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Seeds of Destruction
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) is one of the foremost spiritual thinkers of the twentieth century. Though he lived a mostly solitary existence as a Trappist monk, he had a dynamic impact on world affairs through his writing. An outspoken proponent of the antiwar and civil rights movements, he was both hailed as a prophet and castigated for his social criticism. He was also unique among religious leaders in his embrace of Eastern mysticism, positing it as complementary to the Western sacred tradition. Merton is the author of over forty books of poetry, essays, and religious writing, including Mystics and Zen Masters, and The Seven Story Mountain, for which he is best known. His work continues to be widely read to this day.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1961
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About the author
Thomas Merton
556 books1,901 followersThomas Merton, religious name M. Louis, was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. In December 1941 he entered the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani and in May 1949 he was ordained to priesthood. He was a member of the convent of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, near Bardstown, Kentucky, living there from 1941 to his death.
Merton wrote more than 50 books in a period of 27 years, mostly on spirituality, social justice and a quiet pacifism, as well as scores of essays and reviews. Among Merton's most enduring works is his bestselling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain (1948). His account of his spiritual journey inspired scores of World War II veterans, students, and teenagers to explore offerings of monasteries across the US. It is on National Review's list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the century.
Merton became a keen proponent of interfaith understanding, exploring Eastern religions through his study of mystic practice. His interfaith conversation, which preserved both Protestant and Catholic theological positions, helped to build mutual respect via their shared experiences at a period of heightened hostility. He is particularly known for having pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Dalai Lama XIV; Japanese writer D.T. Suzuki; Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, and Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He traveled extensively in the course of meeting with them and attending international conferences on religion. In addition, he wrote books on Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and how Christianity is related to them. This was highly unusual at the time in the United States, particularly within the religious orders.
Merton wrote more than 50 books in a period of 27 years, mostly on spirituality, social justice and a quiet pacifism, as well as scores of essays and reviews. Among Merton's most enduring works is his bestselling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain (1948). His account of his spiritual journey inspired scores of World War II veterans, students, and teenagers to explore offerings of monasteries across the US. It is on National Review's list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the century.
Merton became a keen proponent of interfaith understanding, exploring Eastern religions through his study of mystic practice. His interfaith conversation, which preserved both Protestant and Catholic theological positions, helped to build mutual respect via their shared experiences at a period of heightened hostility. He is particularly known for having pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Dalai Lama XIV; Japanese writer D.T. Suzuki; Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, and Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He traveled extensively in the course of meeting with them and attending international conferences on religion. In addition, he wrote books on Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and how Christianity is related to them. This was highly unusual at the time in the United States, particularly within the religious orders.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 14, 2022
Highly politicized opinions. It was the religious book I hoped for.
November 30, 2021
Read in November. It carries the weight of the world on its shoulders and brings a smile to its audience of one.
January 30, 2021
Wanting to learn more of Thomas Merton‘s action and writing on social justice, I picked up this book and struggled through it. His writing is very wordy and not in a style that I care for o find easy to digest. But the one section that I highly recommend for anyone working for a greater social justice in any time and place is Chapter III of part two, A Tribute to Gandhi. In this chapter it is obvious that Merton greatly admired Gandhi and felt him a very important person of his time.
December 17, 2014
Animal Rights is an “opposing views” type of book written for the middle school and young teen set. The author capably presents readers with the controversies surrounding issues ranging from product testing to factory farming, and it would be a decent choice for a student who’s writing a report or is just interested in animal rights and welfare. As this book was published in 1990, some of the specifics are out of date. Unfortunately, “the big picture” of animal exploitation remains very much the same.
Bloyd is careful to present the arguments of both sides, in addition to giving an impartial, concise history of both animal use and animal protection activism. In my estimation, the animal protection side won out in all areas but biomedical research and hunting. Importantly, the author begins by explaining what animal rights mean and the differences in philosophies and approaches taken by several major groups. For example, she acknowledges that there is a difference between PETA and the lawless, clandestine groups like the ALF—a distinction that, judging by Internet message boards, has yet to be made by many non-activists. Bloyd notes that
Animal welfare advocates, animal rights activists, and animal liberationists share many of the same goals, although the means they use to achieve these goals differ. All of these groups believe that animals have a right to life without suffering or early death.
