, dear reader, can make this connection, how raising a Tent of Refuge in the Holy Land is sympathetic to the needs of our own homeless, who suffer under their own kind of pharaoh, then perhaps you can understand the significance of raising the Tent of Refuge. The entire argument falls on this issue: that if we cannot raise a Tent of Refuge here, we surely will not obtain the compassion and mercy necessary to raise it in Jerusalem!
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The cap stone of our argument in Who is of the Truth [see Maravot's_Homepage2.html and Maravot's_Hompeage3.html] is in the revelation of a blatant and murderous lie perpetrated first by the Church and continued by Pope John-Paul II. The lie is murderous because it has perpetrated, in the case at hand, a false judgment of the Jews first and then, because the lie condemned the Law (and thus the Tent of Refuge), it holds in contempt others who honor the law, such as the Koran. During the time when Columbus was discovering America, in 1492 A.D., this contempt was manifested in all kinds of outrages: from the enslavement of new peoples in the New World to Torqemada's Old World torture chambers, where all heretics (Jews, Moslems, Protestants) were burned and broken on the wrack to save their souls; and continuing into recent times the contempt re-manifested itself in Hitler's death factories. Now we have ethnic cleansing episodes in such diverse places as Armenia, Iraq, among the Kurds in the north and the Shi'ite Moslems in the south; Rwanda, Somalia, Bosnia, and Palestine. Whether we speak of the twelfth century, the fourteenth or the current century, in the West we have had continuing religious wars and persecutions, one sect unto another. As we shall demonstrate herein, it is too often the case that millions of people have suffered because of a "religous" lie. The same lie listed against the Pope herein launched the Crusades, for instance. Suffer the Children we are told..
This is evidenced by the small lie which was behind the Holocaust (which we listed in On the Breakage of the Holy Catholic Church and reiterated in Who is of the Truth – Maravot's_Homepage2.html]) and even the subtle lie perpetrated against the Moslems of India: that the British had (during India's struggle for independence) smeared their bullets with pork fat. Moslems, as with the Jews who also honor the Law of Moses, avoid pork, for to them it is unclean. The rumor that the British had smeared their bullets with pork fat thus caused an uprising among the Moslems in India, and this resulted in a massacre. There is no such thing as a small lie, when it attacks the dignity of a people.
In Who is of the Truth we levy the conclusion that Pope John-Paul II lied about the Koran, what it says about Jesus. The Pope alleges (as did his predecessors we presume) that the Koran only calls Jesus a prophet, when, in fact, the Koran calls Jesus the Messiah (Christ). Since Pope John-Paul II alleges that the Koran does not accept Christ, the Pope followed with the conclusion that the Koran's faith is far from God, which leads to the conclusion that until Moslems convert to Christ they are damned by God (as is alleged with the Jews). If they are damned, of course, following the sick logic of early Church leaders, such as Martin Luther (see Maravot's_Homepage2.html), it is all right to murder them.
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We believe if one can catch a liar in the act and cause him to order his conversation aright, then we can save at least those lives doomed to the wracks, bullets, tanks and bombs. Seeing this work we hope you will agree that Christ cannot justify any act of murder and acts of spoilage and war on His or God's behalf.
In the Pope's case, since the lie was published in his book called, Crossing the Threshold of Hope , it is in order that the lie be corrected through the same publication: i.e., as an errata to that book, republished with the truth in it. Anything less than this would be hiding the truth, pure knavery.
In this day and age it is hard to convict a liar because most Americans (and because of their leadership we also include the world) believe that there is nothing wrong with lying. Their code has become, as said above, It is every man for himself, etc., which leads to the idea that might makes right, to the victor goes the spoils, only the fittest should survive, etc. We know their effects, for these creeds lied at the foundations of Hitler's Regime.
Who come to the Truth will recognize my voice, said Jesus. Well, a liar, by definition, is not one who comes to the Truth, but a repentant liar – who tells those to whom he lied that he was wrong – absolutely everyone of the Truth loves. We have been carrying forth in our argument that the Truth is God.
We did not engage this work to chastise the Pope (God has his scourgers); but rather to obtain a correction to an obvious and most damaging error. That the Pope may be beyond reproach in all other aspects – as to good works he has done in the past or plans for the future – has no effect on our present complaint. What has bearing is whether the Pope – we reach out to him through his line of Bishops extending to Mr. Buckley – is humble enough to hear our voice and answer us.
To encourage him in this effort, to come to us, we thought perhaps that we should herald our argument using his peers. If he corrects his error before our Great Troop, there will be great rejoicing in Heaven and even more on earth.
page 15
When we allow souls of our Great Troop to speak, the litany tends to stretch the argument beyond the intellectual endurance of our readers (who fortunately are few but nevertheless have complained. Mr. Buckley, bless his soul, handled them quite well, however). Liars, of course, hate facts. Mr. Buckley established a reputation by overcoming liars with facts, and hopefully he appreciates our effort, as we are a spirit after his heart.
In Who is of the Truth, our grand finale, we sent forth heralds, whom we grouped under the heading, A Century of Christian Truths , to Mr. Buckley and his Bishop [A Century of Christian Truths is in Immoral Coercion on the webpage]. Listening to their pleas will help you appreciate the foundations and consistency of our Great Troop's point of view.
To keep things in perspective, we use many allegories in our argument. One is as if our Great Troop were standing upon the Mountain of the Prophets, or Jacob's Ladder, before the Gate of Righteousness which is in Heaven, and we have been encouraging Mr. Buckley and his Bishop [re: Quest for Human Dignity ] to come up to see what we have in view.
Some may think that we have been too hard and should continue to cover up the sins of the Church fathers: first those of Paul and now the Pope's. But we are of the Spiritual realm and our allegiance is to the Word of God who simply cannot tolerate a lie, particularly a lie which pretends to be on His behalf. It smudges His Name. So we offer our appeal in good faith, knowing that the LORD corrects whom He loves (Proverbs 3.12):
Proverbs 12.1 Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.
30.6 Add thou not unto his words lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
Eccles. 10.1 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor.
Proverbs 15.31 The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.
One is admitted into the Great Congregation of the Wise, which is called the Sons of Heaven ; and surely no one in our Great Troop will fail to bow to them. We offer our reproof not just to the Pope, but to the Christian Community as a whole. We believe that a simple bow to the Truth by the Pope will cover them all. This is our concept of Grace as well.
page 16
December 30, 1992
National Review
Attn: William F. Buckley Jr.
Dear Mr. Buckley,
Last evening, December 29, 1992, PBS aired your Firing Line debate on the Federal Deficit, and some of the information presented in the debate was confusing which you will hopefully clear up. Although I am somewhat of a raving liberal, I found myself sitting on your side of the table! So no doubt you will agree with the need for my inquiry. Let's see.
Everyone of the panelists in your December Firing Line show seemed to agree that the interest payment on the Federal Debt is about $200 billion. When I heard those numbers I was rudely surprised, since anyone slightly familiar with the Federal Debt will know that in 1991 the Interest Payment was $268 billion; 1990 $264 billion; 1989 $240 billion, etc. (see..our Tiny Book, Financial Institution Credit Watch, enclosed).
