When Talking Stops

I write this on September 11, the memorial day of the tragic events of hate in 2001.  If it is possible, I urge you to listen to the EWTN mass homily this day; it is most moving, as the words of three popes tell of the tragedy of hatred and the need for reconciliation and discussion now.

Yesterday, I read an article in First Things magazine, a magazine where different religions talk, not hate.  The article was titled Suicide of the Liberals.  I thought it would comment on the state of the United States.  It never mentioned our country.  It was only about Russia in the early 1900’s.  Russia was one of the richest, leading countries of the world at that time, much like the U.S. is now.  Parties then undertook,  and began acting with, incompatible ideologies, acting out in hate.  They stopped talking.  Thousands were assassinated.  Businesses were extorted or blown up.  People killed for the pleasure of killing.  The major political party in Russia did not engage in the terrorism, but they aided it.  Rich people donated to it.  Lenin said: “When we are ready to kill the capitalists, they will sell us the rope”.  The young were often leaders of the terror.  They had never built the existing society, and were poorly educated in why things were as they were.  They did not feel part of it.

And the communists then came to power.  They killed all the existing government people --- all of them.  They killed all the members of the political party which had supported them, and the rich people, including the ones which had supported them.  And they killed all the priests and religious and burned the churches.  They had told people that all people should be equal, and now they all were; they were all equally poor.  And they made sure the people could not turn to God.  The government acted as their god.  Children turned in to government authorities their parents who prayed.  The government then sought to be the god of the world, and many, many millions died.

I thought the interesting thing in the article was that the rioters said they were acting for the poor, but they never articulated what a solution for the poor would look like.  They did not want to talk about solutions, like the rioters today don’t want to talk of solutions.  Their actions echoed the words of the popes in the homily; we need to talk, and never act out of hate.

And the article on Russia never mentioned the United States today.  It only showed how, through hate, the country and the world changed in only a few years.

And I remembered the Divine Mercy Prayer:  “For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”