A Christmas Truce From the Doctors of Courage (DOC) to the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ)

O ye who read this truthful rime from Flanders, kneel and say:
God speed the time when every day
Shall be as Christmas Day.—- A Christmas Carol from Flanders, World War 1

In the dim glow of Christmas lights, the cinematic masterpiece, “Eyes Wide Shut” unfurls a narrative that feels less like a film and more like a sinister prophecy. The story is of a doctor, Dr. Bill Harford, who experiences the philosophers journey descending into a world where the masks of society are not just worn at masquerades but are sewn into the very fabric of reality.  Stanley Kubrick’s final cinematic confession presents a tableau where every door leads to darker secrets, every smile a facade for deeper, unspoken truths.  Where the main Christmas event is an elite’s orgy, shrouded in anonymity and ritual, and is not merely a scene of debauchery but a chilling allegory for the hidden machinations of power.  Here, the festive lights of Christmas illuminate not joy, but the shadows where truth is bound and silenced. The film’s labyrinthine journey through New York’s underbelly is a cautionary tale of what lurks behind the veneer of respectability, where every step closer to the truth could lead to one’s undoing, much like the doctors facing persecution by the U.S. Department of Justice for unveiling what lies beneath the surface of official narratives where the rainbow ends.

In “Eyes Wide Shut,” every closed door might hide a truth too dangerous to unveil, and every question asked could be the last, in a world where secrets are the currency of power.  It is in this spirit of uncovering the truth, amidst a season meant for peace, that the Doctors of Courage (DOC) Organization extends a Christmas Truce to the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ). This plea comes at a time when over 4,000 medical professionals have been arrested in what can only be described as a corrupt act of “bloodsport” and “cancel culture.” As we navigate through this atmosphere of secrecy and suppression, we invoke the ghost of Christmas past, present, and future, to call for a moment of reflection, peace, and the unveiling of truths in our own society’s dark masquerade.

The Christmas Truce of 1914: A Lesson in Humanity

The Christmas Truce of 1914 during World War I is a poignant reminder of human spirit transcending war. British and German soldiers, despite orders, emerged from their trenches, exchanged gifts like chocolates for cigars, singing “Silent Night,” and even played soccer in no-man’s-land. This moment, was not just about ceasefire but about recognizing the absurdity of conflict and the shared humanity beneath the uniforms.  The Christmas Spirit remained unbowed despite Brigadier General G. T. Forrestier-Walker’s directive against fraternization.  Even court-martial threats did not deter the soldiers from this brief but profound peace. It’s a historical precedent that Doctors of Courage calls upon now, urging a similar recognition of our shared humanity amidst our current conflicts.

Eyes Wide Shut: A Reflection of Secrets and Power

Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut,” adapted from Arthur Schnitzler’s “Dream Story,” is set during Christmas, enhancing the film’s surreal and dream-like quality. The narrative explores themes of secrecy, power, and moral ambiguity through the journey of Dr. Bill Harford into a clandestine world of elite sexual rituals. This film acts as a metaphor for the hidden machinations of power today. The scenes where Bill infiltrates a masked ball, only to be warned and nearly punished for his intrusion, resonate with our current reality where those who challenge the status quo, like our arrested physician colleagues, face severe repercussions. Just as the film critiques the masks of society, we see in our modern context how truth is obscured, and dissent is punished, in a display of power not unlike the secretive gatherings depicted in “Eyes Wide Shut.”

Kubrick based Eyes Wide Shut on the 1926 novella Rhapsody: A Dream Novel, better known as Dream Story or Traumnovelle in its native German, by Austrian writer Arthur Schnitzler.  In “Eyes Wide Shut,” Stanley Kubrick crafts a cinematic odyssey that transcends mere storytelling, morphing into a profound philosophical journey where the quest for truth and identity unfolds in the twilight of human desire and societal shadows. Dr. Bill Harford’s nocturnal wanderings are not merely a physical trek through the decadent heart of New York but an inward voyage through the labyrinth of the psyche, where he confronts the primal forces of eros and thanatos. Each encounter, each masked face in the night, mirrors the dualities within us all—life and death, love and fear, attraction and repulsion. Kubrick invites us to ponder how the veneer of civilization clashes with our most basic instincts, questioning whether we can ever truly know ourselves or others when our lives are governed by such intricate webs of illusion and power.

