Saturday, October 31, 2015

I would rather be wrong with St. Thomas

The priest was a young man of Philipot's age with the light skin of a metis. He preached a very short sermon on some words of St. Thomas the Apostle: "Let us go up to Jerusalem and die with him." He said, "The Church is in the world, it is part of the suffering in the world, and though Christ condemned the disciple who struck off the ear of the high priest's servant, our hearts go out in sympathy to all who are moved to violence by the suffering of others. The Church condemns violence, but it condemns indifference more harshly. Violence can be the expression of love, indifference never. One is an imperfection of charity, the other the perfection of egoism. In the days of fear, doubt and confusion, the simplicity and loyalty of one apostle advocated a political solution. He was wrong, but I would rather be wrong with St. Thomas than right with the cold and the craven. Let us go up to Jerusalem to die with him."
--Graham Greene, The Comedians (1965)

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