That’s something to consider, especially in an era when everyone from factory farming interests to cockfighters have appropriated the term “animal welfare” and applied it to themselves. She notes, though, that
In some places [animal rights groups] have come into conflict with animal welfare groups that endorse activities, such as animal research and animal training, that animal rights groups disapprove of.
That’s a bit awkwardly worded. “Animal training” could refer to a lot of things, from capturing an elephant and putting her in a circus to teaching a dog good manners. I can’t imagine any animal rights groups saying that dogs should not be housetrained and “go” inside the home!
Although the animal rights movement condemns some of the ways people use animals, it accepts many of the traditional relationships between humans and animals, such as the bond between pet and owner.
True, indeed. Although animal industry often insists that AR groups want to confiscate dogs and cats from their caretakers, there is no precedent for this scaremongering—it’s mainly done to get dog and cat lovers into a corner they may not otherwise ally themselves with. A look at any major AR group’s website will show pictures of happy pets and advocacy for pet adoption.
In step with the priorities of the animal advocacy movement of two decades ago, Bloyd first tackles animal research. She describes the beginnings of vivisection in the time of Descartes, along with the hideous types of experiments the man championed. Ironically, she argues, these cruel tests may have led to the first kindling of humane thought.
[V]ivisection revealed that animals responded to pain in a similar way to humans.
I’m skeptical. You’re telling me that generation upon generation of hunting, animal slaughter, bull and bear baiting, religious sacrifices, gladiator sports, witchcraft burnings, “pest” purges, and on and on ad nauseum—no one figured out that golly gee, those animals might be feeling pain? It took Descartes nailing some poor being to a wall to do that?
Of more modern research, the author writes:
Not all research is harmful to animals. In a 1985 survey, the Dept. of agriculture found that 62 percent of experiments using animal subjects involve no pain for the animals. In another 32 percent of the studies, the animals feel no pain because they receive anesthesia or painkillers. In only 6 percent of the studies do animals experience pain.
The author does not take into account the probability of animals suffering during transport and also in the laboratory environment itself. Monkeys, for example, are still wild-caught for air shipment to labs worldwide. Few would deny that this is a terrifying experience for the animals, and some die en route before ever reaching a lab. The small, sterile wire cages that house most research animals for the duration of the experiments can also be a source of stress and discomfort, particularly for nondomestic animals. It is not uncommon for some species to begin to self-mutilate from the boredom and stress.
As for the numbers of animals that were reported as experiencing pain and distress, the number appears to have jumped in the new millennium—up to 8 percent of monitored species in 2007. In addition, animal advocates are worried that USDA reports may not reflect the whole picture of pain and distress in lab animals.
Although the section on biomedical research comes out mainly in favor of the use of animals for this purpose, the author interestingly notes,
Although supporters of animal research usually talk about the medical advances made possible by animal experimentation, less than half of the lab animals in this country are used for medical research.
and
[The NIH reports that] the mail response is one hundred people against animal research for every person in favor of it.
Bloyd later discusses animals in agriculture, noting that “farms” have grown into huge, factorylike industries. Bloyd gives the agribusiness and animal rights sides airtime, but unfortunately the argument that agribusiness must treat animals kindly, otherwise they would not produce, is presented without a counter opinion. An impartial view of the facts proves what a fallacy this is. First off, it makes sense that a farmer with a factory shed of 600,000 chickens will out-produce a farmer with a pasture of 60 chickens, even if the former experiences lower productivity per bird. Secondly, today’s factory farm animals are a narrow group of breeds genetically selected for freakish growth and production, even in the taxing environment of a factory farm. The animals, of course, pay the price. Modern broiler chickens’ legs often collapse under their overweight bodies, and modern turkeys are so heavy and malformed they cannot even mate naturally.
At one point, the author makes an unusual photo choice. Under the heading “after 120 to 150 days in feedlots, most steer are large enough for slaughter,” we see a photo of a small group of cows and calves standing upon a lush pasture. Photographs of actual beef feedlots are certainly not difficult to find.