Kubrick’s film is a tapestry woven with symbols of enlightenment and obscurity, where the true ritual of awakening happens not amidst the elite’s secretive gatherings but in the quiet, introspective moments of personal revelation. The narrative challenges us to consider the masks we wear, not only in social contexts but in the depths of our own consciousness. Bill’s journey is a descent into the underworld of his own desires, where every interaction is a mirror reflecting back the fragmented, often distorted, images of self. The movie ends on a note that is both an embrace of life’s carnal truths and a lament for the blindness of our society, suggesting that perhaps the greatest philosophical awakening is to recognize the vast, mysterious darkness behind our eyes wide shut. Here, Kubrick leaves us with a haunting question. Can we ever truly see, or are we all players in a grand, enigmatic theater where the real performance is the search for meaning amidst our illusions?

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Construction of Social Murder in Our Time

The concept of “social murder,” as articulated by Friedrich Engels, describes systemic exploitation leading to premature death. In our era, this extends beyond physical demise to the metaphorical killing of truth, freedom, and professional integrity. The arrests of these courageous doctors, who stood against prevailing medical narratives, echo this historical injustice.  Journalist Lara Logan’s critique of information warfare parallels this, where the manipulation of information leads to a “moral and intellectual” death, much like Engels’ bourgeoisie’s negligence. The actions against these professionals are not merely legal but are part of a broader societal violence against truth.

In the 19th century, Friedrich Engels introduced the term “social murder” in his seminal work, The Condition of the Working-Class in England, to describe the systemic exploitation leading to the premature death of workers. Engels pointed out four core components of this concept:

1. Exploitation: The relentless extraction of labor from the working class under capitalism.

2. Premature Death: The resultant health deterioration and early mortality due to harsh living and working conditions.

3. Awareness: The acknowledgment by the ruling class of these conditions yet choosing inaction.

4. Responsibility: The culpability of the bourgeoisie for these deaths, akin to murder due to their negligence.

Fast forward to contemporary times, the term “social murder” has seen a resurgence, particularly in the UK, where modern examples like the Grenfell Tower fire and the detrimental health outcomes of austerity measures illustrate this enduring problem. Moreover, the concept extends beyond class to encompass systemic racism, where the devaluation of Black lives can be seen as a form of social murder, perpetuating through societal structures and attitudes.  Lara Logan, in her powerful speech, parallels this concept by addressing a different, yet connected form of societal violence, the manipulation and suppression of information. Logan speaks to an age where:

1. Information Warfare dominates, akin to Engels’ exploitation, where the battle for control over narratives is fought with advanced technology, shaping public perception and policy.

2. Premature Death here isn’t just physical but also moral and intellectual, where the freedom to think, speak, and report truthfully is endangered, leading to a metaphorical death of democratic principles and personal freedoms.

3. Awareness among media, government, and tech giants of this manipulation is evident, yet there’s a conspicuous lack of action to rectify or expose these practices, much like the bourgeoisie’s negligence in Engels’ time.

4. Responsibility is placed squarely on those who control or influence the information ecosystem – from media outlets to tech companies, for their roles in what Logan describes as a betrayal of journalistic integrity and freedom.

Logan’s narrative highlights how journalists like Tucker Carlson, Glenn Greenwald, and Matt Taibbi are targeted for challenging the dominant narrative, akin to the ostracization and suffering of the working class Engels described. This modern “cancel culture” acts as a societal guillotine, not for physical killing but for silencing dissent and independent thought.  Logan’s critique extends to the manipulation by non-profits and government agencies under the guise of promoting democracy or combating misinformation, which can be seen as a new form of “social murder” through the strangulation of free speech and thought.

Both Engels and Logan, from their respective eras, call for a recognition of these systemic issues and a collective action to dismantle structures that enable such conditions. The fight against social murder, whether in living conditions or information freedom, demands a reclamation of responsibility by those in power and a robust defense of the freedoms that underpin our societies.  In this context, the ongoing battle for truth and freedom of speech, as Logan passionately advocates, is not just a fight for journalism but a fight for the lifeblood of democracy ensuring that the lights of freedom, as noted by Sir Edward Gray, do not go out in our lifetime.

Lara Logan eloquently states, “We live in the age of information warfare, where propaganda is not simply a weapon, it is the entire field of battle. This is a war for our minds that is aided by advanced technology, and we have never been here, not in all of human history.”   “It is a moment when we as journalists should stand together, united, and regardless of politics, we should fight for the truth and we should fight for freedom. Yet, not very long ago, we allowed one of our own, Tucker Carlson, to be branded as a traitor simply for doing his job. In fact, there were many so-called journalists who were leading the charge against Tucker, accusing him of treason for the simple fact of interviewing the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin.”

