Is the Pen Mightier?

New Last Line Substack Logo

Last Line Substack logo - by the author

What make’s a good logo? What iconic logos do you think of when mulling over that question? Maybe the Nike swoosh or the Apple…well, apple. Perhaps the FedEx logo, which if you’ve never noticed the arrow between the Ex, you’ll never be able to NOT see it now.

Truth be told, I don’t know what makes a good logo, but that’s what I came up with. Will it ever be even half as iconic as the swoosh? No. But that’s not the point either. I’m sure most of you have heard the saying, “the pen is mightier than the sword.” That saying, or a version of it can be traced through different cultures and back to the 7th century, where it has been attributed to Ahikar, a wisdom filled advisor to Assyrian king Sennacherib. According to Old Testament Parallels, some of Ahikar’s sage advice included, “the word is mightier than the sword.” However, the most modern adage, “the pen is mightier than the sword,” comes from Act II of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton’s 1839 play Richelieu, or, The Conspiracy.

I didn’t know the history of the saying until sitting down to write this post, but it is at least a saying I’ve known of for a couple decades. It is one that I’ve pondered before and one that I am sure to ponder again. I think what is most striking to me is that, on its face, it seems erroneous. In an international affairs course I took in college, the major takeaway there was “might equals right.” It’s clear that the most powerful and dominant nations throughout history have proven that adage to be true. Even the United States has proven that truth for most of our existence. But, how many of those nations exist today? Most do not, and the one’s at the top of the power structure now will be sure to fade away and be ancient history someday too; or at least a mere remnant of what the once were à la Rome.

Often what does stand the test of time though are words. Words in opposition of tyranny to be even more precise. What comes to mind for me immediately are words from Viktor Frankl in Man’s Search for Meaning or from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in The Gulag Archipelago, from Martin Luther and his 95 Theses and of course from our own founding fathers to name a few. Our founding fathers firmly believed in the written word being powerful and persuasive, yet eventually engaged in armed conflict against their tyrannical oppressors. Quite the dichotomy.

After the war, these founding fathers continued to believe in the power of words over weapons. Some of them were vigorous writers in the aftermath of the war to keep the nation afloat; and to do so with their writing. The Federalist Papers come to mind here. In 1792, nearly 50 years prior to Lytton’s play, Thomas Jefferson clearly adhered to “the pen is mightier” principle when he wrote, “Go on then in doing with your pen what in other times was done with the sword; shew that reformation is more practicable by operating on the mind than on the body of man” in a letter to Thomas Paine. Paine, who authored Common Sense, played a vastly important role with his pen in convincing many that independence from Britain was needed in the early periods of the Revolution.

In my very first Substack post, I started by saying, “I’ve long had a passion for the written word; both doing the writing and reading the words of others. This Substack comes at a unique crossroads in my life.” All of that remains true. This “crossroads” continues with no real substantive updates. Still technically an FBI employee. Still indefinitely suspended. Still have a passion for writing and reading, although you wouldn’t know it with the lack of Substack posts from me over the last few months. Sorry about that.

“You can resolve to live your life with integrity. Let your credo be this: Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me.”
― Alexander Solzhenitsyn

When I graduated from Marquette, a friend of mine from the police department called me a “Warrior Scholar.” It is one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. It is at the root of the logo. It is at the root of what I have strived towards most of my life. When I was a kid, my parents gave my brothers and I all a little card with our name on it. They were allegedly the Christian meanings of our names. I no longer have the card, but I remember that it claimed my name meant “mighty warrior.” That was always meaningful to me, even though in my youth I never anticipated ever joining the military, getting into law enforcement, and certainly not fighting against the government for exposing wrongdoing. Yoda said, “wars not make one great.” They don’t make one mighty either. If anything, I hope I’m a humble warrior.

I did my best to incorporate aspects of both “warrior” and “scholar",” as well as add layers to the logo that have specific meaning for me. The rifle is essentially an AR-15, something I’ve been carrying my entire adult life in some capacity. The quill pen is an ode to our founding fathers. I tried to give the logo the appearance of being sketched in ink, as if it were drawn by that quill pen. The base image is that of a Heckler & Koch 416. It is touted as the rifle that was used to remove Osama bin Laden from this world. That’s some good marketing by H&K.

credit - Heckler & Koch

As an infantryman I carried an M4 that was often configured similarly to the one shown. Albeit, no suppressor and a bit longer of a barrel. In Iraq, my rifle had an M68 Close Combat Optic (CCO) and an M203 grenade launcher. In Afghanistan, no M203 or CCO. Instead, I had an ACOG (Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight). Both of these configurations included the ability to fire a three round burst. Something I never did in combat and only on rare occasion during a range day; if I could get away with it.

As a police officer, every patrol car was equipped with an AR-15 as well. In the FBI, there was only “safe” and “semi” fire capabilities. No CCO or ACOG either, but I did have a PEQ-15, which I also had in Afghanistan. That is a laser device which can also be seen on the top rail of the AR in the logo. The FBI obtained those devices from the DOD with the 1033 Program. That program and the “militarization of police” is at least an entire post of its own, so I’ll fight the urge to go down that rabbit hole for now. My SWAT rifle was also equipped with a suppressor shortly before I was unceremoniously suspended.

Iraq - Afghanistan - FBI

“Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation.”
― Victor Frankl

I certainly am grateful for all the experiences I have had carrying a rifle in pursuit of serving my country. The good, the bad, the scary, the deadly. All of them. They have helped shape who I am. I am grateful for the training and for some of the men and women I met and worked with along the way. I can’t really say why I’ve been allowed to have those experiences or what purposes they’ve served or will serve. They’re just the past now. I will say, if you have the knowhow, keep it and keep training. Words I need to put into action as well. If you don’t, I would encourage you to learn while you still can.

I don’t foresee my words standing the test of time or having much impact as Paine’s, Jefferson’s, Hamilton’s, Franklin’s, Solzhenitsyn’s, Frankl’s, Luther’s or many others I could point to. But I am grateful that you’re reading them and following along the interesting, more “scholarly” path I am now on. I have probably had this final version of the logo since early to mid December of 2022. I’m not really sure why I haven’t revealed it until now, but as I head into the second year of being suspended from the FBI, I also near the year anniversary of the Substack. No time like the present I suppose.

During my hiatus from Substack lately I did find the time to put the logo on a tee shirt too if that is something you’re interested in.

Last Line Substack tee link

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” -Hebrews 4:12

Is the pen mightier? I don’t know. I’d like to think it is. But I’ve been foolishly idealistic many times in my life. When I joined the army, thinking war was glamorous and that me and my friends were invincible. When I began whistleblowing believing the statutory protections would apply. Other times too, but those stand out the most at present. I certainly am not under the illusion that my pen is mightier than much of anything. There are words which are though, as mentioned in the passage from Hebrews.

The footnote in my bible for this verse says, “While the word of God is comforting and nourishing to those who believe, it is a tool of judgement and execution for those who have not committed themselves to Jesus Christ. Some of the Hebrews were merely going through the motions of belonging to Christ. Intellectually, they were at least partly persuaded, but inside they were not committed to him. God’s word would expose their shallow beliefs and even their false intentions (cf. 1 Sam. 16:7, 1 Pet. 4:5).”

Well. My words will never be able to do that. I do pray that my words bring some truth to you or something new that you didn’t know before. I pray that they are well thought out and not laced with resentment, anger or bitterness; although in my own sin nature those are emotions I often have. Above all, I hope they point you to the truth of God’s word.

Hold the line.