This document discusses ethics violations at the Department of Veteran Affairs in 2014 when wait lists were mismanaged, resulting in delayed care and deaths of patients. It analyzes the situation using four ethical guidelines: objective responsibility, subjective responsibility, ability to defend decisions, and public interest. The secretary at the time, Eric Shinseki, is said to have violated these guidelines by not fulfilling his obligations and overseeing an organization that failed in its mission while falsifying records. References are provided on administrative ethics and previous commentary on unreformed issues at the VA.

1. Abuse of Ethics in Public Office
Mishal Albogami
1
The Department of Veteran Affairs had a difficult year in 2014
scandal due to the mismanagement of waiting lists for patients.
dozens of patients died due to delayed care
VA Department was caught
he might have had an idea of what is happening
Veteran Affairs
2
Objective responsibility: The secretary violated this ethical

2. guideline by violating the laws that govern his activities in the
office
Subjective responsibility: : Eric Shinseki failed to adhere to this
ethic by not fulfilling the obligations that are required of him as
the appointed VA secretary
Ability to defend a decision: while Eric Shinseki is principled
and honorable, he was in charge of an agency that was in
violation of its core mission to deliver healthcare to veterans.
Public interest: Eric Shinseki failed to fulfil public interest by
overseeing an organization that failed to achieve its mandate
while faking records to make it appear like a lot of patients
were treated
Violation of the principle of integrity: he health centers
falsified reports to conceal the long wait times suffered by the
veterans.
Ethical Issues
3
Cooper, T. L. (2013). The responsible administrator: An
approach to ethics for the administrative role. San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass.
Hegseth, P. (2016, April 7). The VA: Still Unreformed |
National Review. Retrieved from
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/433760/va-still-
unreformed

3. References
Drainage of torrential rain and rain in Jeddah Saudi Arabia
1
Introduction of the case
The case for The ministry leaders were mandated with the
implementation and follow-up of drainage projects by the
government of Saudi Arabia.
Some of the reasons are issues associated with unethical public
administration and use of public resources without considering
the public interest
con
Must the civil defense must be supported by other agencies or
bodies to address the disasters of rain and floods.
It is the big issues indicated that investors grabbed the stomachs
of the valleys and turned it into residential schemes.
This clearly shows the conflict of interest because those who
should
Lay the role of protecting public resources to benefit the public

4. turned to become grabbers of the same resources.
con
Violations in the Case
Some of the areas that the case clearly show violation of some
nature include: objective responsibility, role conflict, ability to
defend a decision, conflict of interest, and public interest.
They lost the public trust and never considered the public
interest.
The were also never able to defend their decision of grabbing
some portion.
con
The interest of the public was also ignored when the project
took so long before it was started.
This exposed the general public to an eminent disaster that
could have taken people’s lives.
(
1
)Freedom to Live: Chapter Four
NAME:
1. What did Hartman mean when he said that, “I’m quite sure
that virtual1y the same human values emphasized in the Bible

5. have been set forth in the “Bibles” of the world’s other
religions and by other great prophets and religious leaders
throughout history?”
ANSWER
2. According to Hartman, “Instead of living in tunnels of fear,”
what must we do?
ANSWER
3. How does that apply to today’s world?
ANSWER
Hartman says, “For me, Jesus is that person who for the first
time in human history articulated the nature of man’s infinity in
God.” What did he mean by that?
ANSWER
What did Hartman mean when he said we must not repeat the
error of the middle ages? ANSWER
4. What does he mean when he says the language of the bible is
metaphorical?
ANSWER
5. Show how the “two great commandments” can influence a
responsible public administrator.
ANSWER
6. How can the parable of the vineyard influence a responsible
public administrator?
ANSWER
How can the parable of the talents influence a responsible
public administrator? ANSWER
How can the feeding of the thousands as described in The Robe
show how a responsible public administrator can affect others?
ANSWER
7. The story of the woman at the well suggests some things a
responsible public servant should keep in mind. Share two
things you think it suggests the responsible public servant to
keep in mind.
ANSWER
8. What is the moral that every single parable illustrates in one
way or another, according to Hartman?

6. ANSWER
9. Pick one of the presentations from the last class and show
how what you learned connects with this chapter.
ANSWER
10. Pick another of the presentations and show how what you
learned from it connects with Chapter 3.
ANSWER
fiiltlrur,fl
1il{tilllflilHr:
,Lil]]lf ,1,..
Chapter For-rr
MY SELF AND RELI(;ION
-: :;''u-n. I was an acol)te rvho rvattcd incense about in the
church
- : - - .-.. priest at mass in other ways. Bclbre I rvas much older
I had
. - . -. :hc F athers of the Ctrurch and the etrrly Christian
marlyrs. The
-'- -:.r..1c'people I was living with hacl in their library a
Histor_v of
: ;,':',rclom.It told the stories o1'all the saints, the stoning and
- >. Stephen, the grilling of St. Lawrcnce, the flaying of St.
Cccilc
, ,--.-,ther? - and the tortllring ol others. how they rvcre pinchcd
- - ...nqs and their tongues or bosorrs cut off. holv hot e-q-qs
were

7. - -- .:: shoulders or boihng oi1 ra.as lorced into their months,
how
-' - :r l lcct 'ere cut off and their bodies covered u,ith br.rming
pitch.
..) .lre rare toda1,, but thcn thcv rvere often tbund in pioLrs
, - --..i-rtrlds in Europe. Surce I reacl cventhing else I carne
across,
" - ,' . l. .ri rnarl),rdom, thour:h it u,as not so good for a boy of
scr.'cr-r.
.:: crolounclly impressed. Whcn anyonc asked me then $'hat
- ,. L.e u hen I grew up, I rcpliccl instantlv, "A mart1.r."
-. , :r.'n I refused to cat somr- icc clcanr ri ith rry lathcr thc clay
hc
- - ::.:hc 'ar'.
, ,.l..rt I u ould call mv Catholic pcriod. Catholic in the prin-
ritive
- - l." arian peasants among rvhorr I lived. Later, u,hen I
srudicd
, . -'-t1r"rinas. I met another kind of Catholicism, one in u,hich
l
1 1 1'. g grcal expression of tbrrnal ariolouy,.
- - :;i.or tvo the monkish 1it-e pallcd Llpon lne. and my intercst
- -' .:-L' cihereal to the matcrial. I wcnt in fbr astronomv and
othcr
:-r;-nce and tancicd myself becorning an agnostic. Sorlehor.u,
i:. ::L- iirtellecrually hungry, ancl r.vhcn I rvas abor"rt 1r{ this
nonrc-
- - ,:: lcSilrl merging into my Protcsl.ant period. With my
brotircr I

8. .: i: .,s r Lutheran. I learnecl thc AugsbLrrg Confession. i reacl
' , -: .,:ion of the Bible, and I decpcnecl ury t-eeling for the
meaning
- l:..
. - j,':rmark. r.r,hen I rvas u,orking for Walt Disnev. that I camc
. ..;;.icc'olthe u,riter rvho. ncxt to the Evan_selist, has had morc
- ' . .hapine of my,'religious lit-c than anyone e1se. Tiris rvas
thc
" :npher Ssren Kierkegaarcl. At that tirne (about 193 1 ) I read
in
- - - : hrs books as P/zl ktsophitul I;rtrgruents, Either-Or. Feur
otttl
-' ::'d. The Sickness Lhtto Deurlt. Alter the Second World War,
.: :.1:ning formal axiology in rly hcad, I made an intensive
stucly
_ .
- * had been deeply moved by paintings of the Crucifixion and
/lflflruri" - .:', .r.s olJesus. I had always thought olJesr,rs as
being by my sidc.
90 FREEDOM TO LIVE: THE ROBERT HARTMAN STORY
My Self and Religion
.lesus did not attempt to downgrade the intellectual capacities
of men, but
lrc clid try to show that there is an even higher reality. "For
what shall it
lrlofit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own
soul?" (Mark

