Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a Russian author and critic of Soviet totalitarianism. He had great reason to be a detractor given his years of imprisonment in Soviet gulags and forced work camps after being charged with writing anti-Soviet propaganda during Stalin’s reign. Later in life, Solzhenitsyn captured what it was like to live in those times in a book called The Gulag Archipelago. Those were very dangerous days when anybody at any time could be arrested and sentenced or murdered for basically nothing. Here’s one haunting story from his book :
A district Party conference was under way in Moscow Province. It was presided over by a new secretary of the District Party Committee, replacing one recently arrested. At the conclusion of the conference, a tribute to Comrade Stalin was called for. Of course, everyone stood up (just as everyone had leaped to his feet during the conference at every mention of his name). The small hall echoed with “stormy applause, rising to an ovation.” For three minutes, four minutes, five minutes, the “stormy applause, rising to an ovation” continued. But palms were getting sore and raised arms were already aching. And the older people were panting from exhaustion. It was becoming insufferably silly even to those who really adored Stalin. However, who would dare be the first to stop? The secretary of the District Party Committee could have done it. He was standing on the platform, and it was he who had just called for the ovation. But he was a newcomer. He had taken the place of a man who’d been arrested. He was afraid! After all, NKVD men were standing in the hall applauding and watching to see who quit first! And in that obscure, small hall, unknown to the Leader, the applause went on—six, seven, eight minutes! They were done for! Their goose was cooked! They couldn’t stop now till they collapsed with heart attacks! At the rear of the hall, which was crowded, they could of course cheat a bit, clap less frequently, less vigorously, not so eagerly—but up there with the presidium where everyone could see them? The director of the local paper factory, an independent and strong-minded man, stood with the presidium. Aware of all the falsity and all the impossibility of the situation, he still kept on applauding! Nine minutes! Ten! In anguish he watched the secretary of the District Party Committee, but the latter dared not stop. Insanity! To the last man! With make-believe enthusiasm on their faces, looking at each other with faint hope, the district leaders were just going to go on and on applauding till they fell where they stood, till they were carried out of the hall on stretchers! And even then those who were left would not falter. . . . Then after eleven minutes, the director of the paper factory assumed a businesslike expression and sat down in his seat. And, oh, a miracle took place! Where had the universal, uninhibited, indescribable enthusiasm gone? To a man, everyone else stopped dead and sat down. They had been saved! The squirrel had been smart enough to jump off his revolving wheel.
That, however, was how they discovered who the independent people were. And that was how they went about eliminating them. That same night the factory director was arrested. They easily pasted ten years on him on the pretext of something quite different. But after he had signed Form 206, the final document of the interrogation, his interrogator reminded him: “Don’t ever be the first to stop applauding!”
What haunting words! “Don’t ever be the first to stop applauding!” Arrested simply for being the first to stop applauding. What insanity!
Yet, in that story, I see a reflection of America in 2015. We now find ourselves in an increasingly oppressive situation being foisted upon us by the sexual radicals in our midst. No one can deny that the homosexual movement in America has been gaining power. They have organized and fought very hard to bring about social tolerance for the Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Questioning lifestyle. They have been very successful.
However, it’s becoming clear that tolerance is not their end game. The sexual radicals, it seems, will not stop until society celebrates their lifestyle. Toleration is not enough. We must say, they seem to be telling us, that what they are doing is good and righteous. We must smile approvingly and march with them because those who are not with them are against them. We must stand and clap for the LGBTQ community and never stop. Don’t ever be the first to stop applauding the LGBTQ community!
Case in point is the recent termination of Altanta’s Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran. This exemplary African American man had served the fire department with honor for nearly four decades. Being a firefighter had been his dream since the age of 5, and he had worked his way up the ranks until he was hired as the Fire Chief of Atlanta in 2008. He served there until 2009 when he joined President Obama’s office as U.S. Fire Administrator. He did a fine job in that post as well, but in 2010, he returned to Atlanta where he was unanimously given his fire chief job back.
Everything was great until the homosexual movement got wind in 2014 that Chief Cochran had dared to state in a book he had written that homosexuality is immoral. The entire book wasn’t against homosexuality. Not even a full page out the 160-page book covered the topic of homosexuality. In fact, his references to homosexuality might cover a half page. But, it was way more than enough to put the Homosexual NKVD into action.
