We Could Learn From History


I'm reading a book, The Mafia; The Complete Story published in 2019. One reason I pick up books about the Mafia is because a very distant relative named George Johnson, who grew up in my tiny town, was the U. S. Prosecuting Attorney in Illinois. He put Al Capone in jail when all others had failed. Capone and those like him mostly avoided jail by threatening witnesses. Johnson did not to go after Capone for murder charges or illegal whiskey because it would have required testimony from scared people. Instead, he used public records and Capone spent some years in prison for tax evasion.

The other reason I like to read about the Mafia is the role of prohibition in its success. Prohibition opened the gates of money to the Mafia. Prohibition of alcohol, in turn, is so similar to prohibition of abortion one can see the future from this past. 

Roots of the Mafia go back some hundreds of years to Sicily. Because Sicily was on an important trade route, various countries captured and lost it over time. Peasants had to endure each new ruling entity's exploitation. In the back country they learned how to set up their own illegal governments and ignore the ruling entities. They became quite ruthless criminals but were considered patriotic Sicilians because they fought the invaders. Later they moved their crime businesses north into Italy. In the late 1800's early 1900's over a million Italians came to the U.S. including the Sicilian criminals. About the time they had learned how circumvent U.S. laws, 1920, they were handed the keys to the bank. It was called prohibition.

Prohibition was never supported by the general public. While prohibition advocates often used the Bible to condemn alcohol, the majority, who wanted to drink it, thought they had a God-given right to do so. Today, some of those wanting abortion rights are using God as well.

Those making illegal alcohol available were considered by many to be "friends of the people." Chicago is in Cook County. In illegal bars glasses were raised to "Al Capone, Mayor of Crook County." There was public support of law breakers and lots of money to fund them. 

Today there is public support for abortion like there was support for alcohol. And, like alcohol, there is money to make it available. Laws prohibiting abortion in some states are pushing it underground. Law breakers are supported by the general public. Will public support of lawlessness spill over to other parts of society? Some day we will know the long-term consequences of this mistake.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make som
Read more

The Religious Capitol Invaders May Yet Win

Image
So much about U.S. society and religion can be learned from the Civil War and what happened afterwards. After its defeat, the South started a myth about the unethical soldiers from the North. The South fought for principles of God and states rights. The North did not. It was the South, this propaganda told the country, that had the high moral ground.  The Capitol invaders, encouraged by Trump, swallowed the myth that Biden's election was stolen. Thus, they think they held and still hold the high moral ground. This was reinforced by the cross and prayers during the invasion. Even with Trump is gone, we will see political opportunists like Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley stroking crowds and feeding the same lies as Trump. Like "the South will rise again" these gullible followers will talk of victory over the unclean. After the Civil War the South rallied around the phrase, Lost Cause. For decades, and maybe to this day, there are ceremonies remembering fallen martyrs, Re
Read more

Father Frank Pavone, the Ultimate Crook

Image
Recently, the Vatican defrocked Frank Pavone. His diehard fans are outraged. This is because he cleverly manipulated his fans and the press all the while living well from donations and, apparently, abusing some women. By making abortion the "sin" of the century, and himself the main opposition to this one sin, he himself could get away with any sin he pleased.  As the link points out, Pavone was the perfect priest for the Trump era. Trump is so self-important laws have no role in his life. He felt accountable to no one. Women were there to be had. Pavone and Trump are interchangeable.  Pavone was very successful raising money. In his mind, abortion was so important in Catholic beliefs and he was so important in anti-abortion the money he raised opposing it was his to do with what he liked. The Catholic Church, the brand name he used to raise this money, thought the money belonged to it. When he gave the Vatican the bird, it gave him walking papers. With polls showing the majo
Read more