Disappointingly, the chapter concludes with discussion of free-range, or so-called “happy” meat. The option of vegetarianism, or even just reducing intake of all types of meat, is not discussed in any depth.
But on to hunting.
The hunting industry argument that hunting is about loving and communing with nature, not about the kill, is given plenty of airtime. Counter arguments to this are not presented in a satisfactory way. An animal advocate may respond, if hunting is just about loving nature, why not carry a camera or binoculars into the woods instead of a weapon? There are also plenty of examples from the hunting industry itself that run counter to this rosy, pacifist view presented to the non-hunting public.
A pro-hunting graph from the USFWS is presented with the heading “Hunting Helps Increase Wildlife Populations.” Whitetail deer, for example, are one species managed with hunters in mind. According to the graph, today over 14 million whitetails populate the US, whereas in 1920 numbered at 500,000 or fewer. The consequencesof management for a huntable surplus are not at all addressed. How many 1920s roadsters were crashing into deer?
Puppy mills have been a persistent concern of animal rights and welfare advocates for decades. Hilariously, the author suggests,
The American Kennel Club (AKC), which registers pedigreed dogs in the United States, would be a logical choice to take steps that would close down many puppy mills.
She forgot to consider all of those tasty registration fees the AKC rakes in from mill-bred pups every year. In reality, the AKC is the puppy millers’ biggest and most influential advocate, battling any piece of legislation that might put a curb to the factory-style breeding of dogs.
There are a few mistakes in the text here and there. The author at two different points refers to non-existent groups, the “American Humane Society” and the “American Humane Society of the United States.” It is unknown whether she is talking about the HSUS or the group then known as the American Humane Association. At another point, Bloyd repeats the common mistake that Animal Liberation author Peter Singer coined the word “speciesism.” The term was actually created by by British psychologist Richard D. Ryder. More seriously, she asserts the following of the infamous Canadian harp seal hunt:
Closing the biggest market for baby sealskins led to the end of the hunt itself. … the seal hunts have been banned …
While it did look for a time that the bloody hunt had finally ceased, it never did. After a few years of lying low, the harp seal hunt roared back with a vengeance in the new millennium, with kill quotas set higher than at any other point in history.
Other information is simply out of date. At the time this book was written, five billion farm animals were raised and killed annually in the United States. Today, that number has expanded (along with Americans’ waistlines) to nine billion.
But not all news is so depressing. The author notes:
[P]roducts such as estrogen, an important ingredient in birth control pills, and insulin, used to treat diabetes, are extracted from the blood, urine, or organs of animals.
Today, estrogen is widely and cheaply synthesized. The old way of extracting estrogen from pregnant horses’ urine has become a dying industry after medical data linked Premarin
use with serious and potentially fatal health problems. Synthesized human insulin is much cleaner and more dependable than the old types extracted from animals.
In addition, the time period’s grim forecast for the future of animal welfare legislation did not come to pass.
Will [a humane farm animal treatment] law ever pass in the United States? Probably not, say animal rights advocates … In 1989, a referendum on animal rights was put on the ballot in Massachusetts. It was defeated, with 73 percent of the electorate voting against it.
What a difference 20 years makes!
I am pleased to report that the “What you can do” section at the book’s conclusion assumes the reader does hold some values regarding animals and wishes to help improve their welfare. Unfortunately, the author once again only mentions “happy meat” in regards to dietary changes that can help animals.
“Organizations to contact” is an exhaustive list, but there are no Web URLs (of course) and information for some groups will have changed.
Bloyd is careful to present the arguments of both sides, in addition to giving an impartial, concise history of both animal use and animal protection activism. In my estimation, the animal protection side won out in all areas but biomedical research and hunting. Importantly, the author begins by explaining what animal rights mean and the differences in philosophies and approaches taken by several major groups. For example, she acknowledges that there is a difference between PETA and the lawless, clandestine groups like the ALF—a distinction that, judging by Internet message boards, has yet to be made by many non-activists. Bloyd notes that
Animal welfare advocates, animal rights activists, and animal liberationists share many of the same goals, although the means they use to achieve these goals differ. All of these groups believe that animals have a right to life without suffering or early death.
