“Civil Disobedience” Revisited
Many years ago in my High School days, we students were required to read the books “Walden,” and “Civil Disobedience” by the famous nineteenth-century author Henry David Thoreau. Such classic American writings have increasingly been replaced these days by “more relevant” modern works, which often entail the angry ramblings of radical liberals and Black militants. Thoreau is no longer popular also because he was an ardent opposer of socialism—namely, government excess and control over our lives. To some, he was an anarchist, but he denied such a label. He was, however, a strong individualist and libertarian. Thoreau stated, “…unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government.”
There are major differences between the civil disobedience of former days in early America, and what we see in our streets and cities today. Many young people now are progressively not only irreligious, but strongly, outspokenly anti-Christian, and often violently so. The sexually immoral seem to believe that they have an obligation to silence or shoot those they disagree with, and there is increasingly no allowance for a difference of opinion. Within the past month there have been violent and deadly protests at immigration centers, the murder of Christian children by a transgender terrorist, the assassination of Charlie Kirk by a left wing radical in a homosexual relationship, a deadly attack and burning of a Christian Church in Michigan, and assaults against conservative Christian college students on campuses. Recently two young women filmed themselves trashing a Kirk memorial and claimed they had the right of free speech to physically destroy what they didn’t like.
The liberal media moguls spout blatant falsehoods on television and claim “free speech” to do so. Yet conservatives such as President Trump long had no free speech; they were banned from social media sites under the claim of falsehood, but the real reason was that the moguls disagreed with conservative Christian values and ideas. It is clear that the immoral in our society think that they are the only ones with free speech rights, and they know that a fearful people are easier to control and more willing to accept government intrusion in their lives. A Charlie Kirk television special was cancelled by the Sinclair network due to fear of violence after multiple death threats were made to TV stations. These neo-Bolsheviks are using the same agenda of terror that the Russian revolutionaries utilized in bringing the downfall of that country.
Where is the Christian Church in all of this mayhem? The 2025 Evangelical Lutheran (ELCA) Church-wide Assembly affirmed their commitment to “neighbor justice,” and the statement was made that “biblical texts say things that we now recognize as harmful.” A list of supposedly offending Scripture texts was given, mostly in the New Testament, and even including the Tenth Commandment of Exodus 20 against coveting a neighbor’s wife. This is the church denomination of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who was the Democratic candidate for Vice-President last year.
With all of the growing moral and civil unrest in our Western lands, it seemed a good time to revisit my old schoolbook for a dose of Thoreau’s wisdom. In his book, Civil Disobedience, Thoreau stated, “I heartily accept the motto, ‘That government is best which governs least;’ and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically… Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way…The character of the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way.” With polls showing that about half of American school-children today favor increased government socialism, it is clear that they could use a good dose of this wisdom from Thoreau.
The famous quote of “that government is best which governs least” is often attributed to Thomas Jefferson, the third American president and author of the Declaration of Independence. In fact, it was a popular conviction not only with Jefferson, but with the early American colonists as a whole. Another famous American author, Ralph Waldo Emerson, similarly wrote, “The less government we have the better.” Such sentiments would not be welcome in our schools and colleges today, let alone our government!
Interestingly, the “Jefferson quote” is attributed by some to a diplomat named John L. Sullivan, who is best known for coining the phrase “manifest destiny”—an early popular belief that the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic people were destined by God to spread across America and establish a great Christian nation. This too is ridiculed in our schools today as if the very idea held by our forebears was something horribly evil.
Thoreau stood by his principles, but always acted on them nonviolently, including willingly going to jail for refusing to pay a poll tax imposed by the local government that he did not feel he owed. His prison experience lasted for only a day after an unnamed Christian do-gooder anonymously paid his tax. Tired of warding off the government, Thoreau moved to a forest retreat on the shores of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. He built his own small cabin, grew his own crops, caught fish, and enjoyed a stress-free life living off the land. Actually, he was not far from civilization, only a mile from the nearest village, but it was a beautiful peaceful place far enough from the crowds to live a quiet existence. However, this serene life lasted only a little over a year, and the land he squatted on with permission was owned by his friend and fellow-author, Ralph Waldo Emerson. The lesson learned was that fleeing to the wilderness was not the appropriate solution to either his or America’s problems!
Thoreau was a prolific writer, composing over two million words in a short lifespan of 44 years, dying of tuberculosis in 1862. Although highly acclaimed within a few years after his death, his published works sold poorly while he lived, and he humorously remarked that he had a library of 900 books, “most of which he wrote himself;” that is, his library was filled with his unsold books! He was often in debt, which may have been the reason that the love of his life refused his marriage proposal. Yet he had no regrets about the path of life he had chosen. He remarked, “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth!” (Walden p.258)
Thoreau left a host of memorable expressions in his compositions. Perhaps the most quoted is the line, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” (Walden p.11) He advised to make the most of our time, saying, “As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.” (ibid.) He embodied humor to get his points across: “Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes!” (Walden, p.21) He had perceptive good advice saying, “Men have become the tools of their tools.” (Walden p.33)
We are in a time of tremendous growing civil disobedience and upheaval. If we should ever wonder if our work for God is a hopeless attempt at transforming our society, we can receive encouragement from Thoreau to remain steadfast in the Lord’s vineyard with our hands on the plow. He wrote, “I do not propose to write an ode to dejection, but to brag as lustily as chanticleer [a proud fierce rooster] in the morning, standing on his roost, if only to wake my neighbors up!” (Walden, p. 69) Yes, let us never be shy in raising our voices and pens to others in standing for our beliefs and principles; let’s wake them up! Above all, just as Thoreau, let us use nonviolent means to plan and achieve the just moral society we desire. Ever the philosopher, he mused, “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them!” (Walden, p. 253) Amen to that!
