The Truth Shall Make You Free

The term “Iron Curtain” was initially used by Winston Churchill in a 1946 speech.  In it Churchill outlined the two overarching strategic threats facing the post-WWII world; war and tyranny.  He spoke of the special relationship the US and Britain shared and role they could play to stabilize events and prevent war.  He then addressed the uncertainty of Soviet Russia’s long-term intentions and threat to tranquility they posed.  Said Churchill: 

“A shadow has fallen upon the scenes so lately lighted by the Allied victory. Nobody knows what Soviet Russia and its Communist international organization intends to do in the immediate future, or what are the limits, if any, to their expansive and proselytizing tendencies…..From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.…The Communist parties, which were very small in all these Eastern States of Europe, have been raised to pre-eminence and power far beyond their numbers and are seeking everywhere to obtain totalitarian control.”

I can clearly recall the Iron Curtain.  In 1980-81, I was a young infantryman, stationed in the former West Germany during what might be described as the most frigid point of the Cold War.  The Soviet Union had just invaded Afghanistan, Iran was holding our hostages, and Jimmy Carter was at the helm -- moving our nation’s morale towards a muddled malaise.  

Led by the Soviet Union, the Warsaw Pact was in a face-off of apocalyptic proportions with the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization.   The likely scenario had the Warsaw Pact invading from Eastern Europe, through East Germany, into West Germany, and onto the rest of Europe.  We were outnumbered in a big way.  It was estimated that NATO had just 6,615 tanks to confront the 16,000 of the Pact, in terms of combat aircraft 1,810 facing 2,500.   The conventional thought amongst us GIs; after enough Americans were killed we’d have the political will to go nuclear.

That border between the two Germanys, like the walls around the encircled city of Berlin, graphically displayed the physical nature of the face-off.   Perhaps you too can remember the images of Eastern Europeans trying to escape to the freedom and economic vibrancy of the West.  They would brave barbed wire and mine fields, armed guards and attack dogs, all in an attempt to flee the repressive ideology and underperforming economy of the communist Utopia.   That Iron Curtain was not only employed to keep those behind it trapped in the darkness of totalitarianism, it was also emplaced to keep the West’s light of liberty from shining in.

Today there’s an “Information Curtain.”  Its physical boundaries are more difficult to delineate; it’s a noncontiguous curtain, but those that are behind it are in darkness nonetheless.  What territory lies behind the modern day Information Curtain? Liberal academic institutions, the press rooms of the main stream media, Hollywood, the Democratic Party, Islamic enclaves and urban ghettoes, politically correct government schools, union halls, and secularized bureaucracies are just some of the areas behind the Information Curtain.  These disparate, and seemingly diverse factions, are all united in their desire to reject the truth and in their dedication to destroy anyone that dares to declare it in their midst.

The rulers of these regions are committed to keeping out truth.  Their strategy is deception disguised as truth.  Their offensive tactic is to demand tolerance, to deny the existence of absolute truth, of right and wrong – then intolerantly destroy anyone they deem wrong, who doesn’t embrace their revelation of right.  Their defense is to dismiss disagreement as “hate speech” or “fill-in-the-blank phobia.”  These modern day Pravda promoters rely on the media and misinformation to maintain control; developing false narratives that intentionally exchange the truth for a lie.  The theory of evolution, the philosophy of moral equivalence, multiculturalism, secular humanism, climate change, and the normalization of aberrant sexual behavior are all part of their politically correct propaganda. 

The Free World is in desperate need of a leader today. There’s no Reagan to declare, “Tear down this wall!”  No Churchill to challenge the curtain.    One of Churchill’s favorite songs was the Battle Hymn of the Republic – our Republic.  At his request it was played at his funeral.  My hunch on some of his favorite lines:   

“In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;  

His truth is marching on.”

This column also appeared in the 14 JAN  2015 Upson Beacon.