That’s something to consider, especially in an era when everyone from factory farming interests to cockfighters have appropriated the term “animal welfare” and applied it to themselves. She notes, though, that
In some places [animal rights groups] have come into conflict with animal welfare groups that endorse activities, such as animal research and animal training, that animal rights groups disapprove of.
That’s a bit awkwardly worded. “Animal training” could refer to a lot of things, from capturing an elephant and putting her in a circus to teaching a dog good manners. I can’t imagine any animal rights groups saying that dogs should not be housetrained and “go” inside the home!
Although the animal rights movement condemns some of the ways people use animals, it accepts many of the traditional relationships between humans and animals, such as the bond between pet and owner.
True, indeed. Although animal industry often insists that AR groups want to confiscate dogs and cats from their caretakers, there is no precedent for this scaremongering—it’s mainly done to get dog and cat lovers into a corner they may not otherwise ally themselves with. A look at any major AR group’s website will show pictures of happy pets and advocacy for pet adoption.
In step with the priorities of the animal advocacy movement of two decades ago, Bloyd first tackles animal research. She describes the beginnings of vivisection in the time of Descartes, along with the hideous types of experiments the man championed. Ironically, she argues, these cruel tests may have led to the first kindling of humane thought.
[V]ivisection revealed that animals responded to pain in a similar way to humans.
I’m skeptical. You’re telling me that generation upon generation of hunting, animal slaughter, bull and bear baiting, religious sacrifices, gladiator sports, witchcraft burnings, “pest” purges, and on and on ad nauseum—no one figured out that golly gee, those animals might be feeling pain? It took Descartes nailing some poor being to a wall to do that?
Of more modern research, the author writes:
Not all research is harmful to animals. In a 1985 survey, the Dept. of agriculture found that 62 percent of experiments using animal subjects involve no pain for the animals. In another 32 percent of the studies, the animals feel no pain because they receive anesthesia or painkillers. In only 6 percent of the studies do animals experience pain.
The author does not take into account the probability of animals suffering during transport and also in the laboratory environment itself. Monkeys, for example, are still wild-caught for air shipment to labs worldwide. Few would deny that this is a terrifying experience for the animals, and some die en route before ever reaching a lab. The small, sterile wire cages that house most research animals for the duration of the experiments can also be a source of stress and discomfort, particularly for nondomestic animals. It is not uncommon for some species to begin to self-mutilate from the boredom and stress.
As for the numbers of animals that were reported as experiencing pain and distress, the number appears to have jumped in the new millennium—up to 8 percent of monitored species in 2007. In addition, animal advocates are worried that USDA reports may not reflect the whole picture of pain and distress in lab animals.
Although the section on biomedical research comes out mainly in favor of the use of animals for this purpose, the author interestingly notes,
Although supporters of animal research usually talk about the medical advances made possible by animal experimentation, less than half of the lab animals in this country are used for medical research.
and
[The NIH reports that] the mail response is one hundred people against animal research for every person in favor of it.
Bloyd later discusses animals in agriculture, noting that “farms” have grown into huge, factorylike industries. Bloyd gives the agribusiness and animal rights sides airtime, but unfortunately the argument that agribusiness must treat animals kindly, otherwise they would not produce, is presented without a counter opinion. An impartial view of the facts proves what a fallacy this is. First off, it makes sense that a farmer with a factory shed of 600,000 chickens will out-produce a farmer with a pasture of 60 chickens, even if the former experiences lower productivity per bird. Secondly, today’s factory farm animals are a narrow group of breeds genetically selected for freakish growth and production, even in the taxing environment of a factory farm. The animals, of course, pay the price. Modern broiler chickens’ legs often collapse under their overweight bodies, and modern turkeys are so heavy and malformed they cannot even mate naturally.
At one point, the author makes an unusual photo choice. Under the heading “after 120 to 150 days in feedlots, most steer are large enough for slaughter,” we see a photo of a small group of cows and calves standing upon a lush pasture. Photographs of actual beef feedlots are certainly not difficult to find.
