Month: October 2021

As a prospective college student (back in the day), who really had no idea what he wanted to do, I can certainly sympathize with the late bloomers out there. When it came time to pick a major, it wasn’t a particularly difficult choice. I had always liked to read (not always the things that I was supposed to read for school), and I had always enjoyed the story of how this country came to be. Moreover, I was also pretty dreadful in subjects such as Math and Science, so the choice of History was made even easier. I ascribed to a theory of studying what you enjoy, while knowing that what you enjoy can certainly become a hobby if it doesn’t become a career. As we all know, very few people get to make a career out of their passion. I would suggest that all of us have the opportunity to make a hobby out of our passion(s).

I can’t tell you how many people told me that History was a poor choice and that there was little that it would prepare me for later in life. I am here today to tell you that they were wrong, though well-meaning. I learned how to speak and write well, and I learned how important it is to understand the past on a deep level that allows one to understand and in fact, at times, be flabbergasted by what is happening in the present (think 2021). Speaking well and writing well are kind of lost arts these days and that is a shame. There was a time in our not so distant past when they were quite essential.

 I am enthusiastically promoting the concept (as many have) that History is more than just names and dates, much more. The story of Dr. Alfred Nobel provides a great example of this. Have you ever heard of Dr. Alfred Noble? Probably not. However, I am quite sure you have heard of the Nobel Peace Prize. Same guy… What a lot of people don’t know is that there are also prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature. Another interesting, though little-known fact is that each “noble laureate” receives a gold medal featuring the face of Dr. Alfred Nobel, a diploma, and about a million dollars. Alright so some rich guy started an award, what is so interesting about that? Well, as we dig a little deeper, it turns out the story of Dr. Alfred Nobel is quite fascinating and goes far beyond the scope of what one might expect. Remember, History is “fun.”

Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1833 into a wealthy family. His father Immanuel Nobel was very successful in a number of ventures that were usually associated with construction, engineering, and military procurement. The family spent time in Finland and Russia as the family’s fortunes ebbed and flowed over the years of Alfred’s youth (though very successful the path was one of boom and bust at times). Alfred shared his father’s scientific mind but was also very interested in poetry and literature, and incredibly spoke Swedish, Russian, French, English, and German fluently at the tender age of 17. His father disliked and discouraged his interest in these areas and ultimately sent him abroad for studies in chemical engineering. Turns out, young Alfred enjoyed this as well; he was a man of many passions. During his studies, he even spent some time in America.

He ultimately became interested / obsessed with the compound nitroglycerine and the possibility of finding a safe way to use it. Nitroglycerine was produced by mixing glycerin with sulfuric and nitric acid; it was considered far too dangerous to be of any practical use. The appeal of nitroglycerin had much to do with the fact that its explosive power greatly exceeded that of gunpowder. In an age of continual warfare and industrial construction, this alone made it a hypnotic lure. Unfortunately, the liquid would explode in a very unpredictable manner if subjected to heat and pressure. Many people have died over the years learning of its danger the hard way. The early period of the building of the Transcontinental Railroad after the American Civil War included the use of nitroglycerin by the Central Pacific to forge / bore Summit Tunnel through the most formidable parts of the Sierra Nevada range near the summit. You could even suggest that the task would have been virtually impossible without it.

Alfred went back in 1852 to work for the family business in Petersburg, Russia which was now booming as a result of arms shipments and naval mines (developed by Immanuel) to the Russian army during the Crimean War (1853-1856). After the war Immanuel Nobel was forced into bankruptcy for the second time in his life as conditions changed drastically after the war. It was at this point that fortunes changed dramatically for the family. Alfred never forgot about the work he did with nitroglycerine, and he set about the task of making it commercially feasible. Meanwhile his two brothers Robert and Ludvig who remained in Russia after the rest of the family went back to Sweden, managed to salvage the family business by essentially creating the oil industry in the southern part of the Russian empire; they became quite wealthy. Meanwhile Alfred went about the dangerous task of developing nitroglycerine into a usable explosive. Tragically, an explosion in 1864 killed several people including his brother Emil. Eventually, Alfred was able to perfect his new creation with various additives which turned it into a paste. He dubbed his new compound “Dynamite.”  At the same time, he also invented a detonator which allowed for drastically reduced costs and safety for a variety of construction projects in a rapidly industrialized world. Additionally, he helped to revolutionize the art of war and the ability to kill and maim with far greater efficiency. Amazingly, Alfred also went on to establish many other chemical inventions including synthetic leather and silk. By the time of his death in December of 1896, he had 355 patents.

