This blog chiefly seeks to collate materials available elsewhere on the net by or about J Gresham Machen


Saturday 8 September 2018

The 1913 Letter

Dicussion has recently arisen following the quotation of extracts from a letter written to his mother in 1913 which apparently reveals racism on Machen's part. The extract can be found here.

4 comments:

Master Ridley said...
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Master Ridley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Master Ridley said...

C.S. Lewis once spoke about the need for one to read old books. There are blind spots each generation has, which previous generations don't. Presumably, by reading old books, our blind spots can be exposed.

There is a principle at play here. Namely, we tend to think we are better then those who've gone before us.

Machens attitude on race were wrong. But I wonder how many have bothered to consider the times. Oh, I do not mean merely that people were racist. That is low hanging fruit. Nor do I mean the conditioned assumption that racism is strictly about ones whiteness, or desire to protect their "race". These I would say are mere symptoms at best.

How many have asked what influence Darwinism had on race? Especially in the time of Machen. What role did Eugenics, the fruit of the belief that evolution is the origin of the species, play? What role did the logical consequence of Darwinism play upon racist views at the time, whether consciously, or unconsciously.

I also wonder how many look in the mirror?

I would dare say there has been an evil, made legal, which has cost the lives of over 60 million humans, in the last 47 years, which is more abhorrent then racism. I know, saying anything is more evil then racism is verboten (maybe it's time for some old books). It is more abhorrent because the one who suffers the consequences of racism, can run, can fight, can speak, can reason, can make a personal appeal. The victim, however, of which I speak, can do no such thing.

For the unborn have no voice but ours...and such a voice has been made hate speech.


Where are those who's hearts break for the unborn?

Where are those who take to the streets, day after day, night after night, to speak for the unborn?

Where are those who are so sickened by this evil, that they kneel for the National Anthem?

Where are those who scream, "No justice, no peace.", for the unborn?

Where are those who plead with a dying culture, that the murder of the unborn is the number one killer of black Americans?

Where is the outrage?

Don't misunderstand me, this is not deflection, this is light.

Our times, the people of our times, judge those before us, with a contempt, and smugness, and yet, we commit an evil, support an evil, parade an evil, remain silent about an evil, which is, plain, and simply, murder.

It seems, what we have, currently in America, are a mass amount of people who believe they are the good Samaritan, while in reality they are Pharisees.

There is no one who does good, no not one...

May God have mercy on the self righteous and blind..

Guy said...

Where can the complete letter be found, rather than excerpts cited by Cho? I cannot find any original source or citation of the original letter.