Disappointingly, the chapter concludes with discussion of free-range, or so-called “happy” meat. The option of vegetarianism, or even just reducing intake of all types of meat, is not discussed in any depth.
But on to hunting.
The hunting industry argument that hunting is about loving and communing with nature, not about the kill, is given plenty of airtime. Counter arguments to this are not presented in a satisfactory way. An animal advocate may respond, if hunting is just about loving nature, why not carry a camera or binoculars into the woods instead of a weapon? There are also plenty of examples from the hunting industry itself that run counter to this rosy, pacifist view presented to the non-hunting public.
A pro-hunting graph from the USFWS is presented with the heading “Hunting Helps Increase Wildlife Populations.” Whitetail deer, for example, are one species managed with hunters in mind. According to the graph, today over 14 million whitetails populate the US, whereas in 1920 numbered at 500,000 or fewer. The consequencesof management for a huntable surplus are not at all addressed. How many 1920s roadsters were crashing into deer?
Puppy mills have been a persistent concern of animal rights and welfare advocates for decades. Hilariously, the author suggests,
The American Kennel Club (AKC), which registers pedigreed dogs in the United States, would be a logical choice to take steps that would close down many puppy mills.
She forgot to consider all of those tasty registration fees the AKC rakes in from mill-bred pups every year. In reality, the AKC is the puppy millers’ biggest and most influential advocate, battling any piece of legislation that might put a curb to the factory-style breeding of dogs.
There are a few mistakes in the text here and there. The author at two different points refers to non-existent groups, the “American Humane Society” and the “American Humane Society of the United States.” It is unknown whether she is talking about the HSUS or the group then known as the American Humane Association. At another point, Bloyd repeats the common mistake that Animal Liberation author Peter Singer coined the word “speciesism.” The term was actually created by by British psychologist Richard D. Ryder. More seriously, she asserts the following of the infamous Canadian harp seal hunt:
Closing the biggest market for baby sealskins led to the end of the hunt itself. … the seal hunts have been banned …
While it did look for a time that the bloody hunt had finally ceased, it never did. After a few years of lying low, the harp seal hunt roared back with a vengeance in the new millennium, with kill quotas set higher than at any other point in history.
Other information is simply out of date. At the time this book was written, five billion farm animals were raised and killed annually in the United States. Today, that number has expanded (along with Americans’ waistlines) to nine billion.
But not all news is so depressing. The author notes:
[P]roducts such as estrogen, an important ingredient in birth control pills, and insulin, used to treat diabetes, are extracted from the blood, urine, or organs of animals.
Today, estrogen is widely and cheaply synthesized. The old way of extracting estrogen from pregnant horses’ urine has become a dying industry after medical data linked Premarin
use with serious and potentially fatal health problems. Synthesized human insulin is much cleaner and more dependable than the old types extracted from animals.
In addition, the time period’s grim forecast for the future of animal welfare legislation did not come to pass.
Will [a humane farm animal treatment] law ever pass in the United States? Probably not, say animal rights advocates … In 1989, a referendum on animal rights was put on the ballot in Massachusetts. It was defeated, with 73 percent of the electorate voting against it.
What a difference 20 years makes!
I am pleased to report that the “What you can do” section at the book’s conclusion assumes the reader does hold some values regarding animals and wishes to help improve their welfare. Unfortunately, the author once again only mentions “happy meat” in regards to dietary changes that can help animals.
“Organizations to contact” is an exhaustive list, but there are no Web URLs (of course) and information for some groups will have changed.
July 20, 2024
MERTON'S OBSERVATIONS ON THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, AND MORE
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was a Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, as well as a best-selling writer, poet, social activist, and student of comparative religion. He wrote many books, including 'The Seven Storey Mountain,' 'The Silent Life,' 'Mystics and Zen Masters,' etc. Tragically, he was accidentally electrocuted while in Thailand at a conference of Christian and non-Christian monks.