“And to my knowledge, there was not a single legacy media institution that spoke up. This was more than a politically motivated attack on one man. It was a betrayal of the most sacred principles of a free press. And my media colleagues know this to be true, no matter what they say. My fear is that they either no longer care or that they lack the moral courage to be honest, including with themselves.” “I have worked at the highest levels of the media as a full-time correspondent for 60 Minutes, chief foreign correspondent for CBS News, chief foreign affairs correspondent for CBS News. That was my home for 16 years. And as a journalist, I have sat down with world leaders, mass murderers, and terrorists. And I have held people on both sides of the aisle accountable. I have seen suffering and I have faced evil and I have walked through the fires of hell on distant battlefields.”   “I faced my own death at the hands of a mob of some 200 men in Egypt when I was gang raped and sodomized and beaten almost to death while on assignment for 60 minutes. And yet for almost a decade I have been targeted and falsely branded and accused of many things. that I did not do. They have attacked my work, my character, my sanity, and my marriage. And I am not alone. We are many.”

“And we will not give up, and we will not give in. To those who wish to sense of the idea of free speech in America and all over the world, media companies. Institutions and journalism schools have failed all of us.” “And for too long we have allowed nonprofit organizations to masquerade as nonpartisan media watchdogs, when in fact they are little more than highly paid political propagandists and assassins whose entire reason for being is to crush anyone who stands in their way and along with them the long held and cherished ideas of free speech, free thinking, and free minds.”  “This is a blood sport for them. their political allies and their puppet masters. They know how to kill a journalist without murdering them. We call it cancel culture. In truth, it is a death sentence. And they get away with it because they have information dominance. Some are strong enough to survive, but only a few, like Glenn Greenwald, Tucker Carlson, Matt Taibbi.”  “Only a few like them are able to reach greater heights and thrive. These nonprofits that I’m talking about are part of a vast censorship network that includes government agencies. They use deception to mask their actions with lofty goals like preventing the spread of misinformation, disinformation, hate speech. They use phrases like protecting democracy and make no mistake, words matter.”

“The media is collaborating with government agencies and operatives to censor and shape the information battlefield, to justify certain actions. For example, when the President of the United States threatens the unvaccinated, saying, our patience is wearing thin, and accuses them of putting communities at risk, his words are designed to justify hatred, censorship, and intimidation.”  “And when the Vice President compares January 6th to 9-11 and Pearl Harbor, it is a predicate to silence the opposition and justify the weaponization of the justice system. We are already witnessing another shaping operation to influence the outcome of the 2024 election. This time with the false claim that if one side wins, it will be the end of democracy.”  “This lie contrived to ensure a particular outcome and to sabotage free speech yet again. Overseas taxpayer funds from hardworking Americans are being doled out by contractors under the Office of Transition Initiatives at USAID, or the State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.”

“These contractors, many of them ideological zealots, who are not even US government officials, often make over a quarter million dollars a year, and are outside the reach, Senator, of yourself and committees like this. They hand out taxpayer dollars to programs that are shaped by highly partisan NGOs, who hide behind terms like interreligious dialogue, when in fact they are funding Muslim schools that train Islamic terrorists, like they did in Malaysia.”  “Another example is Humanist International. Through them, the State Department is funding atheism grants that actively cultivate an atheist advocacy network in Nepal. This is not just to attack religion and manipulate foreign politics. It is an attack on free speech, faith, and God. While propaganda and censorship are not new, technology means unprecedented power and reach in the hands of a few.”

“Companies like Facebook, Instagram, and Google, as you have heard many times today, have been allowed to amass monopoly power. And as a result, they not only reach billions of people across the world, every second of the day, they have absolute control over what we see and what we hear. Imagine those tools in the hands of Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Hitler.”  “When the Founding Fathers put freedom of speech first, it was not by chance, it was by design. The rights that followed were in part created. to protect the First Amendment. Without it, they knew that freedom itself would perish. I am reminded today of the words spoken by the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Gray, in 1914, at the beginning of the First World War.”   “He said, the lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime. We are once again watching the lights of freedom. They’re going out here and all over the world. And it is up to us to determine if they will be lit again, ever.”