Alfred became, in short order, a very wealthy man. And a man who in fact became a bit (open to interpretation as to degree) haunted to by legacy of his work. In fact, the actual genesis for the creation of the various Nobel Awards is thought to have come from an early reading of his own scathing obituary. In a Mark Twain-like moment, a French newspaper printed an obituary for Alfred mistakenly when his older brother Ludwig died in 1888. Reports of Mark Twain’s Quote About His Own Death Are Greatly Exaggerated | Mental Floss He was referred to as “the merchant of death” and the paper went on to proclaim, “Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster, than ever before, died yesterday.” Upon reading this, Nobel was inspired to rewrite his will (94% of his assets went toward the venture) and create the prizes that celebrated and rewarded mankind’s greatest achievements, including peace. * So, if not for a mistakenly written obituary, an iconic, tradition laden award would never have been established. History is full of stories like this. The serendipitous nature of world events is often quite astonishing. ** Or is it? Fun to ponder and consider.  

The official website of the Nobel Prize – NobelPrize.org

*In 1876 at age 43, after new constant travel and hard work Alfred went on to add another strange footnote to his legacy. Feeling a bit worn out and old beyond his years, Alfred advertised the need for a female companion to look after his affairs and provide companionship. Austrian Countess Bertha Kinsky worked for Alfred for a short time and then returned to Austria to be married to Count Arthur von Suttner. They remained lifelong friends and exchanged letters for the rest of Alfred’s life. Obviously, he was quite touched and impacted by the association. She wrote a prominent book Lay Down Your Arms and became a vocal spokesperson for something known as the Peace Movement. In a time of perpetual war and conflict around the globe, these were radical views. World War I was just around the corner and would go on to attest to the carnage of industrialized warfare.  Quite interestingly, it seems very apparent that she must have been a significant inspiration for a Nobel Peace Prize and even more interestingly, Bertha von Suttner went on to win a Nobel Peace Prize in 1905, nine years after Alfred’s death.

**The will and final testament came as a great surprise to many, including relatives and high-ranking authorities in several countries who contested it unsuccessfully for years.

Thomas M. Cook 

10/25/21

Take a look at a dollar bill (not right this moment but soon). Something we used to do all the time, though not as an intricate examination exercise but as simply something the average person casually did because we used actual currency and coins regularly. Imagine that. Is that good or bad? I really don’t know the answer to that question, but I certainly know that it is SO different now, in what has become essentially a cashless society. All currency is essentially a work of art as well as a utilitarian means of exchange that includes things like mottos, creeds, and even symbols. Something is lost when our respective debit / credit cards become the conduit of exchange. Not a lot of numismatic intrigue or value in plastic unfortunately. Plastic seems to serve as a great metaphor for what we have become as a society.

Back to the lowly paper dollar for a moment… Printed prominently on the back are the words, “In God We Trust.” For many people those words are a relic of the past which essentially mean nothing and / or are seen as a quaint reminder of the way simple, nonscientific, less enlightened people used to think. We are so much more sophisticated now from the point of view of the secular crowd for whom the concept of God is nonspecific, all-encompassing (can be whatever you want it to be), and quite abstract. From the perspective of our not-so-distant ancestors, our society would be viewed as something which has become secular to a degree that would, for them, be shocking and truthfully difficult to even comprehend. God, and the concept of God as a force in one’s life was a big part of our American ancestor’s existence. Remember, many people initially came to this continent seeking religious and other freedoms; it was a bold move both literally and figuratively. And, while many people in America still profess a belief in God (2018 survey by Pew), those statistics come off as quite misleading to me. Americans’ beliefs about the nature of God | Pew Research Center (pewforum.org)