He wrote in the "Author's Note" in this 1964 book, "The contemplative life is not, and cannot be, a mere withdrawal, a pure negation, a turning of one's back on the world with its sufferings, its crises, its confusion and errors... This is not to say that the monk is obliged to partisan commitment... The last thing I would want is a clerical or monastic movement in politics!... I do intend to say at what point I and Christians who think as I do become morally obligated to dissent. Therefore it seems to me to be a solemn obligation of conscience at this moment in history to take the positions which are indicated in the following pages..."
He states, "I believe that Christianity is concerned with human crises, since Christians are called to manifest the mercy and truth of God in history." (Pg. 10) He observes that Pope John XXIII "understood and clearly stated that being a 'peacemaker' meant more, not less, than being a 'pacifist.'" (Pg. 118) He concedes that in the current "diaspora situation," the Church will exist "to a great extent as a stone of stumbling and a sign of contradiction." (Pg. 187)
To a professor at a Catholic women's college, he wrote, "I think women are perhaps capable of salvaging something of humanity in our world today. Certainly they have a better sense of grasping and understanding and preserving a sense of Christian culture." (Pg. 248) Somewhat surprisingly, he states near the end, "It all comes down to our actual relationship with our brother. I don't believe in the Abbey of Gethsemani, Inc., but I do believe in my brothers. I stand or fall with them, and I hope to rise with them. I need them and they need me." (Pg. 324)
Although some of the issues covered are now "old news," Merton's reflections while they were taking place are essential to getting a complete picture of the man.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was a Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, as well as a best-selling writer, poet, social activist, and student of comparative religion. He wrote many books, including 'The Seven Storey Mountain,' 'The Silent Life,' 'Mystics and Zen Masters,' etc. Tragically, he was accidentally electrocuted while in Thailand at a conference of Christian and non-Christian monks.
He wrote in the "Author's Note" in this 1964 book, "The contemplative life is not, and cannot be, a mere withdrawal, a pure negation, a turning of one's back on the world with its sufferings, its crises, its confusion and errors... This is not to say that the monk is obliged to partisan commitment... The last thing I would want is a clerical or monastic movement in politics!... I do intend to say at what point I and Christians who think as I do become morally obligated to dissent. Therefore it seems to me to be a solemn obligation of conscience at this moment in history to take the positions which are indicated in the following pages..."
He states, "I believe that Christianity is concerned with human crises, since Christians are called to manifest the mercy and truth of God in history." (Pg. 10) He observes that Pope John XXIII "understood and clearly stated that being a 'peacemaker' meant more, not less, than being a 'pacifist.'" (Pg. 118) He concedes that in the current "diaspora situation," the Church will exist "to a great extent as a stone of stumbling and a sign of contradiction." (Pg. 187)
To a professor at a Catholic women's college, he wrote, "I think women are perhaps capable of salvaging something of humanity in our world today. Certainly they have a better sense of grasping and understanding and preserving a sense of Christian culture." (Pg. 248) Somewhat surprisingly, he states near the end, "It all comes down to our actual relationship with our brother. I don't believe in the Abbey of Gethsemani, Inc., but I do believe in my brothers. I stand or fall with them, and I hope to rise with them. I need them and they need me." (Pg. 324)
Although some of the issues covered are now "old news," Merton's reflections while they were taking place are essential to getting a complete picture of the man.
November 30, 2020
"One of our most important tasks today is to clear the atmosphere so that [people] can understand their plight without hatred, without fury, without desperations, and with the minimum of good will. A humble and objective seriousness is necessary for the long task of restoring mutual confidence and preparing the way for the necessary work of collaboration in building world peace. This restoration of a climate of relative sanity is perhaps more important than specific decisions regarding the morality of this or that strategy, this or that pragmatic policy." p. 100
This collection of essays and personal letters addresses the religious, political and civil unrest of the early 1960's. What's most striking is to see how little has changed in sixty years with regard to the issues Merton raises in the book. In fact, we seem to have moved in the direction he tried to steer us away from, becoming more divided, more extreme, less informed and less compassionate than we were two generations ago. Our world is teeming with hatred, fury, desperation, and ill will toward one another--toward our fellow countrymen and women even. It's disheartening to watch as those issues most deserving of humble and objective seriousness (I'm thinking of racial injustice, public health crises, climate change, and democratic elections, just off the top of my head) being addressed, instead, with arrogant and fanatical insanity.
