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Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander

by Thomas Merton, Thomas Moore (Adapted by)

4.21 of 5 stars 4.21 · rating details · 261 ratings · 23 reviews

In this series of notes, opinions, experiences, and reflections, Thomas Merton examines some of the most urgent questions of our age. With his characteristic forcefulness and candor, he brings the reader face-to-face with such provocative and controversial issues as the “death of God,” politics, modern life and values, and racial strife–issues that are as relevant today as...more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published January 9th 1968 by Image (first published January 1st 1966)

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Jan 20, 2012 Johnny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: devotional, theology

Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander is a dated but profound view of the 1960s from a contemplative monk. Certainly, Thomas Merton was one of the most famous of monastic writers during my lifetime and this book was both disturbing and encouraging as it resonated with some of my memories as a young boy. Merton takes on jingoism, materialism, and religiosity in powerful and effective ways. He even touches base with some of the great hurts in many people’s lives that are tied to religion. Yet, since t...more Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander is a dated but profound view of the 1960s from a contemplative monk. Certainly, Thomas Merton was one of the most famous of monastic writers during my lifetime and this book was both disturbing and encouraging as it resonated with some of my memories as a young boy. Merton takes on jingoism, materialism, and religiosity in powerful and effective ways. He even touches base with some of the great hurts in many people’s lives that are tied to religion. Yet, since the writings in this book are excerpts from Merton’s journals, they are not a full-blown theology. Rather, they are observations based on the author’s personal spiritual experiences, encounters with nature, encounters with civilization, and reactions to world events.

Although Merton is obviously Catholic and very in tune with the, particularly, Medieval fathers, it is interesting to note that he is familiar with Eastern mystics and European Protestant theologians (Barth, Bonhoeffer, and John A. T. Robinson most regularly), as well. Even when reacting to rather intricate theological arguments, Merton has a way of cutting to the chase.

I very much enjoyed his observations on grace (though he alternated the use of this term with that of “mercy”) such as: “How much sin is kept hidden from us by God Himself, in His mercy? After which, He hides it from Himself.” (p. 23) This idea of God transforming sin while not letting us see the full extent of its ugliness (like a corpse being shielded from tender, innocent eyes) would truly be removing our sin from us as far as the East from the West (as the Psalmist says). Yet, it isn’t something we think of very often. “God is asking of me, the unworthy, to forget my unworthiness and that of all my brothers, and dare to advance in the love which has redeemed and renewed us all in God’s likeness. And to laugh, after all, at all the preposterous ideas of unworthiness.” (p. 174)

But the book isn’t all about theological notions, per se. Merton recounts the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and makes the astute observation that Khrushchev probably failed to camouflage those missiles in Cuba in order to gauge how JFK would react. On the basis of that reaction, he would determine whether to raise the nuclear ante. (p. 272) Fortunately for the world, the Soviet premier opted not to try that. There was one ironic anecdote where a group of Oxford academicians opted to drink all of the best wine in their cellar, just in case this was to be the end of the world (p. 273) and Merton seemed amused to think that they would have to settle for second-best when real nuclear Armageddon might occur.

Merton laments the treatment of the Negro (yes, that was the correct term in those days) and admires MLK. He recounts the Kennedy assassination (JFK, not RFK) and laments the rush to judgment of the Warren Commission: “Everyone wants it to be settled and ‘settled’ it is. All have agreed on the answer, and the question no longer is seriously asked, except by a few. The general desire for justice is ‘satisfied.’ One feels that all have wanted a solution at any price and have taken the first one at hand.” (p. 344)

Using Himmler, Hitler, and Eichmann as case studies, Merton surgically cuts through the idea of propaganda and points out its dehumanizing capacity for paving the way for violence and injustice (pp. 235-237). Then, he turns the discussion on its ear and talks about the religious using propaganda as he writes about mangy mutts, part bloodhounds, on the trail of something very old (p. 246). He sees those dogs as a metaphor for the self-righteous hunting down heretics.

