Book Reviewed
by Tom Duley
JFK and the Unspeakable
By: James W. Douglass
(New York: Simon & Schuster Touchstone, 2010)
Writing in the tradition of the biblical Book of Esther (which famously never mentions the name of God) James W. Douglass has written a book of profound theological significance also with scant mention of the name of God. Douglass is certainly interested in who murdered President John F. Kennedy and how they accomplished it. However, his most valuable contribution is in helping us to understand why the 35th President of the United States was assassinated. It is the focus on why that gives the book its theological significance.
JFK and the Unspeakable is the story of why Kennedy was killed. Knowing why he was assassinated provides the means of understanding the events surrounding the assassination. That understanding is undeniably a spiritual one. In this reading of the events surrounding the assassination of JFK, as in the Book of Esther, the work of God is plainly evident although the name of God is missing. In fact, it could be said that God is the main character in the drama.
However, this is not a one-sided story. God is not the only spiritual reality involved in this drama. Evil is present as well. Douglass clearly recognizes not only the work of God in the story but also the work of evil; the work of the Unspeakable.
Most human beings believe that there is an Ultimate Reality which is more than us. This Ultimate Reality goes by many names … God, Allah, Jehovah, and Love to name a few. This Ultimate Reality is unseen yet real; never fully known yet universally experienced. It is that which is beyond us while at the same time being with us.
For most people God is more than us and bigger than us. But there is more to it than that. Most human beings feel such a deep attachment to that which is beyond us that we recognize God as our Creator; a Creator who is at work in the world to bring about transformation, redemption and peace. God is that Ultimate Reality which is beyond us yet among us calling us to live to our fullest human potential; a potential defined by love, mercy, and peace. The work of God in this story is transparent. It fills the story with hope.
In the year 1962, as the Soviet ships steamed toward Cuba, President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premiere Nikita Khrushchev looked into the dark abyss of nuclear destruction. Both men decided that nuclear destruction could not be allowed to happen. As a result the two men became partners not only in defusing the Cuban missile crisis but in seeking a lasting peace. Their partnership meant that a truly astounding turn toward the possibility of international transformation had occurred. This potential transformation held out the hope for peace as the organizing principle of international relations. It was an extraordinary moment; a moment of divine in-breaking into history. The transforming light of peace was flickering at the highest level of the planet’s two most powerful national security states.
But there is a dark side to that which is beyond us. Douglass draws on the insight of Trappist monk Thomas Merton at this point using the term “Unspeakable” which was coined by Merton. For Merton “the unspeakable was ultimately a void, an emptiness of any meaning, an abyss of lies and deception” (p.382). The unspeakable is the darkness that swallows the possibilities of transformation, redemption, and peace. It prevents them from being realized fully formed in the world. The work of the unspeakable in this story is also transparent. It makes clear the challenges facing those who seek to live to their fullest human potential. It fills the story with caution.
As the Soviet ships steamed toward Cuba, Khrushchev’s and Kennedy’s generals and advisors looked into the same dark abyss of nuclear destruction and decided that unleashing nuclear weapons was the path to victory and domination. Their response made it clear that the unspeakable would have a powerful voice as events continued to unfold both during the Cuban missile crisis and afterwards. Ultimately their response would ensure that the organizing principle of international relations would remain focused on a militarism designed to maintain domination at all costs. These powerful forces quickly organized to snuff out the flickering light of peace.
Both the working of God and the working of the Unspeakable must be taken seriously in seeking to understand why Kennedy was assassinated. The relationships and interactions of the various actors within and beyond the American national security state provide the cast. The Cold War provides the stage on which the drama plays out. The events surrounding the assassination of JFK provide the context. The interplay between God, the Unspeakable and the humans involved provides the fuller understanding of what happened.
The human dilemma lies in this complicated web of relationships. JFK and the Unspeakable is a cautionary tale about the effects of militarism, power, and domination on the human spirit. It is also a hopeful story about what can be achieved when human beings look beyond the way things have always been to the way things can be. It makes clear the disastrous consequences of masking the divine within us all. It also makes clear that light will shine when we embrace the divine within us all.
Jesus (and all great spiritual teachers) taught that living to our fullest humanity means living out of a value system that makes unconditional love for one another its centerpiece. According to Jesus, this is not only the highest expression of our humanity it is the essential character of God. When humans live out of this ethic of love we are being who we are created to be. We reflect the character of God who created us.
