Peace! Peace!...No Peace!
History has not changed much in the last 2,500 years. The struggles of man against man, man against God, and man against Mother Earth still continues. The excerpts from these two Old Testament prophets could easily be applied to the issues we face today. And the famous discourse of Patrick Henry in 1775 is certainly reflective of what we are experiencing today within our own country. We are no longer in fear of the enemy outside, we are in fear of the treasonous lies within. I coined my own philosophy many years ago based upon my personal life experiences; “Trust no one. Suspect everyone.” because I found those who betrayed me most were the ones I had entrusted my truths. I have no regrets for speaking my truths through the years, even when I was assaulted for those convictions. It changed nothing and I still hold “...these truths to be self-evident, that all men(people) are created equal”. I mean, for Christ’s sake, it is “self-evident” that means it should be obvious to EVERY ONE OF US! And my terminology should not be construed as used in vain because I do believe it is indeed for Christ’s sake that we have used this language. I use this analogy to Christ in a non-religious way, but more as a character, (fictional or real is up to you) which spoke sanely, provocatively, wisely, passionately, as a social/political activist and teacher.
Humans always seek hedonism and will procure it by any means they can, legally or illegally. The most effective tools throughout the ages has been religion and politics. They have never made good bedfellows….EVER! Yet, they still employ the same methods of getting what they want...by propaganda, coercion, force, war, genocide, and removal from their homelands. Both idealogies placate their followers with promises of worldly gains, heavenly rewards, and virtuous acts, which always turn out to be hollow, empty vessels full of holes made by the collateral damage of the victims of their crusades. But still, they proclaim their piety and righteousness and still, there are many followers, blinded by an earthly desire to be a part of something, even if it be ungodly. They are lost souls who believe they are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. They have lost hope and all sense of direction because they are looking in all the wrong places. Politics offers them notoriety and wealth, providing they ally their selves to the right or left, while religions offer to save their souls, but only of they are against someone else and willing to damn them to Hell.
The book of Genesis and the creation story declares that God made man in God’s own image. But really, hasn’t man truly created god in man’s own image? And included in that design are the human attributes and ambiguities of war, wrath, anger, discrimination, misogyny, and every type of human deviance one can imagine? And that’s all it took, imagination! George Bernard Shaw, fed up with the indecency of humankind to one another declared, “Must a Christ be crucified in every generation for the benefit of those with no imagination?” It’s a profoundly accurate statement of the human condition of insanity, repeating itself over and again but expecting different results. Our greatest leaders of humanity, those who indulged our consciousness of conscience, always achieved their ends through a means of peace, love, acceptance, equality, dignity and respect for one another. And their endeavors always required the most important altruism of them all: TRUTH.
Patrick Henry advocated for war in a time of crisis when all negotiations and dialogue had failed. But I don’t believe even he, had a desire to see the inevitable resulting outcome as a means to an end. So, even after that terrible American Revolution and all those “ramparts red glare, bombs bursting in air” we glamorize war and acts of crimes against humanity. Less than a hundred years later we engaged in a moral war of brother against brother to ensure that “all men(people) are created equal” and meant to be free. But then, less than a hundred years after that brotherly war, we took up the same fight for equality on the streets of our own cities in the 1960’s. And here we are today, sixty plus years later, still declaring that “all men(people) are created equal” but still opposing the right of every American to be equal. Christ crucified over and again. When does this insanity stop?
Written between 630-580 B.C….Jeremiah 6:13-15
“Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is given to covetousness;
And from the prophet even to the priest,
Everyone deals falsely.
14 They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’
When there is no peace.
15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed;
Nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time I punish them,
They shall be cast down,” says the Lord
Written 592-570 B.C. Ezekiel 13:8-12
Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,” says the Lord God. 9 “My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord God.
10 “Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace—and one builds a wall, and they plaster it with untempered mortar— 11 say to those who plaster it with untempered mortar, that it will fall. There will be flooding rain, and you, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it down. 12 Surely, when the wall has fallen, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the mortar with which you plastered it?’”
This is what America has come to be: Chattel Slaves
The definition of chattel slavery is a “civil relationship in which one person has absolute power over the life, fortune, and liberty of another.” But the definition itself uses the wrong language, because there is nothing “CIVIL” about this type of relationship!
Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775.
No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The questing before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.
Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free-- if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!
They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
Stop the vicious cycle of propaganda
When does the insanity end? When Patrick Henry spoke to the abomination of slavery and chains, the U.S. was actively buying and selling humans for this same purpose. Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? The hypocrisy of that moment is a reflection of what is going on in our nation today. As he spoke to his president we must speak the same to ours. We must identify those “sirens” that would cast our democracy upon the shoals for the entrancing false promises, and we must expose the Benedict Arnolds within our midst. Chains of slavery are not always made of iron. These chains are within the hateful political and religious rhetoric spewed viciously toward anyone who speaks in opposition to the fascism and authoritarian idealogies of those who promote violence as a means to an end.THIS is the enemy of our country, our people and the threat to our democracy. It is the power of words, whether spoken gently or viciously. There will be an inevitable outcome in this country totally dependent upon which wolf you feed. Remember this: chattel slavery is a “civil relationship in which one person has absolute power over the life, fortune, and liberty of another.”