ABSTRACT
The pastors paid willing homage to the power which had crucified the first Christian heretic-it was, after all, often their own power. But to the poor and the exploited and the deprived they preached patient tolerance, not force. They were not, of course, disturbed when the oppressors used force, whether it was the constant intimidation of daily life or the unmasked brutality which countered all outbreaks of impatience down below. In those circumstances gas and pistol were called means of defense, and rebellion, however justified, was terror. The power of the On-high was draped in ideology, and songs of praise were ready even for the loaded revolver. “They deck out the altars, and the poor suffer bitter hunger”—Amos’s words have always been relevant, and generally in vain. Even the “decking out” of art and philosophy, apart from “giving expression to their age in thought,” has often in fact put up an apologetic mask in front of it, gilding the fog of false conscience, spinning a thick web of words.