The Interest Payment on our Federal Debt does have a bearing on how well the Federal Government is: for among the "consumption" ills in the Federal Budget – and I dare say the largest of all of them – is the Interest Payment on the Federal Debt; which, according to the MacNeil-Lehrer show, was last noted (on a large electronic billboard [in Times Square?]) as $292 billion. This must be close to the true figure since the "T" bills, notes, and bonds issued 5-7 years ago (which are now being redeemed and make up a large part of the Federal Debt) average in excess of 7%. This you and others in your income bracket would know because the short term and long term rates were then "flat lining" somewhere between 7-12%, making it easy to realize quick profits off of short term rates. Only recently did the Federal Reserve discount rate drop below 7%, in fact. Tables in The World Almanac and other sources will confirm that all "T" Bills, notes, and bonds issued by the U.S. Government exceeded 7% from 1980 until about 1990. An easy calculation (if one does not believe the published Government data on the Interest Debt noted above) will show that our $4 trillion plus debt has an annual interest payment of $280 billion plus (4 trillion x .07= 280). This is important since all of the panelists on your show agreed that the interest payment on the Federal Debt is consuming about half of our personal income tax revenues.
All agreed that consumption expenditures were the last thing our economy needs in its current "depression". As can be seen in our Tiny Book frontispiece [see Maravot's_Homepage4.html for all charts on the debt] the interest payment is compressing funds available for other government purposes (recurring/mandatory and nonrecurring).
While I agree that among the recurring expenditures of the US Government there are areas of enormous waste, such as Health Care (we speak of rip-offs), no doubt the most rapidly increasing burden of the recurring expenditures is the Annual Interest Payment; and as it, like the exponentially rising costs of Health Care, continues to grow, so must it depress the budget in areas which are sorely in need of funds (see again our chart).
page 17
While the Deficit is an important discussion, it is important to note that the largest part of the deficit is the annual interest payment. Like Brazil, Great Britain, and others we have been borrowing money to pay not against the principal of our loan (the Federal Debt) but the Annual Interest Payment. This of course reflects a stagnant – if not dying – economy.
Another thing your panelists on the Federal Deficit did not seem to be aware of is the fact that about 20% of the Federal Debt is owned by foreigners; and the bulk of that money is by Central Banks. Among those foreign Central Banks who own this portion of our Public Debt we can chart a devaluation of the US dollar on a precipitous scale (the dollar to the yen has deflated 50% in the last ten years!). This should be alarming since the deflation of the dollar among our major creditor nations (they are also our major trading partners--see page..enclosed) has plummeted and reflects a lack of confidence in our ability to – God forbid the thought – pay our debts.
No doubt your panelists will agree that the ratio of debt to GDP is meaningless and in fact a nonsensical comparison if the National Income is not sufficient to pay the Interest Payment on the debt (a logical concern every creditor has with every credit application: how much do you make and how much can you afford to pay to service the debt? etc.).
At the moment 3/4 of our Personal Income Taxes goes to pay our Annual Interest Payment. In a few short years the entire amount of Personal Income Taxes will be consumed by the Interest Payment. I don't know how your panelists feel about this--well, let's be frank, those who have made great gains on the "T" Bills, notes, and bonds love a flat-line economy (see page..enclosed) – but I know that if the average tax-payer knew his tax money was not paying for government services but servicing those who owned our debt (we speak of the rich who have prospered off of the Reagan-Bush era money-market), there will no doubt be a rebellion of sorts. I think the average wage earner--who still has a job--might be somewhat offended that 20% of his blood, sweat, and tears went to fund fancy chariots and mansions and, of course, a few foreign governments making money off of the US debt. We have no doubts that a short inquiry will reveal that the bulk of the US owned Federal Debt is in the hands of those who make over $200,000 per year. Why? The average wage-earner (you pick a number between $15,000 per year and $200,000 per year) has had most of his savings eroded during the Reagan-Bush era (see page..enclosed). We say this with confidence, not only because of the numbers of Homeless occupying the bombed out streets of our major cities, but because we know that in the Personal Savings data on page..enclosed are the data of the rich class (off-setting Middle-Class losses). This leads to the following observation: the poor have no more savings, what's left of the Middle Class has exhausted most of its savings, leaving the Rich Class accounting for most of the Savings in America and among them their savings declined! The decline in Savings, the decline in the value of the dollar all say the same: the Federal Borrowing to fight inflation sent the entire nation spiraling downward in a deflationary curve.
page 18
All of the panelists agreed that the Deficit must be taken care of "eventually", but few seemed concerned that the real issue at hand is not the Deficit but the Federal Debt and the annual interest owing against it, which now has reached a level from which there is no relief except a collapse.
Cutting down Mandatory (sic. recurring expenses) Programs can help, but as shown in our Tiny Book enclosed, as one cuts out government services the public despair increases. Now there is a ratio between available government services and the Public breaking point. We speak of revolutionary tendencies. When a government fails to service its citizens it invites first demonstrations – like the Boston Tea-party – and finally rioting and revolution. We can say, in fact, that every cut in "welfare" benefits adds to the anger of the people who received those benefits (public anger is inversely proportional to failing government services). We note here that during the height of the US "Welfare" State – we speak of the Johnson era – our deficit was at its lowest. President Johnson, in fact – even President Nixon, believe it or not – financed more government services for the American People and paid for them with a relatively responsible and balanced budget. Presidents Reagan and Bush, on the other hand, increased government borrowing on an exponential scale over their predecessors (see page..enclosed) and yet slashed the services the former regimes had quite responsibly provided. President Nixon, for instance, paid for the Vietnam War and other major expenses with a minimum of borrowing (compared to the present era). He did a remarkable job balancing the books as our nation's chief financial officer considering the extraordinary [war] costs of government then.
One of the other things apparent in the Firing Line debate was the confusion over the National Debt. We also were confused and based upon information from the MacNeil-Lehrer show and other News Media in September 1992 listed the interest payment as $200 billion as your panelists represented it in their recent December- taped show. The data on the Federal Debt which has been coming out of the Bush and Reagan administrations has, in fact, been confusing: at one time they release one number and another time another number is released (President Bush himself mentioned the $200 billion dollar interest payment number on several occasions).
We know that President Bush is a businessman and knows how to read a Balance Sheet (President Reagan....well, we're not sure of the same in his case).
The discussion came up as a short aside that the Resolution Trust Corporation (and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) "losses" were not reported in the Deficit Numbers. We address this as well on pages..enclosed and wonder whether there is anything wrong with a President signing Federal Balance Sheets which do not reflect the true "bottom line" of the Balance Sheet or whether anyone of your distinguished panelists might be inclined to investigate this matter. For it seems that we have all been misled by a President on the state of our economy (re: the President's January 1992 message on the State of the Union and other public comments he has made regarding our Federal Debt); and the reason your panelists have been citing the wrong numbers on the debt is owing not to their stupidity but rather to the misinformation which has been fed to them over the past year, during the Bush campaign in particular.
page 19
Mr. Buckley, as a worldly economist yourself and the principal officer of several corporations we know that you know how to read a Balance Sheet. Because President Bush has been feeding us with misinformation on the US Balance Sheet I wonder if you or your panelists might look into his accounting practices. Someone of your distinguished background ought to determine through a cursory look whether the books of the US government were "doctored" by our last two Presidents.
One area where we know they have doctored the books is in the area of Account number 051, concerning the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Resolution Trust Corporation (see our Tiny Book enclosed).
This subject also came up as an aside in the panelist's debate and I wonder whether they really agreed that the acquisition of a failing bank by the Federal Government represented a loss to be recorded on the books of that year of the acquisition or to be not recorded. We know that in the case of Security Pacific National Bank's acquisition by the RTC and subsequent sale to Bank of America ( see page..enclosed) the Federal Government incurred expenses (as evidenced by the Congressional Budget Allocations at that time and the Bills, bonds and notes issued to cover those expenses); and those expenses ought to have been recorded in the RTC books. Unless bookkeeping practices have changed, an acquisition is always recorded as an expense. Certainly when Bank of America took over Security Pacific National Bank they recorded that transaction as an expense and, in fact, deducted certain expenses connected with the acquisition as a loss against their 1991/1992 taxable income.
