The Sidney herald., 1963-12-04

cen SnOi. i nus L lScAiiCA Wi--
hook, numbing sorrow and grief
hat it had happened. And, as !
ave been watching the television
N and off the last two days, as
vou have too I'm sure, I dis
,overed that my feelings We're
shared with everyone. It's sinp-
V too much to comprehend all at
,nce. We wish it could be put
away, a bad dream, a night
mare.
But it cannot. And now that
we've had a moment or two TO
reflect, the hideousness OF the 1
whole thing has had time to
grow upon us. Our sorrow flows 4
out to Mrs. Kennedy and the /
Suddenly we realize /
that we have suffered a tremen- 1
dous loss-a personal and nation
al loss.
The thing we must Go now is
10 put This whole affair into per
s1ective. How are we 10 account
for such a thing in America la
the mid-twentieth century? How
could it happen? What are we to
make of it? What portent does
it hold? We must make some.
sense out of it,
It may very well be that Lee
Harvey Oswald pulled the trlg-
ger. That would make him guilty
OF the murder. But if that be
proven, or if they 90 catch an
other guilty Of the deed, that
stu does moi explain from whence
came the tragedy.
Our Lord said, you have
heard that it was said 10 the
men Of old, You shall not kill;
and whoever kills shall be liable
to the judgment. But I say 10
YOU that everyone VINO is angry
with his brother SHALL be liable
TO Judgment; whoever insults his
brother shall be liable to the
council. and whoever says, You
foolp shall be liable to the he'll
Of fire" Just as straight as an
1 arrow flies from the bow TO the
+ bullseye, as sure as the size
/ from a barrel flies TO its destined
point, so hatred leads to violence
bloodshed, death. And the one
who hates in his heart is as
guilty as he who finally pulls
the trigger.
Perhaps we should not be S,
surprised that this tragedy shoul-
overtake our nation We shoul.
have read the signs long ago, bA
/ did not. Those most surely con
+ demned are the extremists, bot
4 Of the left and Of the right. Who's
weapon is lear who's.
/ aDpeal is to the base and selt'sE
+ motives Of men. These are the.
who attack not issues, but me-
and their loyalty and integrity
These are they who call not 10
peaceful evolution under our sys
TEN Of orderly government bu
for violent overthrow. No one car
deny that these set the stag.
for the tragedy, encouraged fa
assassin, Ulled the moral sens
tivitv Of all of rs until we couit
believe that men are not humai
beings any longer. but beasts f
be tracked down and eliminate
from office by any means ava
able Extremists Of both lett an
right stand surely condemned.
But this by ne means exhaust
= fhe list Of those indicted. w
must include also these VII
S masked their hatred in the cloa
!. Of Christianity three years ag'
: and since, and under the gus
of holy indignation rose UP
S vllify Kennedy the Roman Catn'
2 lie Suddenly we are remmde
! that there were many N OF
4 country who once looked upc
V this man as our enemy, to /
resisted and attacked by ever
false accusation and innuendo
the filthy vocabulary OF the u
redeemed man. And SO the vlrl
Of hate became cloaked IN q
respectable clothes Of righteol
: Professionalism. and many OF
! believed it and were infect'
y with its poison. Religious exit
| mism must stand condemned
: day, too.
K But what of the rest of t
~ country. the vast throng Of
y binary people who could not
: called extreme by any mar
- measure? Must they share Z
If too? What Of those whose often
was nothing more serious tn
- the telling Of an occasional 10
intimating that the contrys
ture lay in the death Of her pre-
dent? You heard them. as ! d
You passed them on IS did
Their crudity and hatred ~
stand fully revealed before Q
eyes.
What Of those who paid th'
dollars TO hear the eXneml
talk. and did not talk back. "
read their letters TO the edit
and did not reply. Who boug
their line and did not invesbga
Those whose sin was no me
nor less than passive acceptan
Of the hatred? Those who wish
they might have spoken
against bigotry but did not tn.
are the silent ones; the passl
ones; the guilty ones.
Oh, no, we did not want q
10 happen. We did not wish {
I upon him, upon ourselves. We {
shocked. grieved, stunned a
we are also blind 10 the fact i
we have fostered the hatred t
erupted through this dement,
-, ,,f To,Il,e We have nflrtIlf