The good news is that the remedy for our disease is the same now as it was then, and still readily available to us. Again and again in this book Merton prescribes an openness of heart, a reasonableness of mind, a generosity of spirit, and an engagement of our bodies in the struggle for peace. These aren't the words of a capricious idler or an impractical dreamer, as teachers of such ideas will often be accused of being. These are the seeds of hope that can save us from destroying ourselves, if we'll commit to nurturing them and bringing them to fruition.
This collection of essays and personal letters addresses the religious, political and civil unrest of the early 1960's. What's most striking is to see how little has changed in sixty years with regard to the issues Merton raises in the book. In fact, we seem to have moved in the direction he tried to steer us away from, becoming more divided, more extreme, less informed and less compassionate than we were two generations ago. Our world is teeming with hatred, fury, desperation, and ill will toward one another--toward our fellow countrymen and women even. It's disheartening to watch as those issues most deserving of humble and objective seriousness (I'm thinking of racial injustice, public health crises, climate change, and democratic elections, just off the top of my head) being addressed, instead, with arrogant and fanatical insanity.
The good news is that the remedy for our disease is the same now as it was then, and still readily available to us. Again and again in this book Merton prescribes an openness of heart, a reasonableness of mind, a generosity of spirit, and an engagement of our bodies in the struggle for peace. These aren't the words of a capricious idler or an impractical dreamer, as teachers of such ideas will often be accused of being. These are the seeds of hope that can save us from destroying ourselves, if we'll commit to nurturing them and bringing them to fruition.
December 19, 2019
Sober, prophetic, inspiring words written in address of Vietnam, civil rights, the Cold War and the place of the Christian in a secular world. All still timely issues ... we have advanced not at all.
May 15, 2023
I found this content relative and insight today.
While his other works may be more timeless, this is clearly written in the early 1960s, but it speaks poignantly to issues relevant to today. He points at a way of life that few chose and or even desire, including myself.
While his other works may be more timeless, this is clearly written in the early 1960s, but it speaks poignantly to issues relevant to today. He points at a way of life that few chose and or even desire, including myself.
May 22, 2018
Required reading. Wow.
September 10, 2018
Racism, nuclear war, American imperialism all as spiritual crises. As important now as it was 55 years ago.
December 16, 2024
I've been wanting to read this book for a long time, largely because of the first essay in it, the famous Letters to a White Liberal, which is crucial for understanding Merton's understanding of race in the 1960s. Seeds of Destruction collects this essay as well as other essays on race and on peacemaking in the 1960s and reveals much of Merton's social thinking in the last decade of his life. Merton in the 1960s can be a polarizing figure, but I appreciate the clarity of his thinking, which holds up generally quite well more than fifty years later.
The book is divided into two main sections- Black Revolution and the Diaspora. In Black Revolution, Merton considers how white Christians should respond to the revolution building in Black communities in the 1960s as the U.S. navigated the Civil Rights struggle. His discussion takes Black authors and activists seriously and he has an unusually clear idea of white privilege and the way that even white supporters of the struggle find it hard to understand it. Despite its occasionally archaic vocabulary and Merton's own shortcomings, it remains a useful discussion.
The second section, the Diaspora, focuses primarily on peace, the world crisis (i.e. the 1960s version) and the problem of the Christian in a post- Christendom world (my words, not Merton's). The discussion here is rooted in Scripture and Catholic thought and provides insights which continue to be useful today. Again, the lean is progressive and supportive of Vatican II, so remains somewhat controversial among conservatives.
This is an important book for those of us interested in Merton's social thought, which only really was published to the wider world after Merton's death. The view is still rooted in the 1960s, but remains curiously relevant to the world we find ourselves in during the 2020s.
