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"Mr. Lincoln, I've Decided to Trust You!" script, 1967
Page 34
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34 MR. X. - cont'd against murderers on Friday? Witness the school integration laws of 1954 not complied with now in 1965. How long is gradualism, Mr. Lincoln? How long does the burning flame of truth seer before insurrection? When people riot and ask for Freedom now, at what point would you place now? What is the moment of truth? Is it only when force is summoned to enforce right with might? How gradual is gradual, Mr. Lincoln?" MR. LINCOLN "You must understand the times." MR. X. "When is the time for truth and justice?" MR. LINCOLN "The time for truth and justice, by ideal, is always instant. But men, who give rise to the ideal, lag far behind their grand thoughts. Democracy is a noble experiment. It will dash off in strange directions; but time is necessary to change men. Men are not plastic and malletable by heat and pressure. Men are fleshed clothed spirits and only men can appeal to the good nature of men. People who have deep-seated irrational fears and hate, cannot be transformed over night. A Christian pervasiveness must avail throughout the majority of the society before the change will come." MR. X. "How long O'Lord, must we dwell in Cannan land! We are now called a Christian nation. Polls show that more people in your United States go to church, than any other people. I contend that going to church no more makes you a Christian, than going into an Oscar Mayer factory will make you a hot dog. Christianity will not do it, for we have but the label, the bottle contains something else. Christianity and compromising justice had so failed during my years that I preached isolation for my people; but the majority heard me not, for they were already corrupt and wedded to the system that continues to dehumanize them. Imagine a willingness to join a society of false values to corrupt by doing so."
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34 MR. X. - cont'd against murderers on Friday? Witness the school integration laws of 1954 not complied with now in 1965. How long is gradualism, Mr. Lincoln? How long does the burning flame of truth seer before insurrection? When people riot and ask for Freedom now, at what point would you place now? What is the moment of truth? Is it only when force is summoned to enforce right with might? How gradual is gradual, Mr. Lincoln?" MR. LINCOLN "You must understand the times." MR. X. "When is the time for truth and justice?" MR. LINCOLN "The time for truth and justice, by ideal, is always instant. But men, who give rise to the ideal, lag far behind their grand thoughts. Democracy is a noble experiment. It will dash off in strange directions; but time is necessary to change men. Men are not plastic and malletable by heat and pressure. Men are fleshed clothed spirits and only men can appeal to the good nature of men. People who have deep-seated irrational fears and hate, cannot be transformed over night. A Christian pervasiveness must avail throughout the majority of the society before the change will come." MR. X. "How long O'Lord, must we dwell in Cannan land! We are now called a Christian nation. Polls show that more people in your United States go to church, than any other people. I contend that going to church no more makes you a Christian, than going into an Oscar Mayer factory will make you a hot dog. Christianity will not do it, for we have but the label, the bottle contains something else. Christianity and compromising justice had so failed during my years that I preached isolation for my people; but the majority heard me not, for they were already corrupt and wedded to the system that continues to dehumanize them. Imagine a willingness to join a society of false values to corrupt by doing so."
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