Blessed are the Peacemakers

[Tarun]

A Sermon Preached by

Rev. Dr. Brent L. McCumons

March 18, 2001

Seventh in a Series on the Beatitudes

 

BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!

 

"Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God" (St. Matthew 5:9).

 

If you visit the United Nations building in New York City you will see a nine-foot-tall bronze statue by sculptor Evgeniz Vuchetich. It portrays a man holding a hammer in one hand, and in the other hand he is holding a sword which he is pounding into a plowshare. The statue symbolizes humanity's desire to make an end to war and convert the means of destruction into creative tools for the benefit of humankind. The inscription on this gift to the U.N., from what used to be the Soviet Union, has these words, paraphrased from Isaiah (2:4): "We shall beat our swords into plowshares."

 

It is a dream as old as humanity. For it seems that war has always been with us. A few years ago, a Norwegian statistician computerized every war that had ever been fought. His study indicated that, during the past 5,560 years of recorded history, there have been 14,531 wars, which averages to more than 2.6 wars each year. In our 185 generations, only 10 of those generations have witnessed unbroken peace. Throughout history, war has been the rule and peace the exception. (1)

 

Thus Jesus' words strike a very appealing note: "Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God."

 

Let's begin here: Who are the peacemakers?

 

Well, PEACEMAKERS ARE THOSE WHO HAVE A VISION OF A BETTER WORLD. Peace does not just happen. War happens. War is the natural state of a fallen humanity. But peace has to be worked at. And it begins with a person or a group of people with a vision -- a vision of nations beating their swords into plowshares -- a vision of wolves lying down by lambs.

 

Some of you may know the story behind the Christ of the Andes. In 1899 the people of Argentina and Chile were poised for war. Then an Argentine bishop appealed for peace between the two countries. A Chilean bishop took up his cause, and the dispute was submitted to King Edward VII, whose decision settled the quarrel. The unused guns from both countries were then melted down to be used in a colossal statue of Christ, erected on a mountain range between the two countries. (2) And it stands there today as a testimony to Jesus' words, "Blessed are the peacemakers."

 

But such steps are not easy. The Christ of the Andes is notable because it is the exception to the rule. Armies do not usually melt down their guns -- at least not until one side or the other has been soundly defeated.

 

War has a dehumanizing effect on people. When we are at war, we begin looking at the enemy as some kind of demon, rather than as human beings. Even good people are swept up in the hysteria -- even lifelong pacifists like Albert Einstein.

 

In 1939 Einstein signed a letter urging President Franklin D. Roosevelt to fund research on nuclear weapons. Calling for "quick action on the part of the Administration," the letter is thought to have been drafted by physicist Leon Szilard, who then sought Einstein's prestigious signature. "I made one great mistake in my life," agonized Einstein years later, "when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made." (3)

 

Now if it is possible for a pacifist to sign a letter asking for atomic weapons, think of how much willpower and courage it takes to really be a peacemaker.

 

And this is important: IT TAKES GREAT COURAGE TO BE A PEACEMAKER. Peacemakers are not afraid of taking unpopular stands.

 

A father and son were taking an autumn walk in the Town Park. In the center of the commons were two statues, one of a general on a rearing horse and one of a boldly upright frontiersman, his rifle by his side. On each statue was a plaque proclaiming "WAR HERO," and giving the name and era of the man depicted. As the boy gazed at these two monuments, he asked his father, "How come there are never any peace heroes?" That's a good question. It is one of the reasons our Church and Society work area last year instituted the annual "Peace Maker Award". To lift up a high school senior in each of our three area high schools who practices the qualities of a peacemaker. We then give a $500. Scholarship to them and a nice plaque at the school award events.

 

 

Maybe it's because the peacemaker has a far more complex task. As a writer in THE INTERPRETER'S BIBLE notes, the "peacemaker strikes at (the) root of the problem . . . curing the disease instead of merely solving the symptoms." The peacemaker is a seeker of justice and righteousness. No lasting peace can be built on a foundation of injustice.

