A Paine Message For Our Times

 

Thomas Paine (by Laurent Dabos 1792)

Jeff––Saturday

 

In December 1776, as America struggled through the bitter early days of its Revolutionary War, philosopher and author Thomas Paine penned eight words that ring as true today as they did 248 years ago. They’re the opening line to the first in a series of pamphlets titled “The Crisis,” published by Paine under the pseudonym Common Sense seeking to rally American Colonists to labor on in their fight for freedom.

 

Here are those words and the four sentences that follow:

 

“THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.”

 

A dozen more paragraphs follow this most celebrated one, and for those who wish to see it all, here’s a link.

 

If you wonder why I chose this moment to quote that passage, all I can offer is the excuse made famous by American comedian Flip Wilson: “the devil made me do it.” 

 

But the devil I fault is not prone to comedy.  It is a tenacious, malevolent world-wide force seeking to pit neighbor against neighbor, while sowing widespread discord and sorrow in its relentless pursuit of establishing a new world order.

Relentless and ruthless, the devil I have in mind is everywhere––as it always is in times that try our souls.

Yes, it surely is a time for prayer, but even more so a time to do what we must to kick that sorry devil's ass back to where it came from.

––Jeff

Jeff’s Event Schedule

 

Bouchercon 2024, Nashville TN

Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center

 

Thursday, August 29, 2024 @ 9:30-10:20 AM

Room: Canal E

Marrakesh Express

(Solving Crimes in Foreign Settings – Program ID 32)             

Pip Drysdale

Ragnar Jonasson

Mary Monnin             

Kelly Oliver

Jeffrey Siger

Mark Coggins – moderator      

 

Friday, August 30, 2024 @ 8:00-8:50 AM

Room: Canal CD

Sunday Bloody Sunday

(Crime Fiction as Social Commentary – Program ID 99)

Michael Bennett

Lisa Black

Julie Carrick Dalton

Robert Rotstein

Jeffrey Siger

Stanley Trollip - moderator