Jesus took great pains to impress this truth upon his followers and any others who were listening to him teach. He was so adamant about the truth of unconditional love that he insisted that it must extend to everyone, even to our enemies. His straightforward, uncomplicated teaching at this point is, “I say to you love your enemies.” (Matthew 5:44)
This love is not based upon sentiment or even good feelings toward the other person. This love is an act of the will based in a desire to live to the highest potential of our humanity by trusting God. This love wants the very best for all of our fellow human beings with whom we share this planet. There is no war with this love, no desire for domination, and certainly no destruction of millions of people in a nuclear holocaust.
For Jesus this is to be the organizing principle for all human relationships. Willful acts of loving others which lead to trust, peace, and a social order built around the common good. With human relationships built on this principle one can see the possibility of an end to many of the conditions which plague humanity including war, violence, retribution and hunger.
Unfortunately, we human beings live in a state of degraded humanity rather than full humanity. Living out of a degraded humanity means that self-interest becomes the organizing principle of human relationships. Focusing on self-interest leads to suspicion, conflict, and a social order that rewards power and domination. We are plagued by the desire to achieve victory at all costs; to ensure that our perceived interests are met before (often instead of) those of any others; to dominate and subdue in the pursuit of fulfilling our self-interest.
When humans live out of this ethic based in self-interest the voice of the Unspeakable speaks powerfully. The voice of the Unspeakable calls for war, domination, retribution, victory at all costs. The mere fact that we have developed and possess nuclear weapons gives voice to the Unspeakable.
Douglass has done us a great service by weaving this story together in a way which takes both the working of God and the presence of the Unspeakable seriously. Clearly God was at work in bringing the unlikeliest of leaders together in a partnership that saved the planet from nuclear destruction. God was also at work as the partnership stayed together beyond the Cuban missile crisis to seek peace as the new international organizing principle.
Clearly too, the Unspeakable was at work in bringing together in the most predictable fashion the forces that were arrayed against both Kennedy and Khrushchev. These were the same forces that eventually murdered President Kennedy.
This is a story played out at the highest levels of power and danger. It is a unique story but it is not a new one. It is both an ancient and a modern story. There are many victims who have suffered because of their willingness to confront the Unspeakable. Their stories are told in every age, from Uriah the Hittite to John the Baptist to Jesus himself to Ita Ford, Maura Clark, Dorothy Kazel and Jean Donovan.
We are all caught up in this story. There is no way to escape it. If we want to live out of another story, a story focused on love and peace as the organizing principle of human relationships, we must take on the work of transformation. The work of transformation leads us to challenge the Unspeakable at every turn. To sit by and watch is not an option for those who seek to live to their fullest humanity.
The key to our work of transformation is found in Jesus’ command to love our enemies. The path to peace must involve the willingness to form relationships with our enemies. We must speak with those to whom we have nothing to say. We must listen to those from whom we do not want to hear. We must be willing to take the risk of entering into a relationship with those who fear us; with those of whom we are afraid. We seek out these risky relationships because of our desire to seek the very best for our enemy; because of our desire to live to our fullest humanity as Jesus has taught us to do.
That is what JFK and Khrushchev did. They were pushed into it by the most disastrous situation humans have ever faced, but they did it. Rather than destroy the planet and its inhabitants, they started talking to one another. This was seen as a radical and dangerous turn of events by those who opposed them. From the standpoint of the Unspeakable you don’t talk to your enemy. You find ways to destroy your enemy. The voice of God says, “Enter into relationships.” The voice of the Unspeakable says, “Never.”
The relationship established by JFK and Khrushchev was halting and at times disappointing but it eventually grew to a place of trust and hope. That these two enemies could enter into a relationship that eventually resulted in mutual trust is truly astounding. Such is the power of relationship, of recognizing our common humanity in another person even when that person is our enemy.
The profound hope of JFK and the Unspeakable is the transforming power of human relationships that are based on a concern for the other’s well-being. The relationship forged between JFK and Khrushchev was based in just such a concern.
The transforming power of human relationships based on a concern for the other’s well-being will defuse the power of the Unspeakable once and for all. President John F. Kennedy and Premiere Nikita Khrushchev thought that the potential reward was well worth the risk. The question for us is … do we?
Tom Duley
Ordinary Time 2011
