PLEASE! Before y'all start throwing stones, first of all, remember that you live in a 'glass house', and secondly, just let me make this disclaimer; "I am NOT condemning America for rebelling against the tyranny of England, or Great Britain!" The War for American Independence, more commonly known as 'The Revolutionary War' began simply, to my understanding, as the American Colony's answer to the injustice of the British Empire, in particular, the unjust taxation of said colonies. Was America itself, or more precisely, 'The United States of America', just in waging war on their former countrymen, just because they happened to choose the 'wrong' side? Might there have been a better way to end the conflict? "IS Violence ( sometimes ) a 'necessary evil'?!" As the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence nears, let us see if we can answer these questions...........
In this blog, we have previously explored the notion that, whether we'd like to admit it or not, the American Empire ( for that is very arguably what we are ) is simply an extension of the British Empire, which itself is more or less an extension of the Roman Empire. ( "That may seem a bit of a leap, but bear with me!" ) The Bible - which I was brought up on - among other things, is a Tale of Empires. It seems that, almost from the inception of Israel as a nation, they were under the thumb of one empire or another, lastly, the Roman Empire. Interesting that a thousand or so years later, the land of Palestine - a battleground for the ages - was restored to the Jews ( Israel? ) by the British Empire. ( Please, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong! ) The point IS; empires, no matter how large or small, rise & fall! "Why?" you may ask.................My answer is, "Because ANYTHING founded on Violence is, sooner or later, doomed to fall!"
"Violence begets Violence", I always say! One of the reasons, if not the main reason that the United States of America ( USA, Inc ), not to mention almost the entire world of individual nations, has been at continuous, almost uninterrupted war for millenia is that one single act of violence can - and usually does - have a ripple effect, like throwing the proverbial pebble in a pond ( kinda like lying )!
On July 4th, 1776, as the official story goes, the 'Declaration of Independence' was signed by representatives of what was to become the United States of America. The actual story might reveal some different facts & supply a few 'missing' details, but for our intended purpose here, we will stick with that explanation. What happened next was a violent uprising later called 'the Revolutionary War'. This violent uprising was in response to, according to the 'official' story, "taxation without representation" ( 'Sound familiar? ). I would imagine that many or most people that might have an opinion on this subject would immediately say that, "yes", this act of violence was necessary, even justifiable. In fact, it would be hard to deny this reasoning, especially since it seems to be as plain as the nose on one's proverbial face that, sometimes, the only reasonable answer to violence is more & usually greater violence. However, "Violence is NOT the answer": It is undeniably AN answer & while it seems to be the only answer that some people understand, the use of violence, "as above, so below", only begets violence!
It really goes without saying ( in other words, "it just makes sense" ) that when someone ( anyone ) answers violence with violence, sooner or later ( usually "sooner" ), it only engenders more violence, again, usually greater! I almost hate to mention this example, as it is SO controversial, but, even if you subscribe to the 'official' story, that foreign terrorists were behind the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon, these attacks came because........"Why?" The most immediate & glaring answer is "because the US. Inc. has been sticking their nose where it doesn't belong; in essence ( this is a LONG Story ) they have involved themselves ( thus the USA ) in the War that has disrupted the Peace of the Middle East for the afore-mentioned "millenia", some might say, "ever since biblical times". To the credit of certain leaders of the US. Inc, measures have been taken, previously, to withdraw the USA from the Middle East ( or parts of it anyway ), but, for one thing, we have seen how long THAT lasted & the effect it had; for two, it should be obvious that it was just another glaring example of "too little, too late". We should never have involved ourselves, as a nation, in their Conflict, but sadly, this is where the subject of Empire again rears its ugly head!
The British Empire, from which the American Colonies had gained an uneasy 'independence' not even 200 years prior, saw fit to 'liberate' the land of Palestine, in essence, wresting it, yet again, according to biblical history, from its original inhabitants & restoring it to its 'rightful' owners ( ? ). Whether this was right or wrong, a good decision or a bad one, might be left up to the individual, but I would like to be clear that, in my opinion, this was definitely NOT a good decision NOR was it right, for as a former Christian, even I understood that the Jews ( Israel, et al ) gave up their 'right' ( if they indeed had any to begin with ) to exist as a nation.
The American Empire, which, as I claimed earlier, is "simply an extension of the British Empire" has not, until recently, tried their hand at empire-building beyond "making the world safe for Democracy" ( "whatever the hell that's supposed to mean!" ). I say "till recently", because, with our current president's talk of annexing all or parts of Canada, Greenland, etc., it would seem that we ( US. Inc. ) are following in the footsteps of our predecessor ( "who ain't dead yet!" )!
"IS there a better Way?!" I'd like to think there is! Could those Colonists, those 'Rebels', have found a way to solve their conflict with their former countrymen that didn't involve the everlasting violence of all-out War? It's difficult to say, especially looking back at the situation from our modern point of view - "We weren't there!" I can only imagine how many peace-loving hippies are still out there, looking back with regret at the many, many armed conflicts that we, as a country, or even individually have taken part in! Not one veteran of any foreign war, I can guarantee you, even though they may have come home physically unscathed, has come home in one piece. You have no doubt heard the many horror stories about husbands, wives, sons & daughters that came home a totally different person, if they actually, truly came home at all. Admittedly, some may have figured how to leave the hellish horrors of War behind and fully return to their loved ones, but, as I've said before; "War is Hell!" It's hard to realize you're in Heaven if your life is one living Hell. 'Hard, but not impossible..................
So, to wrap things up; "No, Violence is NOT the Answer!" ( That much is clear ) But, what then IS the Answer?! The Answer is in YOU, my friend! You have the Power, the ResponsAbility to choose whether or not to fight Fire with Fire, or to simply walk away, to not only seek Peace, but to live, to manifest the Peace that is in you! "What then?" some might ask," should we just allow our rights to be trampled on?!" Honestly, that sounds pretty Egoic to me ( mea culpa )! Allow me to pose THIS question in return; "Is it better to allow our fragile Ego to be hurt, or to continue the cycle of violence?" Our Ego is not a physical thing; if our feelers get bent, we don't suffer any physical harm, but if we return violence for violence ( "eye for an eye"? ) we may never see and end to the violence & the whole world might end up blind!
As we celebrate this coming weekend, then, please, PLEASE remember; we are NOT our 'Fathers'! Right or wrong, the rebellion they fomented & the violence they fostered have to end somewhere, somehow, sometime; Let it end with YOU ( okay, maybe not the "rebellion" part 1)!
Namaste' & Blessed Be!
Sage Charles
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