Traditors, Commies, and HACkers

[Vince Massi]

We learned about the Traditors in Church History class. Around 304 AD, the Romans demanded that Christian leaders surrender Scriptures to be burned. They also had to turn in the names of Christians. And most of them did.

A few decades later, with many of the Traditors forgiven and restored, members of the next generation of Christians would not forgive them. (The Catholic Church claims that all these people were Catholics). They demanded that the Traditors never be allowed to hold leadership positions.

Brant Holladay, the Godly teacher of the class, asked us what we thought....

 

[Vince Massi]

I had previously learned in Catholic school that during persecutions, most Christians give in. I pointed out in Church History class at HAC that most Christians had given in to Roman demands to turn over Scriptures to be burned.

The next generation, which had not gone through this persecution, condemned these Christians. But statistics indicate that most of them would have given in as well.

Christians who had been imprisoned, tortured, fined, etc., usually forgave the Traditors. These Christians understood how hard it was to stand for Christ, and they forgave the ones who failed. It was the ones who never went through this persecution who judged harshly.

 

[sword]

I had previously learned in Catholic school that during persecutions, most Christians give in. I pointed out in Church History class at HAC that most Christians had given in to Roman demands to turn over Scriptures to be burned.

The next generation, which had not gone through this persecution, condemned these Christians. But statistics indicate that most of them would have given in as well.

Christians who had been imprisoned, tortured, fined, etc., usually forgave the Traditors. These Christians understood how hard it was to stand for Christ, and they forgave the ones who failed. It was the ones who never went through this persecution who judged harshly.

Though unrelated, this reminds me of the phrase: Those who have experienced war are often the last to propose it again, and the Native American proverb: Never criticize a man until you've walked a mile in his moccasins

 

[Vince Massi]

This next one gets a little complicated, and it over runs with idealism.

Several years after World War 2, the USSR hired some British engineers to help construct a dam. During construction, the dam collapsed, and the Russians arrested the engineers, accusing them of sabotage. Although it was obvious that Communist-approved suppliers had provided shoddy materials, the engineers were found guilty. (They were released under diplomatic pressure). The prosecution had focused on the engineers' not being loyal to Communism, using that as proof of guilt. And the trial was held up as evidence of Communist propaganda.

But Ian Fleming, a reporter who would later write the James bond novels, had a different explanation. The Communists honestly believed that the engineers were guilty. Since Communism is good, and the suppliers supported Communism, the suppliers must be good. Good people would not have provided shoddy materials.

The engineers did not support Communism, so they must be evil. Evil people would not have done a good job, so they must have sabotaged the dam.

Higher-level Communists probably knew this wasn't true. But idealism teaches that any truth that harms Communism is evil, and any lie that strengthens Communism is good. It was wrong to truthfully blame the pro-Communist suppliers, and it was good to falsely accuse the non-Communist engineers.

That is how idealism works.

 

[Vince Massi]

Getting back on course:

When the Korean War ground to a stalemate, the US had tens of thousands of Chinese prisoners

Although they came from Communist China, the overwhelming majority wanted to be sent to Taiwan. Remembering that records weren't kept, and that much of this is based on interviews, most of the prisoners didn't care much about Communism one way or the other--a life of hard labor and inadequate food was the norm in China, regardless of the government.

But when the "volunteers" had been drafted, many were assured that if they ever surrendered, they would be executed if they ever returned to the mainland. And many of the POWs who returned to the mainland did it because they had family there, not because they were pro-Communist.

And while there were isolated instances of American brutality, the Chinese were terrified of each other, as both sides tortured prisoners in order to force them to make a choice they didn't want. Even at the final departure point, some Chinese, seeing that they were protected by heavily-armed Americans, changed sides at the last second.

What happened to the ones who returned to the mainland?

 

[Vince Massi]

Back in Communist China, the POWs were arrested and charged with cowardice. They were forced to make confessions (some of them true) about how they had betrayed Communism under pressure.

POWs told of participating in riots against the American guards in which dozens of the Chinese had been killed. Many showed scars they had received from Nationalists for refusing to renounce Communism. They told of being beaten by the Americans for refusing to give them the names of the organizers. Some had been placed in solitary confinement for months for organizing riots.

Before being captured, many had participated in human waves that charged fortified American machine guns. Many had been captured while wounded or even unconscious.

And the prosecutors argued that all of them were guilty of cowardice, because they had been taken alive. They could not have shown courage either before or after being captured, because they were cowards. Since all the eyewitnesses who supported them were also cowards, none of them could be believed.

And the prosecutors? None of them had been POWs. None of them had fought to the death.

 

[Vince Massi]

Most of the students who knew about Vineyard's Gangsters quietly went along with it. At the Chicago UPS, we exited in groups for protection, but we continued to cheer Jim in chapel.

When Jack announced that they were repudiating the Word of God in favor of the KJV, there was no major protest.

When the Dave Hyles scandal broke, there were no protests when HAC continued to cover his sins. And when Pastor John Wilkerson had the church give him an ovation several months ago, there was no major objection.

Years of lurking on the FFFs showed me that a lot more people than I realized saw a lot more sin than I realized--but there were no major protests.

Statistics indicate that when confronted with persecution, most HACkers fold.