My favorite line in the book is a gentle reminder that “mere stopping is not arriving.” (p. 282), as well as the assertion that naïve optimism accelerates decay (p. 283). These are the kinds of statements that kept me reading this fascinating book. I plan to keep it on my shelf and pull it out to read the marked ideas and discussions for years and years.
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Feb 28, 2010 Jake rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: religion

Though not a Catholic, I've always retained an interest in the Mass. Usually at least once a year, on no particular Sunday, I'll go to a Roman Catholic service. More generally, I enjoy the exercise of exploring different faith perspectives. Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, by the late writer and monk Thomas Merton, has been a worthwhile opportunity to do that.

Merton's book, a collection of notes, reflections, and arguments, charts a thoughtful course through the early 60s. From his cloistered...more Though not a Catholic, I've always retained an interest in the Mass. Usually at least once a year, on no particular Sunday, I'll go to a Roman Catholic service. More generally, I enjoy the exercise of exploring different faith perspectives. Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, by the late writer and monk Thomas Merton, has been a worthwhile opportunity to do that.

Merton's book, a collection of notes, reflections, and arguments, charts a thoughtful course through the early 60s. From his cloistered residence in a Kentucky monastery, Merton finds himself a tentative enthusiast of President Kennedy, an ardent voice against an increasingly inevitable war, and a soul echoing the worldwide fears of nuclear holocaust. As a contemplative, Merton seems to enjoy uncovering nuggets of paradox and irony, both in his native faith, and the broader national and world cultures. His observations are generally balanced and astute, often bold, and rarely dry or monotone.

The book has its limitations though. My reading experience, not coincidentally, felt like leafing through a long lost diary, sometimes struggling to grasp various passages without adequate background on the writer's life and learning. Merton also spends many pages musing on the writings of a range of philosophers. Not being well-versed in those works, several of Merton's more nuanced assertions were lost on me. Likely, this book is best enjoyed by people who have already read other works by Thomas Merton such as The Seven Storey Mountain .

Still, I found Merton's voice overwhelmingly engaging. For me the greatest treasures of this work were the interspersed vignettes of daily monastic life. In these, Merton steps away from philosophical discourse and simply focuses on recreating precious moments of his secluded existence in the Kentucky countryside. He captures the mystical ambiance of the rising sun, the call of nearby birds and the starry night sky. He reveals the monastery to be a place with a good deal of intellectual diversity, debate, and humor. To his credit, Merton strikes a decidedly ecumenical tone most of the time.

As far as recommending this work, I do so with a caveat: this book is probably not a good point at which to start a survey of monastic thought; however, it is a wonderful place to stop by. I wish I'd met this man. And I can certainly see myself picking up more of Thomas Merton's writing in the future.

As a sample, here were two of my favorite excerpts:

"Today men are looking for Antichrists: for if the enemy is AntiChrist that makes everything much simpler....One can hate with a good conscience."

"The rooms which I hardly notice during the day seem, when they are empty, to have something very urgent to say, so that I want to linger in them and listen."

DISCLAIMER: For purposes of reviewing, a complimentary copy of this book was provided to the reader as part of the Goodreads Giveaway program. (less)

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Apr 20, 2011 Diane added it

Trying to read this but might not make it. Merton's an insider talking to his particular issue/vocabulary/concern-defining group and I'm not sure I'm curious enough to keep peering through the murky windows as an outsider. Guess I'm more interested in the idea of him than in all his writings writings writings (of which there are quite a lot!) Really like the title tho - it's what drew me in.

I've decided to buy my own copy of this book, which has many wonderful gems tucked into the matrix of his...more

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Jan 02, 2013 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

The themes are varied - but most of the entries (probably taken from his journals)are efforts of Thomas Merton to explore the relation of faith and the world. He treats (and, at times, struggles with) war, racism, Barth, Bonhoeffer, and the Catholic Church. Some passages are gems. Though it covers the late fifties and early sixties it is generally not dated. Some of his remarks would be good sources of reflections for those struggling within the Catholic Church, but he will probably not make any...more

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May 06, 2013 Tim rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a collection of Merton's more public journal entries from the early 60s. Some of them are dated and wordy, but there is always the next page and mostly the entries reveal wonderful insights for the time and for today. I picked it up to reread it thinking about it historically - for an insight into the events of the sixties, civil rights, the Cold War, religious thought of the time. And Merton provides that, but his thought requires more than just historical engagement, it really is exist...more

