The Reassessors: St. Moses the Black

St. Moses the Black was an Ethiopian gang leader in the second half of the 4th Century. While fleeing the authorities he took refuge in a Christian monastery.  Impressed with monks, he converted to Christianity and became a monk himself, living in an Egyptian monastery.

He is reputed to have died at the hands of Berber robbers at age 75, remaining behind in non violent defense of the monastery, and noting that his probable death was a suitable one, having once lived by the sword himself.

The Reassessors: St. Ignatius of Loyola

He was ordained a cleric at an early age, but received a release from his vows and became a soldier.  He was noted to be vainglorious in this period.  A battlefield wound lead to a long period of painful books during which his request for books about chivalry was met instead with religious works as the castle he was recuperating in had those and not the former.

This lead to a profound conversion, lead an austere life, dedicated himself to study, and ultimately returned to the clergy.  He founded the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits.

The Reassessors. Smedly Butler

He entered the Marine Corps in 1898 and served until 1931, and saw action all over the world.  He is one of the most decorated Marines in history, having won the Congressional Medal of Honor twice.

After his retirement the disillusioned Butler wrote a book called War Is A Racket.  His views might be summarized by the following quote.

I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer; a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902–1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.