The Legacy of Courageous Heroes: Bonhoeffer, Solzhenitsyn, King

In the vein of historical figures who confronted tyranny with moral courage Doctors of Courage honors the following 3 heroes:

Dietrich Bonhoeffer who asked himself what Jesus would have done about the horrors perpetrated by Hitler and his assassins.  Bonhoeffer was executed by Hitler for attempting to undermine the tyranny at the heart of Nazi Germany.  His resistance was not just against physical oppression but against the moral decay that allowed such tyranny to flourish.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn who pondered what Jesus would do about the soul-destroying gulags of the Soviet Union. He answered by finding his voice, using it to expose the brutal realities of government repression, thus challenging the narrative of the state.

Martin Luther King Jr. who questioned what Jesus would do about America’s warmongering. Declaring “my conscience leaves me no other choice,” King risked life and legacy to oppose the Vietnam War, highlighting the moral and economic wrongs involved.

These figures remind us that truth and justice require not just courage but a willingness to face the consequences of speaking out, much like our physician colleagues now incarcerated.  Beginning with the French Revolution, one of the main ideas coming out of the nineteenth century, and which became dominant at the beginning of the twentieth century, was nationalism with unrestrained democracy. In contrast, the ideas which led to the American Revolution were those of a federation of sovereign states joined together under the Constitution, which severely limited and separated the powers of the national or central government in order to protect individual liberty.  National democracy was restrained by a Bill of Rights. These ideas came into direct conflict with the beginning of the American War Between the States, out of which nationalism emerged victorious.  A principal idea of nationalism was that the individual owed a duty of self-sacrifice to “The Greater Good” of his nation and that the noblest act a person could do was to give his life for his country during a war, which would, in turn, bring him immortal fame.

Which brings us back to the Christmas truce where two soldiers, one British and one German, both experienced the horrors of the trench warfare in the Great War and both wrote moving accounts that challenged the idea of the glory of the sacrifice of the individual to the nation in an unnecessary or unjust war.

The British soldier, Wilfred Owen, wrote a famous poem before he was killed in the trenches seven days before the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918. He tells of the horror of the gas warfare, which killed many in the trenches and ends with the following lines:

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues —

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.

The German soldier was Erich M. Remarque, who wrote one of the best antiwar novels of all time, entitled All Quiet on the Western Front, which was later made into an American movie that won the 1930 Academy Award for Best Picture. He also attacked the idea of the nobility of dying for your country in a war, and he describes the suffering in the trenches.  “We see men living with their skulls blown open; We see soldiers run with their two feet cut off; They stagger on their splintered stumps into the next shell-hole; A lance corporal crawls a mile and half on his hands dragging his smashed knee after him; Another goes to the dressing station and over his clasped hands bulge his intestines; We see men without mouths, without jaws, without faces; We find one man who has held the artery of his arm in his teeth for two hours in order not to bleed to death.”

Doctors of Courage recognizes that the Christmas truce probably inspired the English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy to write a poem about World War I entitled “The Man He Killed,” which reads as follows:

Had he and I but met

By some old ancient inn,

We should have sat us down to wet

Right many a nipperkin!

But ranged as infantry,

And staring face to face,

I shot at him as he at me,

And killed him in his place.

I shot him dead because —

Because he was my foe,

Just so: my foe of course he was;

That’s clear enough; although

He thought he’d ‘list, perhaps,

Off-hand like — just as I —

Was out of work — had sold his traps —

No other reason why.

Yes, quaint and curious war is!

You shoot a fellow down

You’d treat if met where any bar is,

Or help to half-a-crown.

A Call for a Christmas Truce

And so in this age of 5th Generation Information Warfare, where narratives are weapons and truth is a casualty, Doctors of Courage calls for a moment of truce. Let this Christmas be the moment we set aside our arms of accusation, misinformation, and persecution. Let us meet in “no-man’s-land” to exchange not just gifts but also the truth, to sing carols of peace rather than anthems of division.

In the spirit of Christmas, we ask the USDOJ to reflect on the essence of this season: peace, goodwill, and the celebration of human connection over division. Let us halt this “bloodsport,” end the cycle of “cancel culture,” and begin a dialogue. Let this Christmas be remembered not for conflict but for the courage to seek truth and justice in a world increasingly obscured by information warfare.  We extend our hands, not in surrender, but in hope for a dialogue, for a truce that might lead us to where the rainbow ends to a new dawn of understanding and justice.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Doctors of Courage!