 

 

John Adams, one of the American Revolution's most devoted patriots, was the lawyer who successfully defended the British captain and eight soldiers who had been charged with murder after the Boston Massacre of 1770. Although Adams was staunchly anti-British, and Boston was loudly clamoring for the execution of the soldiers, his belief in justice led him to accept their defense. He expected his action to end his career, but instead it won the respect of his peers. (4)

 

The respect of his peers was important to John Adams, but not as important as his sense of justice. And he knew that no lasting peace can be built on a foundation of injustice. Look at the conflicts around the world today. Many of them are centuries old. Brother has been fighting brother in the Mid-east, for example, ever since Cain and Abel. Such conflicts will continue as long as they are based upon the premises of revenge and that might makes right. Right now the Israelis are a little stronger. But someday the vast Arab world may be stronger, and then they'll seek their revenge. And if the winner is always the one with the most guns, the cycle may very well continue until one or the other is annihilated. Someone has got to find a solution that is fair to both sides before a lasting peace can be made; and that is not easy. We really ought to put up statues to peace heroes, for peace takes courage and persistence.

 

William Barclay put it this way: "Blessed are those who make this world a better place for all people to live in." (5) And Abraham Lincoln said: "Die when I may, I would like it to be said of me that I always pulled up a weed and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow."

 

Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are those who have a vision of a better world. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they are people of courage. But what about us? How can we be peacemakers?

 

THE BEST PLACE TO BEGIN IS WHERE WE ARE. You and I will probably never have much influence on the international scene, but we can be peacemakers in our own home, our own neighborhood, and our own town. Because that's where a greater peace will start. Where there is hatred we can sow love; where there is injustice, we can seek right solutions; where we have been wronged, we can return forgiveness.

 

Consider the case of a young man named Rodolfo. Life was difficult for Rodolfo and his family. His parents were good, hard-working people. But one day when Rodolfo was eight years old, the seventeen-year-old son of their landlord walked into their house with a pistol and killed Rodolfo's ten-year-old brother. His parents were out of their minds with anger and grief. Rodolfo remembers hearing his father walking around the house at night with a gun and threatening revenge. But then something happened to change his father's attitude. He took inventory of his life. And he realized that he had a loving wife and three boys who still needed him.

 

Rodolfo's father did not believe in God and wanted nothing to do with the church. But slowly his life began to change in this area, too. In his grief he turned to God. And before long he committed his life to prayer, charity, and the spiritual well being of his family. Both he and his wife began attending church, and their sons were baptized. Their house became a place of faith and hope, because his parents discovered that Jesus is Lord over all situations in life. Their home became a place of peace rather than a place consumed with thoughts of vengeance. (6) Rodolfo's father no longer walks the house at night with a gun in his hand. He is a peacemaker in his own home, in his own neighborhood, and in his own world, because he turned to Christ.

 

Which brings us to another important truth: CHRIST IS THE ULTIMATE PEACEMAKER. For you see, in order to have peace in the world, we must have peace within our own hearts. And if we have peace within, we will live it in everything that we do. Notice Jesus' words: "Blessed are the peacemakers because they shall be called the children of God." But the order of the words could very well be reversed: for it is when we recognize that we are children of God that we become peacemakers. If we want peace in the world, we must have peace within, because the wars going on in the outside world are merely a reflection of the wars going on within individual hearts. When we respect ourselves, we can respect others.

 

And that is what God has done for us. Even before we were born God showed His respect for us by sending His Son to die for us. We don't have to live at war with our neighbor and with ourselves, because the Prince of Peace has entered our world.

 

Edward Studd, an Englishman, was an entrepreneur who had made a fortune in British-controlled North India during the nineteenth century. One day towards the end of his life he lost a bet to a friend, and was required to attend a revival service where Dwight L. Moody preached. Studd went to the revival, sat on the first row and never took his eyes off Moody. And he returned to the revival the next night, and the night following that, and then several more nights successively, until he was converted. Studd lived only two years longer, but it was said at his funeral that he accomplished more for Christ in those two years than most did in twenty. Studd turned his mansion into a meeting place for Christians. He wrote his friends and told them they needed to turn to Christ. He called on his tailor and shirt maker and told them about Christ. His coachman gave this assessment of him: "All I can say is that though there's the same skin, there's a new person inside." (7)

 

Edward Studd went from concentrating on the accumulation of wealth, to concentrating on reconciling people with their God. Studd was a peacemaker. And he was truly a child of God.

 

 

But one thing more needs to be said. We can't rely on just ourselves to be peacemakers; WE NEED A PRACTICAL GUIDE IN PEACEMAKING. And the best guide in discovering the will of God is seen in the example and teachings of Jesus himself. We know that Jesus used the Old Testament commandments as a guide for the minimum standard of life. But to these He added the qualities of Christian discipleship. He added the positive and affirmative laws of love and good will, and He interpreted the Christian life in terms of inner principles and motives. If we are to be peacemakers, then we will want to follow in his steps.

