Chapter 8 THE FIRST ATTEMPT

No one knows who first made the discovery that men are free. The fragmentary records begin with one person. There is no historical proof that he really existed, but the story holds its own self-evident truth; and for countless generations, it was handed down from father to son.

They said that when Ur was the great empire (about 4,000 years ago), a shepherd named Terah, accompanied by his son, his daughter-in-law, and his orphaned grandson, traveled with his flocks toward the Far West. When Terah died, the family – now headed by Abraham – continued westward. They also were shepherds, always moving with their flocks.^*

That was back in the days when people believed that everything was controlled by the whims and fancies of pagan gods. Water-gods, when they felt so disposed, made water flow; sea-gods moved the waves and tides; air-gods controlled the winds; gods whispered in trees, roared in thunder, and brought rain to the fields. Fertility-gods caused seeds to sprout and women to bear children. Gods controlled men just as they controlled all other things. As water ran and winds blew, so men thought and felt and acted as the gods might will.

But Abraham denied the existence of all these pagan gods. He insisted that there is only one God – the God of all things, the God who creates and judges. He taught his increasing family that God is Rightness, Reality, and Truth; that man is free and self-controlling and responsible for his own acts; that each person is free to do good or evil, as he may choose, but that any wrong act will result in punishment to the evildoer.

Incidentally, I cannot see that it is any sacrilege to observe in passing that Abraham’s theological concept laid the foundation for scientific progress. So long as men labored under the delusion that the universe is controlled by the whims and fancies of prankish gods, there was no point in trying to improve anything through individual effort. Progress did not come until men began to realize that everything works according to a divine plan, the essence of which is truth and rightness.

As will be discussed in a later chapter, this applies not only to questions of morality, but also to all other things. Every engineer, every scientist, every farmer, and every mechanic knows that nothing will work, that no act will succeed, unless it is in harmony with rightness – the true nature of things as they are.

Joseph

When Abraham died, a very old man, his sons buried him in the land that is now Turkey. The record says that many years later, during one of the famines, the descendants of Abraham moved into Egypt in search of food. There, as time went on, they became rich and privileged. It seems that they had “pull” with a kinsman named Joseph, who understood the crop cycle and made himself Pharaoh’s favorite by laying out a planned economy known as the “ever-normal granary.”

But when the crops failed and famine came, the farmers and herdsmen had to sign away their fields and pastures in order to get back enough grain to keep from starving. Thus rank-and-file Egyptians were reduced to virtual slavery. But the privileged class, rich and secure, had no particular objection to slavery. It didn’t hurt them – or at least, so they thought.

Abraham’s descendants, as members of the favored class, grew and prospered and “multiplied exceedingly” – for a while. Then the old, old, endless repetition occurred once more. A new man came into power. He was anxious to gain favor with the Egyptians, and he said unto them: “Behold, the people of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them.”

The oppressed classes rallied to his call. They seized the Israelites’ property and set about liquidating them. They placed them in bondage, worked many of them to death, and killed their babies.

Moses

Finally, a man named Moses came to the rescue. With great difficulty, he got the children of Israel out of Egypt and across the Red Sea. Some of them died on the journey, and those who came through alive were not very appreciative. After long years of slavery, they had forgotten the teachings of Abraham and expected others to take care of all their needs. They would do nothing for themselves, and soon they turned against Moses, blaming him for all their troubles. When food was scarce, they howled that he was starving them. When he didn’t bring them water, they wailed that he was killing them with thirst.

One wonders how Moses stuck it out. But for 40 years, he kept on telling them that they were free men; that they were responsible for themselves. “Your murmurings are not against us,” he told them, “but against the LORD.”

But slaves are passive. They submit. They obey. And they expect to be fed.

They wanted Moses to be their king so that they could hold him responsible and blame him for everything. But Moses turned them down and kept on insisting that they were free, responsible for themselves; that there was no pagan god to control them and be responsible for them; that no man could rule another man. But the children of Israel kept on murmuring, drifting back into idolatry, and sneaking every chance to worship their pagan gods.

The Ten Commandments

Finally, as a last resort, Moses reduced the teachings of Abraham to a written code of moral law. Known as the “Ten Commandments,” it stands today as the first and greatest document of individual freedom in the recorded history of man. Each of the Ten Commandments is addressed to the individual as a self-controlling person responsible for his own thoughts, words, and acts. And each of them recognizes liberty and freedom as inherent in the nature of man.

The first commandment tells the individual to reject pagan gods and recognize his own worth as a human being, subject to no power but that of the Creator and Judge.

The second tells the individual to form no image of abstract rightness, but to direct his reverence toward the divine in truth.

The third tells the individual not to speak frivolously of the Creator and Judge. Knowledge of fundamental truth – cause and effect – is of first importance and should be taken very seriously.

The fourth tells the individual to devote some time (one day out of seven) to reflection on the eternal verities.

