beyond vietnam -a time to break silence

8/8/2019 Beyond Vietnam -A Time to Break Silence

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Martin Luther King, Jr.Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence

Delivered 4 April 1967, at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in e! "or# City

$A%&'(&)C)&" C(R&)*)(D+ &et version -elo! transcri-ed directly from audio. /

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen:

I need not pause to say how very delighted I am to be here tonight, and how very

delighted I am to see you expressing your concern about the issues that will bediscussed tonight by turning out in such large numbers. I also want to say that I

consider it a great honor to share this program with Dr. Bennett, Dr. Commager, andRabbi eschel, and some o! the distinguished leaders and personalities o! our nation.

"nd o! course it#s always good to come bac$ to Riverside Church. %ver the last eightyears, I have had the privilege o! preaching here almost every year in that period,

and it is always a rich and rewarding experience to come to this great church and

this great pulpit.

I come to this magni!icent house o! worship tonight because my conscience leaves

me no other choice. I &oin you in this meeting because I am in deepest agreementwith the aims and wor$ o! the organi'ation which has brought us together: Clergy

and (aymen Concerned about )ietnam. *he recent statements o! your executivecommittee are the sentiments o! my own heart, and I !ound mysel! in !ull accord

when I read its opening lines: +" time comes when silence is betrayal.+ "nd that timehas come !or us in relation to )ietnam.

*he truth o! these words is beyond doubt, but the mission to which they call us is amost di!!icult one. ven when pressed by the demands o! inner truth, men do not

easily assume the tas$ o! opposing their government-s policy, especially in time o!

war. or does the human spirit move without great di!!iculty against all the apathy o!con!ormist thought within one-s own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover,when the issues at hand seem as perplexed as they o!ten do in the case o! this

dread!ul con!lict, we are always on the verge o! being mesmeri'ed by uncertainty/but we must move on.

"nd some o! us who have already begun to brea$ the silence o! the night have !oundthat the calling to spea$ is o!ten a vocation o! agony, but we must spea$. 0e must

spea$ with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we mustspea$. "nd we must re&oice as well, !or surely this is the !irst time in our nation-s

history that a signi!icant number o! its religious leaders have chosen to move beyondthe prophesying o! smooth patriotism to the high grounds o! a !irm dissent based

upon the mandates o! conscience and the reading o! history. 1erhaps a new spirit isrising among us. I! it is, let us trace its movements and pray that our own inner

being may be sensitive to its guidance, !or we are deeply in need o! a new waybeyond the dar$ness that seems so close around us.

%ver the past two years, as I have moved to brea$ the betrayal o! my own silencesand to spea$ !rom the burnings o! my own heart, as I have called !or radical

departures !rom the destruction o! )ietnam, many persons have 2uestioned meabout the wisdom o! my path. "t the heart o! their concerns this 2uery has o!ten

loomed large and loud: +0hy are you spea$ing about the war, Dr. 3ing4+ +0hy areyou &oining the voices o! dissent4+ +1eace and civil rights don-t mix,+ they say.


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+"ren-t you hurting the cause o! your people,+ they as$4 "nd when I hear them,though I o!ten understand the source o! their concern, I am nevertheless greatly

saddened, !or such 2uestions mean that the in2uirers have not really $nown me, mycommitment or my calling. Indeed, their 2uestions suggest that they do not $now

the world in which they live.

In the light o! such tragic misunderstanding, I deem it o! signal importance to try to

state clearly, and I trust concisely, why I believe that the path !rom Dexter "venueBaptist Church 55 the church in Montgomery, "labama, where I began my pastorate

55 leads clearly to this sanctuary tonight.

I come to this plat!orm tonight to ma$e a passionate plea to my beloved nation. *his

speech is not addressed to anoi or to the ational (iberation 6ront. It is notaddressed to China or to Russia. or is it an attempt to overloo$ the ambiguity o! the

total situation and the need !or a collective solution to the tragedy o! )ietnam.either is it an attempt to ma$e orth )ietnam or the ational (iberation 6ront

paragons o! virtue, nor to overloo$ the role they must play in the success!ul

resolution o! the problem. 0hile they both may have &usti!iable reasons to besuspicious o! the good !aith o! the 7nited 8tates, li!e and history give elo2uent

testimony to the !act that con!licts are never resolved without trust!ul give and ta$e

on both sides.

