"It is too true, however disgraceful it may be to human nature, that nations in general will make war whenever they have a prospect of getting anything by it; nay, absolute monarchs will often make war when their nations are to get nothing by it, but for the purposes and objects merely personal, such as thirst for military glory, revenge for personal affronts, ambition, or private compacts to aggrandize or support their particular families or partisans. These and a variety of other motives, which affect only the mind of the sovereign, often lead him to engage in wars not sanctified by justice or the voice and interests of his people. But, independent of these inducements to war, which are more prevalent in absolute monarchies, but which well deserve our attention, there are others which affect nations as often as kings; and some of them will on examination be found to grow out of our relative situation and circumstances."By Darren Weeks—John Jay
Federalist No. 4
The Federalist Papers
I love shortwave.
I especially enjoy listening to it at night, when my corner of the world is at peace — everyone is asleep and all is quiet. I will often go out on my deck here in my country home in southern Michigan.
As I gaze up at the stars in the night sky, I thank my dear Heavenly Father, that I have been blessed enough to breathe the air of freedom. I thank Him that I do not live in a land that is torn by war. And I pray for those who, at this very moment, are suffering from the violence of real terrorism.
I love my country. I love the basic principles upon which she was founded. Principles which are reflected by our Constitution. Principles which our government is now pretending do not exist. Or, in the name of defending those principles, they are attempting to remove them, while invading sovereign nations and overthrowing their form of government.
This leads me back to my shortwave radio.
I listened this evening to Radio Habana Cuba, as they reported that our American soldiers opened fire on a crowd of civilians, killing at least thirteen of them. The soldiers had said that they were fired upon, but — according to this report — witnesses of the event said that the Iraqi civilians had actually just thrown rocks at the soldiers, because they resent having U.S. military occupying their country.
I do not believe the report to be false propaganda. I think it is probably true.
And I am deeply chagrined. I am saddened almost to the point of tears, as I consider the poor Iraqi people, who have done nothing to deserve this.
For decades they have tasted the bitter cup of war. For over a decade, they have been starved by sanctions, imposed upon them by the U.S. government and the United Nations. They have been continually bombed since the first Gulf war, an item that has gone unreported by the American media.
Sitting on my deck this night, all is quiet. Not even a dog barks. I experience peace. Tranquility is my portion.
In fact, it would be easy to forget the fate of those in the Middle East, were it not for my shortwave Grundig, which reminds me of the turmoil, distress, and heartache. And the fact that much of it is being caused by American Armed Forces, which are commanded by a government that has long given up on the cause of liberty and the Constitution.
It now favors the establishment of a socialist world order, devoid of freedom, privacy, and happiness. It favors conquering one nation after another to further enrich and extend the imperialist nation of Israel. And it doesn't seem to care how many innocents must be murdered to accomplish its morbid agenda — including its own American citizens.
And in Iraq, we continue to kill innocent civilians, in their own homeland, for merely having the guts to object.
Americans everywhere, blind to the plight of the "enemy," wave their Chinese-made American flags. They sing, God bless America, and sport signs that encourage support for our troops.
I ache. I want to support the troops, because they are my fellow Americans. Many of them are my friends, or family of my friends. But I cannot support the policies of a government which seeks to enslave its people, and the people of other countries.
Why am I among the few who care about those innocents? Why am I in the minority, when I consider the cost of the lives on both sides of the conflicts?
I cannot sing God Bless America, for I believe it is unreasonable to expect God to bless a country that has done so wickedly.
I wonder how long it will be before the terrorists — not Arabs with boxcutters, like we've been told — but the real terrorists, will murder us again. How long will it be, before American blood again runs in the streets as a justification for yet another invasion, another war, against another sovereign nation of innocent people? As Julius Caesar said,
“Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar.”
God Bless America? Nay, I say God have mercy upon America. And protect her children from the diabolical demons who are their leaders.
