· In
1968 I was twenty-six years old. Richard Nixon was president and I thought he was
the most evil man on the planet. The Viet Nam war was escalating and I knew the
evil of war. Because I was a veteran, I felt I had extra reason to oppose an
unjust war. I joined the Viet Nam Veterans Against the War (Yeah, John Kerry’s
group) and actively resisted the war effort.
By
1974 my generation had run Richard Nixon out of office and ended the Viet Nam
war by citizen action. Our troops were home. I was among many who felt very
proud and self righteous about our victory over evil.
We
were horribly, tragically wrong!
The
withdrawal of U.S. troops allowed the Communist government of North Viet Nam to
kill hundreds of thousands of people. When the Communists finished that
slaughter, they had a strong enough position to overthrow the Government in next
door Cambodia.
April
17, 1975, Phnom Penh fell under the control the communist guerrilla group led
by Pol Pot. In less than four years time, an estimated 2 million Cambodians
died by execution in the “Killing Fields.” Almost every Cambodian family has
lost at least one relative during this most gruesome holocaust.
Good
men did nothing and evil triumphed because much of America, like me and my
buddies, were too young, idealistic, ignorant or naive to understand what was
happening.
What
evil awaits us if we do nothing about evils inflicted on others? Apathy is evil.
There's at least one factual error in this opening sentence: "In 1968 I was twenty-six years old. Richard Nixon was president and I thought he was the most evil man on the planet." In fact, Nixon was elected POTUS in November 1968; however, he did not take the oath of office until January 1969.
ReplyDeleteSince this article has no visible by-line, who is the "I" who was 26 in 1968 and thought Nixon was The Most Evil of Them All? Is it Sam Sewell, perchance?
In 1968 I was only a few years younger than 26. Several of my classmates lost their lives in Vietnam. At the time, I (naively) thought that the USA became involved in that war to fight the spread of communism. But I was also aware of the fact that it was a fight-with-one-hand-tied-behind-the-back conflict. Thus, it was inevitable that South Vietnam fell to the communists in the North after the USA withdrew. And, come to think of it, the USA hasn't won ANY wars since World War II.
Moreover, the communist government of Vietnam is persecuting Christians--as I type this sentence.
According to Persecution.com, the website of Voice of the Martyrs (founded by Richard Wurmbrand, who stripped to his waist during testimony before a committee of the US Congress to expose his scars received from torture by the Romanian communist regime), "According to VOM contacts, several Hmong families have been forced to leave their villages in northern Vietnam after coming to faith in Jesus. There are no Christians living in these villages because converts to Christianity are immediately expelled....Christian leaders in Vietnam are concerned that the passage of Decree 92/2012/ND-CP on Nov. 8, 2012, will further complicate efforts by Christians to meet and worship. The decree, which took effect on Jan. 1, details how to implement the Ordinance on Religion and Belief of 2004....A young couple who accepted Christ last month have been beaten and threatened by officials, according to a VOM worker. Local authorities hit the wife on the face with a stick and threatened to take the couple's land and home if they refuse to renounce Christianity and return to Buddhism...."
P.S.: Good to see you back on the blog, Sam! You seem to be making up for lost time.