OUR FINEST HOUR

An adaptation of Sir Winston Churchill's Speech to the British Parliament, June 18, 1940

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On the eve of this anniversary of one of Sir Winston Churchill’s great speeches, commonly referred to as “Our Finest Hour,” a great tragedy occurred within the sanctuary of a historically embattled church. A young Caucasian man, armed with a handgun, sat for over an hour in a Bible Study session led by a minister who is also a member of the Senate, then opened fire on the 13 attendees, killing nine. That the gunman was white, and his victims black, the gunman is said to have been wearing an apartheid-era emblem of South Africa, the church a black Christian denomination established in the early 1800s, and this all occurred in the historically intolerant Southern region of the United States makes this tragedy something of significance. The Charleston Shooting as it has been quickly labeled is a moment in our lives which has as much significance as the moment in history when major military losses in WW2 prompted Winston Churchill to rally the flagging confidence of Britain’s parliament. Here we adapt essence of Mr. Churchill’s speech which succinctly addresses the multiple fronts on which we are at war with ourselves.

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 “I am not reciting these facts for the purpose of recrimination. That I judge to be utterly futile and even harmful. We cannot afford it…Now I put all this aside. I put it on the shelf, from which the historians, when they have time, will select their documents to tell their stories. We have to think of the future and not of the past.”

Our world has been in turmoil. Where we have fought and concluded victory in neutralizing threats abroad, we have encountered mass shootings and near economic devastation at home. Where we fought to secure democracy and opportunity for emerging economies, we have seen destabilization and eruption of ethnic violence. Where we have gained dominion over our habitats, we alternatively see cataclysmic disasters and chronic erosion of hospitable climate. The challenges are complex and complicated with the baggage of the past, spectres of unresolved conflicts that resurface when economic realities strain, and diplomacy wears thin. We cannot be too busy fighting one another that we let what we are fighting for go up in flames or deplete our valuable resources, our chances for survival.

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“I do not at all underrate the severity of the (odyssey) which lies before us; but I believe our (species) will show themselves capable of standing up to it…and will be able to stand up to it, and carry on in spite of it… Much will depend upon this; every man and every woman will have the chance to show the finest qualities of their race, and render the highest service to their cause. For all of us, at this time, whatever our sphere, our station, our occupation or our duties, it will be a help to remember the famous lines: He nothing common did or mean, Upon that memorable scene.”

We cannot allow the creations of the past to continue to dominate our present day concerns. Rather, let us reconsider the old, take ownership for our role as a consequence of it, appreciate what deserves recognition, and learn from the lessons we should value appropriately, the good and the bad. We need to give people purpose, we need to give people hope, and this is precisely why this moment matters so much, because that’s what leadership is about. This…is our finest hour. 

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“Upon this (challenge) depends the survival of (all) civilization. Upon it depends our own (lives), and the long continuity of our institutions and our (legacy)...If we can stand up to (this), all (Earth) may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including (your land), including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if (civilization) lasts for..thousands (more) years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour."

History has much to teach us, but we must also not allow ourselves to be defined by it. Scrolling through the chronicles of the Famous Dailies, it is easy to the patterns of human existence: nations rise, nations fall, leaders rise, leaders are deposed, disasters happen and take many lives, war happens too and take even more lives, great feats of human achievement and discoveries are made, at other times we fail spectacularly and are setback by these failings. Through it all we have groups of people who inspired with impossible visions or heroic quest to save the world, who set out into uncharted territory to return with fresh discoveries that galvanizes fresh hope. We also have the people who work to keep it together on the home front. The people we are proud to say stood by us when we succeed, and are there to reassure when things do not turn out as expected. Choose a group to identify with and pave the way for another to build upon. Choose to see and project yourself into the future, a future where the whole human family arrives intact and are better for it. This hour is ours to define. May it be our finest. 

Read the full speech http://www.winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/their-finest-hour