9. 5 ;.16).
Man, then, must not repeat this error of the Middle Ages; he
muststrive
l r gct himself in balance by establishing, besides the values of
everyday life
rrrrd thought, the reality and the supreme value of the spirit, of
love, and of
Iris own dignity.
lnstead of living in tunnels of fear, throwing up frantic
fortifications
irpilinst each other, let us live in the infinite reaLms of faith,
developrng our
..piritual strength as we have our mental and material strengths.
Indeed, if
,r, are to survive we must learn to live spiritually,
intrinsically. We either
I rvu cterally or not at all. We must study the map of the
Sellthat Jesus drew
Ior trs and follow its directions.
livcrything we have said so fu axiologicallyhasbeen
expressedbyJesus
irr lwo great Commandments, which are found in both the New
and Old
l(':itaments: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, andwith
rrll thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength,"
and"Thou
'.lrrlt love thy neighbor as thyself' (Matthew 22:37-39).
Since God is within us, the first Commandment says that you
must love
vorrrsclf fully: intrinsically - with all your heart and soul;
extrinsically -

10. ivrtlr all your strength; systemically - with all your mind. When
you do this
yor r not only live your Self, you love your Self (not selfishly
but in the sense
u I linowing and respecting and liking your Self). And the
second Command-
in('nt says that once you do this, you must love your neighbor
as you love
y,rrrrsclf. For in the depth of the Self at the vertex of the
inhnite coneof our
lrr,r rr g, we find not only ourselves, but also our fellow man -
and God. There
t,, rrnity of all rnen in God. It is a comrnunity not in space and
time, a com-
lrrrnity that Jesus calls the Kingdom of God.
Anyone may enter; anyone may join; each of us has - and is -
thekey to
tlrr l(ingdom - the loving or liking of our own Selves. For
unless you like
yorrl Self you cannot like anybody else. Unless you feel that
you are impor-
tnrrt. rrothing can be important to you. You must make
yourselfworthy of
yorrrsclf to be worthy of your fellowman and of God. If you
don't take
r,i,rrlsclf seriously, if you take yourself as an accident
thatmight justas well
rrnl hrrve happened, then you are lost; you cannot fulfill the
meaning ofyour
Itlt'.
Itcrncmbcr, for example, the tragic story of a girl who was
called a
svrrrlroI o1'sex lrut who actually was a slmrbol for the spiritual
povertyof our

11. r lirv, Marilyn Monroe was a lovely and lovable woman - but
with a tragic
llnrv irr lrcr Sclt'. She always had, she said, a feeling deep
down that she was
r lrr'rrtiug sor11cor1c, that shc was not gcnuine. She tried
desperatelyto over-
9l
WhenlreadKierkegaard,sconceptionofJesusas..theeternalcontemp
o.
r"ry,;;t ;;; *no i. itltt ,,s as a living friend all the time' I
understood very
*"ii, f U.fi"re, what he meant. It oriented me' It confirmed' so to
speak' my
.G"r. i.l",ionship. ttrus, the feeling I had_always had for Jesus
and what
i; ;id blended easilyand'naturally-with the principles of human
valu6
which I later developed in formal axiology' indeed' I can find
precisc
confirmation for thosi principles ln Kierkegaard's very
words'
Here, then, i. -y o.il u*iotgical interpretation of the Bible
and religiou
* t"r*s of my Self and of reli[ion. I'm (uite sure that virtually
the samg
human values
"*pt
urL"A oihe Aibtehave been set forth in the "Bibles'i

12. of the world's other religions and by other great -plgpl"lt
and,religiout
i"u["i, ,r,ro"ghout histor!. i *rir" heie of Jesus and christianity
because it
i, tfr" t"frgioi, t.uaitio, in which I was reared and with
Y,lltgi::l,^"ly:
i, a-.riJu are familiar. The christian accepts Jesus asthe
Messiah, tho'
savio. of the world, the son of God, the christbs; the Jew
does not. Forhim,
l"*.i, ,r",her prophet. For both, however' Jesus is a great
teacher' and
*t
"i
fr" says is true. Actually, I doubt that a great many. Christians
accspt
Jesus as the Christ; it'.-l"ik"Uihui*"tt Christlans haveihe Jewish
view of
;;;;. i" me, there is little difference in the two views' For me'
Jesus is thnt
p.i.", *rr" rtr the first time in human history articulated the
nature ofman'l
irf*i V in God. He gave added emphasis to the place of man in
religiout
concepts. ,,, -1-^--r+L^-^r. .
N"^u'rytwothousandyearsago,Jesustriedtotellusaboutthereligiottl

13. experience in human terms andlts sublime importance for
our tme life. But
i,ii"t rri. parables anJteachings have not.been widely
understood' W0
;";;th"; to each other, but ie d9 so without to*!t:-h:::1"T::1t:
q.i*iy,*fr"n we do try toput them into practice' we go to wild
extremot'
After Jesus, Christians'mi-srinderstood his emphasis 9n.th."
spiritual Y:1*
;;;;;;;Geing that,t* ,pir*"r included.the material, they opposed
bothr
worlds to each otrrer, reja:iding the material world as a.Fall
from
C9d l
.o*pr"*ry.isreadingciapteri of Genesis - and as a sink of
comrptioui
;;tp;;i"rsirr, *lttirt ici tt'eir spirits, their souls' should have
nothin$
to do.
The Church, master of the Middle Ages, had as deep a contempt
for thli
material worta as our preserrt uge hus forlhe spirituat w&td'
log.rnicus
a1{
Galileo had to r"u, to.toil, u"a?alileo actuaily had to face it.
other mcn of
science were regarded;;a;;eatea u. "*"kpoi,
or heretics. ,:.9:t y:f

14. burned at the stake. cot r*u,r, *as thought mad for theorizing
that the world
is round. Thus did tne teaders of ttre trllddte Ages reject
the stnrgglc ol thO
mind to advance.'"
ioAuy *uny of our leaders similarly rciect the strugglc of'thc
human spirlt
to advancc.
92 FREEDOM TO LIVE: THE ROBERT HARTMAN STORY
come this feeling, and perhaps she would have made it had she
not ll
victim to one ofher depressive spells. For her conscience and
her consci
ness were more sensitive than those of most other people in her
predica
She tried desperately to love herself and to love others. Love
was
upon her but she was unable to respond fully. It was no
accident, I bcli
that this woman became a symbol tbr our time. We gain the
world ancl
lose our soul. We give ourseives to soul-substitutes, from
corporations t0
status symbols to fatherlands, and occasionally to
psychoanalysis, and wl
die alone. We could also die by our own hands, as Marilyn
Monroe did, ln

15. national suicide.
We lack the religious experience as an experience of the Self.
We do not
comprehend the Kingdom of God within us.
Unforhrnately, what Jesus told us about the Kingdom of God
has ctutto
down to us in a book which, I am afraid, few have learned to
read lnd
comprehend. This isbecause it is notwritten in
ordinarylanguage.Thc llihlo
deals with the infinite and, as we have seen, in infinity the part
equals tlto
whole, nothing is ever lost, and anything that happens is
enrichment,
This means that events of and within infinity cannot be
understood by tlro
logic of the finite nor be expressed by the language of the
finite. Thc Bihlc,
therefore, uses the logic of the infinite and expresses it in the
languagc ul'
infinity. The language ofinfinity, of intrinsic value, is the
language of poctry
and of metaphor. A metaphor is a word of the finite language to
which is
given an infinite meaning. It means anything but what it does
mean. Fnr
example, the word "peach," as in "a peach of an ash tray," "a
peach ol'tt
girl," "a peach of a car," means anything except peach. Even
when yuu
speak of a "peach of a peach," the first "peach" does not mean
what thc
second does. Any word of the finite language of every day can

