Larry P. Arn, President of Hillsdale College, in Michigan, has written a book about Winston Churchill. He give us some glimpses into Churchill’s thinking about liberty and war.

In 1940 Churchill had become the leader of Great Britain. At this time his country’s Parliament had proposed to him a peace conference which had been arranged by Mussolini, Italy’s leader who had joined with the German Nazi’s to try to conquer the world.

At that period of time Britain stood alone in the West as the only country to specifically oppose Nazi Germany. The German forces vastly outnumbered those of Great Britain. Germany had conquered France and was threatening to cross the English Channel and likewise conquer England.

Some of Churchill’s advisors recommended that dealing with Hitler was now the only sensible thing to do. Churchill didn’t believe that was the best idea. This is what he said in a cabinet meeting on May 28, 1940:

“I am convinced that every man of you would rise up and tear me down from my place if I were for one moment to contemplate parley or surrender. If this long island story of ours is to end at last, let it end only when each one of us lies choking in his own blood upon the ground.”

After this, the cabinet members rose as one and cheered, even those who had spoken in favor of the peace conference.

Knowing the horrors of modern warfare, Churchill hated and feared war all of his life. Yet he made this speech to rally his advisors. And he rallied the British nation to war. Why? Because he was acquainted with the knowledge of human nature. He believed man is made in God’s image to confront the eternal questions from inside a mortal body, and that one’s rights to conscience and religious liberty are aspects of the parts that are joined together to make up a human being.

We may have to fight for what Winston Churchill believed and what he fought for.