*onight, however, I wish not to spea$ with anoi and the ational (iberation 6ront,but rather to my !ellow "mericans.

8ince I am a preacher by calling, I suppose it is not surprising that I have seven

ma&or reasons !or bringing )ietnam into the !ield o! my moral vision. *here is at the

outset a very obvious and almost !acile connection between the war in )ietnam andthe struggle I, and others, have been waging in "merica. " !ew years ago there was

a shining moment in that struggle. It seemed as i! there was a real promise o! hope

!or the poor 55 both blac$ and white 55 through the poverty program. *here wereexperiments, hopes, new beginnings. *hen came the buildup in )ietnam, and I

watched this program bro$en and eviscerated, as i! it were some idle politicalplaything o! a society gone mad on war, and I $new that "merica would never invest

the necessary !unds or energies in rehabilitation o! its poor so long as adventuresli$e )ietnam continued to draw men and s$ills and money li$e some demonic

destructive suction tube. 8o, I was increasingly compelled to see the war as anenemy o! the poor and to attac$ it as such.

1erhaps the more tragic recognition o! reality too$ place when it became clear to methat the war was doing !ar more than devastating the hopes o! the poor at home. It

was sending their sons and their brothers and their husbands to !ight and to die inextraordinarily high proportions relative to the rest o! the population. 0e were ta$ing

the blac$ young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them eightthousand miles away to guarantee liberties in 8outheast "sia which they had not

!ound in southwest 9eorgia and ast arlem. "nd so we have been repeatedly !acedwith the cruel irony o! watching egro and white boys on *) screens as they $ill and

die together !or a nation that has been unable to seat them together in the sameschools. "nd so we watch them in brutal solidarity burning the huts o! a poor village,

but we reali'e that they would hardly live on the same bloc$ in Chicago. I could notbe silent in the !ace o! such cruel manipulation o! the poor.

My third reason moves to an even deeper level o! awareness, !or it grows out o! myexperience in the ghettoes o! the orth over the last three years 55 especially the last

three summers. "s I have wal$ed among the desperate, re&ected, and angry youngmen, I have told them that Molotov coc$tails and ri!les would not solve their


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problems. I have tried to o!!er them my deepest compassion while maintaining myconviction that social change comes most meaning!ully through nonviolent action.

But they as$ 55 and rightly so 55 what about )ietnam4 *hey as$ i! our own nationwasn-t using massive doses o! violence to solve its problems, to bring about the

changes it wanted. *heir 2uestions hit home, and I $new that I could never againraise my voice against the violence o! the oppressed in the ghettos without having

!irst spo$en clearly to the greatest purveyor o! violence in the world today 55 my owngovernment. 6or the sa$e o! those boys, !or the sa$e o! this government, !or thesa$e o! the hundreds o! thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.

6or those who as$ the 2uestion, +"ren-t you a civil rights leader4+ and thereby mean

to exclude me !rom the movement !or peace, I have this !urther answer. In ;

ow, it should be incandescently clear that no one who has any concern !or theintegrity and li!e o! "merica today can ignore the present war. I! "merica-s soul

becomes totally poisoned, part o! the autopsy must read: )ietnam. It can never besaved so long as it destroys the deepest hopes o! men the world over. 8o it is that

those o! us who are yet determined that "merica will be are led down the path o!protest and dissent, wor$ing !or the health o! our land.

"s i! the weight o! such a commitment to the li!e and health o! "merica were notenough, another burden o! responsibility was placed upon me in ;


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bound by allegiances and loyalties which are broader and deeper than nationalismand which go beyond our nation-s sel!5de!ined goals and positions. 0e are called to

spea$ !or the wea$, !or the voiceless, !or the victims o! our nation and !or those itcalls +enemy,+ !or no document !rom human hands can ma$e these humans any less

our brothers.

"nd as I ponder the madness o! )ietnam and search within mysel! !or ways to

understand and respond in compassion, my mind goes constantly to the people o!that peninsula. I spea$ now not o! the soldiers o! each side, not o! the ideologies o!

the (iberation 6ront, not o! the &unta in 8aigon, but simply o! the people who havebeen living under the curse o! war !or almost three continuous decades now. I thin$

o! them, too, because it is clear to me that there will be no meaning!ul solution there

until some attempt is made to $now them and hear their bro$en cries.