16. be used as
a metaphor. Usually the fuller a word's meaning, the richer it is
in urcta-
phors. Take the word "rose," and look in a book of quotations to
scc how
many things that word has been used for. Other words of
systemic mcaning,
like swear words, have poor metaphorical use. A metaphor gives
finitc
language infinite meaning. Metaphorical language is the
language of thc
Bible.
1. Elements of the Bible
The four elements of the Bible are the World, and the three
persons ol'thc
Trinity - God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
Axiologically speaking, the structure of the spiritual world is
sinrilar to
the structure of man. Just as 'I' is the concept that pulls together
into onc all
the infinite stages of 'me' - at birth, now, and at death - so God
is thc
My Self and Religiort rl t
, ,,nccpt that pulls the infinite stages of the space-time world
ttlgctll('l irll(l
1,rvcs this world unity and self-identity.
( iod is infinitely good, in the moral and spiritual sense, as well
as ilt thr.:
Ir11ig31sense. God is potentiallythe world's Self-fulfillment. As
the world

17. I rt'r.t)rT]€S morally and spiritually better, it becomes more and
more God-likc.
I u the degree that the world degenerates, impoverishes, and
confuses itself,
rt h-:ts God down and makes a mockery of His goodness and
mastery - of
I lis sovereignty over creation. False gods and idols then assume
sovereignty
rrvcr rtar'Jsffairs. When the world does not follow the road to
its self-
trrlllllment, toward God, the world is alientated from itself and
from God -
tust as a person going astray is alienated from his Self. Such
Self-alienation
l,':uls to Self-destruction. The definition of the world-in-God is
God's own
,[.llnition of Himself: "I am I." But the world alienated from
itself, that is,
lrorn God, has the definition of the schizophrenic: "I am not I."
Should this
,lt.linition be fulfilied, there must come the day when the world
will not be.
Of all creation, only man can reach total goodness in the world,
the
rrr;rxinturn possible richness of qualities. A man who succeeds
in deepening
lris consciousness, his awareness to an infinite depth, who
encompasses
rr ithin his spirit the rvhole worid and approaches to the
richness of God, such
;r rlan would be a Saint. and a Saint of Sarnts. This prototypal
person in the
liible is Jesus. To those of us who aspire to Christianity, Jesus
is he who
( iuuc so that we may live, in the fullest sense of this word, in

18. infinite aware-
rrcss. He represents God within the world, and the world beforc
God. He is
r lrc rnediator between us and God. He must not be an historical
character in
';1race and time; the minute he becomes such we lose hirn and
we lose
t
ilrristianity.
He must be outside of space and time. an intrinsic rather than
rrrr cxtrinsii person. (It is deeply meaningful that we keep track
of time with
"lJ.C." and ''A.D." "C" itself is not in time,
just as zero, between positive
:rrrcl negative numbers, is not itself a number.) We can
understand Jesus only
rl'rvc hive a living relationship with him, as if he were walking
at our side
the eternal contemporary. The Gospel, then, is not primarily a
repoft of
past events; it is an eiperience ofa living reality. Too often, in
organized
r.cligion, with its traditions and rituai, this experience of the
living Jesus is
s rr ltocated.
The fourth element in the.B ible _inaddition to the World, God,
and Jesus
is the Hoiy Spirit, which corresponds to the symbolic nature of
man when
hc has made himself transparent to himself, when his Self uses
his body and

19. rrrincl as a symbol for a higher meaning. The Holy Spirit is the
Word, the
l.ogos, not made incarnate as in Jesus, but Word, speaking of
God to man.
I'ho Floly Spirit is the Comfofterwho wouldteachus anew all
that Jesus said
t.krhn l4:26), thc cver-continuing ctfort by men of good will to
clarify thc
( iospcl of Jcsus, to tnitkc thc Worlcl transpzrrent as God's
Word.
94 FREEDOM TO LIVE: THE ROBERT HARTMAN
STORY
2. The Message of the Parables
The parables of Jesus are situations in infinity which describe
for us
i.uLi". of the Kingdo- otCoa' Each parable is a metaphor, lhe
yor!1
those of the .r.ryJuy social language ind of everyday s.ocial
situations;
;il;;;;irs t ^
nottti"g to dJwiih the everydavworld and its situati
ih.-y r".* tfre wortd of the spirit,the realm of the infinite. Once
we
.tund thi, language we undeistand the message of the--parables'
This -"r.u*g" iesus has put in

20. these pithy words: "For whosoever
to him shall bi given, andie shall have more abund"l:?:9'i,I!::
;;;il;;,, i.;m hi"m ,nuri f L iaken away evenlhat he harh"
(Matthew I 3:12)J
This is the message "iirr"
p"i"tLes. what does itmean? You can't muki
g,hJl"il;;tn" n"it.. In finite language-it woul4
seem to mean that everiRockeleller is sure to enter the
KingqoT o.f q"u'T:
it. rnor" money yoll'hu.r", the more good things youget- And the
beggr!
_ frl *fr" hath not, from him shall be iaken even that he hath -
appears t0
be doomed to go to Hell. Is that what Jesus means? Obviously
not' For hl
says it is easier ro, o "u*Jto !o
througllhe eye of a needfe than for a rioh
,,i, i" g. r" Heaven Otnuttt.# 19:24)lWhen the rich young man-
asks hittl';Mur*i I want to foliow you, what shall I do?" Jesus
answers, "Sell every'
tfrlrg V"" t "r"
and fo[o#me-." What then does Jesus mean? What is it thot
one should have in order to have even more and which'
lacking it' hc wtll
i"* *".V,fring? It i., of.outt., the infinite spirit' the.knoYlng of
"th6

21. ,"..",, ofifre f-ingdom of Heaven." He who has the infinite spirit
will
havf
;;;;;;;" .pirit ind rr" tr,u1have it in abundance' But he who has
,ot of
;h&t*, *tr, Oo". he have? He may have much of the world's
treasur.l
buthefinds,soonerotfut..-aslvanllychdidsooner-thatitreallyil
worthless, and in the enJ, of course, he ltses it all because
he cannot tuko
it wirh him. Those *h;il";; ,piritrut understanding will gain
morc and
deeper understanding. ifto." w'ho do''t have it - s""it'g' they see
not' and
hearing, they t "*
,ot - *ill lose what worldly understanding and goods thcy
have."-;;".y
single parable illustrates this moral in one way or another'
Tnko
th;;;bl""ortt" "in"vutJ
(Matthew 20:1-16)' Some workers put in 0
t*ir"-no". day in tn"'rin"yutO under a hot sun' From time to
tirnc tho
vineyard master go., ,o ttre town market place and says to thg
rn91 loaling
;;;;;rh.t", "W=hy aot ;t yo., work?" They say-nobody has hired

