A Godly Hero: William Jennings Bryan

Breakpoint with Chuck Colson ^ | 7/3/2006 | Chuck Colson

[Mr. Silverback]

If Bryan were around today, he’d be a great social conservative Christian and/or political leader.

And, he would be unwelcome in the party of babykilling.

I'm no fan of populists, and we all know where the "party of the little guy" bit led us, but the man had a good heart.

There are links to further information at the source document.

If anyone wants on or off my Chuck Colson/BreakPoint Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.

[Mr. Silverback]

BreakPoint/Chuck Colson Ping!

If anyone wants on or off my Chuck Colson/BreakPoint Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.

[eddie willers]

Pick another hero, Chuck.

[teddyballgame]

Ann Coulter has a great chapter on the Scopes: Monkey Trial in her book, "Godless". She debunks a lot of the myth that has permeated since "Inherit the Wind" ran, like the fact that the teacher on trial was a substitute and friend of the prosecutor - never in danger of actually going to jail. The entire trial was a publicity stunt for the town of Dayton, Ohio.

[ClearCase_guy]

If Bryan were around today, he’d be a great social conservative Christian

As you say, such a man would be unwelcome among Democrats. However, aside from his solid Christian credentials, I believe that WJB was very much a populist and social reformer. I think he would fit quite comfortably among the Liberation Theology folks who talk about Christ but worship Marx.

I don't mean to put WJB down -- but he lived in a time of rampant social reform and he was one of the reformers. That's not always good. Perhaps his faith would have kept him on the side of the Good Guys.

[JamesP81]

This is yet another example in a very long line of examples where the public has so very easily swallowed the lies it has been fed.

[Mr. Silverback]

I don't mean to put WJB down -- but he lived in a time of rampant social reform and he was one of the reformers. That's not always good. Perhaps his faith would have kept him on the side of the Good Guys.

Perhaps, but then he might just have been another Joe Lieberman. Lieberman's faith is so strong it prevents him from doing much of anything on a Saturday...but permits him to vote for killing babies every time it comes up.

[wideawake]

Sorry, but I must disagree with Colson on this one.

It's true that Bryan is unfairly dumped on for being a Bible believer, but he wasn't a hero.

He was a kind of a grandstanding blowhard, he was instrumental in pushing the socialist agenda in the US, he was one of the prime movers of Prohibition, etc.

[orionblamblam]

> If Bryan were around today, he’d be...

... on the wrong side of history.

[horse_doc]

I agree - WJB shared a trait that many of the modern liberation theologists have - clinging to an idea long after it has been debunked.

Giving his "cross of gold" speech, decades after the issue was settled, is a pretty good example of this.

[Mr. Silverback]

I think you're probably closer to the truth than Chuck. To me, Bryan is a prime example of good intentions leading to the wrong place.

[bert]

Bryan was the definition of a creationist loser.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

One wise poltico of the period compared Bryan with the Platte River... a mile wide at the mouth but only two inches deep.

[Mr. Silverback]

... on the wrong side of history.

If you're talking politics, I mostly agree. If you're talking science...

Geraldo in waiting, media chanting
Alternative voices shout--God is passe
You don't have to believe in the things I believe in
But we'll watch the world and see what passes away.

White Heart, "Let My People Go"

[Mr. Silverback]

Geraldo in waiting, media chanting
Alternative voices shout--God is passe
You don't have to believe in the things I believe in
But we'll watch the world and see what passes away.

White Heart, "Let My People Go"

[billbears]

Don't forget, he was anti-trust (anti-capitalist), advocated nationalization of the railroad system (anti-capitalist), pushed for interventionist policies in situations that were none of this nation's business (Mexico in the 1910s), and a strong believer in the centralization of government power (especially on moral issues it seems).

IOW, Bryan would have made a good party Republican today. Not a conservative by any stretch of the imagination, but a good Republican. No wonder Colson thinks he's a hero.

[Military family member]

Dayton , Tennessee, not Dayton Ohio.

[KarlInOhio]

The entire trial was a publicity stunt for the town of Dayton, Ohio.

The really tricky part for Dayton, Ohio, was to get the trial held in the similarly named but much smaller city of Dayton, Tennessee.