While it is true that the overwhelming majority of Americans believe in a higher power, only a slight majority believe in the God of the Bible. All very squishy, all very new age, all very “God can be whomever you choose God to be,” permeates the statistics. The trend is certainly headed in the direction of rising nonbelief as younger people are increasingly disinclined to believe in God and the older people who retain a high degree of faith are dying. I’m not buying the apparent benign nature of the statistics; moreover, the world has changed a great deal in the last two years, and I would suggest we have seen a shocking acceleration of the existing trends.  We live in an increasingly narcissistic, “me-centric” age that glorifies the individual to a point of utter excess. The internet and social media mindset have ushered in an age that simply pushes God out of the equation and has created a tribe-like mentality that has been described by some as a philosophical civil war (at least politically). We all know that this is where we are, and yet we continue to cascade down the path that has created so much animosity and unhappiness. Leaving God out is rarely a recipe for human contentedness, Facebook “likes” notwithstanding. We’ve all heard the statistics as to a direct correlation between time spent on social media and decreasing happiness. The relationship is quite linear unsurprisingly. Again, I’m not telling you anything that you do not suspect or in fact know. This has become common knowledge and yet we persist. Dopamine anyone? If it feels good, do it. We are all mini gods who control our personal destiny. Narcissism has become the new religion in many ways. Moral and spiritual decline, you bet.  

All of this by way of summary leads me to a look back on the actual Civil War in this country (1861-1865), a time of epoch polarization and devastation both emotional and physical, in an attempt to see and distinguish meaningful parallels and contrasts. The American Civil War and the Second World War are the two seminal events for this country. Sure, there would be no America without the Revolutionary War; yet for our purposes I would like to focus on the Civil War and see how the population dealt with such a momentous, frightful event which reeked death and destruction on a level difficult to comprehend by the standards of 2021 understanding. We seem to be preoccupied with multiple pronouns, safe spaces, and cancelling people, places, and things; This speaks volumes by way of comparison. People of that era would have thought we had lost our minds; I know some people from 2021 who feel the same way. Count me in that group.   

The latest statistics on Civil War deaths are suggesting that as many as 750,000 Americans (North and South) died in the conflict.  Civil War Toll Up by 20 Percent in New Estimate – The New York Times (nytimes.com) This is up from a number closer to 600,000 about a decade ago. This was, unsurprisingly, a calamitous experience in which fellow Americans waged war upon one another in a manner that was at times quite prolific and barbaric. Yes, it is true that many of these combatants died of disease and other complications. Yet, to put this in proper perspective it is important to remember how much smaller the general population was in those days. Math has a way of presenting the grisly and the tragic in a way that illustrates the true impact, right between the eyes. I found the following statistics quite interesting. Approximately 2.5% of the population died in the war. 504 deaths per day as an average during the course of the war and remember things started slowly (the killing that is). Based on population numbers from present times, 7,000,000 deaths would represent a comparable number!

By the end of the war, we had carnage such as what happened at the battle of Cold Harbor in Virginia (June of 1864) in which approximately 6,000 Union soldiers were killed in an ill-advised charge into a fortified Confederate position, in less than an hour. Think about that for a moment. This was more slaughter than battle and yet there were numerous examples of devastation like this in the latter stages of the war. Consider Gettysburg (a name most everyone knows) in which the combined total of dead, wounded, and missing numbered roughly 51,000 over less than three days of fighting. For the South, their number of 28,000 represented more than a third of Robert E. Lee’s army. The turning point of the war in the eyes of many historians and a causality percentage that would be seen as unthinkable in any battle experienced by Americans during the Second World War.  

