8/7/2019 Beliefs and Principles of the JBS

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Un ited Statesoj America~ o n l l r c s s i o n a l RecordPROCEEDINGS AND DEBAT ES OF THE 87 t h CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION

Beliefs and Principles of the John Birch SocietyEXTENSION OF REMARKS

OFHON. JOHN H. ROUSSELOT

OF CALIFORN IAIN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday. June 12, 1962Mr . ROUSSELOT. Mr . Speaker, manyof my colleagues have questioned meconcerning the beliefs and princ iples ofthe John Birch Society. For their benefit, und er unanimous consent I insertthose beliefs and pr in cip les in t he Ap

pendix of the R ECORD.G EN ERAL B ELIEFS AN D P RINCIPLES OF TH E JOHNBIRCH S OCIETY

With ver y few except ions th e member s oft he J oh n Birch Soc iety are deeply religiouspeople. A member 's p ar ti cu lar fa ith Is en t irely h is OWT\ affair. Our hope is to m ak ebetter Ca th o lic s , bet ter Protestants, b Jews-or be tte r Mosl ems -out of those whobelong t o th e soc iet y . Ou r ne ver-ending concern Is wi th mora li ty, int egri ty, a n d purpose .Regardlef s of th e differences between us Increed and dogma , we a ll bel ieve t h at m an isendowed bv a Divi ne Creat or with an Innat edes ire an d consciou s purpose to Improve bot hh is world and himself. We believe that th ed irection which const i tutes Improvement isclearly visible and Ide ntifiable th roughoutman's known hi st ory, and tha t t h is Godgiven upwa rd reach In t he heart of m an Isa composite conscience to which we all m us tlis ten .

IIWe believe t ha t t h e Comm u nists see k tod ri ve their slaves an d t hemselve s a longexact ly th e op posite and downward d irection , to th e Sat anic debasement of bot hm an an d h is un iverse. We beli eve th atcommun ism Is as u tt erl y in compatible wi thall religion as it is con temptuous of allm oral i ty an d destru ctive of all freedom. ItIs Int r ins ically evrl , I t mus t be opposed ,the ref or e, wit h equ al firmness, on r eligiousgro und s, moral grou nds , an d pol i t rca lgrounds. We believe th at th e continuedcoexistence of comm uni sm an d a Chrlstlan sty l e clv lllzation on one plane t Is Impossible .Th e s truggle be tween t he m mus t en d withon e comp letely tr iumphan t and th e othe rcomplete ly des troyed . We In ten d to do ou rpa r t , therefore , to h a lt , weaken, rout , an deventually to bury , th e whole InternationalCommunis t conspiracy.

II IWe believe th a t means a re as Importantas en ds In an y clvlllzed society. Of al l t h efalsehoods t h at h ave been so widely anddelibera tely circulated about us, no ne Is soVicious ly untru e as th e ch arge that we arewllling to condone foul mean s for t h e sake644926-84733

2l.>e "f or t h e greate s t good of t h e greatestnumber. " (Or in t heir power- seek ing planspr et ended so t o be lieve.) We want a res to ration of a "government of laws , an d n otof men" In t hi s country ; and If a few im peachm en ts ar e ne cessary t o bri ng thatabou t , the n we a re a ll f or th e Impeachments.

IXWe believe tha t In a general way hi storyrepeats Itself. For any combination of

causes, similar t o an ea rlier combination ofcauses , wlll le ad as a ru le to a combinationof result s somewh a t sim ilar to th e one pro du ced before. And history Is s imply a seriesof cau ses wh ich produced results , an d so onarou nd cycles as clearly disce rnible as anyof the dozen s that take pl ace elsewhere Inthe physical an d b iological sciences . Bu t webe lieve t ha t th e most Im portant history consist s n ot of th e repeti t ions bu t of th e changesIn t hese recurring li n ks in the series . F ort h e cha nges mark the exten t to whi ch man

of achieving pra isew or thy en ds . We thinkthat communism as a way of life , for In s t ance, Is comp letely wrong ; bu t ou r u l ti m a te qu a rrel wit h th e Commun ists Is tha tthey Insist on imposing th at way of life onthe rest of us by m u rd er , treason, an d crueltyra t he r t h an by persuasion . Even If ou r ownu se of force ever become s necessary an dmo rally accepta ble because It Is In self-defense, we mu st ne ver lose s ight of th e legal,traditional, an d hum an i tar ian consideration sof a compassionate civil iza tion . The Com m un ists recogn ize no such com pu lsions, bu tthis very in gr edi en t of amora l brutishnesswill help t o des tr oy t hem In t he end .IV