 

 

After the First World War, when high level talks were being conducted concerning how to deal with Germany, the despised and defeated enemy, the American President Woodrow Wilson argued for leniency and compassion. In response to his arguments, French premier Clemenceau reportedly said in disgust, "He makes me sick. He talks just like Jesus Christ." Now wouldn't it be nice if that could be said about all of us? "They talk just like Jesus Christ." If that would happen then we could truly be among those of whom Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God."

 

1. MOODY, February 1994, p. 63.

2. LIFE, August 1993, p. 22.

3. Edward Chinn, WONDER OF WORDS, (Lima, Ohio: C.S.S. Publishing

Co. Inc. 1987), p. 22.

4. Isaac Asimov, BOOK OF FACTS, (New York: Wings Books, 1979), p.23.

5. GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, Volume 1, p. 105.

6. Henri J. M. Nouwen, GRACIAS! (San Francisco: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1987), pp. 34-35.

7. Brian L. Harbour, LIVING EXPECTANTLY, (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1990).

[Bhaktavasya]

 

Here's the lyrics to the U2 song 'Peace on Earth', released before the world trade tragedy and the declaration of WW3;

 

Heaven on Earth

We need it now

I'm sick of all this

Hanging around

Sick of the sorrow

Sick of the paind

Sick of hearing again and again

That there's gonna be

Peace on Earth

 

Where I grew up

There weren't many trees

Where there was we'd tear them down

And use them on our enemies

They say that what you mock

Will surely overtake you

And you become a monster

So the monster will not break you

 

It's already gone too far

Who said tht if you go in hard

You won't get hurt

 

Jesus could you take the time

To throw a drowning man a line

Peace on Earth

Tell the ones who hear no sound

Whose sons are living in the ground

Peace on Earth

No whos or why

No one cries like a mother cries

For peace on Earth

She never got to say goodbye

To see the color in his eyes

Now he's in the dirt

That's peace on Earth

 

They're naming names over the radio

All the folks the rest of us won't get to

know

Sean and Julia, Gareth, Anne and Breda

Their lives are bigger, than any big idea

 

Jesus can you take the time

To throw a drowning man a line

Peace on Earth

To tell the ones who hear no sound

Whose sons are living in the ground

Peace on Earth

 

Jesus this song you wrote

The words are sticking in my throat

Peace on Earth

Hear it every Christmas time

But hope and history won't rhyme

So what's worth?

This peace on Earth

 

Peace on Earth

Peace on Earth

Peace on Earth

 

 

[gHari]

Yes, well and good, but I hope it is some time before I need a pacemaker.

[mahak]

Doggone, I thopught you were inviting me for talks on the Trident Nuclear Missile System. Oh well, at least I got to read som Bono here, say howzit to me braddah, di edge.

[Caitanyachandra]

Bush's World War

and the Third Option

of Peace with Justice

In reaction to a horrible attack on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, United States President George W. Bush has proclaimed what amounts to an overt and covert war against any and all "terrorists" he considers enemies of the United States. He has also included as enemies in this war any person, group or government that "harbors" such terrorists. As if that was not enough, he has furthermore announced that everyone in the world must choose either to support the United States in this war against terrorists or be considered hostile by his regime. Noam Chomsky has noted that not even the Nazis went that far. Bush, in his inability to negotiate and his lack of flexibility and tolerance, sees the world in black and white with no middle ground. Although Bush may have much military power under his command, he is not God and cannot exclude a third alternative; neither is he competent nor authorized to be the judge and jury of terrorists. The nature of his misguided foreign policy was clearly indicated when he chose as his chief diplomat General Colin Powell, who is publicly known for his doctrine that employs the "use of overwhelming force."

 

As a peace-loving person, I do not support any terrorists. That means I do not support government terrorism either, whether it be by "rogue states" or a super-power that acts like a rogue state. Thus I cannot support Bush's war against everyone in the world who will not take his side for which he has even used the misguided word "crusade." Perhaps the closest analogy to the campaign Bush is launching is the Gulf of Tonkin resolution that President Lyndon Johnson passed through the U. S. Congress in August 1964. That misguided escalation led to a horrible and useless war that killed more than a million Vietnamese and ended with American defeat in 1975. Since the United States has been bombing Iraq for ten years, has recently bombed a Sudan pharmaceutical factory, Afghanistan camps originally set up by the CIA, and Yugoslavia's infrastructure, and provides the weapons by which Israel attacks Palestinians, this proclamation by Bush must also be considered an escalation of on-going conflicts into a larger war.