We believe a cursory review of the 1993 Budget and the Federal Books will show that for some new accounting reason the government's carry-over of bank and savings losses was not reported as losses or, in fact, even accounted for in the Summary US Balance Sheet. A review will show that the losses of account number 051 were scattered midst a myriad of subaccounts and the totals of those losses cannot be reconciled with the $93,188 million we discuss on pages..enclosed. We believe, in fact, that someone of your credentials – or perhaps you might be able to recommend to the government a good CPA – is needed to audit Presidents Reagan and Bush's books and wonder whether you might look into this need.
We know that doctoring books is in the banking industry a criminal offense under US law. We know that President Bush in particular has doctored the US books (to keep the Deficit down) because we know the Balance Sheet of those books is in error and it is his signature which is on that Balance Sheet (the 1993 US Budget).
page 20
President Bush ought to be brought before a court of Law on this matter, and we wonder whether you might look into it or pass this on to one of your panelists or associates who might be concerned about the true US Deficit and its affects on us and the foreigners who have invested in us. As you no doubt already know, there are many banks and savings institutions which ought to have been closed some time ago because of their sorry financial condition, and we believe it is a crime that the government has not done its part to protect the savings of our people...
My word, I wondered, what will the people do when they discover what a LACE "E" rated bank or saving's institution is? We know that this, of course, is an ancillary matter to the Deficit Problem but certainly influenced by it because we have reached a point where the US may have used up all of its credit and in the case of backing more bank and S&L failures fail itself.
We wonder whether you might agree that the solvency of our banking industry--we speak of the remaining Public Savings – is highly dependent upon the solvency of our government which no doubt is on the verge of bankruptcy for lack of credit; that is to say: failure to receive more credit for lack of an ability to service our debt.
About the Tiny Books – The Homeless are most concerned about our government's ability to meet its obligations and have been giving them away in the streets of Berkeley in thanks for the charity they receive from passer-bys. We believe there are many savings account holders who have not been reimbursed for their lost savings when a bank or savings was taken over by the RTC (see page..enclosed). Major investors who have attorney's and CPA's keeping a close watch on their funds no doubt--benefiting of advance information – before an institution fails, pull their money out of institutions which they know by the LACE Quarterly Report and other financial monitoring devices are about to fail. We thought it might be handy to offer some of this public data to the average person on the street so that they can benefit from the same advantages available to the major money-handlers.
No doubt, Mr. Buckley, you will agree that the public has been grossly misinformed on the nature of our Federal Debt (thinking it a debt our children must pay), not realizing that every debt has carrying costs [sic. interest] and no matter how you call it, when one lives on credit there comes a day when the creditor demands his dues. And it seems to me that that day has come – paying our dues is now eating up most of our income and, as it were, leaving nothing left for the rent – and I am sure, on this point, you must agree.
page 21
Surely you will agree, following the model above, that as one's income is consumed by non life-sustaining expenses, such as interest, one's ability to sustain his mandatory expenses diminishes; as interest costs (from taking advantage of too much credit) rise the money available to pay the rent plummets. Is this what has happened to our people who now sleep on our devastated streets?
We believe that there is a relationship to President Bush's misinformation on the Federal Deficit – actually the entire Federal Debt – and his failure in investing in our cities, our factories, and our people. He borrowed, borrowed, borrowed and he wasted the borrowed money on interest expenses (in 1992 he borrowed $320 billion – the deficit – against an interest payment of $292 billion). Here we leave you with our last question. In as much as the government counts borrowed money as "income" (God I hope they don't start counting the borrowed money on my B of A Card as part of my 1992 income!), the chart in our Tiny Book's frontispiece looks odd: it shows a 1992 "income" – including $320 billion in borrowed money – far in excess of outlays (about $28 billion more). We know that this chart cannot be correct, for the "income" and "outlays" should balance. We used the $320 billion figure in our chart since it was the most current information released by the government (only a few days before the Tiny Book was published). As for the correct numbers for outlays in Defense, Welfare, and General expenses, we doubt the true numbers will account for the variance in the height of the 1992 income and outlays columns.
Our data is based upon published information from the News Media and other sources (including the 1993 Federal Budget). If our numbers are wrong or inconsistent it is because President Bush has been feeding us with wrong and inconsistent numbers. We hope you can appreciate this and will look into Mr. Bush's phony accounting system.
I recognize that you are a busy man and may not have an opportunity to respond, so I have thought to furnish copies of this letter to our local media in San Francisco to see if they might have any comments to make towards this end.
Sincerely yours,
M
page 22
Mr. Buckley's answer to our first appeal
February 2, 1993
Perhaps we ought to divide the argument. Whether the government is properly engaged in the business it funds with debt, and whether the costs of those businesses are lower than their benefits, is one question. Whether the people whose money the government borrows to fund those businesses are sociopaths because they make money by lending it, is quite another. Not even people who make more than $200,000 per year can compel the feds to borrow. If debt service is growing too high too fast, then the tax-and-spend-and elect crowd in the congress are the sociopaths.
Yours Cordially,
Wm. F. Buckley Jr.
February 4, 1993
Dear Mr. Buckley,
I wish to thank you for your cordial and speedy response to my inquiry and enclosure, Financial Institution Credit Watch . I have updated the document to include the letter I sent to you (see enclosure) and with your advise and consent I will be happy to include your response of February 2, 1993 in the next issue. Perhaps, if you will bear with me yet once more, as a pupil to his sage, the light you have put on the problem in your letter can be further explored.
I cannot agree more that the argument posed in my letter to you can be divided between us. I give you the lesser part of the argument: that the National Debt long- haul affect and continuing deficits can be a push. The indebtedness created during the Reagan-Bush administrations is now a fact of life; whether it burdened the economy or benefited it can be left to the historians. As for those who benefit from the government's indebtedness, I heartily agree that they should not be condemned because they answered some calls on tax free bonds (they had other incentives to buy bonds, such as the flatlining interest rates, reduction in Capital Gains tax, etc.). Surely we can agree that when the government needs credit we must not discourage those who would be our creditors. I would further give you the argument that "not even people who make more than $200,000 per year can compel the feds to borrow", as you said. But let us not be overly kind to the cause of usury, for Philo* did point out with good justification the disguises of usury, when he asked, "O you who lend on usury, why do you seek to disguise your unsociable disposition by an apparent pretence of good fellowship? And why do you in words indeed, pretend to be a humane and considerate person, while in your actions you exhibit a want of humanity and a terrible hardness of heart..." Too often, when you can't make that interest payment, let alone the principal on a loan, the kind hearts of creditors turn terribly abusive, as we witness in the millions of the homeless in our streets (who were not born there but driven there). This is more trucked home when we ask what will happen when our Interest payment – perhaps a year from now – will be beyond our means.
page 23
As for the greater part of the argument – the possibility that Presidents Reagan and Bush misled the country concerning the nature of the budget – you have attested in your own letter in favor of my argument.
|
|
|
|
|
1982 |
695 |
695 |
|
1983 |
779 |
769 |
|
1984 |
840 |
851 |
|
1985 |
937 |
932 |
|
1986 |
972 |
967 |
|
1987 |
1009 |
995 |
|
1988 |
1024 |
1038 |
|
1989 |
1094 |
1099 |
|
1990 |
1156 |
1165 |
|
1991 |
1223 |
1236 |
|
1992 |
1445 |
1448 |
|
1993 |
1503 |
1500 |
|
Total |
$12, 692 |
$12,699 |
The greater part of the argument deals with the issue focused in the Firing Line Debate, which was resolution of the Budget Deficit (as I said I heartily agreed with your side of the table!), but the debate was disoriented on the true solution of the deficit, that it (now at $327 Billion) is not composed of a $200 Billion Interest payment but a $292 Billion interest payment; the misinformation you had on the interest payment was the same I inspired from the dust-bins of President Bush's campaign. The $200 billion interest payment, "tax-and-spend-Congress," and "read-my-lips" quips fall into one bin: the one which holds distortions.
