Hugh Hewitt revisits the speech given by Alexander Solzhenitsyn at Harvard 25 years ago. I remember at the time, Solzhenitsyn sounded like a prophet, and the liberal elite treated him like one, short of stoning him. All the admiration for his writing and his Nobel Prize evaporated when he challenged them to show courage. It wasn't post-modern enough. He spoke of truth, As Hewitt notes, this speech is very pertinent today, as prophets' words usually turn out to be:

A decline in courage may be the most striking feature that an outside observer notices in the West today. The Western world has lost its civic courage, both as a whole and separately, in each country, in each government, in each political party, and, of course, in the United Nations. Such a decline of courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling and intellectual elites, causing an impression of a loss of courage by the entire society. There are many courageous individuals, but they have no determining influence on public life.

Political and intellectual functionaries exhibit this depression, passivity, and perplexity in their actions and their statements, and even more so in their self-serving rationales as to how realistic, reasonable, and intellectually and even morally justified it is to base state policies on weakness and cowardice.

You may remember the man who was president when this speech was given in 1978. He's been giving us his own tepid and limp wisdom lately. He won a Nobel Prize of his own and is much beloved by the anti-war left today, despite the fact that he's a "born again" Christian, generally anathema to the left, and was a feckless president. His successor had the courage and faith that Solzhenitsen called for, and he won the Cold War.

And the decline in courage, at times attaining what could be termed a lack of manhood, is ironically emphasized by occasional outbursts and inflexibility on the part of those same functionaries when dealing with weak governments and with countries that lack support, or doomed currents which clearly cannot offer resistance.

A lack of manhood Gee, that sounds a lot like the next Democrat president we had, our first black feminist president, and a lot of current wafflers running for president from that party now.

Must one point out that from ancient times a decline in courage has been considered the first symptom of the end?

One reason I said Solzhenitsyn sounded like a prophet was that he reminded me of this one attributed to Joseph Smith, Jr., the First Prophet of the Restoration, on 19 July 1840, "Even this nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground; and when the Constitution is upon the brink of ruin, this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean; and they shall bear the constitution away from the very verge of destruction." The members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, especially here in the Mountain West, know that prophecy. I've often wondered if it lay behind the decision to found a law school at BYU in 1976, from which I received my J.D. degree.


Solzhenitsyn, however, was probably a little too gloomy in saying:

Today's Western society has revealed the inequality between the freedom for good deeds and the freedom for evil deeds. A statesman who wants to achieve something highly constructive for his country has to move cautiously and even timidly; thousands of hasty (and irresponsible) critics cling to him at all times; he is constantly rebuffed by parliament and the press. He has to prove his every step is well founded and absolutely flawless. Indeed, an outstanding, truly great person who has unusual and unexpected initiatives in mind does not get any chance to assert himself; dozens of traps will be set for him from the beginning. Thus mediocrity triumphs under the guise of democratic restraints."

Neither Reagan nor George W. Bush have fallen into those traps. Neither has Tony Blair and the other members of the Coalition of the Willing. Generations yet unborn will rise up and call them blessed.

The biggest group of these "hasty (and irresponsible) critics" are in control of the mainstream media throughout the world. They are attacking our leaders in every way possible. I am convinced that a majority of the U.S. still is true to its founding principles, but the longer this goes on, the weaker their resolve becomes. George H. W. Bush fell from 90% approval to losing to Bill Clinton. That should be a warning for our time. Solzhenitsyn was right about what is needed, but having seen America mostly from its coasts, he misjudged the depth of heart and courage of that big area in the middle that voted for Bush.

Lastly, and most importantly, here is a link to the advice of a modern, living prophet, the man who holds the keys to God's kingdom on the earth at this time:

Now, brothers and sisters, we must do our duty, whatever that duty might be. Peace may be denied for a season. Some of our liberties may be curtailed. We may be inconvenienced. We may even be called on to suffer in one way or another. But God our Eternal Father will watch over this nation and all of the civilized world who look to Him. He has declared, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" (Ps. 33:12). Our safety lies in repentance. Our strength comes of obedience to the commandments of God.

Let us be prayerful. Let us pray for righteousness. Let us pray for the forces of good. Let us reach out to help men and women of goodwill, whatever their religious persuasion and wherever they live. Let us stand firm against evil, both at home and abroad. Let us live worthy of the blessings of heaven, reforming our lives where necessary and looking to Him, the Father of us all. He has said, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10).

Are these perilous times? They are. But there is no need to fear. We can have peace in our hearts and peace in our homes. We can be an influence for good in this world, every one of us.