Here’s a bit of personal wisdom from my mentor and friend, John Wayne!
“I won’t be wronged. I won’t be insulted. I won’t be laid a hand on. I don’t do these things to people, and I require the same from them.”
In REAL life Duke really was the same great man you came to love in REEL life.
On a professional level, he could spot a phony big shot in the movie business a mile away.
Duke was not a brawler; he fought back by simply choosing not to associate with them.
These were the people he defined as “BIG HAT NO CATTLE.”
He told me a story about Harry Cohen, head of Columbia Pictures.
Duke would not work for Columbia and that was that.
“BIG hat...”
The ‘NO CATTLE CROWD’ hated Duke for his strength.
Setting personal and professional boundaries really is important in a world where bullies and tyrants and crooks and liars seek to dominate our lives.
The Bible calls setting boundaries, ‘DISCERNMENT.’
There are moral lines which must not be crossed.
There can be no compromise with evil.
Working for John Wayne set my path in life on a firm course.
There are some who have demanded that we compromise with evil in our work, but we would not.
One day I might tell the full story of the battles we have fought against ‘Big Hat’ publishers.
I once had a so-called ‘Christian’ publisher demand we stop writing Biblical fiction and switch to writing romance fiction. This broke my heart. I can’t tell you the grief I felt.
As I wept, he told me, “Sex is what sells, even in the Christian market.”
When we refused to change course, we were told, “Actions have consequences.”
And thus began several years of slander about how uncooperative we were. It happened to many writers, not just us.
(Did I just hear a shriek of terror from those who know what they have done to sell out Truth?
Yes, I know your names. But more terrifying than that, God knows your names.)
There remain spiritual battles yet to fight in our lives; for our faith, our families and for our country.
DON'T GIVE UP!
Like the character Peniel, in the AD CHRONICLES, God loves a good story.
In His eternal book, the good guys always win.
Hebrews 12:1 reminds us the heavenly saints are cheering us on!
No compromise with the Big Hats!
God bless you Duke as you look down on us from heaven.
I know you’re rooting for us to stand strong against tyranny!
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