The greater part of the argument – recognizing that President Bush never hesitated to distort the truth – finally falls upon the 1993 Budget (Balance Sheet) he submitted to Congress and which had a missing line item in the tabulation of outlays (see page 32 of the enclosed). In short, the amount of money George Bush asked Congress to consider to cover all outlays – including 1991 actuals – was distorted and did not contain the correct amount he really needed to borrow (to cover the red ink).
If there was a missing line item (051) on the US Balance Sheet, then the standards we apply to American Businessmen concerning fraudulent accounting practices ought to also apply to George Bush's 1993 Budget.
My word! It just occurred to me that the prison inmate who lied to Federal Agents regarding the case of a missing child may get another five years added to his sentence for lying to the Federal Agents. Why is it that lying to Federal Agents carries a five year prison penalty; but lies by Federal officials to Congress don't?
We know that lying to Congress is supposed to be a crime; we also know that obstruction of justice is a crime.
The greater issue at hand is not so much whether the deficit was needed and responsibly handled, or whether there are Sybarites and sociopaths who lurk in the halls of our democracy trying to make money by loaning the government money; but the issue is far more serious than that. For I was sucked in by George Bush's testimonies and like an ignoramus quoted the interest debt (in my work The Hidden Horror of the Budget Deficit 9/23/92) on our Deficit at $200 Billion when in fact our interest debt surpassed that number many years ago. So you must understand my surprise when I saw some of America's intellectual elite on your Firing Line debate being conned as I was on that embarrassingly erroneous number.
Having received your letter with the "tax-and-spend" euphemism in it only heightened my despair; for I, as well as you, did believe George Bush's many campaign castigations, unloading the cause of our budget problems upon Congress. When I saw the record of the Reagan-Bush budget requests, noted above, its Truth crushed me, as a phony bill in the quagmire of George Bush's waste bin. In Paris they see this as merde.
page 25
Without appearing to patronize you – for a sage of your stature is far beyond the need for my praise – I must close with my most sincere respect for your person and your stimulation of the mind of America.
Your dialogue with me has its reward; for what others might ignore you might not. Once the intellect of the sage takes hold of a precept, he improves in reality by himself, and taking hold of some beginning or principle of knowledge, bounds, as it were, like a horse over the plain (so again said Philo; this is his eve).
Your occasion to answer me on this most grave matter was heartening, and where I usually fail to touch a nerve in most people (since Americans take for granted lying, robbery, and cheating as an every day fact of life), I feel I struck a nerve in one who is not so blinded as those whom truth cannot touch.
While we may not agree what ought to be done about the greater part of the argument – George Bush's misinformation – surely we agree upon the weight of the National Debt and how the country is reeling under the continuing dilemma of making our payment of $292 Billions in interest this coming year by the various options before us: reduction of Social Security, gas taxes, etc. Sir, you and I are sailors, and we both know that when the wind and the seas start to get heavy it is time to shorten sail and/or dump cargo. Staying with this analog I would say that at the moment our Ship of State is overloaded, and I quite frankly am beginning to get overly sick.
The greater part of our argument attests that we have had [with Congress] two sociopaths at the helm of state, and it looks like a third (Clinton) has maintained their course. To prevent him from leading us even further astray, we need someone to point out the error of our way, as it were. You are in a position--because of your steady hand--to help us all; I speak for many passengers on our lurching ship of state, as I am not the only one wheezing at the rails....
There is an elixer to purge those of us wheezing at the rails of that thing which ails us. We propose a Television [mock] "Docu-Trial" called, Trial of a President. After a manner of speaking it would serve notice to future Presidents. All proposed participants have first right of refusal. Hoping to hear from you, I remain,
Sincerely yours,
M
page 26
Mr. Buckley's answer to our second appeal
February 19, 1993
You may quote my letter of February 2 in its entirety, if you wish; but I have to decline to give you latitude to excerpt. As to the Presidents' budget requests, I said at the time they were too high. I still say so. President Reagan might possibly have succeeded with a lower one, the first time out. After that, we were probably sunk.
Yours cordially,
Wm. F. Buckley Jr.
February 26, 1993
Dear Mr. Buckley,
Thank you for your forthright offer of February 19, 1993 and consideration relative to our correspondence. I accept your generous conditions.
My word! How terrible it must have been for you to live with the knowledge of being stove in all these years. Like you I knew we were sunk and I took your letters to The Old Man of the Sea and asked him his view of this. He answered: I must warn the others; the only problem, he added, would be that the people will probably not respond, for historically a nation does not respond to its prophets (we, of course are not prophets, I think, but rather men who have knowledge of rising water in our bilge, a large hole by which it has entered, and the probable Leviathan which caused it).
When The Old Man of the Sea answered me, my whole soul was rent, as yours must be also. For I do not know of a case where a people changed after receiving such a message as we own, except in the case of Jonah and Nineveh. I have no idea how Jonah persuaded Nineveh, do you? Thus, my quandary, my despair. I am sharpening my harpoon in any case.
page 27
Not being the first nor the last to be honed by your wit – I'm in stitches! – in answer I graved a Tiny Book called, Against Leviathan, on the sighting of Leviathan. It contemplates how one might cause him to raise his ugly head out of the sea so that not only the people will recognize him (before he hits us again), but, as experience has taught me, also that one might put a well fitted blade between his beady eyes. Already having been contemplating this problem for some time, I enclose two other Tiny Books which link to Against Leviathan. The homeless have been using my Tiny Books to raise money for themselves. I size them this way so to make them easy reading in the head, where one's spirit can munch on them without interference.
Seeing the hole in our hull – I myself am not yet fit for sea chowder – and being reminded by The Old Man of the Sea, my main concern is for the crew and passengers, for there are many lives at stake. Millions have been washed into the raging deep already...
A rhetorical thought: are we on the Pequod or the Titanic ? Pequod, you will no doubt remember, was the name of a celebrated tribe of Massachusetts Indians, "now extinct as the ancient Medes".
Explain why they should be terrified over the debt! was [incidentally] the answer The Old Man of the Sea laid on me.
As I said, all of this has been making me sick; I need to fall off just a bit to locate some fresh air and muse on The Old Man of the Sea's charge, but remain ever so,
Sincerely yours,
M
page 28
Mr. Buckley's answer to our third appeal
March 22, 1993
Jonah had three advantages. He was able to be specific about the immediate nature of the threat (40 days); and it was still relatively fresh in people's minds what had happened to Sodom; and nobody was yet sophisticated enough to think there was no causal connection between bad behavior and unpleasant consequences.
Yours cordially,
Wm. F. Buckley Jr.