 

Ironically this war also has been stimulated and justified by demonizing an enemy (Osama bin Laden), who in fact was previously supported by the United States CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) in the American-financed war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. This continues the pattern of atrocities, just as the U. S. CIA supported Manuel Noriega before going to war against him and Panama. How many Americans recall or are aware that hundreds of innocent Panamanians were buried in mass graves in the war crimes perpetrated by President George Herbert Walker Bush? Bush Sr. also demonized Iraq's Saddam Hussein after he had been supported by United States weaponry and aid in Iraq's war against Iran, during which even chemical weapons were used against the Kurd minority. The United States has a disastrous record of helping to create Frankenstein monsters and then later rousing the people to go to war against them.

 

Bush's war against everyone in the world who does not agree with him is doomed to defeat. How long it will last and how many people will be killed will depend on how long it takes for the American people to realize it is folly and act to change the policy of their government. The solution to terrorism is not military interventions that are and cause more terror but the peaceful resolution of conflicts, protection of all human rights, and compassionate concern for the welfare of all. In the dialect of history this misguided war may even accelerate the world toward its climactic struggle, which will be between those who use violence and those who courageously stand up for nonviolent and judicial solutions to human conflicts. Every person is free to decide to choose the peaceful alternative that insists on true justice under universal laws that are fair for everyone, not what is dictated by any one group, religion, ideology, nation, or alliance of nations through the use of military power.

 

As individuals we can support those politicians who have the courage not to go along with the current war fever. We can refrain from paying taxes to support this misguided war. We can communicate with others to encourage them to join the third option of peace with justice that sooner or later will include all nations and peoples in the world. The current war psychosis that has pervaded the mass media and U. S. society will not be easy to heal and may take a long time and more hard experiences with foolish violence before most people learn the needed lessons. Those of us with clear heads and open hearts to the pain of all, not just to that of our fellow citizens, have a great responsibility to be beacon lights of hope for a better world based on love and justice, not violence backed by the power of wealth. We can pray for peace with good will to all. Let us also stand up and speak out for the way of love.

 

 

 

[Tarun]

Tonight PBS showed Lennon's 1972 Madison Square Garden concert.

Scroll down. Notice the last stanza. Any familiar Names?

 

Give Peace A Chance

John Lennon And The Plastic Ono Band

 

Two, one two three four

Ev'rybody's talking about

Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism

This-ism, that-ism, is-m, is-m, is-m.

 

All we are saying is give peace a chance

All we are saying is give peace a chance

 

C'mon

Ev'rybody's talking about Ministers,

Sinisters, Banisters and canisters

Bishops and Fishops and Rabbis and Pop eyes,

And bye bye, bye byes.

 

All we are saying is give peace a chance

All we are saying is give peace a chance

 

Let me tell you now

Ev'rybody's talking about

Revolution, evolution, masturbation,

flagellation, regulation, integrations,

meditations, United Nations,

Congratulations.

 

Ev'rybody's talking about

John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rosemary,

Tommy Smothers, Bobby Dylan, Tommy Cooper,

Derek Taylor, Norman Mailer,

Alan Ginsberg, Hare Krishna,

Hare, Hare Krishna

 

We sang this one & many others at Strawberry Fields, Saturday Night.

Amazing how younger generation had so many Beatle songs memorized.

 

[gHari]

This was for me, but maybe someone else needs to hear it too:

MadhudviSa: "The ten offenses to avoid while chanting the mahA-mantra. Number one: Blaspheming the Lord's devotee."

PrabhupAda: Now just try to understand. Any devotee of Lord should not be blasphemed. It doesn't matter in any country. Just like Lord Jesus Christ, he is a great devotee. And even Muhammad, he's also a devotee. It is not that because we are devotee and they are not devotee. Don't think like that. Anyone who is preaching the glories of God, he is a devotee. He should not be blasphemed. You should be careful. Then?

 

[gHari]

Vrindaban

2 April, 1976

 

Mr. Dhawan

Sunenri Dham

Mohalla Dehra,

Manimajra, Chandigarh

 

Dear Sir,

 

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your kind invitation dated Chandigarh, 19-3-76, addressed to my Bombay address. I am very glad to learn that you are endeavouring to understand the prime goal of life, without which the facility of human life becomes futile. I have just come back from Delhi yesterday and I'm preparing for going to Australia by the 10th April, therefore, I am very sorry that I must inform you I will not be able to attend the function, however, I am sending herewith the answers to your questions, as far as I know. As we have received this knowledge from the greatest authority, Krishna, these answers will be acceptable in every sphere of spiritual activity.

