Claimed Quote:
Here's the original source with some context (many thanks to The Elks Magazine for photocopying the relevant pages from their archive). The quote is on the first column of the last page.
https://www.metabunk.org/images/1956 Elks Hoover OCR.pdf
The last paragraph is interesting, in that it reveals the strong Christian bias of Hoover. I was momentarily delighted to see him mention skepticism, until I realized it was playing third fiddle to "monumental" faith. The whole paragraph is an interesting illustration of "faith" - which amounts to belief without evidence. One must ascertain for oneself what the facts are, and simultaneously have unquestioning belief in certain claimed facts. This harkens forward to the modern conspiracy theorist's oft repeated call of "do some research" often being closely paired with "nothing you can say will make me change my mind".
This quote was interesting to research as it comes from a very obscure article, that, until now, did not appear to have been re-printed anywhere other than the 1956 Elks Magazine. So how did it make it's way into modern conspiracy culture.
The attributions are a variation of the following:
Jerreld L. Newquist, was an apocalyptic preacher and writer.
There's a longer version of the quote in
Our Immediate Responsibility
by Ezra Taft Benson. Our Immediate Responsibility. BYU Devotional, October 25, 1966.
The quote crops up again in the John Birch society newsletter, American opinion, 1966, Vol 9, Page 82. But it seems to has simply skipped though history from the original 1956 article in Elks, via Newquist in 1964, a few reprints in the years after, then it was rediscovered, and went viral in conspiracy culture when it could be easily spread via the internet.
One interesting reference is from an FOIA request. A citizen wrote to Hoover asking about L. Ron Hubbard, and he received a form letter, along with the following anti-communist literature, #2 of which was this article from the Elks Magazine.
This is an accurate quote, however it's missing context. It's actually about communism, in the 1950s. It also might not have been written by Hoover, as many of the atricles attributed to him are now thought to have been ghost-written by FBI employees.External Quote:"The individual is handicapped by coming face-to-face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot
believe it exists. The American mind simply has not come to a realization of the evil which has been
introduced into our midst. It rejects even the assumption that human creatures could espouse a
philosophy which must ultimately destroy all that is good and decent."
The Elks Magazine (August 1956)
Here's the original source with some context (many thanks to The Elks Magazine for photocopying the relevant pages from their archive). The quote is on the first column of the last page.
https://www.metabunk.org/images/1956 Elks Hoover OCR.pdf
The full article is an interesting read, given the historical context of the time. The American Communist party had disassociated itself from Soviet Russia, after the excesses of Stalin were revealed, in part though the "secret speech" earlier that year. The membership eventually slipped from 80,000 to around 5,000. Approximately 1,500 of those were in the employ of the FBI. Hoover boasted that he effectively financed the US communist party, so he could spy on it.External Quote:Make no mistake about it. The strategy of the communist conspiracy has not changed. The tactics only have altered and they are presently designed to develop a climate more favorable to conspiratorial activities. Subversion, infiltration and espionage can best be carried out when the people of a nation have been lulled into a state of lethargy.
Many times I have thought that if this young Republic is to fall before the grinding onslaught of a slave-driven regime, it will not be solely because an enemy-directed fifth column has worked its way into the body politic. Rather, it will be because we who are citizens are indifferent.
It is to me appalling that so few among all the citizens who daily enjoy the God-given blessings of being free Americans are sufficiently interested in their future, and that of their children, to acquaint themselves fully with the facts of communism. Too many people condemn the word yet have not the vaguest notion of the evil which the word encompasses.
A handful of inspired men gave us our freedom. They cannot preserve it for us. That responsibility rests with the individual American. And we must now face the harsh truth that the objectives of communism are being steadily advanced because many of us do not readily recognize the means used to advance them. The communist, meanwhile, does not allow himself the luxury of inertia. He is intensely active. Because of him, the menace of communism in this country will remain a menace until the American people make themselves aware of the techniques of communism. No one who truly understands what it really is can he taken in by it. Yet the individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists. The American mind simply has not come to a realization of the evil which has been introduced into our midst. It rejects even the assumption that human creatures could espouse a philosophy which must ultimately destroy all that is good and decent.
The straightforward American cannot conceive of another citizen enlisting in the espionage service of a foreign country, or deliberately propagating discontent, hatred and disunity at the orders of an alien group. He cannot believe that any American would serve a philosophy which moves inexorably toward the goal of reducing the status of the individual to that of slave.