*hey must see "mericans as strange liberators. *he )ietnamese people proclaimedtheir own independence in ;


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apathetically as we herd them o!! the land o! their !athers into concentration campswhere minimal social needs are rarely met. *hey $now they must move on or be

destroyed by our bombs.

8o they go, primarily women and children and the aged. *hey watch as we poison

their water, as we $ill a million acres o! their crops. *hey must weep as thebulldo'ers roar through their areas preparing to destroy the precious trees. *hey

wander into the hospitals with at least twenty casualties !rom "merican !irepower !orone )ietcong5in!licted in&ury. 8o !ar we may have $illed a million o! them, mostly

children. *hey wander into the towns and see thousands o! the children, homeless,without clothes, running in pac$s on the streets li$e animals. *hey see the children

degraded by our soldiers as they beg !or !ood. *hey see the children selling their

sisters to our soldiers, soliciting !or their mothers.

0hat do the peasants thin$ as we ally ourselves with the landlords and as we re!useto put any action into our many words concerning land re!orm4 0hat do they thin$

as we test out our latest weapons on them, &ust as the 9ermans tested out newmedicine and new tortures in the concentration camps o! urope4 0here are the

roots o! the independent )ietnam we claim to be building4 Is it among these

voiceless ones40e have destroyed their two most cherished institutions: the !amily and the village.0e have destroyed their land and their crops. 0e have cooperated in the crushing o!

55 in the crushing o! the nation-s only noncommunist revolutionary political !orce, theuni!ied Buddhist Church. 0e have supported the enemies o! the peasants o! 8aigon.

0e have corrupted their women and children and $illed their men.

ow there is little le!t to build on, save bitterness. 8oon the only solid physical

!oundations remaining will be !ound at our military bases and in the concrete o! theconcentration camps we call +!orti!ied hamlets.+ *he peasants may well wonder i! we

plan to build our new )ietnam on such grounds as these. Could we blame them !or

such thoughts4 0e must spea$ !or them and raise the 2uestions they cannot raise.*hese, too, are our brothers.

1erhaps a more di!!icult but no less necessary tas$ is to spea$ !or those who have

been designated as our enemies. 0hat o! the ational (iberation 6ront, that

strangely anonymous group we call +)C+ or +communists+4 0hat must they thin$ o!the 7nited 8tates o! "merica when they reali'e that we permitted the repression and

cruelty o! Diem, which helped to bring them into being as a resistance group in the

8outh4 0hat do they thin$ o! our condoning the violence which led to their ownta$ing up o! arms4 ow can they believe in our integrity when now we spea$ o!

+aggression !rom the orth+ as i! there were nothing more essential to the war4 owcan they trust us when now we charge them with violence a!ter the murderous reign

o! Diem and charge them with violence while we pour every new weapon o! deathinto their land4 8urely we must understand their !eelings, even i! we do not condone

their actions. 8urely we must see that the men we supported pressed them to their

violence. 8urely we must see that our own computeri'ed plans o! destruction simplydwar! their greatest acts.

ow do they &udge us when our o!!icials $now that their membership is less than

twenty5!ive percent communist, and yet insist on giving them the blan$et name40hat must they be thin$ing when they $now that we are aware o! their control o!

ma&or sections o! )ietnam, and yet we appear ready to allow national elections inwhich this highly organi'ed political parallel government will not have a part4 *hey

as$ how we can spea$ o! !ree elections when the 8aigon press is censored andcontrolled by the military &unta. "nd they are surely right to wonder what $ind o!


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new government we plan to help !orm without them, the only party in real touch withthe peasants. *hey 2uestion our political goals and they deny the reality o! a peace

settlement !rom which they will be excluded. *heir 2uestions are !righteninglyrelevant. Is our nation planning to build on political myth again, and then shore it up

upon the power o! new violence4

ere is the true meaning and value o! compassion and nonviolence, when it helps us

to see the enemy-s point o! view, to hear his 2uestions, to $now his assessment o!ourselves. 6or !rom his view we may indeed see the basic wea$nesses o! our own

condition, and i! we are mature, we may learn and grow and pro!it !rom the wisdomo! the brothers who are called the opposition.