 

First question: What is the true aim of human life?

Answer: The real aim of life is to go back to Home, back to Godhead. We all living entities in different forms of body numbering 8,400,000 forms beginning from the aquatics up to the best advanced form of human life, there is a regular evolution by the laws of nature. The real fact is that we living entities although part and parcel of God, on account of our own disobedience have come down to this material world under different circumstances. We have different types of material dresses to fulfill the tendency for sense gratification, and this by the laws of nature, by association with the 3 modes of material nature. We are transmigrating through different forms of life. So this human form of life is given to us as an opportunity to understand our position because in the human form of life we have more developed consciousness than the lower forms of life like the aquatics, insects, plants, birds, beasts and the civilized and uncivilized human beings. So the point is that a human being must know the aim of life is to go back to Home, back to Godhead.

Question #2: Which is the exact path to attain this aim?

Answer: God is great and we are all subordinate to God. In other words, God is the Supreme Master and we are all living entities, servants of God. Therefore, the path which teaches this fact, that a living entity is eternal servant of God, that is the only single path which leads one back to Home, back to Godhead.

Question #3: How many leaders have actually achieved this aim?

Answer: This aim is a fact, and the path is a fact, and anyone who takes this path, he can achieve the goal. According to our authorities who have achieved this goal, there are many, many acaryas. In the recent years, within 1500 years, the following acaryas are actually leaders of this goal of life. They are Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Visnuswami, and Nimbarka, and latest within the last 500 years is Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. There are many such leaders who have achieved the goal of life and if you want to follow them, the path is very clearly mentioned.

Question #4: why all the present religions and spiritual systems came into existence, contradicting each other when humanity is meant to follow only one religion?

Answer: Religious system means the law given by God. In every system of religion the order is to follow the instruction given by God or His representative. Unfortunately, the so-called followers deviate from the orders of the master and sometimes create their own concocted religious system. Otherwise, there can't be different religions. We therefore accept only one religion which teaches one how to love God. Any religious system which doesn't teach this, how to love God is not religion, but is cheating system. The conditioned souls who have come to this world on account of forgetfulness of his eternal relationship with God is prone to be cheated, but a person who is sincere is not cheated, but he takes up the path which leads one to the perfection of life, how to love God. The present religious and spiritual systems in varieties come into existence on account of imperfect leaders who defied the authority of God. My suggestion is therefore that the leaders who actually agree as eternal servant of God may sit together and find out the ways and means of one religious system in this world. God is one. There cannot be many gods, otherwise there is no meaning of God. In the English dictionary, you find that God means the ``Supreme Being.'' There are unlimited number of living beings, but God is one Supreme Being. Supreme Being must be one. Nobody can be equal to Him, and nobody can be greater than Him, otherwise there is no meaning of God. At the present moment it has become a fashion to become God very cheaply, therefore, such system being very cheap and not authorized, there are so many religious systems. Otherwise, God is one, all living entities are His eternal servants, and therefore, the real religious system is to learn how to serve God.

Question #5: What has Hasur Mohammed Sahib said about 14th Century and why?

Answer: I have not sufficient information about the instruction of Hazur Mohammed Sahib, but if you mean Mohammed, the inaugurator of Islam religion, I accept him as empowered servant of God because he preached God consciousness in those parts of the world and induced them to accept the authority of God. He is accepted as the servant of God and we have all respect for him. I do not know what he has said about the 14th Century, therefore, I cannot answer this point. You are mentioning the Holy Names of Nanak, Krishna, Kabir, Christ, Mohammed, etc. Out of all of these names we accept Krishna as the Lord and all others representative servant of God, Krishna. In the English dictionary, it is said God is the Supreme Being, and when Krishna appeared on this earth He proved to be the Supreme Being in all respects. We are spreading this Krishna Consciousness Movement all over the world and if all the leaders would accept this philosophy of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, then I am sure that the world would be fortunate to follow one type of religion, and accept one God without any faulty conviction.

 

I thank you once more for your invitation and I regret very much that I will not be able to attend but it will be a great pleasure for me if the leaders of the conference will like to correspond with me regarding our conclusions as above mentioned.

 

Thanking you once more,

 

Yours faithfully,

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

ACBS/pks

<font color="#f7f7f7">

 

[This message has been edited by gHari (edited 12-26-2001).]