The fifth recognizes the family as the primary human relationship and establishes the parent’s authority over the child as the only authority which a child should accept for his own profit.

The sixth stresses the sanctity of human life – the individual’s right to live, which is a right that must not be violated by any other person.

The seventh establishes the principle of contract – the inviolability of promises given by persons to each other and the double sanctity of the marriage contract, which is the basis of the family.

The eighth recognizes the individual’s right to own property.

The ninth recognizes free speech – the individual’s control over his own utterances and his responsibility for their truth.

The tenth emphasizes again the right of ownership. Not even in thought should a person violate the property rights of another.

The Decalogue of Moses is one of the most amazing statements of truth ever written, but it was too revolutionary to find acceptance in the pagan world of his time; the ancient Israelites wanted a king rather than a code of personal conduct.

Gideon and Samuel

As time went on, they put their proposition up to Gideon. After he had freed them from the Midianites, the men of Israel said to Gideon: “Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.”

Anyone who believes that government has real power will accept such an offer – either because he selfishly wants power or because, in imagined unselfishness, he wants to force others to do what he believes will be good for them.

But Gideon replied: “I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: The Lord shall rule over you.”

Still the Israelites were not satisfied. They kept on trying to escape from freedom and from the responsibility that is freedom.

A hundred years later, their grandsons were still seeking a king. They begged the wise man Samuel to give them a king; but Samuel agreed with his precedessors and, in no uncertain terms, pointed out the fallacy of their reasoning:

“This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war…. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards…. And he will take your men servants, and your maid servants, and your goodliest young men … and put them to his work…. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you.”

That is a precise statement of the sources of a state’s power and of the results of a state’s attempt to control its subjects in either ancient or modern times – first the taking away of productive energy, then the rise of bureaucracy and heavy taxation, followed by stagnation and poverty, leading to ultimate destruction in war.

Samuel stated it better than I can; but the Israelites were still not convinced, and they answered: “Nay; but we will have a king over us; That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may … go out before us, and fight our battles.”

History Repeats

In the end, the Israelites had their way. They went back to pagan submission to an imaginary authority. They got themselves a king, in fact, a whole series of kings – including Solomon, who lived in great splendor in a fabulous palace, surrounded by magnificent public buildings paid for by ever-increasing taxes.

At long last, the Israelites were like other nations; and like other nations, they were defeated in war. Their great city was destroyed, and their conquerors used the then-ancient method of mass deportation – the same method that has been revived and vastly extended in recent times. Only a few Israelites were left in all Judea; and under Roman tyranny, they slavishly obeyed their overlords.

But the teachings of Abraham, Moses, Gideon, and Samuel had not been in vain. It is one of the greatest achievements of history that the straggling little tribes of Israelites preserved the teachings of their prophets and passed them down through countless generations.

Most of the Old World rulers have always hated the Jews. For 4,000 years, the word Jew has symbolized freedom and individual initiative, in contrast to the pagan concept of a static world and submission to the gods of superstition.

But the knowledge that men are free is not enough. If the human race is to progress, individual freedom must be combined and tempered with the principles of cooperation, based on a recognition of human brotherhood.

The ancient Israelites lived most of the time with no government whatever. This was not without its advantages because it permitted them to apply their full energies to raising their crops, caring for their flocks, and making their simple clothing and shelter.

But unrestrained anarchy cannot produce a well-rounded civilization. The development of production and the building of extensive commerce require organization. Effective organization depends on co-operation, and cooperation rests on a knowledge and acceptance of human brotherhood.

The New Commandment

Christ came upon the earth 2,000 years after the time of Abraham. He reiterated and crystallized the teachings of the Hebrew phophets. He spoke of the God of Abraham, the God of Truth, the God of Rightness – the God who does not control any man, but who judges the acts of every man.

Christ illustrated His teachings with practical examples–simple parables and stories expressed in terms of personal relations between individudals. Most important of all, He brought a new commandment which is the foundation of intelligent self-interest and practical cooperation: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

Although gentle and kindly, Christ was a fighter who brought a sword of truth to destroy the pagan kingdoms. He rendered unto Caesar the things that were Caesar’s, but only the things that force could take – a coin, a material thing, even life itself– never freedom. He attacked the priests. He scorned their assumption of authority and openly defied them. In sermons and parables and acts Christ always asserted individual freedom: “The kingdom of God is within you.” “Our Father which art in heaven…. Thy kingdom come … in earth…. For thine is the kingdom….” “The meek … shall inherit the earth.”

Although He was followed by multitudes, there were few who understood the full import of His teachings. Most of them believed that they had found a leader who would set up the kind of kingdom they had urged upon Moses, Gideon, and Samuel. The time was ripe for a revolt against Rome. According to the record, Christ, could have had the kingdoms of the world. Christ refused.

^*A11 biblical references and quotations in Mainspring are from the King James Version.