The death of certain people oftentimes pulls our memories back to another time and place when those people changed the course of history. For those of us who are old enough to remember, Daniel Ellsberg’s death at the age of 92, bring us back to a time of terrible conflict over what many of us saw as an unjust war resulting in the loss of a generation of young men and women not to mention the devastation of a country.
Realizing that political leaders had lied about the war Ellsberg secretly copied scores of documents in the hope that their publication would end the war. It did, but in a manner he never would suspected: In response, Nixon created the “Plumbers” that led to Watergate that led to his resignation and finally that terrible scene on April 30, 1975, when the last U.S. troops left Vietnam.
I saw Ellsberg in New York where he discussed his 2017 book The Doomsday Machine. He was still calling for government transparency, arguing that democracy requires that government cannot and should not lie in order to support certain political decisions. He argued that honesty is the best policy for both individuals and governments.
Prayer for the Day
We come to you, O God, in hope for peace in a time of war,
Not just the wars on battlefields but in our Nation as well;
Sharing a life that results in anger and dissension,
We look to healing divisions among us.
Be with us, O God, as we work with peacemakers
Often persecuted and reviled in their own lands.
In the name of the One who calls us to peace,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
For an American to be patriotic is to be loyal to the principles of our Constitution and the First Amendment. The truth is that sometimes the policies of the government is in conflict with that. In our country patriotism should not be defined as obedience to authority.
- Daniel Ellsberg, whistleblower (1931-2023)
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it.
- Mark Twain, American writer (1835-1910)
The Lord loves those who hate evil, guarding the lives of God’s faithful;
The Lord rescues them from the hands of the wicked.
Psalm 97:10