Concealed Weapons – Sunday, February 18, 1940
We have read of those times and those places when a man’s principal weapon was his honest and open physical strength. Life must have been very simple then. You know what to do with a man who wields a club – or even with a man who carries a gun. But it is a far cry from that day to the currently prevalent practice of using all manner of concealed weapons– such weapons as false statement, subtle propaganda, untruthful teaching, misrepresentation of facto and motive.
It is such weapons – and those who use them – that may rob a generation or a people of its property, principles, rights, health, and morals, of its faith and hope, without warning, without remorse and apparently without punitive liability. It is the wielders of such intangible weapons who would use every facility known to man, including the purchased statements of our celebrities and others who have been set upon a pedestal, to induce us and our children to become addicted to the use of things which undermine health, dull the senses, and weaken the morals of our generation.
An opinion that changes with a price is not worth the breath that utters it, and endorsements that are purchased should be closely scrutinized before we lot them affect our own judgment. And then there are those who appeal to human weakness rather than to human strength – who capitalize on human suffering and misery. There are still others who hide behind high-sounding names and falsely march under proud banners and loosely use misleading mottos and so under the guise of serving the common good, under- mine the very foundations on which we are standing, and prepare the way for a crumbling beneath our feet. There are all kinds and varieties of those who in our day use such concealed weapons with apparent impunity. May the day be hastened when we will know at least as well what to do with them as we now know what to do with the man who wields a club or carries a gun.
February 18, 1940
Broadcast Number 0,548