The passions were high, the tactics were inappropriate in deference to the power of the weaponry that was used, and the Union had learned that they could lose soldiers and replace them easily, whereas the Confederacy could not. So, under the influence of Ulysess S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Philip Sheridan, and others, the macabre, yet winning strategy was crafted and executed to perfection. Future President and commanding general Grant was referred to as “The Butcher” by the Northern press of the day for his willingness to absorb huge casualties. It became a war of attrition that the South could not win. My primary point here is not to conduct a military history lesson, my intention is to point out that the term “civil war” is one that should not be casually interjected when seeking parallels between then and now. There is no comparison. People yelling at each other and being mean on social media platforms is hardly comparable. The current polarization is real, the angst is palpable, the hopelessness is real, and the threat to the future of the republic as we know it is evident. That I do not dispute for a moment.

The Civil War for better or worse was an event that rocked the population to its foundational core. America became a living embodiment of a culture of death and attempting to cope with complete and utter despair (especially in the South). None other than Abraham Lincoln (an avid Bible reader) grappled with this very issue as the leader of our country. Consider the following proclamation in March of 1863 (before Gettysburg) that called for a resolution invoking a day of prayer and fasting. Lincoln signed the proclamation, introduced by James Harlan of Iowa on March 30, one month before the appointed day. This is worth reading twice to truly take in the emotion and remorse.

  By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

“Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation.

And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.

And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.

Now, therefore, in compliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th. day of April 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do hereby request all the People to abstain, on that day, from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite, at their several places of public worship and their respective homes, in keeping the day holy to the Lord, and devoted to the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that solemn occasion.

All this being done, in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope authorized by the Divine teachings, that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings, no less than the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided and suffering Country, to its former happy condition of unity and peace.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh.”

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward, Secretary of State.

So, a day of National Humiliation for the sins of the country and an appeal to God through prayer and fasting, to help lift the self-inflicted burden of the dreadful conflict. My oh my, have times changed. World War II, with all of its horrors, also saw an increased devotion to God and an appeal to deliver the citizens from the carnage of war on a global scale. Tough times have a way of pushing out the secular and ushering in the “In God We Trust” side of the equation. Can you even imagine, in your wildest dreams, a 21^st century national appeal to God that calls for humility, introspection, prayer, and fasting in deference to the mess that our country and this world have become.

This was not a unique response to the scourge of civil war by the way. Lincoln, a student of History assuredly knew that in 1642 during the English Civil War, Parliament closed all theaters (the source of a myriad of public entertainment in those days) as it was seen as inappropriate in the “current times of humiliation” as public stage plays and events, were seen as “lascivious mirth and levity.” They to appealed to a higher power and made the gesture of forsaking something antithetical to the time of national crisis. The ban wasn’t lifted until 1648.   

Yes, my main point here is that an actual Civil War is in no way comparable to a philosophical civil war. Yet, I think that few would argue that the issues we are grappling with threaten to tear down the foundation of this country and remake it into something that none of our immediate ancestors would recognize. Social justice, equity in the form of taking from one group and giving to another, neo-Marxism, CRT, woke ideology, abortion on demand, illegal immigration apathy, mandates, and a whole host of major changes in how we should change how we view and conduct ourselves as a country are serious issues. We are a completely divided country that WAS at one time (even during The Civil War), tethered by our Judeo-Christian principles and The Ten Commandments. Again, I turn to Lincoln, who, in his Second Inaugural address said the following.

“Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes.”

A lot to unpack here I realize… Lincoln knew he was speaking a language that both the people of the North and South would understand (he appealed to their Americanism essentially), and he was pointing out the fact that the South enslaved black people as antithetical to an appeal to God while at the same time saying that his side was far from perfect in the appraisal of whom to blame. The interesting part is that God’s interpretation was important to both sides. It didn’t make the combatants and their respective rationales for what was happening perfect people, but it did make them perfectly connected in a sense, in that The Almighty’s purposes mattered to both sides despite the enmity and violence they visited upon one another.

