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Charles Edward Coughlin, Principles of the National Union of Social Justice (1936)
Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great Depression via Spartacus ^ | 1936 | Father Charles Coughlin

Posted on 02/24/2008 10:00:47 AM PST by The Forgotten Man

Establishing my principles upon upon this preamble, namely, that we are all creatures of a beneficent God, made to love and serve Him in this world and to enjoy Him forever in the next; and that all this world's wealth of field and forest, of mine and river has been bestowed upon us by a kind Father, therefore, I believe that wealth as we know it originates from the natural resources and from the labor which the sons of God expend upon these resources. It is all ours except for the harsh, cruel and grasping ways of wicked men who first concentrated wealth into the hands of a few, then dominated states and finally commenced to pit state against state in the frightful catastrophes of commercial warfare.

With this as a preamble, then, these following shall be the principles of social justice towards whose realization we must strive.

1. I believe in the right of liberty of conscience and liberty of education, not permitting the state to dictate either my worship to my God or my chosen avocation in life.

2.1 believe that every citizen willing to work and capable of working shall receive a just and living annual wage which will enable him to maintain and educate his family according to the standards of American decency.

3. I believe in nationalizing those public necessities which by their very nature are too important to be held in the control of private individuals. By these I mean banking, credit and currency, power, light, oil and natural gas and our God-given natural resources.

4. I believe in private ownership of all other property.

5. I believe in upholding the right to private property yet in controlling it for the public good.

6. I believe in the abolition of the privately owned Federal Reserve Banking system and in the establishment of a Government owned Central Bank.

7. I believe in rescuing from the hands of private owners the right to coin and regulate the value of money, which right must be restored to Congress where it belongs.

8. I believe that one of the chief duties of this Government owned Central Bank is to maintain the cost of living on an even keel and the repayment of dollar debts with equal value dollars.

9. I believe in the cost of production plus a fair profit for the farmer.

10. I believe not only in the right of the laboring man to organize in unions but also in the duty of the Government which that laboring man supports to facilitate and to protect these organizations against the vested interests of wealth and of intellect.

11 . I believe in the recall of all non-productive bonds and thereby in the alleviation of taxation.

12. I believe in the abolition of tax-exempt bonds.

13. I believe in the broadening of the base of taxation founded upon the ownership of wealth and the capacity to pay.

14. I believe in the simplification of government, and the further lifting of crushing taxation from the slender revenues of the laboring class.

15. I believe that in the event of a war for the defense of our nation and its liberties, there shall be a conscription of wealth as well as a conscription of men.

16. I believe in preferring the sanctity of human rights to the sanctity of property rights. I believe that the chief concern of government shall be for the poor because, as it is witnessed, the rich have ample means of their own to care for themselves.

These are my beliefs. These are the fundamentals of the organization which I present to you under the name of the NATIONAL UNION FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE. It is your privilege to reject or accept my beliefs; to follow me or repudiate me.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: 1936; communism; fathercoughlin; fdr; nra; ronpaul; socialism
As has been mentioned previously on this board, "Liberal Fascism", by Jonah Goldberg is a must read. I am about half way through and can not be more emphatic in my recommendation. The timing of this book could not be more ironic given the current climate in the presidential campaign. Personally, I am researching more on FDR as I believe Obaaama has modeled his political beliefs in the mold of FDR. Father Coughlin appears to have been a rival of FDR but, FDR was in more agreement with Father Coughlin than he seems to have been portrayed by history.
1 posted on 02/24/2008 10:00:50 AM PST by The Forgotten Man
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To: The Forgotten Man
I'll say this about Father Coughlin . . .

When his bishop told him to hush, he hushed.

Priests still believed in obedience in those days.

2 posted on 02/24/2008 10:15:22 AM PST by AnAmericanMother ((Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment)))
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To: The Forgotten Man
----he had quite a bit in common with another famous leader from the "thirties--

--After the 1936 election, Coughlin increasingly expressed sympathy for the fascist policies of Hitler and Mussolini, as an antidote to Bolshevism. His CBS radio broadcasts also became overtly antisemitic. He blamed the Depression on an "international conspiracy of Jewish bankers", --from Wikipedia--

3 posted on 02/24/2008 10:21:09 AM PST by rellimpank (--don't believe anything the MSM tells you about firearms or explosives--NRA Benefactor)
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To: The Forgotten Man

My copies on my nightstand, and I’ll begin reading it tomorrow. Given all that I’ve heard about it, and my own interest in history, I expect for it to be very compelling.


4 posted on 02/24/2008 10:23:31 AM PST by VR-21
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To: The Forgotten Man

The only problem the liberals had with Father Coughlin was his anti-semitism. Just give them time though, some liberals have already crossed over, including Barack Obama, if you take the view of Debbie Schlussel or Krauthammer.


5 posted on 02/24/2008 10:37:22 AM PST by Jabba the Nutt (Just laugh at them!)
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To: Jabba the Nutt
Schlussel and Krauthammer are late to the party, Obaaaama’s church has been antisemitic virtually since its inception. The tenants of their beliefs hold a contempt for Israel....
6 posted on 02/24/2008 10:42:08 AM PST by The Forgotten Man (He works, he votes, generally he prays--but he always pays....)
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To: The Forgotten Man

.


7 posted on 02/24/2008 10:44:21 AM PST by Gay State Conservative (Wanna see how bad it can get? Elect Hillary and find out.)
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To: VR-21
It is very compelling. Pay particular attention to the chapters that deal with Woodrow Wilson and FDR. It scared the batcrap out of me as I look at Liberalism today in America.

I liken their cause to that of the jihad's in the sense that they are patient and steadfast in thier intent. I never thought to morally equate the two but, I find myself beginning to doubt that either would be good for the cause of freedom....

8 posted on 02/24/2008 10:47:31 AM PST by The Forgotten Man (He works, he votes, generally he prays--but he always pays....)
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To: The Forgotten Man

Bump


9 posted on 02/24/2008 10:52:27 AM PST by Fiddlstix (Warning! This Is A Subliminal Tagline! Read it at your own risk!(Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: The Forgotten Man

I’m as conservative as you can get, and I say that Father Coughlin was a disgraceful, lousy anti-semite. All throughout the years 1933 thru 1941 he was a despicable shill for Adolph Hitler with his evil Jew hating diatribes delivered via radio. He railed against the desperate Jewish refugees trying to find a place of refuge in a hostile, inhospitible world, and was vehement in urging Roosevelt and the powers that were in control back then to shut the doors of this country to them. He provided the mouthpiece in this country that Hitler needed to foment hatred and distrust of any Jewish person from Europe who desperately needed refuge from the hell that awaited them over there. Country after country, with the exception of just a miserable handfull shut their doors to Jewish immigrants, probably as a result of heeding the advice of poisonous haters like Coughlin and others like him. Anything good that Coughlin happened to believe in and promote was cancelled out by his disgraceful antisemitism during that period.


10 posted on 02/24/2008 5:05:16 PM PST by RedCobra
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To: RedCobra
I am finding that to be the case as I read more in “liberal fascism” and some additional research on my own. I am somewhat dismayed the Obaaaama is getting a pass when it comes to his antisemitic preacher from his racist black church....
11 posted on 02/24/2008 5:25:34 PM PST by The Forgotten Man (He works, he votes, generally he prays--but he always pays....)
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To: The Forgotten Man

He’s full of it. Hitler made similar claims and then turned around and did the oposite.


12 posted on 03/02/2009 5:37:08 PM PST by mainestategop (MAINE: The way communism should be)
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