instead of with each other. In my postwar, revolutionary,nHberational time, I remember the talk of dismantling thenfamily, to liberate us all further. The same words are to benheard today, on this side of the ocean, from people who seenno abridgment of freedom in the wealth of regulationninstituted at their insistence, purportedly to make the worldnsafe for everyone. Adults do not need a safe world, but anliving one. What am I to say to my children, when they arenadvised in school to “discuss” a blow they have receivednfrom another child? Hijackers won’t disappear if theirndemands are either met or forgotten. Bullies, I have learnednin my Yugoslav prison experience, never strike where theyndon’t consider it safe, and it pains me to see Americanregarded as a convenient victim. If we are to survive in anform worth maintaining, we must come to grips with ournhumanity, instead of searching for an alternate one.nDeath is a misfortune only after a misspent life. Wenshould be thankful for its capacity to clear the ground fornnew life and to teach us some humility and economy.nSaving our hostages in a manner that lays this part of thenworld open to further terror is a crime, infinitely greaternthan losing unwilling soldiers in a war for survival. Willynillynall of us from the West are involved in exactly such anwar, and if anyone wants to know what the enemy is like,nthere is no shortage of illustrations. Those who have chosennto embrace any means to assault the producers of their food,nconsumer goods, weapons, technology, and ideologynshould be made hostage themselves. Berserkers shouldnexpect no quarter for their communities or those whonsupport and goad them on.nIn grappling with wolves, it is the wolves who set thenrules. We have all crossed the last ocean, and the only waynShelter From the Stormn(continued from page 7)nThis does not mean that a resident of Dunn, NorthnCarolina, owes no obligation to the people of Oregon ornAfghanistan, but that there is an appropriate level for thenexercise of moral commitments. Individuals ordinarilynexercise them on a personal and familial level, families onnthe level of community, communities at the national level,nand nations in the international sphere. Worrying about allnthe problems of the Third World is not only too much fornthe mortal flesh of one person to bear, it is an inappropriatenand dangerous burden to assume. These are essentiallynquestions of foreign policy, not private morality. They arennational priorities to be established by consensus. Thenintrusion of individuals and churches into affairs of state isnall the more dangerous, because it invites the continuednencroachment of the state upon the rights of churches,nfamilies, and individuals.nThere is a very real danger in this confusion of spheres ofnresponsibility. Private citizens want to make decisions onnthe deployment of weapons or foreign policy commitments,nand government bureaucrats are eager to champion thenrights of children against their parents. If Catholic andnLutheran bishops (to say nothing of our great unlicensedndiplomat, Jesse Jackson) want to play at being Secretary ofnState and arrogate the executive powers of the U.S. untonout, now, is up. North America has built itself into a giant,npromising the world a relief for at least some of its ills. It hasnachieved that mostly by itself and has no one to praise ornblame for it. It is an island in a howling world, and thenhowling won’t go away through any technological, menagerial,nor psychological trick. There are barbarians campednout there, waiting precisely for what is happening: fornsomeone to open the gate, and for the men of the city tondestroy themselves.nEven paranoiacs have real enemies, as it was noted on anParis wall in the spring of 1968. Our enemies are mostlynourselves and our desire for painlessness. Khomeini, Khadafy.nHitler, Stalin, Mugabe were always merely predators.nThey had preyed on our weaknesses and won, at least for antime. But those are the times that determine our consciousness,nthe way Auschwitz determines the consciousness of anpeople. Good times are not what we are all about. Livingnhurts, but not as much as extinction. As opposed to merendeath, the loss of the chance to reach our humanity isnirremediable. Why do we find it so hard to understand thatnwhich is sublime in us? How does it happen that there is sonmuch cause for evil, and yet there are good men in thenworld as we know it? The way things are, we might all benscreaming gunmen, venting our rages upon each other.nThose should be the questions we ask ourselves. Let thosenwho have forced us to raise them understand the Shiites,nSandinistas, communists, and other haters of this world. Ifnthings continue going the way they have for some timennow, we all may live to see all our questions answered, evennthe ones we did not dare ask. Only, then there will be nonplace to emigrate, and Atlantis will again be under the sea,nmuch heavier to emerge from than were it mere water, ccnthemselves, they can expect to find treasury departmentnofficials taking a keen interest in their tax-exempt activities.nGovernment intrusion into church activities would benundesirable, but not entirely unjustified. It is increasinglynevident that many church leaders and religious organizationsnsee their role as primarily political. Their inability tonkeep religion and politics separate is compounded by annunderstanding of social ethics so incoherent and confusednthat in most circles it could pass for ignorance. What all thisnferment over sanctuary brings home to us once again is thenmoral bankruptcy of so much of the religious leadership innAmerica.n—Thomas Flemingnnn