The book is divided into two main sections- Black Revolution and the Diaspora. In Black Revolution, Merton considers how white Christians should respond to the revolution building in Black communities in the 1960s as the U.S. navigated the Civil Rights struggle. His discussion takes Black authors and activists seriously and he has an unusually clear idea of white privilege and the way that even white supporters of the struggle find it hard to understand it. Despite its occasionally archaic vocabulary and Merton's own shortcomings, it remains a useful discussion.
The second section, the Diaspora, focuses primarily on peace, the world crisis (i.e. the 1960s version) and the problem of the Christian in a post- Christendom world (my words, not Merton's). The discussion here is rooted in Scripture and Catholic thought and provides insights which continue to be useful today. Again, the lean is progressive and supportive of Vatican II, so remains somewhat controversial among conservatives.
This is an important book for those of us interested in Merton's social thought, which only really was published to the wider world after Merton's death. The view is still rooted in the 1960s, but remains curiously relevant to the world we find ourselves in during the 2020s.
April 4, 2022
Thomas Merton is the first spiritual author I began to read avidly. 'The Seeds of Contemplation' is the first book I approached, and it was beyond of my comprehension and I gave up reading. I challenged again since my neighbor who worked blue colored work praised the book. (I felt embarrassed not to understand the book as I am intellectually proud) As a result, I read the book seven times since it was very hard to understand but has depth.
After that, I read Merton's autobiographical novel, 'Seven Story Mountain,' and kept on reading whenever I found his book.
'Seeds of Destruction' is collection of essays and letters of Thomas Merton. Merton says that white American should atone for the mistreatment for the African American. He strongly approves and admires Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi's non violent movements. (His tribute to Gandhi is in this book) While reading this book, I became curious if Merton had ever met MLK and found out in the month, April in 1968, they were supposed to meet, MLK was assassinated. Merton who was shocked to hear MLK's assassination died by electric shock while attending Asian Monastic Meeting in Bangkok in the same year MLK died, 1968. Very weird.
Merton contrasts Machiavelli's Prince and Pope John's Pacem in Terris. I am glad Merton introduced Machiavelli's theory since I memorized his name and the title of his book. I was aghast what 'the Prince' is all about. Merton leads us to think of a Christian's role in the critical time as now.
I was so delighted to find how Merton thought of the minor groups including Asian. He didn't believe white people's superiority. This book induced my interest as the war started by Russia is going on in Ukraine.
I would like to continue learning about Rahner's 'the Christian in the Diaspora.' discussed in the book.
Whenever I read Thomas Merton, I am amazed by his wide and deep knowledge and his acquaintances as a Trappist. He died at 53 and is said that he wrote 50~60 books. I will keep reading him whenever I have a chance to get his book.
After that, I read Merton's autobiographical novel, 'Seven Story Mountain,' and kept on reading whenever I found his book.
'Seeds of Destruction' is collection of essays and letters of Thomas Merton. Merton says that white American should atone for the mistreatment for the African American. He strongly approves and admires Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi's non violent movements. (His tribute to Gandhi is in this book) While reading this book, I became curious if Merton had ever met MLK and found out in the month, April in 1968, they were supposed to meet, MLK was assassinated. Merton who was shocked to hear MLK's assassination died by electric shock while attending Asian Monastic Meeting in Bangkok in the same year MLK died, 1968. Very weird.
Merton contrasts Machiavelli's Prince and Pope John's Pacem in Terris. I am glad Merton introduced Machiavelli's theory since I memorized his name and the title of his book. I was aghast what 'the Prince' is all about. Merton leads us to think of a Christian's role in the critical time as now.
I was so delighted to find how Merton thought of the minor groups including Asian. He didn't believe white people's superiority. This book induced my interest as the war started by Russia is going on in Ukraine.
I would like to continue learning about Rahner's 'the Christian in the Diaspora.' discussed in the book.
Whenever I read Thomas Merton, I am amazed by his wide and deep knowledge and his acquaintances as a Trappist. He died at 53 and is said that he wrote 50~60 books. I will keep reading him whenever I have a chance to get his book.
February 7, 2011
Half way through...this is great stuff...totally inpolitically correct. Merton was a religious Anarchist!
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