In light of the jailing of recent high profile conservative figures, it is good to turn to another lesson that Thomas More may teach us. It is another virtue which is seldom seen or even extolled by anyone in our time, that being longsuffering.
More was indicted by Henry VIII’s ministers for refusing to swear by the new Act of Succession, the preamble of which denied the supreme spiritual authority of the Pope. More remained a firm adherent to the teachings of Catholicism and could not reconcile this with his conscience. Consequently he was imprisoned for his refusal in April of 1534.
In spite of the legally dubious and unjust case being made against him, More remained patient and composed throughout his ordeal. He not only demonstrated longsuffering, but had the opportunity to ruminate on the nature of the virtue itself. During the early part of his roughly year-long imprisonment, More, having access to reading and writing materials, and being prolific in these arts, wrote much. These writings included treatises on the life and nature of Christ. He also exchanged letters with his daughter, Margaret. The best-known of these works is likely A Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation.
Dialogue is written in the form of an exchange between two Hungarians: a young man, Vincent, and his uncle, Anthony. Faced with the prospect of an invasion by the Ottoman Turks, Vincent seeks out his uncle for solace. Anthony explains to him that ultimately a Christian’s only comfort is in God:
“For God is and must be your comfort, and not I. And He is a sure comfort. that, as He said to His disciples, never leaveth His servants in case of comfortless orphans—not even when He departed from His disciples by death… but both, as He promised, sent them a Comforter, the Holy Spirit of His Father and Himself…”
This is a solid grounding for a person going through suffering of any sort, and especially to a person wrongfully imprisoned. It is to this form of suffering that the dialogue repeatedly turns, quite poignantly. Through More’s pen, Vincent expresses his fears to his uncle of the various forms of suffering that the Ottoman Turks may inflict on him and his fellow Christians should they invade Hungary. He lists physical punishments such as captivity, torture and death.
These punishments would have been prescient in More’s mind as he sat in his cell in the Tower. A case of treason was being brought against him, and the punishment for traitors not of noble blood was to be drawn and quartered. Henry would later commute this to the comparatively merciful beheading, but More did not know that at the time. In spite of More’s self-admitted fears, he remained resolute. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to give into his enemies, to take the oath, sign the paper and be safe back home. In the face of persecution and punishment by enemies, the temptation to give in to them in the search of some comfort is a strong one.
More, however, is harsh in his rebuking of men who take such a course. He sees suffering as an opportunity afforded by God to grow in virtue and grace. The words he speaks through Anthony are severe in their treatment of men who compromise their character and give in to seek earthly
comfort as an alternative to earthly suffering, and firm in their praise of men who are longsuffering:
“…all these kind of folk in their tribulation call not upon God… but seek for their ease and help otherwise—to the flesh and the world, and to the flinging Fiend. The tribulation that God’s goodness sendeth them for good, themselves by their folly turn into their harm. And they that, on the other side, seek unto God therein, both comfort and profit they greatly take thereby..”
More thought it better to suffer his unjust imprisonment rather than to violate his conscience for the sake of a little earthly comfort, which, if Anthony’s words are any indication, he thought would put his soul in peril of eternal punishment.
The point here for conservatives, besides the importance of prioritizing the health of the soul over that of the body, is that we should be willing to suffer things such as imprisonment and other forms of legal punishment if we wish to carry out our fight effectively. The left has been very good at this, with rioters and the likes of Antifa willing to sit in a jail cell for a night if it means they can disrupt a conservative gathering or attack a political opponent. Only more recently have examples for the right arisen. Pro-life activists have been thrown into jail for violating the FACE act. Peter Navarro and now Steve Bannon are sitting in prison for contempt of Congress charges because they dared to defy the kangaroo court that is the January 6th committee.
If we wish to stand a chance in this fight, we must be willing to face consequences such as these. This is not to say we do not conduct ourselves cleverly; Thomas More used every legal avenue and tactic he knew of to avoid prosecution, since “our natural business lies in escaping.” (A Man for All Seasons, 1966). But sometimes it comes to it that there is no escaping, we must be willing to be patient in the face of persecution and suffering; we must, in the words of Paul Scofield’s Thomas More: “…stand fast a little, even at the risk of being heroes.”