We believe In pa tr ioti sm . Mos t of us wlllgladly concede th at a par li am en t of n at ions,des ign ed for th e pur pose of In creas in g t h efreedom and ease with wh ich Individ uals ,ideals, an d good s m ight cross n a tional boundaries, wou ld be desir ab le. And we hopeth a t in some futu re decade we may he lp tobring abou t such a ste p of pr ogress in man 'spursuit of peace , prosper it y, an d h app iness .Bu t we feel t ha t th e pres en t Un it ed Nat ion swas des igned by Its founders for th e exac t lyopposite pu rpose of Increa sing t he r ig id it yof Governm en t cont rols ove r t he liv es an daffa ir s of In di vid u al men . We belie ve It h asbecom e, as it was In te nded to become , ama jor Inst rumen ta l i ty fo r t h e es t ablishment of a one -wor ld Commu nist ty r a nnyover th e po pu la ti on of th e who le ear t h . Oneof ou r most Immed ia te objec tives, t h er efore,Is to ge t th e Un ite d St at es ou t of t he Un itedNations , an d t h e Un it ed Na t!o:1s ou t of th eUnited Stat es . We se ek t h us to save ou rown country from t h e gradu al a nd pieceme alsur render of It s so ver eign t y to t h is Com mun ist-con trolled supergovernment , and tost op giving ou r suppo r t to t h e ste ady en slaverrlant of other people t h rough t h em achinations of t hi s Commu n ist agency.

vWe believe t h at a cons rt t u t tcn at RepUblic,su ch as ou r Foundin g Fa t hers ga ve us , Ispr ob ab ly t h e b est of all forms of gover nm en t .We believe th a t a d em ocrac y, which t h eytr ied h ard t o ob via te. and Into wh ich th eli be ra ls h ave been t rying for 50 year s to con ver t ou r Repu bli c, Is one of t h e wors t of al lform s of governme n t. We ca ll a t te ntion toth e fac t t h at up to 1928 th e U.S . Army Tr al nIng Man ual s ti ll ga ve ou r men In u n ifor mth e foll owing qutte accura te definiti on ,which wou ld h ave been th oroughly approved

by th e Consti tu ti on al Convent ion th a t es ta blis hed ou r RepUblic . "Democracy : A Governm en t of t h e m ass es. Au t h orl t } d er ivedt h roug h m ass meeti ng or an y form of dire ctexpre ssion" r esults In m obocracy. At ti tud etoward p ro pert y Is commu nistic- n ega ti n gpropert y righ ts . At t itu de towards law Is th att he will of t h e major it y shall r egu la t e,whethe r it be based upon deliber a ti on orgoverned by passion , p re jud ice , an d Impu lse,

CONGRESSIONAL RECORDh as either been able to imp rove h ims elf an dh is environme nt , or h as allowed bot h todete rior ate , since t he l as t time around . Wet hi nk t hat th is true history Is largely det er mined by ambitious In div iduals (bot h goodan d evlt ) and by smal l minorities who r eallyknow what they wan t . An d In th e JohnBir ch Soc iety ou r sense of gra t i t ude an d re spons lblllty ( t o God and to the n oble menof th e pas t ) , fo r wh at we h ave inheritedmakes us de term ined to exert our influence,labor , and sacrifice fo r ch anges wh ich weth i nk wlll constitut e improvement .

