€ongrsstionnl RsrordpRocEEDrNGs AND DEBATES oF ru r p 6 'b .o*cRESS, sEcoND sESsIoN

Beliefs and Principles of The John Birch SocietyHON. LARRY McDONALD both his world and himself. We

oF(inoR(;rA believe that the direction which con-TNTHEHoLTsEoFREeRESENTAT'IVES stitutes improvement is clearly vis-

Wednesday, September 3, 1980 ible and identifiable throughoutMr. McDONALD. Mr. Speaker, man's known history, and that this

many of my colleagues have ques- God-given upward reach in the hearttioned me concerning the beliefs and of man is a composite conscience toprinciples of The John Birch Society. which we all must listen.

The John Birch Society was foundedin December 1958. It is an educational iIorganization which bel ieves strongiy in We trelieve that the Communistsits motto: "Less government, more re- seek to drive their slaves and them-sponsibility, and with God's help, a selves along exactly the opposite andbetter world.' downward directidn. to ilie Satanic

The Society'does not endorse ot con- debasement of botir man and histribute to political parties or candi- universe. We believe that Commu-dates and, in the strict sense,,is not a n;m is as utterly incompatible withpolit ical organization. Individual

"1 religion as it is contemptuous of

members are active in educationlaction all moralitv and destructive of allprograms concerned v,'ith sound eco- freedom. ti is intrinsically evil. Itnornics. proper values of.government,_ must be opposed, therefbre, withatrd an appreciation

"t .tl::"",l "t_ qta_ frrmlg$r9ryqligr9r11go_q{s.histc,qv. The Socieb-; -..tytfiqu.y=- rno@ounc1s.

-in the building o{ an informed elec- We believe that the continued coexis-torate and, blr so doing, in.the restora- tence of Communism and a Chris-tion of the values that made this coun- tian_style civilization on one planet istrv great' The memberl fone19 n]av a i-porJiut". The struggle betweenmaior role in halting this nation's re- ltJ- *rrt end with one completelytreat fiom greatness.

r 1 n: , o triumphant and the other comptetelyIn my opinion, The John Birch So- a"r[r.iv"o. we intend to do our part,

cietv is the {inest body of m.en and tnerefore, to halt, weaken, rout, andivomen in the world todav,,and I appre-

"u""t"Af' to bury, the whole inter-

ciate the interest of mV col,leaques in it. national bo-*urriri conspiracy.For their irnproved understanding. I in-sert those beliefs and principles into IIIthe congressional Record'

we believe that means are as im-

GrNsRA.!- Bprrrrs,q.No pRrNcr'res ntrbrtflff r}rSilJr::1tifi{jf;or THp JoHN BtncH Socttry been so widely and deliberately cir-

culated about us, none is so viciouslyI untrue as the charge that we are

With very few exceptions, the willing to condone foul means formembers of The John Birch Society the sake of achieving praiseworthyare deeply religious people. A mem- ends. We think thatCommunismas aber's particular faith is entirely his way of life, for instance, is com-own affair. Our hope is to make pletely wrong;but our ultimate quar-better Catholics, better Protestants, rel with the Communists is that theybetter Jews - or better Moslems - insist on imposing that way of life onout of those who belong to the the rest of us by murder, treason,Society. Out never-ending concern is and cruelty rather than by persua-with morality, integrity, and pur- sion. Even if our own use of forcepose. Regardless of the differences ever becomes necessary and morallybetween us in creed and dogma, we acceptable because it is in self-all believe that man is endowed by a defense, we must never lose sight ofDivine Creator with an innate desire the legal, traditional, and humanitar-and conscious pulpose to improve ian considerations of a compas-

sionate civilization. The Communistsrecognize no such compulsions, butthis very ingredient of amoral brut'ishness will help to destroy them inthe end.

IV

We believe in patriotism. Most ofw will gladly concede that a parlia-ment of nations, designed for thepurpose of increasing the freedomand ease with which individuals,ideals, and goods might cross na-tional boundaries would be desir-able. And we hope that in somefuture decade we may help to bringabout such a step of progress inman's pur€uit of peace, prosperity,and happiness. But we feel that thepresent United Nations was designedb11ftt foqndery lor thg_g1aq!!y, ot-posite purpose of increasing the ri-gidity of govemment controls overthe lives and affairs of individualmen. We believe it has become, as itwas intended to become, a majorinstrumentality for the establishmentof a one-world Communist tyrannyover the population of the wholeearth. One of our most immediateobjectives, therefore, is to get theUnited States out of the UnitedNations, and the United Nations outof the United States. We seek thus tosave our own country from thegradual and piecemeal sunender ofits sovereignty to this Communist-controlled supergovemment, and tostop giving our support to the steadyenslavement of other people throughthe machinations of this Communistagency.