8o, too, with anoi. In the orth, where our bombs now pummel the land, and ourmines endanger the waterways, we are met by a deep but understandable mistrust.

*o spea$ !or them is to explain this lac$ o! con!idence in 0estern words, andespecially their distrust o! "merican intentions now. In anoi are the men who led

the nation to independence against the @apanese and the 6rench, the men who

sought membership in the 6rench Commonwealth and were betrayed by thewea$ness o! 1aris and the will!ulness o! the colonial armies. It was they who led a

second struggle against 6rench domination at tremendous costs, and then were

persuaded to give up the land they controlled between the thirteenth andseventeenth parallel as a temporary measure at 9eneva. "!ter ;


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and brother to the su!!ering poor o! )ietnam. I spea$ !or those whose land is beinglaid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I

spea$ !or the poor o! "merica who are paying the double price o! smashed hopes athome, and death and corruption in )ietnam. I spea$ as a citi'en o! the world, !or the

world as it stands aghast at the path we have ta$en. I spea$ as one who loves"merica, to the leaders o! our own nation: *he great initiative in this war is ours/ the

initiative to stop it must be ours.*his is the message o! the great Buddhist leaders o! )ietnam. Recently one o! them

wrote these words, and I 2uote:

ach day the war goes on the hatred increases in the heart o! the )ietnamese

and in the hearts o! those o! humanitarian instinct. *he "mericans are !orcingeven their !riends into becoming their enemies. It is curious that the

"mericans, who calculate so care!ully on the possibilities o! military victory,do not reali'e that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and

political de!eat. *he image o! "merica will never again be the image o!

revolution, !reedom, and democracy, but the image o! violence and militarismAun2uote.

I! we continue, there will be no doubt in my mind and in the mind o! the world that

we have no honorable intentions in )ietnam. I! we do not stop our war against the

people o! )ietnam immediately, the world will be le!t with no other alternative thanto see this as some horrible, clumsy, and deadly game we have decided to play. *he

world now demands a maturity o! "merica that we may not be able to achieve. It

demands that we admit that we have been wrong !rom the beginning o! ouradventure in )ietnam, that we have been detrimental to the li!e o! the )ietnamese

people. *he situation is one in which we must be ready to turn sharply !rom ourpresent ways. In order to atone !or our sins and errors in )ietnam, we should ta$e

the initiative in bringing a halt to this tragic war.

I would li$e to suggest !ive concrete things that our government should do

immediately to begin the long and di!!icult process o! extricating ourselves !rom thisnightmarish con!lict:

umber one: nd all bombing in orth and 8outh )ietnam.

umber two: Declare a unilateral cease5!ire in the hope that such action will create

the atmosphere !or negotiation.

*hree: *a$e immediate steps to prevent other battlegrounds in 8outheast "sia by

curtailing our military buildup in *hailand and our inter!erence in (aos.

6our: Realistically accept the !act that the ational (iberation 6ront has substantial

support in 8outh )ietnam and must thereby play a role in any meaning!ulnegotiations and any !uture )ietnam government.

6ive: 8et a date that we will remove all !oreign troops !rom )ietnam in accordancewith the ;


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disengage itsel! !rom a disgrace!ul commitment. 0e must continue to raise ourvoices and our lives i! our nation persists in its perverse ways in )ietnam. 0e must

be prepared to match actions with words by see$ing out every creative method o!protest possible.

"s we counsel young men concerning military service, we must clari!y !or them ournation-s role in )ietnam and challenge them with the alternative o! conscientious

ob&ection. I am pleased to say that this is a path now chosen by more than seventystudents at my own alma mater, Morehouse College, and I recommend it to all who

!ind the "merican course in )ietnam a dishonorable and un&ust one. Moreover, Iwould encourage all ministers o! dra!t age to give up their ministerial exemptions and

see$ status as conscientious ob&ectors. *hese are the times !or real choices and not

!alse ones. 0e are at the moment when our lives must be placed on the line i! ournation is to survive its own !olly. very man o! humane convictions must decide on

the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.

ow there is something seductively tempting about stopping there and sending us all

o!! on what in some circles has become a popular crusade against the war in)ietnam. I say we must enter that struggle, but I wish to go on now to say

something even more disturbing.