What exactly did he say? In one spot, Cochram stated, “Uncleanness – whatever is opposite of purity; including sodomy, homosexuality, lesbianism, pederasty, bestiality, all other forms of sexual perversion.” In another section, he wrote, “Naked men refuse to give in, so they pursue sexual fulfillment through multiple partners, with the opposite sex, the same sex, and sex outside of marriage and many other vile, vulgar and inappropriate ways which defile their body – temple and dishonor God.” Cochran didn’t refuse to put out a fire at a homosexual’s home. He didn’t terminate a gay fireman because of his gayness. He didn’t stand in a staff meeting and berate the lesbians in Atlanta. In fact, the mayor’s investigation found no evidence of discrimination from Cochran toward any member of the LGBTQ community or an LGBTQ member of Atlanta Fire and Rescue. He, in essence, merely stopped clapping for them.
And the Homosexual NKVD were watching. They always do, especially over public officials. They quickly sprung into action, demanding that the chief be terminated. Nothing else would satisfy them. They demand tolerance for themselves but refuse to extend it to anybody else. Anything less than celebration and approval must be punished. They mayor promptly put the chief on a 30-day suspension WITHOUT pay and ordered him to undergo sensitivity training. I’m sure the mayor would have preferred a gulag, but the budget is just too tight here lately for that sort of facility. A reeducation class would have to suffice. At the end of those 30 days when Cochran was supposed to return to work, the mayor announced the chief’s termination. According to the mayor, to simply believe that somebody is acting immorally is to discriminate against them. The Ministry of the New Morality has spoken.
The revolution is almost complete. If you know what’s good for you, comrade, you’ll keep on clapping. Don’t ever be the first to stop! Welcome to the new homosexual totalitarianism!
~Ben Simpson : @JBenSimpson : JBenSimpson.com : Eastwood Baptist Church
I read an article on GAVoice which made it clear that the LBGT community were not and would not be satisfied with only a suspension of Fire Chief Cochran. Nothing less than his head on a platter would suit them. City council member Alex Wan, who is a member of the LGBT community, stated, “I support the administration’s decision to terminate Kelvin Cochran’s employment with the City of Atlanta. This sends a strong message to employees about how much we value diversity and how we adhere to a non-discriminatory environment.” In the environment where diversity is “valued,” the diversity of… Read more »
I have been saying all along that there is a conspiracy, and it seems evident that the rise of the sexual aberrants was not accomplished in a moment. It was planned for. I have read somewhere that the plan was made in the fifties in East Germany (I suppose), because they figured the best way to strike at this nation was destroy it on the basis of its ethics. When I was a child, my grandfather and his brother use to discuss this conspiracy stuff. Back in the sixties or seventies one writer accused the member of a certain family… Read more »
It is time to act. There are thousands of Southern Baptist and other evangelicals in Atlanta. It is time to stand up and say this is wrong. For the church to be anything less than totally active and aggressive is not an option. I am talking about things such as getting out the vote, running for office, and generally getting involved. Write you councilman. Start a petition. Elect a more balanced official. Evangelicals in Atlanta have a voice and it must be heard in unison. For the rest of us lets get our heads on straight. It is time to… Read more »
Yes, dear brother, but you had better organize and commit to prayer meetings, following the guidance of Jonathan Edwards which he laid out in his Humble Attempt which inspired Carey and others to launch the Great Century of Missions. Then, having prayed, then you launch out. Remember Carey and those associated with that effort prayed for seven years before they took action. Thus far, we have no organized prayer meetings taking place on a regular, appointed basis (like the second Tuesday or some such day of the week or month). Why don’t we on SBC Voices organize to that end… Read more »
Dr. JW
You have been praying for Awakening for nearly as long as I have know you, and that is a little over a half of a century.
I would join with anyone how want to commit to pray for a movement of God in our nation. the need has never been greater.
With my Pre Trib Pre Mil theology I may have a little trouble with your timeline however 🙂
Your faithfulness to God’s Kingdom has been and continues to be an inspiration to me, my Brother.
“Thus far, we have no organized prayer meetings taking place on a regular, appointed basis” You must not be looking around. I am aware of meetings like this taking place all over the place. I participated in some of them. The most recent example is a group of local pastors who meet every single Wednesday and pray – for hours, some on knees – for revival, and have done so for 20-something years. I was part of that group for a chunk of my time as pastor and saw their fervor firsthand. I’ve seen other such groups in other places.… Read more »
Dear Chris: Your unbelief is duly noted and rejected. Are you seeking to convince someone on this blog of the futility of prayer? Or could it be that you have begun to doubt your doubts, you have become skeptical of your skepticism? If you have not, you are not a very good Atheist, I would think.