22. thcrn' So
t. [i.L* trr.* to work in tle vineyard, ut d h. keeps this up all
day lottg'
Even an hour before tfr" ""Jof
tt" day he asks a few loafers to comc in tnd
*or[. wn"n the day it or"t, "r.ryo'"i'
paid a dollar - everyone' thosc who
worked an hour, two hours, three houis, and those
who workcd all drty'
Nu*Jrv, those who worked all day protest that it isn't fair fbr
thcur tu
gct
My Self and Religion
no more than the men who only worked one hour. Says th1
,
vincyard, "Didn't you get as much as you were promised?"
"YN^l()r(l r
"Wcll, then." he says. "what more do you want? Are you
anvwi," tlto"Wcll, then," he says, "what more do you want?
Are you anyw,r," tl
lrrst shall be first, and the first last: for many are called, but
fe{rsc o
What on earth does it mean? It does look unfar. And frorn'
choWhat on earth does it mean? It does look unfar. And frorn -
chosr
vrcw of finite arithmetic, it is unfair. No business in the world
;thc po
t h is way. But this is inf,rrity business that Jesus is talkine

23. 366u*" condtlris way. But this is inlirnity business that Jesus is
talking abou*" cond ]
l( ingdom of Heaven. No space or time. If there is no tirie, *h:>
this tl!
,l.,ci it make how lons a man has worked? Evervbodv is ttrenlt
diffc lttlocs it make how long a man has worked? Everybody is
therl( diffc ]I^^I
onc eremity is as eterial as another erernity, and the so-calle] ix
"," IIIt'tcmity is as etemal as the so-called rwelve-hour etemity;
thel) te6-^[t-tqtr
rrrinutes nor hours. There is no space either. lf there is no spaql
are ni.ljllft
rs no separation, because what separates you and me ls the sp-
='. ttren,llltot
rrs. If there is no separation, then th"r" ur" no separate
pockeixoe betttllolg
n() separate pocketi. what you have everybody iras. wtrat yoi' lf
th.Hwt'sn
rr.bscly has. So it makes no diff.r"n.. *ho g.i, what. The
dojl!on't il,:tro
Io ir11y611" soes to evervone. At the bonom of our soirirual
Selv*'qt that "'vc,l() anyone goes to everyone. At the bofiom of
our spiritual Selvq.r that "'"$,
,',rrnmunit!. Al1 of us u." on". o w" u.Ogocs
The protesting workers didn't understand the logic ofthe infi6.
e vcry action is plus rernernber the alephs, the infinities only
6,'rts in r,
lroodness olthe Master to anyone makes all better and cannot
ptlUO up. '+:h
iuryonc worse off. He who has received the Lord's grace
wi1,"ibly1-'rtc
l,cnelits to all. The iast in the earthly value scale -- tfie
childd.uaiutJl"
thc meek. the humble - they will be first in the Kingdorn of f,

24. the f^lis
lirut on earth - the mighry, t-he rich, the powerful,
the"impofta,irttuu"r)llt'
irr the Kingdom of Heaven. For many are called but few are
cliWitl bs i
tte
rlrc poweriri succeed in sloughing oif the lesser values of the
1^)^enl f"l,1ut!
tlrcy are ready to enter the K-ingdlorn of Heaven, the
vineyard'rld solrof
e rrter, they.ni.., no matter whei. It is only the if that.ouni.,
n".", if *pt
lior this ,iuson it was possible for the bandit who was crucifiejt
the wlne}
ro bc in Paradise with [im. In that lasr moment he saw the
wholov With J:ten.
suw his guilt and repentedl he became erernal. "Lord." he said-
.)f Lilu=iY^a
rrrc when thou comest into thy kingdom." This repentance
liftq", remeJ's
rlirncnsion of etemiry and rnade gSod for the whole ol'his finii]
him tcJt:::
is rnore joy in Heaven for one sinner who repenteth than for
nin"'*in. Th:::
rrtcn who do not need repentance. -'V-nine jiri
Another parable in which the infinite meaning of finite wordq ;.
;'lJy.:,;H:ffi';f ,'ffi ltlT:[:f :'ffiX::];1,1f:';l:[1lsi--.[ffi r
ihc second, one to the third, according to their ability. The first
$.t, t*i l'
n r()ncy fruitfully and became a rich man. The second wasn't
o,,ilv"rt"qunlo
hut hc clid manage to incrcasc his stake. The third. though. *iit

25. *o.._
nr,,i',lfft
96 FREEDOM TO LIVE: THE ROBERT HARTMAN STORY
had no courage, he lacked faith, he played it safe, and he buried
his
in the ground. When the lord returned, he rejoiced in the
initiative
courge of the first two servants, but when the third gave him
back
money, saying, "Here it is, I didn't lose a cent," the lord was
angry. o'Y
wicked and slothful servant," he said, "to outer darkness with
you w
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." The poor servant
was
dered. He didn't know his master. He feared him because he
didn't
stand him. He looked at infinity from the finite point of view.
So he was
saved, not lifted to the higher level of meaning, to the
understanding of
infinite value. He buried his own Self in the earth and lived like
a mole.
talent in the parable is our potentiality of spirit. If we do not
invest it and I
it grow, without hesitation and with spiritual boldness, we
offend God
we actually squander our good,let it decay and degenerate. If we
don't
develop that which we have, we lose everything.

26. Here, again, reappears the theme of the parables. Unto every
one who
shall be given. Ifwe use the intrinsic, spiritual treasure within
us we can only.r
gain. But if we do not use it we shall lose all, even our earthly
possessiorlt,
So it is with all the parables. Reading them with this theme in
mind, you will,
find the revelation of a new dimension. They are the map of the
realnr of
infiniry.
Jesus' whole life is a syrnbol of infinity, a metaphor of the
spirit. Hitr
miracles, for example, are p r a cti c al m etap h or s. When he
changes water i nt0,
wine he changes the terrestrial into the spirit in this metaphor
water dool'
not stand for spirit but wine does. When he awakens the dead he
awakcnl,
the spiritually dead to spiritial life, when he heals the sick he
heals the
spiritually sick - those who have the "sickness unto death."
Kierkegaard,
by the way, took this title for one of his books from John I 1:4,
the story of
Lazarus. To be physically dead is not the sickness unto death; to
be spiritu.
ally dead is. To interpret a miracle we have to find the
mechanics o1'tho,
infinite within it. One of the most spirited interpretations is
Lloyd Douglas'l
account of the feeding of the five thousandin The Robe.
'...It was growing late in the aftemoon. I had been so moved by

27. the thirrgr
I had heard and seen that I had not thought ofbeing hungry.
Reuben and
I, knowing there would be nothing out there to eat, had stopped
at O
market-booth in Capemaum and had bought some bread and
cured fish,
In any other kind of crowd, we would have eaten our luncheon.
But now
that we had begun to feel hungry, I was ashamed to eat what I
had bcltrro
the faces of the men about me; for, as I have said, iesus had
been talking
about us all being of one family, and how we ought to share
what wc had
with one another. I should have been willing to divide with the
man ncxt
My Self and Religion 97
to me; but I didn't have much more than enough for myself. So -
I didn,t
cat; nor did Reuben.'
'I daresay there were plenty of men in the crowd who faced the
same
clilemma,' surmised Marcellus.
'well - the disciples were around Jesus telling him he had better
dismiss
the people, so they could go to the little villages and buy food.
Justus told
me afterward that Jesus only shook his head and told them that
the people
would be fed. They were much bewildered and worried. There
was a
small boy, sitting very close and overhearing this talk. He had a
little