March 26, 1993
Dear Mr. Buckley,
Your reply of March 22, 1993 is heartily noted; and I am nonplused where to go from here, as I thought perhaps that if the situation is as bad as you and The Old Man of the Sea seem to agree, I should endeavor to be one of the survivors. To whom can I turn? My word! If these times are not blessed with intelligence as that which led Nineveh to heed Jonah, then America must be recreating the same conditions as seen by Noah [or Sodom] and more particularly in the time of Jesus, where – Jesus said he came to Jerusalem as Jonah, mind you – Jerusalem failed to heed his warning. Jesus seems to have misjudged Jerusalem. No doubt he had a better feeling for these times when he said that when he comes again it will be as in the days of Noah. Your perception, agreeing with Jesus, nevertheless doesn't tilt the Promise that through Wisdom good behavior will be rooted out (unlike the days of Noah):
Isaiah 53: ..by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many;
Isaiah 33.6-10: And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his treasure..The earth mourneth and languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down..Now will I rise, saith the Lord: now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself;
Psalm 119. 97-104: ..Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts..Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way!
page 29
Those who incline to the obverse – as we see today and you have judged in your letter – will no doubt come to appreciate the connection between bad behavior and unpleasant consequences. Apart from The Old Man of the Sea, you seem to be my only contemporary who appreciates this need.
Perhaps I am inquiring into an area [truth] which I ought not to open, and – unlike the simile I drew in Against Leviathan – put away my harpoon. In truth, I am torn between doing nothing and being condemned and doing something and being condemned or worse ignored. For:
Revelation 11.18: And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come...and [thou] shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
My Word! Though my car's muffler leaks, I avoid identification with those who tutor our destruction. The phantasmagoria of today's American caprices, you no doubt must agree, though tempting, shed not light but dark days: desolation and despair. You know the difference: as one on a dark day who crouches to the chaff when the flint is struck: he picks up the tinder and gently breathes on it, knowing the result [sic. how a small flame becomes a fire, etc.]. Few know this.
I took this letter to The Old Man of the Sea to obtain his opinion on where to go from here. He answered in so many words that we ought to stop tilting lances and get on with the show [truth], asking, "When are you going to have a Firing Line debate called 'the Debt Revisited'?"
Those who respire into the Hands of Wisdom carry the greater burden of Light, by which means change [sic. repentance] can be seen. Would you agree? Thus, I appeal to you.
Sincerely yours,
M
Mr. Buckley's answer to our fourth appeal
April 13, 1993
The Lord hasn't promised anything at all as to political bodies, only that he'll save faithful individuals. Whether we manage to turn ourselves into a nation in which faithful men are honored, in which faithfulness is the norm – into a nation that deserves his favor as a nation – remains to be seen. To the extent that you're interested in my opinion about your muffler, I'd offer the thought that in Talmud parnossah, the earning of an honest living to support oneself and one's family, is an honorable thing to do.
Yours cordially,
Wm. F. Buckley Jr.
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April 20, 1993
Dear Mr. Buckley,
I received your cordial letter of April 13, 1993 yesterday, the 19th; a terrible footnote to American history, don't you think? I am referring to the massacre in Waco, Texas, which seems to be recalling the rectal logic of the Nazi ghettos. Bob Ricks and Janet Reno were surprised at the holocaust, just as many Germans supposedly were, relative to the ghettos and sieges they initiated. Which brings us to the idea of faith which opened your letter. I don't think the "faith" you were referring to had anything to do with the faith of the Germans (majority Catholics and the rest Protestants during the Nazi era), did it? Or Torquemada's faith? Or the Apostle Paul's faith (see our short commentary on Paul in Getting to the Promised Land, enclosed and the below commentary on Slaughtered Rabbits and Cults).
When you said "The Lord hasn't promised anything at all as to political bodies, only that he'll save faithful individuals," two matters are of concern here. The principal precept of the Kingdom of God involves a political relationship between God and all the nations, which the Apostle Paul seems to have reconfigured. On the other matter of faith, I think you were referring to Paul's axiom, "Ye are justified by faith, not works" – Galatians 2.16, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ ; Romans 3.28, therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law," to which St. Peter and St. James replied:
1 Peter 1.17 And if ye call on the father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work..
James 2.14-17 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?...Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
James 1.25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Paul misquoted the Jewish (including Jesus') precept of faith. The source Scripture is:
Habakkuk 2.4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
When we refer to the Lord's Promises we must come back to the Messiah whose faith we shall live by (sic. not Paul's--unless Paul is the Messiah). Though you are a Catholic (I--like Gandhi--heartily commend those who practice their religion) the real truth of the matter concerning faith refers to works (the Law of the Faith). We must always keep in reference the Messiah, as in Isaiah 42.21: The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable. I assume this is the Lord to whom you were referring. Apart from this concerning your ideas on faithfulness we are in agreement.
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I was impressed when I saw you referring to the Talmud, but slightly nonplused in your use of the term, Parnossah. As I rely heavily on memory, sometimes I'm caught off guard, and I thought your statement referred to a book of the Talmud, which I did not recognize. So I (what a dummy!) went to my local bookstore's Judaica section to see if I could locate that book. Wouldn't you know it? a lady from New York was there, whose name was Mrs. R. Degrand ..who was kind enough to point out that "Parnossah" is a common expression among New York Jews and that you seemed to have misplaced your punctuation mark, which should have read:
.."I'd offer the thought that in Talmud, parnossah the" etc.
Since Mrs. Degrand's daughter seems to be an acquaintance of a new member of your National Review staff, I thought it worthwhile to mention the source of this correction, which can be easily verified by you; and I hope that I have not misplaced my intentions, of keeping to the course by which we have been steering, with a diversion to grammar.
You nailed me pretty hard – right in the breast – I must admit, when you reminded me of the Torah's view of making an honest living. I am ashamed for being unemployed, and search hard for work; and if you can tolerate this small advertisement I should like to emphasize that I am still looking for work and thought that the creation of a job in supporting The "Budget Deficit Revisited" program might be considered. Although I do have many talents, I can write and research and am even willing to carry water to the thirsty (God knows the thirst of some sages is hard to quench).
Notwithstanding this – and I surely would not impose upon you – you may wish to help me connect my talents in San Francisco in some gainful enterprise..
In any event, when you [indirectly] quoted the Oral Torah I was impressed and am, according to the Oral Torah, coached to call you High Priest, even though you are a Gentile. This comes from:
Jeremiah, Sifra, # 143 to Leveticus 18.5: A gentile who observes the Torah is as good as a High Priest.
This follows Isaiah 42.21 mentioned above.
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Thus, I bow to you sir, as you are a High Priest in my eyes. But I knew this before, as you contain Wisdom and I--like Socrates but for different reasons--am attracted to Wise Men.
In closing let us not forget what goes with your comment on "parnossah", which has to do with the most honest form of living: which is ultimately in study and application of the Torah (and Oral Torah). Several thoughts can be related to this:
Talmud, Qiddushin 1.10A Whoever does a single commandment-- they do well for him and lengthen his days [see also Zohar, Genesis. Prologue 4b, ed. note].
B. And he inherits the land. [see also Matt. 6.26 et al. ed. note]
Abott, R. Natham, ch. 11: Judah b. Bathyra says, if you have no regular work, find something to do-- perhaps in a neglected yard or field [see also Mishna, Abott, 4.10, R. Meir ed. note]. and
Talmud, Sota, 21b, Jose b. Hanina says Torah abides with him who sacrifices all for it.
Following this is a comment similar to the one Socrates (referring to God = Truth) made:
Talmud, Sota, 49a. R. Abbahu says, Divine glory will satisfy him who devotes himself to Torah in poverty.
Surely you can agree that the field I have been working [writing] in is one of the most neglected fields these days. But alas, apart from you, The Old Man of the Sea, and a few other souls we stand as if we were Zaddiqim: I lament:
Zohar: There is no man to join himself to me, to be with me, as it is said, "The Man of Elohim is to be on the level of Zaddiq."