XI n summary, we a re striving , by all hon orable me ans a t ou r d isposal an d t o th elimit s of ou r energies and ab illties, to bringabout less governmen t , more responslblllty,an d a better world . Becau se th e Communists seek , a lways an d everywhere, to bringabout mor e government, less ind ividual re sp onsibl l l ty, a n d a complete ly amoral world ,we wou ld have to oppose them at every turn,even on the philosophical level. Because

wi thout rest ra in t or regard to consequences .Rc su lt s in demagoglsm, license, agitation,d iscontent, anarchy ," I t Is because a ll h is t or y p roves this to be tr ue that we repea tso emphatically : 'T h is is a Republ iC, n ot ademocra cy; let 's k eep it that way."VI

We are opp osed to colte ct tvtsrn as a politi cal and economic system , even whe n i t doesn ot h ave th e police-s tat e features of commun ism . We ar e op posed to It no m at te rwh ether t he collectivism be cal led socialismor th e welfar e state or th e New Deal or th eFa ir Deal or th e New Fro n ti er , or advancedun der some other semantic d isgu ise. Andwe are oppos ed to it no mat te r what m ay bet he fram ework or fo rm of government u nderwhich collec tiv ism is imposed. We believet ha t increas ing th e size Of government, in cr easing th e cen tr al iza tion of government ,an d incr ea sing th e functi ons of governmenta ll act as br akes on material progress an d asdes troyers of perso nal fr eedom .VII

We belt eve th a t even wh ere th e s ize a ndfu nct ions -of gove rnment a re properlylimi t ed , as m uch of th e pow er and duties ofgovernmen t as p oss ib le sho ul d be r etainedIn th e h an ds of as sm all governmen ta l u n it sas possible, as close to th e people ser ved bysuc h un its as poss ib le . F or th e tendenciesof any governing bod y to was te , exp an sion,and despot ism a ll Increase wi th th e distanceof th at body fr om th e people gov erned ; t h emore cl osely any governing bod y can be kep tu nd er obser va tion by those who pay it s blllsan d p rovide it s delega ted authority , t h e mor eh one s t ly re spons ible it wlll be. And th e diffusion of governmen t al power a nd fu nctionsis one of th e gr eatest safeguard s againsttyrann y m an h as ye t de vised . For th is r easo n it is ex tremely Importan t in ou r case tokeep ou r townshtp, cit y, Coun t y a nd Sta tegover nmen ts from being b ribed and coercedin to com ing u n der one direct ch ai n of con tr olfroUl W s i n o vmWe beli eve t h at for any peopl e et ernalvigila n ce Is th e price of libe r ty fa r more asagain st th e In sid ious encroachment of interna l t yr an ny th an agains t th e da nger of sub ju ga t ton fr om th e ou ts ide or f rom t he p rospect of any sh arp an d decisive revolution .In a republic we mu st const ant ly seek toele ct and t o keep In power a government wecan t rust , manned by peopl e we can t rust,ma in ta ining a currency we can tr u st, an d

work ing fOI purposes we can tr ust (n on e ofwh ich we ha ve today ). We th in k it is evenmo re Imoor ta n t for th e government to ob eyt he laws' th an for th e pe op le to do so. Bu tfo r 30 yea rs we have h ad a steady st ream ofgovernmen ts wh ich increas ingly have r ega rded ou r laws an d even ou r Constitutionas me re p iece s of paper, wh ich shoul d no t beal lowed to st and in t h e way of wh at they , inth eir omniscient benevolen ce , considered to

they are seeking th ro ugh a gigantical ly or gan ized conspiracy. to de s tr oy all oppos it ion,we must fight th em even mor e aggressivelyon th e pl ane of action . Bu t ou r st rugglewit h th e Commun ists , while th e mos t urgen tand imp or t an t ta sk b efore us today, isbasical ly on ly in ciden t al to our mo r e im port an t long-range and constructive pu rpo ses . For t ha t ver y re as on we are lik ely t obe more effective against th e Commun istst han if we were mere ly an ad hoc group seekIng t o expose an d dest r oy so huge an d powe rfu l a gan g of criminals . I n organization ,dedica tion, an d purp ose we offer a new formof opposition to th e Communists which theyh ave not fa ced in an y other country . Weh ave tried to r a ise a standard to which th ewise and th e ho nest ca n re pai r . We wel come all honorable a llies in th is presentunceasi ng war . And we hope th at once theyan d we and mnnons like us have won a decisi ve victory at last , m any of these sam e allleswlll jo in us in our long look toward thefuture.