Strateg0s
New member
Think
Speech by Charlton Heston at Harvard
Editor's Note: Charlton Heston addressed
the topic 'Winning the Cultural War' at the
Harvard Law School Forum, February 16,
1999. Here is the text of that speech:
I remember my son when he was 5, explaining
to his kindergarten class what his father
did for a living. "My Daddy," he said,
"pretends to be people." There have been
quite a few of them. Prophets from the Old
and New Testaments, a couple of Christian
saints, generals of various nationalities
and different centuries, several kings,
three American presidents, a French
cardinal and two geniuses, including
Michelangelo.
If you want the ceiling re-painted I'll do
my best. There always seem to be a lot of
different fellows up here. I'm never sure
which one of them gets to talk. Right now,
I guess I'm the guy.
As I pondered our visit tonight it struck
me: if my Creator gave me the gift to
connect you with the hearts and minds of
those great men, then I want to use that
same gift now to re-connect you with your
own sense of liberty ... your own freedom
of thought ... your own compass for what is
right.
Dedicating the memorial at Gettysburg,
Abraham Lincoln said of America, "We are
now engaged in a great Civil War, testing
whether this nation or any nation so
conceived and so dedicated can long
endure."
Those words are true again. I believe that
we are again engaged in a great civil war,
a cultural war that's about to hijack your
birthright to think and say what resides in
your heart. I fear you no longer trust the
pulsing lifeblood of liberty inside you ...
the stuff that made this country rise from
wilderness into the miracle that it is. Let
me back up. About a year ago I became
president of the National Rifle
Association, which protects the right to
keep and bear arms. I ran for office, I was
elected, and now I serve ... I serve as a
moving target for the media who've called
me everything from "ridiculous" and "duped"
to a "brain-injured, senile, crazy old
man." I know ... I'm pretty old ... but I
sure thank the Lord ain't senile. As I have
stood in the crosshairs of those who target
Second Amendment freedoms, I've realized
that firearms are not the only issue. No,
it's much, much bigger than that. I've come
to understand that a cultural war is raging
across our land, in which, with Orwellian
fervor, certain acceptable thoughts and
speech are mandated.
For example, I marched for civil rights
with Dr. King in 1963 -- long before
Hollywood found it fashionable. But when I
told an audience last year that white pride
is just as valid as black pride or red
pride or anyone else's pride, they called
me a racist.
I've worked with brilliantly talented
homosexuals all my life. But when I told an
audience that gay rights should extend no
further than your rights or my rights, I
was called a homophobe.
I served in World War II against the Axis
powers. But during a speech, when I drew an
analogy between singling out innocent Jews
and singling out innocent gun owners, I was
called an anti-Semite.
Everyone I know knows I would never raise a
closed fist against my country. But when I
asked an audience to oppose this cultural
persecution, I was compared to Timothy
McVeigh.
* From Time magazine to friends and
colleagues, they're essentially saying,
"Chuck, how dare you speak your mind. You
are using language not authorized for
public consumption!"
But I am not afraid. If Americans believed
in political correctness, we'd still be
King George's boys-subjects bound to the
British crown.
In his book, "The End of Sanity," Martin
Gross writes that "blatantly irrational
behavior is rapidly being established as
the norm in almost every area of human
endeavor. There seem to be new customs, new
rules, new anti-intellectual theories
regularly foisted on us from every
direction. Underneath, the nation is
roiling. Americans know something, without
a name is undermining the nation, turning
the mind mushy when it comes to separating
truth from falsehood and right from wrong.
And they don't like it."
Let me read a few examples. At Antioch
college in Ohio, young men seeking intimacy
with a coed must get verbal permission at
each step of the process from kissing to
petting to final copulation ... all clearly
spelled out in a printed college directive.
In New Jersey, despite the death of several
patients nationwide who had been infected
by dentists who had concealed their AIDS
--- the state commissioner announced that
health providers who are HIV-positive need
not. .. need not ... tell their patients
that they are infected.