28. basket, his own lunch, not very much; just enough to feed a boy.
He went
to Jesus with his basket and said he was willing to share what
he had.,
Marcellus' eyes lighted, and he leaned forward attentively.
'Go on,' he dernanded. 'This is wonderful.'
'Yes - it really was wonderful, sir. Jesus took the basket and
held it up
lbr the people to see. And then he told how the boy wanted to
share his
lbod with all of the people. And he looked up and thanked God
for the
little boy's gift. It was very, very quiet, sir. Then he began
breaking the
srnall loaves into bits, and the fish he tore into liuie shreds; and
he gave
these fragments to his disciples and told them to feed the
people.,
'Did the crowd laugh?' asked Marcellus.
'Well - no sir. We didn't laugh, though almost everyone smiled
over
such a big crowd being fed on almost nothing, as you might say.
As I told
you, I had been ashamed to bring out the food I had, and now I
was
rrshamed not to; so I unwrapped my bread and fish, and broke
off a piece,
rrnd offered it to the man next to me.'
'Wonderfull' shouted Marcellus. 'Was he glad to get it?'
'He had some of his own...But there were plenty of people who
did not
lrave any food along with them, sir. And everyone was fed, that
dayl
After it was over, they gathere d up a dozen basketfuls of

29. fragments, left
t)vcr'
'...This is really a marvelous story, Hariph!'
'You believe it, sir?' Hariph was happily surprised.
'lndeed, I do! And I believe it was a miracle! Jesus had inspired
those
stingy, selfish people to be decent to one another! It takes a
truly great
nrnn to make one harmonious family out of a crowd like that.7
.lcsus, Douglas shows us, is not concerned with miracles in
space and
Irrrc; le is conceruedwith miracles in the inner Self.
l'lrc Gospel seeks to make very clear the differences between
the finite
irrrrl lhc infinite, between social and metaphorical language,
between the
r'r tlinsic and intrinsic. Take thc conversaion between Jesus and
Nicodemus.
It'rrrs tclls lriln, "tJnlcss a rnan tro lrom again he cannot see the
Kingdorn of
tJX I l{l l,'l}()M t(l t.tVlt:THEROBERTHARTMANSTORY
( irrrl " Nrt'.rlcrrrtrs rrrrswcrs, "How can a man be born when
he is old? c
Ir. r'rrrcl rlrr.: sccontl tin-re into his mother's womb?', (John
3:3-4). Jesuc
('rilrrc rrses tho word "bom" metaphorically; he means spiritual
birth,
llcslr irnrl thc spirit, the social and the morallndividual, have
entireltdi
crrt tlirncnsions; in our axiological terminology, they are those

30. of extri
lnclintrinsic value, respectively. "Birth" in orie aimension is
entirelydi
cnt fiom "birth" in the other. That which is bom ofthe flesh is
flesh; and
which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:6.) This difference
ii ect
by a modem philosopher, Nicholas Berdyaev, in sravery and
Freedom,
Personality is not a biological or a psychological phenomenon,
but
ethical and spiritual one. The individual is closJly hnked with
the ma
world. He is brought to.birth by the generic process...
personality is
born of the family and the cosmic-procesi, not born of a father
anf
mother, but emanates from God; it makes its appearance from a
world.
This means that while the individual is ofthe extrinsic world,
the person.
ality is of the intrinsic world. This intrinsic world is infinitely
richer than tho
extrinsic world and therefore, says.Berdyaev, ..The entire world
is nothing
in comparison with human personality, with the unique person
ofman." Tho
same thought has been expressed by pico, pascar, Bergson, and
othe*i
quantitatively man is a. minute particre in the universej
quaritatively ho
incomparably exceeds the universe.
The Gospel juxtaposes the two kinds of values - extrinsic and

31. intrinsio
- most explicitly in the conversation between Jesus and the
woman of
Samaria (John 4:7-39). It begins:
There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith
unto her,
'Give me to drink.' (For his disciples were gone away into the
city to br,ry
meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria.,nto hi-, lHow is it that
thoi,
being a Jew, asketh drink of me, which am a woman of samaria?
fbr tho
Jews have no dealing with the Samaritans.,
"Jesus saith unto her" - already this is an act of intrinsic
valuation,
usually, Samaritans are not spoken to by Jews; the individual
Samaritan is
never valued as a person but only as a member of the class of
Samaritans,
But Jesus speaks to the woman, not as a samaritan but as a
woman, and,
indeed, as this particular woman, as becomes clear rater. He
speaks to hcr
in everyday language, bllt metaphorically: ..Give me to drink.,,
The woman answers correctly to the act of intrinsic valuation,
but not to
the intrinsic language. "How is it that thou being a Jcw, asketh
clrink of nrc,
I
My Self and Religion

32. rvlrich am a woman of Samaria?" Jesus answers by showing
herthe intrinsic
rnurning of what he said: "If thou knewest the gift of God, and
who it is that
,lrith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of
Him, and He
rvould have given thee living water."
lloth he and the woman are in the realm of value, and she could
have
irilicd of him as well as he of her. The water he wants in
communion with
lrcl is not empirical water but living spirit. She does not
understand and
irl)l)lies the language of the world to his metaphor: "Sir, thou
hast nothing
Io rlraw with, and the well is deep..." Jesus continues to make
clear the two
l irrtls of value: "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst
again: but
rvlrosoever drinketh of the water that i shall give him shall
never thirst."
I lrrrst is of the body, of the empirical world, where there is
space and time
rrrrrl hence subtraction and longing for satisfaction. ln the
Kingdom of God
tlrcrc is no space and time, no subtraction; everything is added
unto us, and
nll arc in creative unity: "The water that I shall give him shall
be in him a
rvcll of water springing up into everlasting life."
'l'he woman begins to understand vaguely. She asks for this
water. Jesus
t'orrnters by drawing attention to her own life situation. "Go,

33. call thy hus-
lurnd and come hither." To have a husband and love him is
intrinsic value
,rrrcl belongs to the realm of the living water. But the woman
said, "I have
no husband." ln fact she has had five 'husbands,' and Jesus
brings home to
lrr'r the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic valuation.
Husband is an
irrtlinsic term and refers to one and only one in a lifetime. "And
he whom
tlrou now hast is not thy husband; in that saidst thou truly."
-[he
woman begins really to understand, but she understands in her
own
rviry. The rnan who speaks intrinsic value is something outside
her own
rvorld, and all she knows of such a man is that he is a prophet.
The prophet
lvorships at a certain place and time. But Jesus makes clear that
God is not
ol'this world but within us and rray be worshiped within us
anylvhere, any
tirnc:
Ilut the hour cometh and now is, when the true worshipers shall
worship
thc Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to
worship
llim. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship
Him in
spirit and in truth.
Now the woman divines the whole truth; she calls him the

34. Messiah. At
tlris moment the disciples return from the city, and now the
conversation is
rcpcated in a different key. One of the disciples asks him to eat,
and Jesus
rclloats the metaphorical game: "I have meat to eat that ye know
not of." The
tlisciplcs, like thc wornan, mistake the meaning: "Hath
anymanbroughthim
rrtrght to cat?" Ancl now.lcsus makes his whole meaning clear,
using not only
99
IOO FREEDOM To LIVE: THE ROBERT HARTMAN STORY
My Self and Religion
i1-:.ttf:#j"Tjl'"9::$1itr'i'g that grows and is created -
Wirh rcc-o^+ _: ,.-,1:::oTg metaphors of the parables.
Arrother example: the philosopher Immanuel Kant, a lirrle
lrrl tall, was out walking one day when there came towarrl iii
*"yXg:.S;l,,H"Hl*standiigth"E;i';;:.i:",i,,1?i:',i0.*,.,
in their un rt erqranrr i n _ :Xil^,.|; 9j :.lO J"r ar the starr o f
tfr"i. up*ioiic
Ittt tall, a butcher with an apron and a big knife, ready to slo,
lrlrilosopher. Kant looked up at him, smiled, and said,
..1f[
hrrtchering day is Thursday, and today is Monday." "Oh, ;
rrurn said.