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May 19, 2008 Sean rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: somewhere-else

Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk and prolific writer who died tragically at the age of 53. Prior to entering the monastery, Merton led a worldly life, which I think gives him a unique perspective on religion and life in general. I am of the opinion that one should not pass judgment on life's "sinful" pleasures unless one has first partaken in them. Personal experience goes a long way in forming the basis of a thorough understanding.
Merton's popular autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain was...more Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk and prolific writer who died tragically at the age of 53. Prior to entering the monastery, Merton led a worldly life, which I think gives him a unique perspective on religion and life in general. I am of the opinion that one should not pass judgment on life's "sinful" pleasures unless one has first partaken in them. Personal experience goes a long way in forming the basis of a thorough understanding.
Merton's popular autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain was on my list of books to read for a long time. However, when I finally got around to reading Merton I opted for something different. I read some reviews of his various books and finally decided to start with this one. Many people said it wouldn't be a good one to pick if you were new to Merton's writing because it's a collection of excerpts from his journals, so it is kind of choppy and random and all over the place, both in tone and topic. However, I appreciate that kind of writing in certain other authors, as well as having a tendency to often write that way myself, particularly in my zine. It's like reading a blog, except it was written in the 50s and 60s, so some of the contemporary references don't apply. To be truthful, I was not able to finish the book before I had to return it to the library (I sure miss the perk of endless renewals that comes with public library work!). But I thorougly enjoyed what I did read. I particularly enjoyed Merton's rants about technology and society's unbridled embracement of it at face value. A quote:

“What I am saying is, then, that it does us no good to make fantastic progress if we do not know how to live with it, if we cannot make good use of it, and if, in fact, our technology becomes nothing more than an expensive and complicated way of cultural disintegration.”

I also really liked when he started in on Americans and their obsession with cars. Keeping in mind that he was writing in the 1960s, I find it depressing how much worse in 40 years the situation he describes has become:

“The attachment of the modern American to his automobile, and the symbolic role played by his car, with its aggressive and lubric design, its useless power, its otiose gadgetry, its consumption of fuel, which is advertised as having almost supernatural power…this is where the study of American mythology should begin.
Meditation on the automobile, what it is used for, what it stands for—the automobile as weapon, as self-advertisement, as brothel, as a means of suicide, etc.—might lead us at once into the heart of all contemporary American problems: race, war, the crisis of marriage, the flight from reality into myth and fanaticism, the growing brutality and irrationality of American mores.”

I skipped around in the book; since it is so random, there's no chance of losing context by doing so. I plan to read more of him, too, as this just whetted my appetite.(less)

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Sep 13, 2010 Nicholas Whyte rated it 3 of 5 stars

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1506013.html

I have long had a vague interest in Thomas Merton, who became a Trappist monk after a dissolute youth (part of which was spent studying at my own later stamping ground, Clare College, Cambridge), and so was looking forward to reading this collection of his writings from the early 1960s - not least because I have been uncomfortably aware that I have enjoyed reading atheist tracts (Lucretius, Russell) more than Christian apologetics in the last few years....more

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Jan 09, 2012 Jean Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found parts of this book entralling. It changed my mind about what monks are all about. He clearly saw himself as very much a part of this world and wrote of the troubles of the world with, I think, the hopes of bringing his faith into action. I did find though that I only absorbs a small percentage of his message because he quotes many authors unknown to me and leaves foreign phrases untranslated. His descriptions of the nature around him are really beautiful.

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Feb 11, 2010 Dan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I won this book from GoodReads.
This book is a collection of short stories, reflections on life, essays, and quotes. It reads like a reference book, and it even has an index.
I read this book realizing that I wasn't grasping every concept, but I do have enough intelligence to know that this collection from a Trappist Monk is a work of wonder, with a keen incite of the world around him. The troubles that he wrote about are from the sixties, and are the same or similar troubles we face today.
Do y...more

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Feb 22, 2010 Jamie marked it as to-read

Shelves: own-not-read, give-aways

I won this book through goodreads and will comment again once I read it.