At William and Mary, students tried to
change the name of the school team "The
Tribe" because it was supposedly insulting
to local Indians, only to learn that
authentic Virginia chiefs truly like the
name.
In San Francisco, city fathers passed an
ordinance protecting the rights of
transvestites to cross-dress on the job,
and for transsexuals to have separate
toilet facilities while undergoing sex
change surgery.
In New York City, kids who don't speak a
word of Spanish have been placed in
bilingual classes to learn their three R's
in Spanish solely because their last names
sound Hispanic.
At the University of Pennsylvania, in a
state where thousands died at Gettysburg
opposing slavery, the president of that
college officially set up segregated
dormitory space for black students.
Yeah, I know ... that's out of bounds now.
Dr. King said "Negroes." Jimmy Baldwin and
most of us on the March said "black." But
it's a no-no now.
For me, hyphenated identities are awkward
... particularly "Native-American." I'm a
Native American, for God's sake. I also
happen to be a blood-initiated brother of
the Miniconjou Sioux. On my wife's side, my
grandson is a 13th-generation Native
American ... with a capital letter on
"American."
Finally, just last month ... David Howard,
head of the Washington D.C. Office of
Public Advocate, used the word "niggardly"
while talking to colleagues about budgetary
matters. Of course, 'niggardly' means
stingy or scanty. But within days Howard
was forced to publicly apologize and
resign.
As columnist Tony Snow wrote: "David Howard
got fired because some people in public
employ were morons who (a) didn't know the
meaning of 'niggardly,' (b) didn't know how
to use a dictionary to discover the
meaning, and (c) actually demanded that he
apologize for their ignorance."
What does all of this mean? It means that
telling us what to think has evolved into
telling us what to say, so telling us what
to do can't be far behind. Before you claim
to be a champion of free thought, tell me:
Why did political correctness originate on
America's campuses? And why do you continue
to tolerate it? Why do you, who're supposed
to debate ideas, surrender to their
suppression?
Speech by Charlton Heston at Harvard
Editor's Note: Charlton Heston addressed
the topic 'Winning the Cultural War' at the
Harvard Law School Forum, February 16,
1999. Here is the text of that speech:
I remember my son when he was 5, explaining
to his kindergarten class what his father
did for a living. "My Daddy," he said,
"pretends to be people." There have been
quite a few of them. Prophets from the Old
and New Testaments, a couple of Christian
saints, generals of various nationalities
and different centuries, several kings,
three American presidents, a French
cardinal and two geniuses, including
Michelangelo.
If you want the ceiling re-painted I'll do
my best. There always seem to be a lot of
different fellows up here. I'm never sure
which one of them gets to talk. Right now,
I guess I'm the guy.
As I pondered our visit tonight it struck
me: if my Creator gave me the gift to
connect you with the hearts and minds of
those great men, then I want to use that
same gift now to re-connect you with your
own sense of liberty ... your own freedom
of thought ... your own compass for what is
right.
Dedicating the memorial at Gettysburg,
Abraham Lincoln said of America, "We are
now engaged in a great Civil War, testing
whether this nation or any nation so
conceived and so dedicated can long
endure."
Those words are true again. I believe that
we are again engaged in a great civil war,
a cultural war that's about to hijack your
birthright to think and say what resides in
your heart. I fear you no longer trust the
pulsing lifeblood of liberty inside you ...
the stuff that made this country rise from
wilderness into the miracle that it is. Let
me back up. About a year ago I became
president of the National Rifle
Association, which protects the right to
keep and bear arms. I ran for office, I was
elected, and now I serve ... I serve as a
moving target for the media who've called
me everything from "ridiculous" and "duped"
to a "brain-injured, senile, crazy old
man." I know ... I'm pretty old ... but I
sure thank the Lord ain't senile. As I have
stood in the crosshairs of those who target
Second Amendment freedoms, I've realized
that firearms are not the only issue. No,
it's much, much bigger than that. I've come
to understand that a cultural war is raging
across our land, in which, with Orwellian
fervor, certain acceptable thoughts and
speech are mandated.