*he war in )ietnam is but a symptom o! a !ar deeper malady within the "mericanspirit, and i! we ignore this sobering reality...and i! we ignore this sobering reality, we

will !ind ourselves organi'ing +clergy and laymen concerned+ committees !or the nextgeneration. *hey will be concerned about 9uatemala and 1eru. *hey will be

concerned about *hailand and Cambodia. *hey will be concerned about Mo'ambi2ue

and 8outh "!rica. 0e will be marching !or these and a do'en other names andattending rallies without end, unless there is a signi!icant and pro!ound change in

"merican li!e and policy.

"nd so, such thoughts ta$e us beyond )ietnam, but not beyond our calling as sons o!

the living 9od.

In ;


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9ood 8amaritan on li!e-s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. %ne day wemust come to see that the whole @ericho Road must be trans!ormed so that men and

women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they ma$e their &ourney on li!e-shighway. *rue compassion is more than !linging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see

that an edi!ice which produces beggars needs restructuring.

" true revolution o! values will soon loo$ uneasily on the glaring contrast o! poverty

and wealth. 0ith righteous indignation, it will loo$ across the seas and see individualcapitalists o! the 0est investing huge sums o! money in "sia, "!rica, and 8outh

"merica, only to ta$e the pro!its out with no concern !or the social betterment o! thecountries, and say, +*his is not &ust.+ It will loo$ at our alliance with the landed

gentry o! 8outh "merica and say, +*his is not &ust.+ *he 0estern arrogance o! !eeling

that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn !rom them is not &ust.

" true revolution o! values will lay hand on the world order and say o! war, +*his wayo! settling di!!erences is not &ust.+ *his business o! burning human beings with

napalm, o! !illing our nation-s homes with orphans and widows, o! in&ecting poisonous

drugs o! hate into the veins o! peoples normally humane, o! sending men home !romdar$ and bloody battle!ields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged,

cannot be reconciled with wisdom, &ustice, and love. " nation that continues year

a!ter year to spend more money on military de!ense than on programs o! social upli!tis approaching spiritual death.

"merica, the richest and most power!ul nation in the world, can well lead the way in

this revolution o! values. *here is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us

!rom reordering our priorities so that the pursuit o! peace will ta$e precedence overthe pursuit o! war. *here is nothing to $eep us !rom molding a recalcitrant status 2uo

with bruised hands until we have !ashioned it into a brotherhood.

*his $ind o! positive revolution o! values is our best de!ense against communism.

0ar is not the answer. Communism will never be de!eated by the use o! atomicbombs or nuclear weapons. (et us not &oin those who shout war and, through their

misguided passions, urge the 7nited 8tates to relin2uish its participation in the7nited ations. *hese are days which demand wise restraint and calm

reasonableness. 0e must not engage in a negative anticommunism, but rather in apositive thrust !or democracy, reali'ing that our greatest de!ense against

communism is to ta$e o!!ensive action in behal! o! &ustice. 0e must with positiveaction see$ to remove those conditions o! poverty, insecurity, and in&ustice, which

are the !ertile soil in which the seed o! communism grows and develops.

*hese are revolutionary times. "ll over the globe men are revolting against old

systems o! exploitation and oppression, and out o! the wounds o! a !rail world, newsystems o! &ustice and e2uality are being born. *he shirtless and bare!oot people o!

the land are rising up as never be!ore. *he people who sat in dar$ness have seen agreat light. 0e in the 0est must support these revolutions.

It is a sad !act that because o! com!ort, complacency, a morbid !ear o! communism,

and our proneness to ad&ust to in&ustice, the 0estern nations that initiated so mucho! the revolutionary spirit o! the modern world have now become the archantirevolutionaries. *his has driven many to !eel that only Marxism has a

revolutionary spirit. *here!ore, communism is a &udgment against our !ailure to ma$edemocracy real and !ollow through on the revolutions that we initiated. %ur only

hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into asometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism.

0ith this power!ul commitment we shall boldly challenge the status 2uo and un&ustmores, and thereby speed the day when +every valley shall be exalted, and every


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mountain and hill shall be made low, and the croo$ed shall be made straight, and therough places plain.+

" genuine revolution o! values means in the !inal analysis that our loyalties mustbecome ecumenical rather than sectional. very nation must now develop an

overriding loyalty to man$ind as a whole in order to preserve the best in theirindividual societies.