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Feb 08, 2009 J.D. rated it 2 of 5 stars

Although Merton prefaces the book by saying that this book is a random assortment of his journal entries and should be read as such, I was not expecting it to lack as much cohesion as it did. Many of his books seem to have this format, which I've grown accustomed to, but I just could not reconcile it as much in this. This made it hard to enjoy, and while there certainly are wonderful Merton nuggets in this work, it falls short because there also seems to be "filler"(for lack of a better word) wh...more

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Jun 20, 2011 Alexis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-once-want-to-read-again

At points this book is really revelation and epiphany - at others it is too esoteric for me. I would like to read it again someday, when I have time to savor and consider Merton's development and how he is like a prophet for us today in the post-modern world.

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Jul 10, 2008 Chuck rated it 4 of 5 stars

Merton was such a surprising monk -- cranky, earthy, impatient, but funny too, with a sharp and warm sense of humor. Even a monastery was too crowded and busy for him. The personality makes the metaphysical stuff easier to swallow, and now (hooray!) his meditations on a pointless war with no end in sight are once again timely.

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May 30, 2007 John rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: EVERONE

My God, what an amazing collection of writings! I absolutely love this book and thought that several of the entries by Merton convened wisdom. What's also great about it, too, is that because it's written in diary format, you can pick it up whenever you want for some enlightening reading.

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Aug 03, 2007 Melinda rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I read Thomas Merton, I want to live a life of contemplation.

These short reflections by a Catholic monk are often making a case for social equality and responsibility as the obvious conclusion of Christian faith.

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Apr 02, 2013 Jaret rated it 4 of 5 stars

Really great Lenten read. Some reflections were out of this world good, some I probably would have liked if I knew the different philosophers or theologians he was referring to. Highly recommend it.

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Feb 17, 2013 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars

I wish I had read more Merton before attempting this one. The sections are small and very manageable, but that force a lot of breaks which inhibits the flow of the work.

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Apr 16, 2007 cat rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: look-ma-im-savin-the-world, my-crazy-job

sadly, pretty much every thought he had about racism, the arms race, the culpability of everyday americans, and the confusion between faith and inaction, holds true today.

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Jun 15, 2012 Patrick marked it as to-read

Shelves: paperback, spiritual-religious

I really want to have my own copy of this now. I was blown away by something so profound in page 85 while browsing through it at Fullybooked Eastwood last Friday.

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Jan 24, 2008 Algernon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: politics, criticism, christianity, essays

Written in the shadow of the cold war and the threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union, the underlying themes are very much relevant. This book is timeless.

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Dec 21, 2007 Will rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is incredible. A truly independent mind working through some of the most difficult questions of modernity.

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Mar 29, 2010 Lauren marked it as to-read

Shelves: i-won-this-book, own

I won this book through Goodreads! I am so excited to receive it and get started!

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Oct 26, 2011 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars

maybe the best book i've read this year!

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May 22, 2013 Steve marked it as to-read

May 20, 2013 Rita Grover marked it as to-read

May 19, 2013 Matt Gladue rated it 5 of 5 stars

May 18, 2013 Heather marked it as to-read

May 17, 2013 Megan marked it as to-read

May 17, 2013 Josh Kanagy marked it as to-read

May 14, 2013 Ben marked it as to-read

Shelves: summer-2013

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About Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton was one of the most influential Catholic authors of the 20th century. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, in the American state of Kentucky, Merton was an acclaimed Catholic spiritual writer, poet, author and social activist. Merton wrote over 60 books, scores of essays and reviews, and is the ongoing subject of many biographies. Merton was also a proponent of int...more

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Quotes from Conjectures of a Guilt...

“At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes of our lives, which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our own mind or the brutalities of our own will. This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us. It is so to speak His name written in us, as our poverty, as our indigence, as our dependence, as our sonship. It is like a pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven. It is in everybody, and if we could see it we would see these billions of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of a sun that would make all the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely ... I have no program for this seeing. It is only given. But the gate of heaven is every- where.” — 1 person liked it

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