Some thoughts from “the other side” 0. This is a good follow-up for the “outrage” post a few days ago. 1. I’m not sure that we know the whole story. If he was fired for his Christian beliefs – or for publicizing those beliefs in a book – the termination was unjust. There are views and mindsets which I think we would all agree would disqualify a person from serving, but I don’t think his cross that line. But from bits and pieces I’m reading (going beyond the inflammatory blurbs of the pre-eminently imbalanced Todd Starnes), there’s more to the… Read more »
On a practical note – I am not sure the chief does very much of the individual hiring at all…but the concern about potentiality for discrimination – especially with regard to promotions – is one that I think might be warranted. I do think that *common morality* is and should be a part of the hiring and promotion of police and fire departments – I think we can all agree there – I think given that he holds the public trust in a public office he would have been wise to have taken great lengths in his book (if he… Read more »
Tarheel, isn’t being “pro-homosexual” as much at risk for bias as being “pro-Christian?”
You seem to be arguing that having a point of view could be problematic, but only if it was not the popular, socially accepted view.
What that leads to is a double-standard, not true free speech.
I’m sure there is more to what you said than I have extracted, so I am not necessarily disagreeing with your view point but using it as a jumping off point for more discussion.
God bless.
There is no such thing as neutrality. We are at war and there is no need to pretend otherwise. “trust that if one day an atheist rises to be a Fire Chief and he writes a book which includes strong language against religion in general and Christianity in particular and he is outspoken about his views when asked, you will all rise to his defense if Christians in the community want his head.” So no I will not rise to the defense of an atheist and fool.
Thanks for making your position clear, and so much for “we battle not against flesh and blood”.
I suppose you’re a dominionist of some sort or another?
Dear Chris: I would rise to the Atheist’s defense. After all, the best place to be an Atheist is America, and the crème de la crème is in a Christian family. After all, they hardly know what to do with such a bird, so they just sort of let you along so long as you don’t mock another family member’s views. I, by the way, did mock D.L.’s wife, my sister, telling her to take her old namby pamby religion and go jump out of the window with it. She cried, of course, and Mom let me know that would… Read more »
I was in a meeting where chief cochran was invited to share his testimony after his suspension. He is a very, very impressive individual for many reasons including and beyond his faith. The mayor has caught a tiger by the tail. He may just be the next mayor of the city of atlanta as the result of this.
Tim, do you mean that Cochran might be the next mayor?
He is an impressive enough individual that if he ran he could win. He is not only a gifted speaker and leader but a visionary and disciplined administrator.
Chris, 1. I think in some ways there is more to the story. I think one angle is that Mayor Reed probably hoped this would go away but he eventually had to fold to pressure of the LGBT community. An article on GAVoice makes it clear that they thought they mayor had failed in only putting him on a 30-day suspension without pay. There is also the angle of discussion about Cochran getting permission to publish the book. The mayor says they were not notified, while Cochran claims that it had been cleared with the director of the ethics office.… Read more »
Robert, I’m puzzled as to why he would even have to clear the book with the city first. What you mentioned was the only thing I could come up with: he presents himself in terms of his position with the city. But this is just a basic statement of fact, not an attempt to associate the city with his views, or use his position to promote his book. Unless they had some actual reason to believe he had been discriminating against employees, even the suspension should have never happened, especially without pay. On #2, I agree – I’m sure his… Read more »
#1 I really find it excruciatingly hard to believe someone would actually believe Cochran’s views represented the city of Atlanta just because he is the fire chief. (Although some have used this as a “talking point”.)
#2 One help in this area is to have someone join you in the hiring process. (I don’t know about the Atlanta Fire Dept., but in many businesses & organizations, someone this high up the chain often isn’t even involved in the majority of hirings.)
Robert
You are spot on re. number 1. Re. number 2 I suspect he has little if anything to do with the rank and file. If he did it would be unusual in an organization that size. Perhaps he “signs off” on recommendations given to him but I would be surprised if it were more than that, even IF that.
To carry this theme a little farther, I doubt that he even deals with personnel matters at all except for those immediately related to him. This is a very large operation and it is only logical to assume that there is a lot of delegation going on. In addition there is no evidence to my knowledge, that even if he did relate closely to the many employees, that he would make decisions based on gender/orientation issues. In fact, I would be interested in any facts (not heresy or gossip) that indicate that Evangelical Christians “mistreat” any public employees because of… Read more »
My point: Unless this is actually happening this is purely a case of freedom of speech and or religion.