Time to Choose

These are the first two verses of the 1848 James Lowell poem “Once to Every Man and Nation.” He wrote it in opposition to the war with Mexico but its message is larger than that for it succinctly tells us that it is time to choose sides.

Once to every man and nation
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood,
For the good or evil side;
Some great cause, God’s new Messiah,
Offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever
Twixt that darkness and that light.

Then to side with truth is noble,
When we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit,
And ’tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses
While the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue
Of the faith they had denied.

The word NAZI is used too much today especially by those engaged in identify politics which would be those who term themselves “Progressives” but are in fact Marxists. The Progressive Socialist Democrats, Antifa, and a whole host of others. Yet, the only other group of people that called for the annihilation of the Jews was, of course, the NAZIs from 1923 through the fall of the evil empire the party spawned. Thus, “From the River to the Sea” is the battle cry of the progressives in support of the annihilation of the Jews. They are well financed and backed by China as well as certain of the Arab nations. Indeed, given the antisemitic utterances of senior members of the United Nations, even non Arab governmental elements support their cause.

The United States swore after the discover of the ovens at the concentration camps that such could never happen again, but there is a call for “Death to Jews” on thousands of placards displayed at Pro-Palestinian rallies throughout the U.S. College students haven’t been taught about the Holocaust and are siding with the call for the destruction of Israel. Some in the news media slant their coverage towards Israel’s attempt to destroy Hamas as genocide in itself.

As Lowell points out, it is time to choose twixt the darkness and the light. To stand silent is to consent. To stand silent is to appease. Can we afford to repeat the 1930s? Will there be another Holocaust because we appeased dictators? It’s time to choose and act.