When the Beatles broke on the American scene in the 1960s, no one knew what to think. I had the privilege of viewing their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Ed was a showman, or would that be “shoeman”? At the end of each show, he would announce that it had been a very good “shoe.” At least that is what it sounded like to me. Perhaps those words are his lasting trademark.

Here were these kids who looked very different, with their long, straight hair, their tailored suits, ready for the BIG TIME, and America was ready for them! I was in junior high school at the time, and I remember being thrilled to see their movie, “A Long Day’s Night,” at the old theater on Elm Street in Manchester, NH, a building that has long since been torn down.

As I write this note tonight, I am thinking of some of the Beatles lyrics. Of course, the classic song was “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” and that had teens swooning from coast to coast. However, as the group advanced in their songwriting, they explored deeper topics in songs like, “Imagine,” and “Eleanor Rigby,” two of my favorite Beatles tunes.

John Lennon got in trouble with people who are religiously-bent due to the lyrics of “Imagine.” I guess they did not want to imagine that there might not be a heaven, and that instead, there might be people who prefer to live for today, and in peace, with no boundaries of country or religion. The song has a lot to say in its brevity, but people like to stick to their narrow-minded thinking and cling to whatever prejudices they have previously savored.

It always comes down to “them or us.” If you ain’t with us, then you’re agin us.” There is no in-between, no real understanding, no negotiations, only the wish to exclude anyone who thinks differently or does something to shake up the norm, the status quo. People want to be free to make mistakes and have them glossed over or not noticed, at all. They always have to be “right,” rather than “just.”

This problem has happened over the centuries. The need to feel superior can be seen in Hitler’s regime of Aryan supremacy. He wanted to create a genetically-altered German master race and rule the world, and the only way to do that, in his demented mind, was to order millions of Jews and others to their death, among his other crimes of war. He left his own legacy: a good example of what NOT to do, if you’d like to change the world for the good.

We can look at History and come up with tons of misguided ideas that led to the actual death of multitudes of innocent people. Consider King Henry the 8th sending his wives to the guillotine, and the hatred of the English toward the Irish, especially during the Irish Potato Famine. Think about Darfur, and Bangladesh, and the innocent men murdered in the Dominican Republic by the Trujillo regime. Recall the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials, and then, though not murder, think about the “shunning” that occurs in various religious groups from the Amish to Jehovah’s Witnesses. You will begin to see a pattern of human behavior that follows a trend.

Yes, John Lennon was an artist and a visionary. “Imagine all the people, living life in peace. Oh, you may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one …”

The dreamers and those who seek justice in the world are those who are most persecuted. So, while we may dream of peace and want to imagine it, the reality is that we must be prepared to defend ourselves at all times, even, even, if that means putting a bullet in someone else’s head, in self-defense. Shocked? Don’t be. Believe me, that kind of action happens every day. We are at WAR. Peace is a nice thing to imagine. If only John Lennon had had a gun on the day he was murdered!

Patricia Cummings
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