From Patrick Hardyman

Blanchardville

To the Editor:

In the Aug. 2 edition of the Monroe Times, the quote for the day reads: “Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.” This quote is attributed to Denis Diderot, a French Philosopher who died in 1784. For readers who don’t know the meaning of entrails, I give you a definition: “A person or animal’s intestines or internal organs, especially when removed or exposed.” The thought expressed in the quote is very disturbing.

There are those who believe that sentiments like those of Diderot helped fuel the French Revolution (1789 - 1799) and especially the infamous “Reign of Terror” (1792 - 1794).

According to Wikipedia, beginning on September 2, 1792, and lasting for four days, 1200 prisoners were killed and within the first 48 hours, three Bishops and over 200 priests and religious were murdered by an angry mob. Many were hacked to death by “knives and carpentry saws”, while others were drowned. This was the beginning of what became known as the “September Massacres”.

It is estimated that over 1500 clergy and religious were martyred during the Reign of Terror. Another 30,000 clergy were exiled from France. Anywhere from 15,000 to 17,000 people were executed by the newly invented guillotine.

King Louis XVI was beheaded on January 21, 1793, and his wife Queen Marie Antoinette suffered the same fate on October 16, 1793. Maximilien Robespierre, like the King and his wife was also executed by guillotine. Most experts report that with the death of Robespierre on July 28, 1794, the infamous Reign of Terror ended.

As a footnote: Today’s Gospel reading comes from Matthew (14: 1-12) and features the gruesome story of the beheading of John the Baptist by order of King Herod. What took place in France in the late 18th century and what continues to occur far too frequently in the early 21st century is how little regard we have for all stages of human life from conception until natural death.