For those that did not realize it, November 22nd, 2025 was the 62nd anniversary of the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy in Dallas Texas, way back in 1963. Aside from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941, and the terrorist attack upon the US on September 11, 2001, there really are no other true ‘Days of Infamy’ that can match the day that JFK was shot and killed.
Born on March 16th, 1963, I was only 8 months old when the first bulletin of the shooting appeared on the TV screens of the stunned North American viewing audience. Though there were many radio bulletins and other subsequent news flashes on various other TV networks, the most famous of all was the one which appeared on the CBS network, announced by the legendary news anchorman Walter Cronkite.
The initial news flash interrupted the popular soap opera ‘As the World Turns’ at approximately 12:40 pm central standard time. Nothing but a black backdrop and the words ‘CBS News Bulletin’ appeared on TV screens, accompanied by the anxious voice of Cronkite as he rattled off the first preliminary reports of the shooting. The reason there was no initial studio images available was the fact that the huge cameras required approximately 20 minutes to ‘warm up’ before they could actually be used to broadcast the live coverage of Cronkite directly from the CBS news studio.
As the world anxiously awaited further details of the attempt on President Kennedy’s life, Cronkite expertly kept up a steady stream of information as quickly as it could be made available. Often he would repeat what was already verified concerning the president’s condition and the initial circumstances surrounding his shooting. Even though there were multiple unconfirmed reports that President Kennedy had died from his wounds, Cronkite did not dare to jump to any final conclusions regarding the president’s death until he received an ‘Official Statement’ from the White House press secretary, Malcolm Kilduff, as to the actual time of the president’s death. Due to his extensive experience as a war correspondent over the years, Cronkite knew that it was ‘not over until it was over’, and refused to go on the record of stating the president was dead until he actually got it ‘Straight from the Horse’s mouth’. When the official news flash finally came ‘over the wire’, Cronkite sadly announced the bad news to the world.
“From Dallas, Texas, the flash, apparently official: President Kennedy died at 1 p.m., Central Standard Time, 2:00 Eastern Standard Time, some 38 minutes ago”
Of all the reporters that covered that fateful day in the history of the world, Walter Cronkite was ’The Man’ most respected and revered by his colleagues and really was, imo, the last word when it came to news coverage in America. For many years after that dark day in Dallas, Cronkite continued to host ’The CBS Evening News’ which came on at 7 p.m. every weeknight until his retirement on March 6th, 1981. I have many fond memories of my Dad and I watching the news together over the years, with the reassuring voice of Walter Cronkite ending his news casts with his famous “And that’s the way it is” statement, followed by him signing off by reintroducing himself “This is Walter Cronkite. Goodnight”.
There is great power in making ‘Official Statements’ to the world around us. It demonstrates a willingness to ‘put your money where your mouth is’ and to ‘Go out on a limb’ for what you personally believe is true and worth standing up for. Sometimes, by officially declaring what you believe in public, you may receive criticism from others, even to the point of being labelled or even ostracized in many ways, shapes, or forms.
Perhaps you don’t have ‘The Stomach’ to stand up for your beliefs for fear of criticism from your peers or family members or anyone within striking distance of you and what you believe in. In other words, you are ‘Gutless’ when it come to the things that you supposedly profess, specifically, your convictions surrounding your faith.
One man famous for being ‘Gutless’ in the New Testament was the Apostle Peter. Noooo, not Peter, you may cry out! Now you go too far Looch! Well, anyone who knows the story about Peter is tat he wasn’t always the most courageous of guys, and his actions following Christ’s arrest are confirmation of that. Jesus even fearless predicted that Peter would deny him three times before the night was over and the cock crowed twice. Mark ch. 14 vs 30
As much as Peter became an extremely courageous apostle in the end, he did deny ‘Christ in the Crunch’, and was very sorry he did so. I think his sorrow helped to shape him into the man he became, so much so that according to tradition, for all that is worth, Peter refused to be crucified ‘right side up’, choosing to be crucified ‘upside down’, because he did not see himself as worthy to die in the same manner as his Lord did.
I can personally attest to the fact that I have ‘Chickened Out’ on numerous occasions and not spoke up when I really should have regarding my faith in Jesus Christ. Or perhaps I stood there mutely as someone made some sort of erroneous statement which I believed to be false, all for the sake of ‘Keeping the Peace’.
Shame on me for not saying ’something’ at least to express my disagreement with what was being said.
I have encountered several individuals in my travels who, when proven that the founders of their ‘systematic theologies’ were real jerks and obviously in error in regards to their teachings, tried to distance themselves from these ‘Monsters from the Past’ by saying, for example, ‘I don’t care what John Calvin taught, and I don’t associate myself with him’. I only profess to be a Christian, and nothing else!”
Really now. And when did this ‘Distancing’ actually occur? Obviously it was done rather quietly as to not awaken the ’Sleeping Dogs’ of the leadership of your religious organization, and perhaps get yourself ‘disfellowshipped’ and ‘socially ostracized’ as a result. Wow! Now didn’t that take a whole truckload of courage to silently distance yourself, little by little, hoping that no one would notice that you really no longer thought the ’sun shone out of the butt’ of a creep like John Calvin or any other prominent religious heavyweight whose picture hangs in the ‘Religious Demagogue Hall of Fame’.
My question to you, person who until recently no longer wishes to admit any association with the ‘Poster Boy’ and founder of your ‘Church’, is why have you been so ‘Hush Hush’ about the fact until someone actually challenged what you actually do believe what the Bible teaches and why you are not really doing what Jesus told you to do. My question to you, oh man of unwavering conviction, is why don’y you make your newfound convictions ‘official’ and publicly declare them in front of your fellow churchgoers, in the hope that they too can escape the nonsense that guys like Calvin have taught from way back in the 1500s, when virtually no one had a clue as to what the Bible actually taught, for lack of proper teaching and widespread ignorance and illiteracy, John Calvin included. What are you afraid of, might I ask?
Much like a guy or gal who gets ‘cold feet’ when faced with having to get married, people like you are afraid to make it official in the eyes of the world, for fear of the repercussions they will probably end up facing.
That’s ok, you aren’t the first. There were a bunch of people back in the day who secretly ‘kinda’ believed in Jesus, yet were so afraid of getting ‘Kicked out of the Synagogue’ that they kept their mouths shut, just so they could continue to seemingly ‘Have their Cake and Eat it too’, for lack of a better term. Well, God is going to call you out and catch you with ‘Cake on your face’ if you don’t get your act together and ‘Either sh%# or get of the pot’ regarding what you actually ‘Officially’ believe.
Like my dear ‘Old Country’ Ukrainian mom used to say, ‘Quiet shit stinks the worst’. Sorry about the graphic language. It just would not have been as effective without it.
Praise be to the two greatest ‘Anchormen’ of the ‘Official’ word on everything, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father above, of the KOH news network. ( Kingdom of Heaven)
By Lucien Alexander Delean aka ‘Looch’
Sunday November 23rd, 2025