35. There is in the Gospel p"1rr".-".ffir";ffiore fundamentar
jur,rX',,j,,"JJ**:*:,: j:g,,heinnnite,notln'ilg,ug"butinsubstance_
What is the secret? You have to find a logic that is diffh"..... - !
llrc: cvildoer but which embraces both him
""J;;;. Sir.iTll'l hnlIrrrrrtr - where he is on one side anrl vorr are
nn itl" .,ri..--
rrls ltt8le h
i[?ff;':'.T, : :f,.?q. "
o e' i t re s u s i s avi n ;; ;"#',s.9
l.i H fl'Ji, #
understood. m,,ch rn ,l"j:^T"Ell: qigooil grlcod:;i;"yi#
"ot
t e
Irrritc - where he is on one side and you are on the other .-
1,"."'rl{ llfi
roirrsertthelogicoftheinfiniteintoihesituation.Thiswill'ttc'-
tlreliT{
Irirn on the same level. liftins him to vours. It will l.r itI"ntllt'o
y$tlun ders tood. m u c h ro tr.,
"
a.trr,,,.ni ; i;ffiH ;:;;r.,r:;1" liil: ?:l9if:*:::i,*9:,'^,lf
yl;l1,ffig#;rillatr,rasreatconlmand,
Ir irn on the same level, lifting him to yours. It will let fr ; *'
.]..' ttcro X$l,l
uurkc him understand you, thJugh in his own, .o-"tl-"" 1",*"
lhua
'l'he caoaciw to use this kind of losic seems to he inhn---:" ''(ls

36. wlly,"Res i sr n ot Ev i 1,. ( Matthew s, 3 e ;,2;, ir" ;ilit ;;i[l gfi
i::""ffi T1 igood" (Romans 12:21). f"ru. gir..'r;;.;
the meaning ofttr;.
".-r-qn;mo-+.
..rrL ^ -
rlous examples in explai
in th e i r u nd e rs tand i n, ;il $ i.; ili'J,i'#:;[T,:[],] ::fi :;",::
ffiliterally, and rhus o"i'r.::.0,"-rrir;i_;il i".". not, hearing we
hearoqn,T:l
*l*o*.,rt is still *tr,.. .,ii.yoni".
themeaningof thiscommuna-J,rt,:riiioro#il:X?,",:lTiJff #"rl#ll
*::f ,ffi ::.1n j::,:,n:l*1.1 _iryffi:;?: : q) r once heard a,",n o,
lwhich the preacher said, ..The w";;;;, #;iih,:T.iffilf,;rill:islaps
you on one cheek tum to him tfr" otfr.,
"fr"ek
to see how he diJ it, o
",,EltjSI;"3,..,:1o1.resus_m;;;ffi
.;"","eantwharhesaid:or.rbrr
o th er ch eek ar s o to b. .;i ;;;: rh #;.T; ffi l,:T,Jii1,ff 1X,*l1l'
lt?ofthe sail ofthe other,s ang".i;;;;;lr rt r*"r* incentive roi-
evil<t,ingthan resistance to it. whdy;;;;;;;;;*
""i1,;,ou
drain the tun frorn it,Nothing is more disconceni"g t" , *idffian
poriteness. And do you knowwhat a dog does when he i.
#;;;s*;ffii'
'-;,;;,i;;;i. "i"-i, Hc riorooyl::,, four legs lp, an9,rr" ret;; d"oes
nothingHere are more of Je.sur'

37. "*u-!"t"r,;if ;;y ,nun *ir-r sue rhee a*hc raw,and take thv coat.
ret him t;" ,oi;;rr "[l. And whosow;;;;ir cornpor.?';,f
ff#n, ffi yJll'il
##;?M"fi ew 5 : 4o-4 1 )
Ir means we shourd gyercome the finite by the infinire, the
logic of.rinitothinking by the rosic orinririt. tn;;ffi.
il)";;;;il,i;il;'r:,::,;il
up toa higher level of rn"earrrg. w" ri";ffii; Iile evirdoer
ov..,",,lrgiirn, rryour exampre. rhe snirit of.the Kingd";;e;. n"r,
"r"liu"'ion"is,,rory,ifyou know how. f'ake AO*r,u*iir.o;'
ilh.,1r:,Iebody reproachcct hirn,saying, "whv are vo, so kind
to;;;r";;i;s? why don,t you annihiratothem?" Lincorn ruid
"Don'tl il,hjj#;;enemies by making fricncrs.r,them?" An Es q u i
re cartoo.n t o*.J t o .r"Ji^"r_ ir r,fr..li U.ur rtirr..i
"an
l n gon their bigclubs' and tooting on in
"r"r"."r, "ta third """;;;'r, g;inringhappily' bouncingalongwiti
"
rinr"'t"rqr"r of flowcrs in his ha-nd..r,rrccaptron: "Boys, I've
revolutionized ro"".'."r^taud ol.basrrirrg i, thc rrcarrsot'his
rivals. he won rhe hearr;il;i. 'r;
'l'he capaciry to use this kind of logic seems to be inborn -- ^'rts
WllI,
I rrlic my toy, fo, instance. My brother and I once
prun"i.ltliotttc pcoplg,
,rrling at Niagara Falls with our families. My brother'; f;J.,t:
*tcct litr utt
I I an-d mybo),about 13. Mybrother's boywas u *ifJeuY
w€s tltctt abttrtt

38. lrc wouidn'ihurt a fly. t said to mybrotier, ,ppr.t"n-Ji'
rvrroewas tlliltl
v,rrr boy; you know my boy. Before you know it there'ji?'
-You
kltow
rrurybe my toy will be throwl into Niagara." "Well," ruiJ ,-
.,"f_u fight nlrtl
rIrriught about that, but let's see whaihappens."'$;;'}^:rothcr,
"l'vc
lrrrrdt-y shaken hands before my brothe.'r boy kicked;; ;'::land
we had
My bty crouched, hopped along on the other t"g, ,nd'"JuJ tn the
shins'
rvoLrnded." hnmediateiy, the aggiessor put his u.ri r.o,rrrd;1'*-
uuch, I'rn
l,,;.i,i:}nX'f ;*,1,*1,fr f l,Ly'"r"sbthevptaved*";"iJJ"%:'#:l;
'l'he logic of the infinite, the brotherhood ofman, can be r rea,
:^
lrow. The most tremendous example of this that I ever he*j
.l,lliY:u know
;r lirrmer member of the German ernbassy in Mexico Cit . .,Julil
told me by
liorcign Office in Bonn. He was in the battle of Stalinp"r'ru
lS,now in the
"u",yihing
he had - his gun, his bayonet, his ammunitior]"1,I-iS had lost
lrrrnped into a shell holJand was sitting there, shiveri; i.";;:.:ls

39. coat. He
ilrc battle raging all around, when a i'uge Russiar, 6il'l'"tjtnter
cold,
r . w a rd him. ;suidenly t saw myself and tlis Rus sian to eei'6
:j i:"-S' I un ged
.l'nothing, and it was ridiculous," my friend tora -".-';#i'^Tthe
middle
lowald mE, I coutdn't help it: I grinned. That fellow lo"k.
";;:'"5
jumped
tlrrows away his gun, puts his arm around me and by sig,
tai"i'.'^ips, gnns,
that whoever loses the battle will be the others prisoner." A
"il;::
we agree
llrc whole madness of war and converted. the 'ienemv" ini"
I'I],t,
took away
'lhc secret, then, is to steep oneself in the logic of the l,riil:'^oY
man.
rrs tlo this as a mattcr of courst, intuitively, in a rTariety
of.inl""j,tll' Many of
Iogic fbllowccl by mothcrs wlrcn thcy clcfy the taws
lr".iii,J'jlls- It is the
thc scconcl clrikl incl thc tlrrrcl ,'* ,r,t,ch as thc fir'st. *ittrnut
,timilfiill i;J:
IO2 FREEDOM TO LIVE: THE ROBERT HARTMAN STORY