For example, I marched for civil rights
with Dr. King in 1963 -- long before
Hollywood found it fashionable. But when I
told an audience last year that white pride
is just as valid as black pride or red
pride or anyone else's pride, they called
me a racist.
I've worked with brilliantly talented
homosexuals all my life. But when I told an
audience that gay rights should extend no
further than your rights or my rights, I
was called a homophobe.
I served in World War II against the Axis
powers. But during a speech, when I drew an
analogy between singling out innocent Jews
and singling out innocent gun owners, I was
called an anti-Semite.
Everyone I know knows I would never raise a
closed fist against my country. But when I
asked an audience to oppose this cultural
persecution, I was compared to Timothy
McVeigh.
* From Time magazine to friends and
colleagues, they're essentially saying,
"Chuck, how dare you speak your mind. You
are using language not authorized for
public consumption!"
But I am not afraid. If Americans believed
in political correctness, we'd still be
King George's boys-subjects bound to the
British crown.
In his book, "The End of Sanity," Martin
Gross writes that "blatantly irrational
behavior is rapidly being established as
the norm in almost every area of human
endeavor. There seem to be new customs, new
rules, new anti-intellectual theories
regularly foisted on us from every
direction. Underneath, the nation is
roiling. Americans know something, without
a name is undermining the nation, turning
the mind mushy when it comes to separating
truth from falsehood and right from wrong.
And they don't like it."
Let me read a few examples. At Antioch
college in Ohio, young men seeking intimacy
with a coed must get verbal permission at
each step of the process from kissing to
petting to final copulation ... all clearly
spelled out in a printed college directive.
In New Jersey, despite the death of several
patients nationwide who had been infected
by dentists who had concealed their AIDS
--- the state commissioner announced that
health providers who are HIV-positive need
not. .. need not ... tell their patients
that they are infected.
At William and Mary, students tried to
change the name of the school team "The
Tribe" because it was supposedly insulting
to local Indians, only to learn that
authentic Virginia chiefs truly like the
name.
In San Francisco, city fathers passed an
ordinance protecting the rights of
transvestites to cross-dress on the job,
and for transsexuals to have separate
toilet facilities while undergoing sex
change surgery.
In New York City, kids who don't speak a
word of Spanish have been placed in
bilingual classes to learn their three R's
in Spanish solely because their last names
sound Hispanic.
At the University of Pennsylvania, in a
state where thousands died at Gettysburg
opposing slavery, the president of that
college officially set up segregated
dormitory space for black students.
Yeah, I know ... that's out of bounds now.
Dr. King said "Negroes." Jimmy Baldwin and
most of us on the March said "black." But
it's a no-no now.
For me, hyphenated identities are awkward
... particularly "Native-American." I'm a
Native American, for God's sake. I also
happen to be a blood-initiated brother of
the Miniconjou Sioux. On my wife's side, my
grandson is a 13th-generation Native
American ... with a capital letter on
"American."
Finally, just last month ... David Howard,
head of the Washington D.C. Office of
Public Advocate, used the word "niggardly"
while talking to colleagues about budgetary
matters. Of course, 'niggardly' means
stingy or scanty. But within days Howard
was forced to publicly apologize and
resign.
As columnist Tony Snow wrote: "David Howard
got fired because some people in public
employ were morons who (a) didn't know the
meaning of 'niggardly,' (b) didn't know how
to use a dictionary to discover the
meaning, and (c) actually demanded that he
apologize for their ignorance."
What does all of this mean? It means that
telling us what to think has evolved into
telling us what to say, so telling us what
to do can't be far behind. Before you claim
to be a champion of free thought, tell me:
Why did political correctness originate on
America's campuses? And why do you continue
to tolerate it? Why do you, who're supposed
to debate ideas, surrender to their
suppression?