After having been bludgeoned to the ground by you, I took your letter to The Old Man of the Sea who exclaimed, "This is wonderful," but wondered why you side- swiped me.
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Your letter on faith and "parnossah" – the earning of an honest living – I take quite seriously and have faith that those who hold the most candle-power in this nation can be prompted to show the truth (whatever it is as pertains to the topics – Budget Deficit incl.– we have coursed). Again, knowing your appreciation for scripture I rely upon:
Talmud Pesahim, 113b: The Holy One detests him who has evidence and withholds it! [This follows Jubilees, 4.5, The man who has seen and not declared it, be he accursed – see also Hab.2.11; ed. note];
Tosefta, Sanhedrin 1.8: Joshua b. Karha says, When you are in court and have evidence in favor of the poor and against the rich, you are not permitted to be silent.
The Sunday paper had an article on the Sound Tactics (no pun intended) initiated by the FBI [against the Branch Davidians]. Included in the sounds, said the article, were the shrieks of Slaughtered Rabbits. I suppose our argument is gravitating to the American Mandate (a cult in itself which was – if not still – at least only a few years ago willing to take the entire world down with it in a Suicidal Nuclear War), worshipped under the auspice, The end justifies the means. On close examination, as discussed in our Tiny Book, the people outside the Branch Davidian compound – from the souvenir sellers to the Media – who heard the slaughtered rabbits [I think the Nürmberg verdict had some thoughts on this; I say this not to you but for others looking over our shoulders..] ought to be examined more professionaly. Don't you think so? It seems to me that we could erase the date of the siege and substitute 1493 or an earlier date and it would fall within the other "cult" sieges in history: the Waldensians, Cistercians, Valentinians, Huguenots, Irish, Scots, not to mention Henry VIIIth's campaigns, etc., or not the least of all an early small cult following on the heals of the Apostle Paul, of whom Tacitus – a most respected Sage in his own right – said:
Annals 15.44: Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.
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Tacitus' comment reveals quite a bit, doesn't it? I mean to say it reveals that Christians are man haters (they were also called "godless")! The teachings haven't changed and have continued from the pulpit from Paul's first sermons to every church and television evangelist in our land. What David Koresh was teaching was the Apostle Paul's "faith" (the world will soon be burned but we will be raised up [raptured]). Now this is what the American people as a whole seem to look forward to; and from this comes the attitude, to hell with everything we're getting out of here and a missionary zeal which justifies killing – or looks aside as others are being killed – those who do not fit into our cult: who are usually Jews and Moslems. Except for Paul's early church, most cults tended to arm themselves because of the pressures (often a mixture of political and religious motives) brought to bear on them from the state. We include cult leaders from George Bush down to David Koresh.
We mention George Bush here because he went to war with a Bible in his hand and several thousand people died in his cause (we do not here question causes; we question procedures). The principle we note here, however, is that what often is viewed as an exception to the norm becomes the norm in time. David Koresh – and I do not endorse his procedures – taught Paul's Apocalyptic views. Those views imbue a State of Siege which is maintained until the Lord comes and we are rescued, etc. This Messianic View is easily seen, by the way, in the Dead Sea Scrolls which cited procedures even how to deal with the Messiah when he comes, and is more particularly deeply imbedded in the Jewish Faith who have for the most part nonviolently waited for their Messianic Promise and Promised Land for these past two thousand years, and in part reaped that Promise. The Jews, of course, were an especially hated cult these past two thousand years because they refused to believe that Jesus was a Messiah and are responsible for his death. Imagine killing people – even an entire race, mind you! on behalf of God! I've held the view that if God wishes to kill people let him do it himself. He doesn't need the Pope Innocents, George Bush, Bob Ricks, Janet Reno and others like them to do it, though he has used people like them Nebuchednezzar from time to time. Those who wield the sword are reminded in the Bible that it will be turned back against them, as in Nebuchednezzar's case.
I know this is a shock to most Christians, but the Source of the Bible is a Nonviolence Advocate. And although our nation tends to have faith in the Bible it neglect's its nonviolent advocacy, which we outline in the fine print of Getting to the Promised Land. The "wicked" mentioned in the fine print therein are, in my book, cults and not normal to the human condition. Janet Reno, Bob Ricks, David Koresh et al. might lead us to believe they are normal; the fine print in my book says they aren't. Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and I are of one mind in this regard, but to see this you will have to read the book and reflect upon the idea that there are other ways of maintaining law and order in a society besides the use of the sword [sic. guns]. The Bible uses the Sword of the mouth, for instance, which refers to the Spirit of Truth who rests judgment on facts.
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Light comes not by guns but by reflection. One is a mirror – as most sages are – and through one's faith and works one mirrors the Light of God. I think this is what you were saying. I close in reflection of the light you have shone my way and hope that through a renewal this nation may find its Promised Land: a nation in which faithful men are honored and faithfulness is not only the norm but reflective of God's Desire mentioned in Psalm 12 and particularly in Isaiah 58.4-10 which show how light may rise out of obscurity --of some pertinance to our judgment [of who hurt the poor].
The other part of the problem exudes the relationship of the wealthy to the ever growing insecurity of our people. I discuss this in Getting to the Promised Land and enclose it should you be interested in the Waco, Texas affair. I wrote the book for Bob Ricks and David Koresh and sent six copies of it to Waco before the fire, assuring both parties that the book could be a nonviolent podium upon which to resolve their issues. I sent it by overnight mail April seventh.
When Bob Ricks and Janet Reno claimed that they had explored all alternatives to that issue, they lied, as the enclosed was in their hands, among other propositions for a nonviolent solution. Fearing the suicide, I hand-delivered copies to our local press (Dave McElhatton KPIX Channel 5) then and asked him to follow-up with me and Bob Ricks. No one inquired of me, however (my writings carry too many words or barbs, I suppose), and it seems now that if the survivors' families of the Branch Davidians should feel my work could have helped save lives, my evidence suggests that the consequences of murder may now rest upon the Media's and the government's shoulder. 90 some odd lives no longer exist, because of [in my case alone] my failure to make contact with those who make decisions these days. Those lives were lost when the wise men who make our decisions lost contact with us, humans. What do you think? I discuss this more, and what it is like to be looking for human beings – as in Nazi Germany – , in our Tiny Book, Validation of Truth.
You speak of faith and I speak about Truth which – existing in the Human Way – cannot exist without works (re: Getting to the Promised Land ). Truth, as we have seen and shall continue to witness, is a barren field in which to work in America. Yet, I know I dig in the right fields with my writings, though unworthy to most people; and if I am not published and realize no income from my writings it is not owing to my lack of desire to cultivate the truth or a light dedication to honest work-- in spite of my problems with mufflers (or who catch truth with a sieve, a related matter [I see here several views of our way of hearing things, not excluding the thought to send my witness on the Waco Spectacle to Senator Arlen Spector, but I think my witness {alone} would not get his staff's attention- it didn't as I never received a reply from his office; ed. note)...
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I had hoped to keep this sweet and simple, as you so excel, but you, as usual, packed a lot of truth into your letter which needed clarification. In as much as the topics at our hand involve many lives, whilst multitudes are dying every day because of our ways, you must agree that when light is gathered to one's hands – even those as lowly as mine – one must release it, not for riches or for glory but to save lives. Forget not Talmud Qiddushin 1:6H: One's word of mouth..to the most high is equivalent to one's act of delivery to an ordinary person. Reminded of this in your works I remain,
Sincerely yours,
M
Mr. Buckley's answer to our fifth appeal
May 10, 1993
I didn't at all intend to hurt your feelings. I thought you sounded embarrassed about your muffler, and I meant that any productive work is honorable. Sacrificing for Torah may be seen as more honorable, since all our lives would be far grimmer if we were stuck with only natural law. The beatitude about those who hunger and thirst after righteousness surely applies.*
As to Torquemada, we should have been spared a lot of sin and suffering if we'd heeded Pope Gregory the Great (d. 604), who prohibited the desecration of synagogues and rudeness to Jews.