40. love for the first child. They can love a dozen children, each of
thern
hundred percent, for their love grows with every child. It is the
logic of
teacher who gains the more he gives of his knowledge to his
students,
whose greatest sorrow would be not to have others equaling him
in
standing and inspiration. It is the logic practiced by the African
tribo
condemns a rnurderer to many the widow of the victim in order
to
a life for the one he has taken, and by the Chinese restaurant
owners
were ruining each other by competition in the same sffeet, until
they
the solution. They swapped management but retained ownership
-- coo
tion by competition and competition by cooperation. To sum up
in the
of a wit: "If someone hands you a lemon, make lemonade." In
tho
instance it is just plain cornmon sense, for common sense is
precisely to
the traces of the infinite in the finite worid.
This is the logic, then, of overcoming evil by good. I was
finally even
to reduce it to a formula which I gave to two of my students to
try out
various situations to see whether it would hold water - and it
did. If U
V symbolize two values - either I. E, or S - then the formula is
(Uy)
for example. 1Ig)qI. There you have (within parentheses) a
systc"r'nll

41. disvaluation of an irYtrinsic value - an inhuman use of a system
- revcrscd;
turrred around, devalued by the intrinsic valuation of the
systemic - tltg
human use of a system. In other words the inhuman use of a
system il
righted by the human use of a system.
A German friend of mine who at Niagara Falls left the U. S. for
a walk out
on the international bridge was caught between systems. He
found he could
not reenter the U.S. because he did not have his passport with
him, and frrf
the same reason he could not enter Canada. Should he spend the
rest of hil
life on the bridge? In this predicament, (Ig), the Canadians iet
him entcr A
yard into Canada and issued an expulsion order for him which
met the U.S,
immigration requirements, and he was able to leave the bridge.
The hurnnn
use of a rule of a system, (Sr), undid the inhuman use of another
rule of tho
system, (Ig).
In general the disvaluation of a value is righted by the
corresponding
valuation of the disvalue. Since there are nine basic
disvaluations of a valus
possibie, namely (Sg), (SB), (S1), (Eg), @g), (E1), [g), (Ig),
(I1), there aro
nine basic forms of the simple rule, "overcome evil by good."
There are also more complex forms, e.g. (I(qg))(sE;I. This could
mcan

42. that the devaluation of a human life (I) by a gadgete6r of the
nuclear bomb
(gE) could be overcome by the human use (I) of this gadget (gE)
- atoms
for peace instead of atoms for war. Each of the many theoretical
forrnulae
of the structure (UV)vU has an infrnity of applications. The
field of evil is
as varied as that of gobd.
M1t Self and Religion 103
We need desperately to develop our sensitivity to evil, just as
we need to
rh'vclop our sensitivityto good, for we cannot overcome
thatwhich we don't
hrrow. So few people can smell evil, sensitively or vicariously,
precisely
lrt'cuuse they have failed to develop their sense of values. The
possibility of
Ir rrtrclear war that would wipe out civilization is great. Yet
how few people
rlc cnough aware of this tremendous evil to say or do anything
about it!
llow few people are enough aware of the infinite, intrinsic value
of human
lr lc to protest plans to eliminate it from Creation. They say,
"Well, suppose
vc {6 311die. Would that be so terrible?" How few really
CARE for God's
r'r!iltion!
A nuclear war would be the overcoming of good with evil; it
would prove
llrirt man is not made in God's image but instead is, after all, a
devilish

43. llcahrre. But I refuse to believe this is true. I assert that this is
God's world,
nol the devil's, that man was made in God's image, not the
devil's, andthat
tlrc principle of good in the world outweighs the principle
ofbad. We speak
o l l nuclear war which would be the overcoming of good by
evil. At the end
ol'a nuclear war, in a devil's world, we would end not as
vegetables but as
irloms. Therefore, I have to say that not believing in a nuclear
war I believe
llrirt man will end up closer to the angels than to atoms.
llut it's still up to Adam to move up or down from the center of
the world.
ll's still tremendously important for him to know evil when he
sees it or
I rcurs it.
At the start of Hitler's rule, there were 600,000 Jews in
Germany. Fewer
lhrn one-fourth saw the Nazi evil clearly enough to get out,
even though
thcy had six years to do it. The same kind of evil represented by
Hitler in
lris contempt and hate for other people is present in the United
States today.
l)cmagogues, political opportunists, and hate hucksters are
peddling the
slrme kind of semi-violent, semi-literate, black and white,
"anti" philosophy,
rrsing the same techniques of distortions, repeated lies, and
malicious gossip
t() prey upon dull, frustrated people with no place to go and
nothing con-

44. sl"ructive to do. So these victims of demagoguery go along with
the mob,
gulled into irrationality and madness. It is a dangerous game,
one which can
push a nation of 175 million people, as well as the rest of the
world, into an
orgy of self-destruction, all in the name of a false Americanism
and a false
lcligion. Wrote the apostle John in I John 4:20:"If aman say, 'I
love God,'
rrud hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his
brother whom
lrc hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"
These people,
o I course, do not want to be evil. They think they do good - as
did Hitler.
Somehow their values must be reversed; what they call 'ogood"
must be
shown to be evil, and what they call "evil" to be good. Thus,
again, evil must
ho ovcrcome by good - and by love.
TO4 FREEDOM To LIVE: THE ROBERT HARTMAN STORY
*X*,":"::^o:::T:::i:i,ive toevil? well, good and evil go to
,t:;::lll:"-::1":llq',ib*t".o.itlui;y;;;L?;;.:'il;;;t;;:HX
I*]*:,i::,fl T:l'l,ll*,"atr,o-"J',h;;;i";;i#;:?J;:,f;
3:t9:f:1i.,!lttre s ai d : "rnere i s;;;;h " r #ffi:1 i:i
j
59 .,*: l: lil,l", ::f*it any; he *,;;" ;;;;;;;i ; #dH;J
:1.11]:1li:"s1y
lived th.e crimes

45. ""a
i"*"., "?#ffi"-fi'il
f :ffX.:,:X:"':."-",i^"-:"*q1,,"*#*.ffi
^.,*,il;i,lld[Tli
essarily."n:J:i.
"rritler,s
evitness. B-ecause *" oio ""iiTrrYJfjffiffil
Thus, the road to spirituar, intrinsic goars goes through rnoral
evir
f""?t,fl::*"0:J1""::'^:,"r.rry
tived. Rti;&*" i, tr," ,i"v r."ir cvitgood, through rhe horrors of
tle sour," u{" J"prr, "ff;*"U#li:i];11i::'11,:._.:{ u:d a precarious
or.lu"ii i. _Lr";;;;;i;r""than not living morallv at all, Uut u-
o.ufi,,lraiff..""ifv. ii;;;il:T
3m#y:::It:i,:t.1X gl;-",r*ng particurarry bad or anythp artic ut
arly goo d, have ri ve d a c c o rdG i;';ff ;iffii' :rJ;;":: :lil
;:iY 11:,:fjlllilSlYlf: wlr neve? ey". r1"* *r,"i-"."ii#,r,have. You
have nevei .rivel oped u r"n.t,i"iry-#':#ftil",i i,,:"# i:
iXil*.f.r"":i?,,^:T*::f:here cannot Ue mucn;oy in Heaven rora
zonrbio]The tutlest meaning of ,ife cornes to us only
wil*;;;;d;ffi;ht:
rual being' If we do not deverop.our rpirit ttrrough ,"oritirity IJ
jooa andevil, we have limited our contiibutioi io-trr"-universe.
As a mattJr of {aet,we all have infinitely more spiritual
por..,hu., *";.;. il;'""*rr usc ofour spirirual resources, _ whiin
u.e ioe*t aurtible, _ il ;;;;ffitial urcof them abour as rhe need of
our littrofi;;;,. to the riving of our rivcs.obviousry, the
instihrtion with th_e gr-.?i"rt opportunity and motivationto
develop spirituar power in the indivlduai. to sensitize him to
good andevit, and to solve the great problem or*u, unip;!,, i,

