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17 Of Right and Might

For this reason, Mang Henio continues, we need to discuss more seriously the question of organization and power.

We have discussed many times what is just, what is right with regard to land and wealth. But I think we don’t sufficiently appreciate the fact that right without might is not enough. They must go together.

If you have the right but don’t have the might, asks Mang Henio, what are you? You are only a “Boy Scout.” The powers-that-be will not take you seriously. At best you can become a “Christmas tree” or a decoration in an exploitative situation.

But if you have the right and the might, Mang Henio grins almost mischievously, what are you? You are like the Viet Cong! Before you know it, the powers-that-be will want to negotiate with you.

It is not enough to be innocent like doves, Christ told us. We must be clever and wise as serpents.

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Even John the Baptist had some power, when he was languishing in jail. The Bible says Herod would not put him to death because he was afraid of the people. John apparently had “a mass base” or following, But, of course, Mang Henio is grinning again, of cause the dance of Salome was a miscalculation.

As far as we can remember, Mang Henio’s voice is emphatic, never has it happened anywhere that the landlords and the have’s were willing to give up their privileges voluntarily. The case of old Don Jose, the sugar baron, who voluntarily gave higher wages and better working conditions to his workers, is an exception that only proves the rule.

The teaching of Heaven and Hell which is handed down to us early should, perhaps, be an indication that unless we give the oppressors hell, they won’t stop oppressing us.