The comma was a plain old oversight. The best of luck, whatever you decide to do.
Yours cordially,
Wm. F. Buckley Jr.
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May 12, 1993
Dear Mr. Buckley,
Captain, I just received your letter of May 10, 1993 and will surely pass on your best wishes to those for whom I tendered my plea and their survivors. As for my feelings, there was for my part never anything personal intended--so my person bears no grievance – but this, I recall, was a general appeal on behalf of Truth and those who once trusted their lives to it.
As for the misplaced comma, there was really no error, for your intentions here as elsewhere were always clearly put. Thank God, I say, neither of us need muster all the commas of Thomas Pain's Common Sense! many of which seemed terribly misplaced though his intentions were sound – as your's.
Were Virtue hereditary, of course, Pope St. Gregory and others might have populated this world such that guarantees concerning Human Dignity and Happiness need not depend upon a few good men (if we can find them) to enforce them, as is the case now. What turns out to have been hereditary (offices seem to be so) leaves our posterity a future vested by more narrow hearts and peddling politicians, all of whom plague the poor with their riches, as they pant through the courts of power with the trembling duplicity of spaniels. This is reflected in the idea that the more men have to lose, the less willing are they to venture; and thus they coddle to power. They argue over tax and spend and deficit reduction – bogged down in paltry sums, such as $16B to jump-start the economy – and neglectful of the waste of $300B in interest payments which have been stalling the economy. How ridiculous do the little, paltry cavilling of these few weak men appear, when weighed against the business of the whole world! Little do they discern that with the neglect of every Blessing of Liberty [re: Deut. 30.19] comes a curse!
May we lay hold of this wisdom, and leave our heirs with the tried resolve that government has no other purpose but to begin at the right end – representing the whole and not the few – and ends not with the prolonged haunts of neglect and untended necessity. When a divinely inspired government such as ours neglects its purpose, of providing for our common welfare, it can no longer preserve the peace (how obvious!); and failing this is no government at all; and in that case we pay our money for nothing. Thus, the gulf between Washington and its people is an ever growing wasteland; and the separation between God and us is manifest. "Waste not, want not," Poor Richard said [Rev. 11.18]...
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Such men, as Thomas Paine so wisely pointed out, "are unfitted to choose or judge of a wife, so any prepossession in favor of a rotten constitution of government will disable us from discerning a good one." Although our Constitution seems a fitting system, it has been so prostituted by wealth and power there is no man to court the good virtues. This was illustrated (were others as shocked as I?) 5/10/93 when the MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour on PBS entertained us with a debate whether it is okay to lie and cheat in a campaign! Norman Orenstein pathetically argued: should lying or cheating be revealed after an election, the evidence should not be grounds for nullifying an election! While I support free press and stake my own claim upon it, the aforementioned show reflects how low a democracy can fall, when respected leaders actually believe that lying and cheating by government officials have arguable merits. I follow Thomas Paine's point of view: that there comes a time when we have to take a [just] stand for this continent and its people: where people vie for the badge of honor [through lying and cheating – once the art of courts] they ought to be rewarded with the badge of traitor. We who suffer this state of mishap deserve some action in this regard. There are many in Congress – far too many I think – who sold out to some one other than the people of this nation; and they ought to be tarred and feathered and at the least hung in effigy. And then sent on vacation without pay for a year or two to see what it is like to be in need of an honest job. Senator Dole and President Clinton seem eager for this distinction.
Parting in courtesye with the last entry in the log, having taken your reply in stride, I tremble: seeing the Lord Himself has dropped the burden of Egypt and Israel [Deut. 30.7; Jer. 30.11; Ez. 38.23 et al.] upon this nation's head. And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask you the question posed in Jeremiah 23, saying, What is the burden of the Lord? Say unto them, "What burden? I will even forsake you", saith the Lord.
Virtue is the seed of a Holy People and is an inheritance which many people trust may manifest itself through the seed of Messiah [allegedly the Body of Christ]. May those who use the word of the Lord use it faithfully. This seed you, yourself, seem to have suckled. But we complained that most take no effort to distinguish the chaff from the wheat – in our language a Blessing from a Curse – and they try the fruit of the Lord with a sieve; and thus I rest this issue with the call at hand, what is the chaff to the wheat? [see Jeremiah 23.28; ed. note]. Pardon the mixed metaphor. There is no inheritance in the stuff caught in a sieve, no more than in a suckling babe banned from the breast and left to die...
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There was a day when one would wish me good luck. That day is long passed and one might better pray – because of the gravity of our midrash – that Heaven too has not been reading over our shoulder!
I believe in giving Truth life, don't you? I mingled Thomas Paine's and others' voices here with mine, so they continue to live, as we remain,
Sincerely yours,
M
June 9, 1993
Dear Mr. Buckley,
I know I may not have given you sufficient time to answer my letter of May 12, 1993, and perhaps you may not have noticed the space I left at the end of Against Leviathan for your answer. It was never my intention to hog the sacrifices (re: Lucian, Zeus Rants ).
You have been a genuine gentleman with me and I believe I owe it to you to end the thesis of Against Leviathan with your final thoughts. When I said I was making the last entry in the log I believed you, as the Captain of this work, would not have allowed me to make the last entry, seeing through the fact that it is expected of the captain to make the last entry; otherwise our readers might be left in the breach, wondering forever – concerning our sinking ship – what happened to the captain?
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Our work is a diamond of sorts, by whose lustre I hope you – as an expert craftsman – have been charmed; and it awaits your final hand – or facet. The rabbis say it takes one diamond to grind another which Socrates, a man of our spirit, more particularly believed.
In the meantime I enclose another document which picks up where Against Leviathan left off. More food for thought as it were and warning of the Great Fear – the rampage of the vagrants – which may next affect our capsizing ship. Here I call a spade a spade, following the lead of Lucian who left us with such wonderful aphorisms as: Philosophers for sale ! all shapes and sizes ! and the well honed advise to Poseidon, where Zeus said, your idea's too fishy. It's very stupid to get rid of your opponent before the fight starts; he dies undefeated and leaves his argument behind him, and it's still debatable and undecided. This, of course, is the thesis of the enclosed and the enemy is that thing which brought forth the French Revolution, the subject of Against Leviathan .
This letter – though a gem in its own right because of my plagiarism of Lucian – I plan to leave out of the book, as I could never willingly leave it with the appearance of my prompting you – which was never my intention, as I noted above. Agreed?
With respect and admiration, I remain,
Sincerely yours,
M
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Mr. Buckley's answer to our sixth and seventh appeal
June 14, 1993
Whatever may become of nations, no reasonble translation can offer a different sense of "Thy foot shall not be moved; / Thy keeper will never slumber," as applied to faithful individuals. That is clearly preferable to luck.
Yours cordially,
Wm. F. Buckley Jr.
June 19, 1993
Dear Mr. Buckley,
Yesterday, the 14th, I received your solution in the fight Against Leviathan.
"Thy foot shall not be moved; / thy keeper will never slumber,".....