46. *gili)lo"i.riginn,To this end, I tried tJ be active i,
"rrr."rrlrairs. I was aSunday schoorteacher' I became a ray
reader ortr," ipi..opar Church in Lake Forcst. Iserved as
chairman of the commission on peace and peace Action of
trreIntemational Counc, of.lgmmunitv crrr."-rr"r. I saw tt. ct
r.J^ieuding agreat moral crusade to fill_the spiritual void in the
world and bring pcace.I must say that I, as well a!
many.r,u..nl"uO.r., ;;;;;ii ,;ffi;,r,,*-pointed. Is the srruggle for
spirituai:t;;rhL*g
"n"",*"iv-",iiJt"a on.lencouraged bv the churches? Have ttrey
inruseffiiil;;##ffi"ss intoeveryday life - let alone the great
aeci.ioos corrr"r,irg ,, ,il.i?u, *.unthe life and death of all
marJ<inaz ru"ri"*iie great impression popc .rohnXXIIIrnade on
all mankild
ry1s^bec1ur. rr", *itfiorri;;ir';";;;;;#, ol,.dthe vacuum rhe
churches had left. ai"r, rrir'*"rk did not leid to action anct.like
Jesus, he left us no methoa t" foifo*i, ,p.
My SelJ'and Religion
( )ur society, both East and West, is deeply materialistic, utterly
unspiri-
lrrrrl. "Spiritual," indeed, is an avoided word in many circles
today. Except
r rrr Sundays, it is not considered quite ri propos . The reality
of the spirit, I
Inrl, wili have to be established by bold men who will have to
risk their
lrrtstige - and perhaps their lives - to prove to mankind that
there is a higher
rrrrlitv than that of the systemic and extrinsic levels. It disturbs
me greatly
tlrirt lbr too often today a church service is largely a social
affair rather than

47. n vital spiritual experience. Jesus remains an historical and
almost legendary
r'lurracter. He does not live with us. We turn away from what he
says,
lr rrgctting as quickly as we can, or neatly ducking. "He sure
gave it to them,
rlrrhr't he?" We say to our neighbor after the sermon. To them -
not to us.
llow often do we turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, give
the man our
r'loll<? How often do we try to overcome evil by good?
We forget that we do not become Christians merely by joining
or attend-
trrg a church. Christianity is not a collective matter; only what
happens in
tlrtr individual counts. We become truly Christian, truly
religious, only by
tliscovering our own inner depth, our Self; and this is a solitary,
not a group.
rrtlvcnture. This is a direct, individual, person-to-God
experience. It is the
r ctrrm of the Holy Spirit, and it must refurn, else we remain
comforlless, the
Irvo sides of our being - mind and spirit - hopelessly spiit.
I have been particularly disappointed that in general the church
thus far
lrrrs lailed to become an effective influence for peace, though
many church
lcuclers have struggled to make it influential. The German
parson in 1914
conrplimented his countryrnen on the use viciously and well of
their bayo-
ne ts. And Hitler's armies did not lack chaplains, despite the
otherwise

48. v iuorous opposition of the church. A drama by Hochhut, now
playing to full
Irotrses in Germany, castigates the acquiescence of the church
to Hitler.
A chaplain of the U. S. Army Air Forces at Tinian, in the
Marinas, blessed
tlro llrst atomic bornb mission to Hiroshima. "We shall go
forward trusting
irr '[hee," he prayed, "knowing that we are in Thy care now and
forever."
I'hc mission, as you knolv, resulted in honible death for one
hundred thou-
srrrrd human beings.
Nor has the record of the church on inter-racial problems been
entirely
('hristianlike. The image ofthe church as one of the most
segregated institu-
tions in the United States does much damage to Christianity-
and to Amer-
ica throughout the world. The white churches of the South,
asserts Ralph
McGill, editor of the Atlanta Constitr.ttion, are perhaps the
greatest single
obstacle to racial harmony. Yet church missionaries to Africa
and Asia
continue to assure the natives that "God is love," that we are our
brothers'
kccpcrs.
ls it irrational of mc to hopc for the church and its Christian
members to
tlkc thc lead in proclairling thc axiological truth that hurnan life
contains

49. t0s
I
il
t
106 FREEDOM TO LIVE: THE ROBERT HARTMAN STORY
the supreme vaiue in the world, that man degrades himself,
surenders his
humanity - and his divinity and insults God rvhen he overvaiues
his
creations and undervalues God's Creation - liJb? Our lore is full
of stories
of men laying down their lives for the sake of what they think
or what rher
have or what they want; but how many have laid down what
they think or
have or want tbr the sake of their iives?
Man-made systems have mlcd supremeiy in history and human
beings
have fallen their victims. All the slaughters committed legally
by civilizec
man and nations have been comtnitted in the name of sorne
abstraction -
solne concept ofnation, God, race. and now, of all things,
economic systems.
Always there has arisen the protest in the name of the
individual. as Castelhc
protested when Johl Calvin burned Servetus for unitarian
heresy, and as th-

50. Bible protests in the old, seldom-understood r,vords, "Overcome
evil b,.
good."
James Baldwin, the Black writer and leader, makes the bitter
but trenchar.
obscrvation that the pocr [o crtcrrninate ourseives "seems to
be the enti:-
sum" ofhuman achievement and that it was accomplished "in
God's na1re..
in the name of the white God." And it is tme that God's
Creation. which h.
regarded on the sixth day as good, is in imminent danger of
being finishe;
otT as ultimately bad - in His name! because the instinttion to
which s;
really piedge our greatest and highest allegiance is not the
church. It is th.
state. This is our church proxy, our spirirual prory yes. our
Godpros,.
Nevertheless. I still have hope that the church wiil provide the
leadershr:
for a dlnamrc program to restore true religion, revive the human
spirit. ar:
resurrect the supremacy of intrinsic human values. The church
is movrn_-
What tremendous spiritual power could be generated by the
churches of thr,
collntry if all of them were reailyr to concentrate Sunday after
Sundar'. ,r-.
ctfter dav, month after month, upon the vital problems of human
value. 1i-.
and God!
Today the church needs to address itsclf to something besidcs

51. the horc.,
of hellfire beyond this rvorld; it can - and must, I should think -
deai u,.:
the problem of hydrogen hellfire right here on earth, the
problem of hos .
keep a small tiaction of the human race from dooming all
humanitr
extinction. It would be difficult to imagine a more difficult.
more exacrr-_-
and, at the moment, less popular leadership roie: yet if iife is to
go on. il',.,.
are to escape racial Self-destruction, it is a role that somehow
must be tak;:
Individually, however, we need not wait for such an organized
spirir.--.
renaissance. Intrinsic value exists as it has always existed. The
Bible has : - -
changed. As always, it stands ready to become a living Book for
us u'hl;--
rvill enable us to link the infinity of our spirits with the infinite
meaninq
its sacred text.