*his call !or a worldwide !ellowship that li!ts neighborly concern beyond one-s tribe,race, class, and nation is in reality a call !or an all5embracing and unconditional love

!or all man$ind. *his o!t misunderstood, this o!t misinterpreted concept, so readilydismissed by the iet'sches o! the world as a wea$ and cowardly !orce, has now

become an absolute necessity !or the survival o! man. 0hen I spea$ o! love I am notspea$ing o! some sentimental and wea$ response. I am not spea$ing o! that !orce

which is &ust emotional bosh. I am spea$ing o! that !orce which all o! the greatreligions have seen as the supreme uni!ying principle o! li!e. (ove is somehow the

$ey that unloc$s the door which leads to ultimate reality. *his indu5Muslim5

Christian5@ewish5Buddhist belie! about ultimate reality is beauti!ully summed up inthe !irst epistle o! 8aint @ohn: +(et us love one another, !or love is 9od. "nd every

one that loveth is born o! 9od and $noweth 9od. e that loveth not $noweth not

9od, !or 9od is love.+ +I! we love one another, 9od dwelleth in us and his love isper!ected in us.+ (et us hope that this spirit will become the order o! the day.

0e can no longer a!!ord to worship the god o! hate or bow be!ore the altar o!

retaliation. *he oceans o! history are made turbulent by the ever5rising tides o! hate.

"nd history is cluttered with the wrec$age o! nations and individuals that pursuedthis sel!5de!eating path o! hate. "s "rnold *oynbee says: +(ove is the ultimate !orce

that ma$es !or the saving choice o! li!e and good against the damning choice o!death and evil. *here!ore the !irst hope in our inventory must be the hope that love

is going to have the last word+ Aun2uote.

0e are now !aced with the !act, my !riends, that tomorrow is today. 0e are

con!ronted with the !ierce urgency o! now. In this un!olding conundrum o! li!e andhistory, there is such a thing as being too late. 1rocrastination is still the thie! o!

time. (i!e o!ten leaves us standing bare, na$ed, and de&ected with a lost opportunity.*he tide in the a!!airs o! men does not remain at !lood 55 it ebbs. 0e may cry out

desperately !or time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea andrushes on. %ver the bleached bones and &umbled residues o! numerous civili'ations

are written the pathetic words, +*oo late.+ *here is an invisible boo$ o! li!e that!aith!ully records our vigilance or our neglect. %mar 3hayyam is right: +*he moving

!inger writes, and having writ moves on.+

0e still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent coannihilation. 0e

must move past indecision to action. 0e must !ind new ways to spea$ !or peace in)ietnam and &ustice throughout the developing world, a world that borders on our

doors. I! we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dar$, andshame!ul corridors o! time reserved !or those who possess power without

compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.

ow let us begin. ow let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but

beauti!ul, struggle !or a new world. *his is the calling o! the sons o! 9od, and ourbrothers wait eagerly !or our response. 8hall we say the odds are too great4 8hall we

tell them the struggle is too hard4 0ill our message be that the !orces o! "mericanli!e militate against their arrival as !ull men, and we send our deepest regrets4 %r will

there be another message 55 o! longing, o! hope, o! solidarity with their yearnings, o!commitment to their cause, whatever the cost4 *he choice is ours, and though we


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might pre!er it otherwise, we must choose in this crucial moment o! human history.

"s that noble bard o! yesterday, @ames Russell (owell, elo2uently stated:

Once to every man and nation comes a moment to decide,

In the strife of Truth and Falsehood, for the good or evil side;

Some great cause, God's new Messiah offering each the bloom or blight,

nd the choice goes by forever 'twi!t that dar"ness and that light#

Though the cause of evil $ros$er, yet 'tis truth alone is strong

Though her $ortions be the scaffold, and u$on the throne be wrong

%et that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim un"nown

Standeth God within the shadow, "ee$ing watch above his own#

"nd i! we will only ma$e the right choice, we will be able to trans!orm this pendingcosmic elegy into a creative psalm o! peace.

I! we will ma$e the right choice, we will be able to trans!orm the &angling discords o!our world into a beauti!ul symphony o! brotherhood.

beyond vietnam -a time to break silence

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