"The church cannot remain silent before such an abomination. The ones who have a voice must speak for those who are voiceless.
Peace is not the product of terror or fear. Peace is not the silence of cemeteries. Peace is not the silent result of violent repression. Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all. In the name of God, in the name of this suffering people whose cry rises to heaven more loudly each day, I implore you, I beg you, I order you: stop the repression."
Bishop Oscar Romero, assassinated while saying Mass, 24 March 1980
"It was a civil war of the 1980s, one that pitted leftist revolutionaries against the alliance of countries, oligarchs, and generals that had ruled the country for decades—with U.S. support—keeping peasants illiterate and impoverished. It was a bloody, brutal, and dirty war. Peasants were shot en masse, often while trying to flee. Student and union leaders had their thumbs tied behind their backs before being shot in the head, their bodies left on roadsides as a warning to others. Many Americans would prefer to forget that chapter in American history; those under the age of 40 may not even be aware of it."
Raymond Bonner, America's Role in El Salvador's Deterioration
"Modern tyranny is terror management. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order to consolidate power. For tyrants, the lesson of the Reichstag fire is that one moment of shock enables an eternity of submission. For us, the lesson is that our natural fear and grief must not enable the destruction of our institutions.”
Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, 2017
"As had happened in the past, and continues to happen today, repression of peaceful change and justice threatened to bring about the very conditions that the ruling families of the country had feared. These are the fruits of greed and the lust for power, driven to hysteria and violent repression. And we allow ourselves to be blinded by their lies and propaganda, their myths of our exceptionalism, and our own fear, hate, and willfulness."
Jesse, Remembering the Martyrs El Salvador, 14 October 2018
“People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage. Intellectual myopia, often called stupidity, is no doubt a reason. But the privileged also feel that their privileges, however egregious they may seem to others, are a solemn, basic, God-given right."
John Kenneth Galbraith, The Age of Uncertainty, 1977
Stocks took a dive today, after the sugar high of the Non-Farm Payrolls report from last week wore off.
Gold and silver were sold, as an echo of the traditional Non-Farm Payrolls boogie woogie.
Gold and silver *might* be finding a bottom here, as they have often done on such occasions in the past.
As pride and greed take leaders and their people to the abyss, we must use caution not to follow, as tempting as that alternative may be.
As for the people of the way, we can work for the oasis, the small patch of righteousness that survives the fall of the servants of the madness and their fog of hate and lies.
This is the way of the world, and of those who serve the light within it. It takes a measure of trust in God.
But in the meanwhile, we can take what practical measures as we may.
Have a pleasant evening.