We agree this promise applies to faithful individuals [faithful to God's Word]. It comes from the precept of the Watchman, which is the cause by which I initiated my quest for Truth, which story is in part told in Against Leviathan. The story- line of this quest begins with the question, Watchman, what of the night ?
Rabbi Judah the Prince was interested in this quest also and sent out some of his servants city to city to find a Watchman. Each city offered a principal guard, prince, or a governor of one kind or another. The men finally gave up their quest, not finding a Watchman, and returned in disgust to Rabbi Judah. "We have failed, lord," they said, as they sufffered to tell their Prince the truth: there were no Watchmen in Israel on that day!
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I began my quest for a watchman with Rabbi Sparer (see The Miracle of Zer Anpin ), who referred me to Professor Milgrom of the University of California at Berkeley, who stiff armed the question and thought to pass me on to another etc. I saw for myself that at least in this area of the world, there are no Watchmen (see also A letter to Jacob Neusner enclosed); for I was unable to find a man who knew the Torah in Israel, as was the search by Rabbi Judah the Prince. But now it seems I may have found one, in the possibility that you may be a Watchman, following the below precepts:
Isaiah 52.6 Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.
52.7 How beautiful upon the mountains [see * page are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
52.8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring agains Zion.
52.9 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
The time of this event is noted in that string of verses: when God has redeemed Jerusalem [sic. this day]. And again He says:
Isaiah 62.6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,
62.7 and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. [Following this string comes the passages of one coming alone through the winepress of the Lord, who looked and there was none to help; and wondered that there was none to uphold (Isaiah 63); following this precept comes a reason for scattering Israel: Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: Because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not...and ye shall leave your name for a curse unto My Chosen: for the Lord God (YHVH) shall slay thee, and Call His Servants by another name (Isaiah 65.12-15). ed. note.]
Thus, in Habakkuk we have:
Habakkuk 2.1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
2.2 And the Lord answered me...
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This follows:
Psalm 84.10.. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.. [to which one replies: Open to me the Gates of Righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord (Psalm 118.19); following this is ..for He cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the world with Righteousness, and the people with His Truth (Psalm 93.13); for He shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. (Psalm 72-12-14); ..when God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah..He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth.. (Psalm 76-9,12) ed. note].
Referring back to:
Psalm 69.20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and I looked for comforters but I found none.
In which case, finding no Watchmen, there is this admonition:
Ezekiel 33.1 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
33.2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
33.3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
33.4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
33.5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
33.6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
33.7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me.
33.8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou doest not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hands.
33.9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
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Mr. Buckley, I know that it is evident in my works and correspondence with you that there are no doubts that you have faith in God. My argument with you has, as with others, to do with the presentation of Truth by those who have seen it.
This ultimately dwells upon the plea of saving the poor and the oppressed from those who puff themselves up at them (Psalm 12.5), meaning, of course, that faith without works is death as Saints Peter and James, following Jesus' teachings, argued. For it is a truth that the intent of Zion was to make all men prophets, or watchmen, of God, always stressing the need to keep awake and alert at one's post. Certainly, the failure of a Watchman to raise the Lantern of Warning [ see footnote ** page] can lead to disastrous consequences (death) to those people who rely upon his Warning Lamp. This comes from the original idea for awakening Abraham to carry forth to the world, through Zion (Jerusalem), the peculiar notions of Salvation contained in the Scriptures, from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. JHVH is his name. To those who separate themselves from this Light there is this admonition:
Isaiah 57.12..I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.
58.13 If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my Holy Day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the Holy of the Lord, honorable; and shall honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
58.14 then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father..
59.2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that He will not hear.
59.3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.
59.4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in Vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
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This last verse, of course, is the seat of the argument in Against Leviathan : there is no Truth, no one willing to bring it forth, and all trust in Vanity, who, as explained in Job, is the King of the Children of Pride , i.e., Leviathan. Contrary to Paul's view of the matter, upon whose seat I believe you rest – which in measure forces out this argument – we must comment:
Paul should have known better than to attack the Law; nor need he have had to do so to spread the Word of God to the Gentile, as he could have hung on the Golden Rule alone.
Contrary to our expectations (I think I do fairly by speaking on behalf of the prophets here) Paul attempted to seduce the Jews away from their Law, knowing the Spirit of Truth would catch up with him, who must remind those who taught against the Jews and their Law what He said to the Children of Israel:
Deuteronomy 28.58 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, the Lord thy God;
59 Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and...the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other..and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee, and thou shalt fear day and night...
Thus, when we rest on faith we must always keep in mind the faith given to the Children of Israel and the peculiar notion of setting Watchmen upon the walls – that thy keeper will never slumber – to keep them from going astray. What is prescribed to the Gentile involves another matter too long to discuss here, as it includes the precepts expressed in Ezekiel 38 et al.
The Curse in Deuteronomy follows the Promise of a Prophet like Moses, made in Deuteronomy, of which Jesus claimed to be, which sets forth the criteria of the Watchman and God's Defense:
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Deuteronomy 18.18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
18.19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him [upon which the criteria of the Watchman is based ed. note].
So the Prophet and a Watchman represent the same thing:he who gives warning. In tracing through the criteria above we can easily see that the things which are defended by the Bible are the poor, the oppressed, the meek of the earth, and God's Truth. When these things are under attack judgment comes. When He, who comes to defend them, arrives at the Doors of Righteousness the Watchmen are hailed and are expected to act according to the instructions already given to them – that is to say, to give warning when they see the light.
This is the thesis, of course, of our work Against Leviathan, which argues the need to warn the passengers of our sinking Ship of State, among other things, whose arguments, by your own hand, flowed into the merits of telling the truth even though the people may not be equipped to receive it (we hold to your comment that our people have yet to appreciate the difference between bad behavior and adverse consequences; nevertheless he who knows the Truth must warn them; for how embarrassing would it be to prejudge a people or a cause, as Jonah first did, only to find out that the people could change! thus, leading to the need to shade poor old Jonah's shameful head with a bush). Whoever happens to be at the Doors of Righteousness must open them for the light (of Truth). This is the foundation and formula of the Faith. What did Jeus say? Behold I stand at the doors and knock...
I promised you the last word in our work in defense of Truth, Against Leviathan, but having not received your answer in the usual time, I gave the space to another. But I stand behind my word and will put your letter in its entirety – I lament it must stand alone in the center of the last leaf of the book – when I print it again.
This argument, as with my last letter, of course, will be left out, though pertinent to the plea at hand, since, in my view and no doubt that of the prophets as well, your answer leaves much business unfinished.
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Agreeing that one's Faith is far better [armor] than luck, I am lifted up by your kindness towards me; and, in any event – knowing one's good works are rewarded in kind – I continue to remain,
Sincerely yours,
M
Notes:
*The mountains are the prophets, according to one Midrash of the Oral Torah; this follows the idea that light comes precept upon precept [Isaiah 28.9-28.12; see also the Zohar ], which follows the idea that the verses of Scripture are like a string of pearls. And these follow the idea that the Word of God is Light; wherein we can take the lead of R. Hosha'ya, who said: "In the future Jerusalem will be a lantern for the nations of the world, and they will walk in her light and this follows: In thy light do we see light [Psalm 36.10 ] etc.
** Again we have the notion of Light: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path [Psalm 119.10]; The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple [Psalm 119.130]; and the call, It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law [sic. Light] !
Mr. Buckley's answer to our eighth appeal
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June 29, 1993
That lots of tyrants have been complete idiots is one of your less comforting thoughts; it belongs on every columnist's shaving mirror. We are all too likely to think of the devil as a dashing, witty fellow.
Yours cordially,
Wm. F. Buckley Jr.
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