When, now, in a moment of forgetfulness, I yield to the impulse to
resort to violence, for the defence of my person or property, or of the
persons or property of others, I can no longer deliberately make use of
this snare for my own destruction and the destruction of others. I can
no longer acquire property. I can no longer resort to force in any form
for my own defence or the defence of another. I can no longer co-operate
with any power whose object is the defence of men and their property by
violence. I can no longer act in a judicial capacity, or clothe myself
with any authority, or take part in the exercise of any jurisdiction
whatever. I can no longer encourage others in the support of tribunals,
or in the exercise of authoritative administration.
Jesus has shown me that the fifth temptation that deprives me of
well-being, is the distinction that we make between compatriots and
foreigners. I must believe this; consequently, if, in a moment of
forgetfulness, I have a feeling of hostility toward a man of another
nationality, I am obliged, in moments of reflection, to regard this
feeling as wrong. I can no longer, as I did formerly, justify my
hostility by the superiority of my own people over others, or by the
ignorance, the cruelty, or the barbarism of another race. I can no
longer refrain from striving to be even more friendly with a foreigner
than with one of my own countrymen.
I know now that the distinction I once made between my own people and
those of other countries is destructive of my welfare; but, more than
this, I now know the snare that led me into this evil, and I can no
longer, as I did once, walk deliberately and calmly into this snare. I
know now that this snare consists in the erroneous belief that my
welfare is dependent only upon the welfare of my countrymen, and not
upon the welfare of all mankind. I know now that my fellowship with
others cannot be shut off by a frontier, or by a government decree which
decides that I belong to some particular political organization. I know
now that all men are everywhere brothers and equals. When I think now of
all the evil that I have done, that I have endured, and that I have seen
about me, arising from national enmities, I see clearly that it is all
due to that gross imposture called patriotism,--love for one's native
land. When I think now of my education, I see how these hateful feelings
were grafted into my mind. I understand now the meaning of the words:--
"_Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; that ye may
be sons of your Father that is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise
on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust._"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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