Our frontier forefathers faced great dangers. They encountered heat and storm and starvation. Again and again
they joined in battle against a hostile foe. But our forefathers were very much aware of one thing. That was the nature of the enemy they faced. Insofar as possible, they prepared themselves for eventualities. When the campfires flickered low on the long trek west, a watch was set. Those men of the frontier knew that awareness of danger is the first requisite if one is to combat that danger with any degree of effectiveness. Until the American citizen learns for himself the nature of the present menace, communism will continue to be a deadly danger.
The conscientious citizen asks, "How can one be sure what the truth is? How can it be winnowed out of the welter of propaganda which the communists and their apologists spew forth?"
All that I can say is—and I repeat what I have said many times—the American citizen must hew to a line comprised of a little skepticism, a lot of knowledge, monumental faith, and an everlasting desire to get the facts. He must ascertain for himself what the facts are. He must accept nothing less than the facts— neither the majority version nor the minority version. He must view all the evidence until the face of truth is plain.
The last paragraph is interesting, in that it reveals the strong Christian bias of Hoover. I was momentarily delighted to see him mention skepticism, until I realized it was playing third fiddle to "monumental" faith. The whole paragraph is an interesting illustration of "faith" - which amounts to belief without evidence. One must ascertain for oneself what the facts are, and simultaneously have unquestioning belief in certain claimed facts. This harkens forward to the modern conspiracy theorist's oft repeated call of "do some research" often being closely paired with "nothing you can say will make me change my mind".
This quote was interesting to research as it comes from a very obscure article, that, until now, did not appear to have been re-printed anywhere other than the 1956 Elks Magazine. So how did it make it's way into modern conspiracy culture.
The attributions are a variation of the following:
There seems to be almost no other record of this in Google Books before around 2001, when it crops up in conspiracy circles.External Quote:J. Edgar Hoover, The Elks Magazine, August 1956, quoted by Jerreld L.Newquist in Prophets Principles and National Survival, (Salt Lake City: Publishers Press, 1964), p. 273.
Jerreld L. Newquist, was an apocalyptic preacher and writer.
There's a longer version of the quote in
Our Immediate Responsibility
by Ezra Taft Benson. Our Immediate Responsibility. BYU Devotional, October 25, 1966.
And an even fuller (but still edited, and with no context) quote can be found here, in this online version of "Prophets Principles and National Survival"External Quote:"We must now face the harsh truth that the objectives of communism are being steadily advanced because many of us do not readily recognize the means used to advance them…. No one who truly understands what it really is can be taken in by it. Yet the individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists. The American mind simply has not come to a realization of the evil which has been introduced into our midst." (J. Edgar Hoover, The Elks Magazine, August 1956; quoted in Newquist, op. cit., p. 273.)
This is verified in Google's scan of the 1964 version.External Quote:"We must now face the harsh truth that the objectives of communism are being steadily advanced because many of us do not readily recognize the means used to advance them . . . . No one who truly understands what it really is can be taken in by it. Yet the individual is handicapped by coming face to face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists. The American mind simply has not come to a realization of the evil which has been introduced into our midst. It rejects even the assumption that human creatures could espouse a philosophy which must ultimately destroy all that is good and decent . . . . Until the American citizen learns for himself the nature of the present menace, communism will continue to be a deadly danger." (J. Edgar Hoover, The Elks Magazine, Aug., 1956)
The quote crops up again in the John Birch society newsletter, American opinion, 1966, Vol 9, Page 82. But it seems to has simply skipped though history from the original 1956 article in Elks, via Newquist in 1964, a few reprints in the years after, then it was rediscovered, and went viral in conspiracy culture when it could be easily spread via the internet.
One interesting reference is from an FOIA request. A citizen wrote to Hoover asking about L. Ron Hubbard, and he received a form letter, along with the following anti-communist literature, #2 of which was this article from the Elks Magazine.
The "bunk" in the usage of this quote is the suggestion that it applies to something other than communism. Hoover was rabidly anti-communist, to the point of paranoia. While he may have though there was some conspiracy within certain levels of american government, that only referred to communism. If anyone was engaged in conspiracy it was Hoover himself via the COINTELPRO program and his infiltration of the US Communist Party.External Quote:1. "Red Goals and Christian Ideals."
2. "Communist New Look.'"
3. "The Communists Are After Our Minds."
4. "Breaking the Communist Spell."
5. "Communism: The Bitter Enemy of Religion."
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