Christian Dimension

Decision Now

By Joseph C. Neman

With the elections just around the corner, it is imperative, it is necessary, it is urgent, it is essential that you and I (especially if we call ourselves concerned Christians) make a decision on Vietnam. We cannot wait any longer. Not to decide is cowardly and I think borders on being immoral.

Your vote and mine and our collective opinions sway the people like President Johnson, Nixon, Humphrey, and McCarthy who will be making the decisions for stopping or continuing the war in Vietnam. To leave them without a clear mandate at this crucial point in history when the weapons of war are capable of so much destruction, when Communist tactics are fluctuating between more or less involvement, when the moral revolt against the war here at home is mounting, is clearly un-American, un-Christian, and a submission to a government state.

Whether you are for or against the war on Vietnam is not my immediate concern here. My concern is taking a stand and making this known to governmental officials directly or indirectly through the political channels. Your opinion does count – it must! You cannot gripe about a raise in taxes or the draft of a friend or loved one unless you declare yourself on this crucial issue, the war in Vietnam.

To say that it is impossible to decide is also a false excuse. We will never have all the facts and information necessary to make a totally logical and final decision. Besides this conflict receives better press coverage than any conflict in the history of man. The man on the street who makes an effort to listen to the radio and TV reports, to read the paper, and to read special reports in magazines and pamphlets has more information about the war in Vietnam than the average general had about World War I or II.

In fact the war in Vietnam is so well covered that most of us are sick of hearing about it. We tune it out in our minds when the word is mentioned.

If you have not made a decision, if you have not taken a stand, then read the papers, write your congressman for information, listen to the TV specials and then in the next few weeks decide and express your opinion to your representatives.

There is no clear answer to the conflict in Vietnam. You and I will never have sufficient information to make an objective judgment about the war. History will do that in the next century. But we must come to some kind of a certainty about this direction or that in the war, one that will guide our vote for a political candidate. Not to decide is to consent to the war as it is and its consequences. This is cowardly and immoral at this point in history. Is the war necessary? Can peace be attained? Is total victory the best answer? Is withdrawal the appropriate thing to do? These questions cannot be avoided any longer. We must answer them for ourselves and vote accordingly. A clear mandate is essential or our democratic government will fail. Please decide now.

Osceola County Herald- 1967