V

We believe that a constitutionalRepublic, such as our Founding Fa-thers gave us, is probably ttre best ofall forms of govemment. We believethat a democracy, which they triedhard to obviate, and into which theliberals have been trying for 50 yearsto convert our Republic, is one ofthe worst of all forms of govem-ment. We call attention to the fact

(Not printed at Government expense)

Uoited StatesoJ Amefica

2that up to 1928 the U.S. ArmyTraining Manual still gave our men inuniform the following quite accutatedefinition, which would have beenthoroughly approved by the Consti-tutional Convention that establishedour Republic. "Democracy: A gov-emment of the masses. Authorityderived through mass meeting or anyform of 'direct' expression. Resultsin mobocracy. Attitude toward prop-erty is communistic - negating prop-erty rights. Attitude toward law isthat the will of the majority shallregulate, whether it be based upondeliberation or governed by passion,prejudice, and impulse, without re-straint or regard to consequences.Results in demagogism, license, agita-tion, discontent, anarchy:" It is tle-cause all history proves this to behre that we repeat so emphatically:"This is a Republic, not a democ-racy; let's keep it that way."

VI

We are opposed to collectivism asa political and economic system,even when it does not have thepolice*tate features of Communism.We are opposed to it no matterwhether the collectivism be calledsocialism or the welfare state or theNew Deal or the Fair Deal or theNew Frontier, or advanced undersome other semantic disguise. Andwe are opposed to it no matter whatmay be the framework or form ofgovemment under which collectivismis imposed. We believe that increas-ing the size of govemment, increas-ing the centralization of government,and increasing the functions of gov-emment all act as brakes on materialprogress and as destroyers of per-sonal freedom.

VII

We believe that even where thesize and functions of govemment areproperly limited, as much of thepoqer and duties of govemment aspossible should be retained in thehands of as small governmental unitsas possible, as close to the peopleserved by such units as possible. Forthe tendencie of any governingbody to waste, expansion, and des-potism all increase with the distanceof that body from the people gov-emed; the more closely any govem-ing body can be kept under observa-

CONGRESSIONAL RECORDtion by those who pay its bills andprovide its delegated authority, themore honestly responsible it will be.And the diffusion of govemmentalpower and functions is one of thegreatest safeguards against tyrannyman ha.s yet devised. For this reasonit is extremely important in our caseto keep our township, city, count5r,and state govemments from beingbribed and coerced into coming un-der one direct chain of control fromWashington.

VIT

We believe that for any peopleetemal vigilance is the price of lib-erty far more as against the insidiousencroachment of intemd tyrannythan against the danger of subjuga-tion from the outside or from theprospect of any sharp and decisiverevolution. In a republic we mustconstantly seek to elect and to keepin power a government we can trust,manned by people we can trust,maintaining a cunency we can trust,and working for purposes we cantrust (none of which we have today).We think it is even more importantfor the government to obey the lawsthan for the people to do do. But for30 years we have had a steady streamof governments which increasinglyhave regarded our laws and even ourConstitution as mere pieces of paper,which should not be allowed tostand in the way of what they, intheir omniscient benevolence, con-sidered to be "for the greatest goodof the geatest number." (Or in theirpower-seeking plans pretended so tobelieve.) We want a restoration of a"government of laws, and not ofmen" in this country; and if a fewimpeachments are necessary to bringthat about, then we are all for theimpeachments.

IX

We believe that in a general wayhistory repeats itself. For any com-bination of causes, similar to anearlier combination of causes, willlead as a rule to a combination ofresults somewhat similar to the oneproduced before. And history issimply a series of causes which pro-duced results, and so on aroundcycles as clearly discernible as any ofthe dozens that take place elsewherein the physical and biological sci

ences. But we believe that the mostimportant history consists not of ttrerepetitions but of the changes inthese recurring linla in the series.For the changes mark the extent towhich man has either been able toimprove himself and his environ-ment, or has allowed both to deterio-rate, since the la.st time around. Wethink that this true history is largelydetermined by ambitious individuals(both good and evil) and by smallminorities who really know whatthey want. And in The John BirchSociety our sense of gratitude andresponsibility (to God and to thenoble men of the past) for what wehave inherited makes us determinedto exert our influence, labor, andsacrifice for changes which we thinkwill constitute improvement.

X

In summary, we are striving, by allhonorable means at our disposal andto the limits of our energies andabilities, to bring about less govem-ment, more responsibility, and abetter world. Because the Commu-nists seek, always and everywhere, tobring about more government, lessindividual responsibilitV, and a com-pletely amoral world, we would haveto oppose them at every tum, evenon the philosophical level. Becausethey are seeking through a ggan-tically organized conspiracy to de-stroy all opposition, we must fightthem even more aggressively on theplane of action. But our strugglewith the Communists, while themost urgent and important task be-fore us today, is basically only inci-dental to our more important long-range and constructive purposes. Forthat very reason we are likely to bemore effective against the Commu-nists than if we were merely an adhoc group seeking to expose anddestroy so huge and powerful a gangof criminals. In organization, dedica-tion, and purpose we offer a newform of opposition to the Commu-nists which they have not faced inany other country. We have tried toraise a standard to which the wiseand the honest can repair. We wel-come all honorable allies in this pres-ent unceasing war. And we hope thatonce they and we and millions like ushave won a decisive victory at last,many of these same allie will join usin our long look toward the future.

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