Both sides turned to God and Lincoln understood this and shepherded accordingly. The power of that bond ultimately led to the PAINFUL but SURE path to reconciliation decades later. This is what concerns me now quite frankly. There truly is no grand bond and shared ideology today. One side sees America as a bad, evil country that needs to be torn down and remade and the other sees it as an imperfect, yet noble country that should retain its unique freedoms and belief in merit as a final arbiter of individual achievement. These are stark differences which are less and less mitigated by an underlaying bond. That bond has been broken (badly frayed says the optimist in me), in large part due to our forsaking of a knowledge of History I would suggest. The tearing down of statues is great way to retard the process of learning about the past in a fair and honest way. Human beings are complex creatures, and it is pretty rare, if not impossible to find a character from the past who conforms to the mores and attitudes of the present. Not that the present is anything to put on a pedestal of righteousness.  By making them disappear, the panacea is complete, or so the defenders of these strategies espouse.

History has a way of showing a road map, both good and bad, for the way forward. People of our not-so-distant past turned to God in times of tumult, far beyond anything we have seen in recent times. In fact, we have seen the exact opposite as a response for the vast majority. But remember, and this is important, the Holocaust didn’t start with extermination, it started with demonization and reeducation of children. It began with a strategy of remaking the current status quo and worked hard at demonizing a segment of the population. It left God and mercy out of the equation unless the Church leaders were willing to toe the line.  Using CRT as an example (and speaking of reeducation), isn’t it true that the basic message is that white skin is bad and black skin is good. This is being taught to young children and the current outrage is understandable. It is possible to display America’s flaws without concluding that skin color is the sole determinant as to human behavior, past, present, and future. Sheer idiocy and we should all be appalled and moved to resistance.     How does this in any way comport with Martin Luther King’s sentiment from his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. “I look to a day when people will be not judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character.”  The short answer is that it doesn’t. Those Martin Luther King statues might be in danger I fear.

Referring back to Lincoln again and pointing out again that he was an astute student of both general history and the Bible. Something tells me he was also, most likely quite familiar with the following verses from the Book of Daniel (as Daniel struggles with the dislocation and persecution of the Israelites).

“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps the covenant of love, with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants and prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, princes, and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.”

Book of Daniel Chapter 9, Verses 5-6.

Daniel goes on to blame their plight on “unfaithfulness” and states that they are “covered with shame” as they have “sinned” and “rebelled” against God. A heartfelt prayer by a true man of contrition. I like to think that Lincoln was inspired by these verses as he struggled with what was happening to his country in 1863 and beyond. Lincoln urged a turning to God in humility and remorse for the status quo of the time. Also, he urged a genuine benevolence for the South at a time in which passions were high and executions and imprisonment for southern players could have been the route which the victorious North chose. Again, Lincoln was a Godly man who was more interested in forgiveness and reconciliation while those around him thought of revenge and vengeance. I hear talk of tearing down Lincoln statues these days. Small minds are capable of dastardly deeds, and this is one of many reasons why it is so important to know your History.    

History has suggested that leaving God out of the equation has never been a good idea and that people throughout history have had a propensity to learn this the hard way. 2021 with all its technology, connectivity, and scientific knowledge can learn a lot from looking at the past. Best to nip the calamity in the bud than to head down the path of destruction that we have seemingly laid out for ourselves. “In God We Trust” needs to make a resurgence and the secularization of ALL things, as dictated by an ardent few needs to be met head on. We certainly are not in a civil war by the standards of the middle part of the 19^th century, but we are headed in a direction that is troubling in the extreme.

On September 17^th, 1787, as delegates left the Constitutional Convention in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, someone asked Benjamin Franklin what kind of government had been crafted. His answer, “A republic, if you can keep it.” The American Civil War provided a huge test of that concept. What lays ahead may prove to be even more challenging. Time will tell. 

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” 

Albert Einstein

Thomas M. Cook

10/20/21