[gHari]

Los Angeles

14 June, 1972

 

My dear Surasrestha,

 

Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated May 25, 1972, and I have noted the contents. The article you have sent which was published in the newsletter there is very nice. The interviewer asked intelligent questions and you have given very nice answers also. It is apparent that you have understood our philosophy nicely so you continue to read our books regularly and preach vigorously, and help to distribute this great transcendental knowledge to all the distressed souls of this Kali yuga.

In answer to your questions, the red incarnation who appeared in the Treta-yuga is Yajnapati. Lord Mohammed is accepted by us as Saktyavesa Avatar, but we do not recognize the Bahai faith. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu appears once in the day of Brahma or whenever He is required to come. So far attending pujas at the houses of the Hindus there we can go and hold our kirtana but we should not take prasadam there. We can accept raw materials and take them to our temple but we should not accept any prasadam prepared by them. However, if they insist then we can take fruits and milk and offer them to Krishna. Cocoa and chocolate are not to be taken as they are intoxicants.

I am leaving for London on July the 4th and am returning to New Vrndavana for Janmastami celebration and at that time we can make further plans on my coming to Trinadad. In the meantime, continue to distribute this great message of Krsna Consciousness to all the people there and work hard to make the whole country into devotees. Hoping this will meet you in good health.

 

Your ever well wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

[gHari]

Watch your mouths, New Yorkers, but we can see that the desert folk to whom Lord Mohammad preached were not the most evolved creatures on the globe:

PrabhupAda: Yes. Lord Jesus Christ, he was VaiSNava. He directly gave you the idea of personal God. The personal God is the origin. Brahmeti paramAtmeti bhagavAn iti zabdyate [sB 1.2.11]. The... Just like, the same example: the sun god, the sun planet and sunshine, they are one. They are not different. But still, this is impersonal, that is localized, and within the sun globe, there is the sun god. So sun god is the origin of this light. Similarly, KRSNa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is the origin of everything. AhaM sarvasya prabhavo mattaH sarvam [bg. 10.8]. That's the fact. But people with poor fund of knowledge they cannot understand it. Therefore stop... [break] ...light, that's all. So much. Just like Lord Buddha. He did not explain anything about God. He said, "Just obey me and stop this animal killing." Therefore this much sufficient for him, that's all. The lower class students, one plus two equal to three, two plus two..., that much mathematics, not higher mathematics. Higher mathematics is not possible to understand.

Prof. Regamay: Yes, of course.

PrabhupAda: That's it. But there is higher mathematics. Not one plus two or two plus three, no. There is still higher mathematics. So that is not meant for them. That will be explained, explained in the Bhagavad..., ye yathA mAM prapadyante tAMs tathaiva bhajAmy aham [bg. 4.11]. Those who are expert, or sufficient, insufficient knowledge, they cannot understand the Supreme Absolute. That is also confirmed, bahUnAM janmanAm ante jJAnavAn mAM prapadyate: [bg. 7.19] "After many, many births, when one is actually in full knowledge, he can understand KRSNa and surrenders unto Him." VAsudevaH sarvam iti sa mahAtmA sudurlabhaH [bg. 7.19]. So Vedas and scriptures are there, differently, according to different conditions. Now, what Jesus Christ was teaching the people? You can understand. The first injunction is "Thou shalt not kill." So what class of men they were, just you can understand. Otherwise, why he is first of all telling "Thou shalt not kill"? The Mohammed also said, "From this day, there is no sex with your mother." So just see what class of men. So according to class of men, there should be teaching. Similarly, Buddha also, Lord Buddha said, "No, no, there is no God. Just try to understand me. You obey Me.Yes, sir." It has to be done like that.

 

[Tarun]

LOVE'S IN NEED OF LOVE TODAY by Stevie Wonder

from "Songs in the Key of Life"

 

Good morn or evening friends

Here's your friendly announcer

I have serious news to pass on to every-body

What I'm about to say

Could mean the world's disaster

Could change your joy and laughter to tears and pain

====

It's that

Love's in need of love today

Don't delay

Send yours in right away

Hate's goin' round

Breaking many hearts

Stop it please

Before it's gone too far

=====

The force of evil plans

To make you its possession

And it will if we let it

Destroy ev-er-y-body

We all must take

Precautionary measures

If love and peace you treasure

Then you'll hear me when I say

===

Oh that

Love's in need of love today

love's in need of love today

Don't delay

don't delay

Send yours in right away

right a-way

Hate's goin' round

hate's goin' round

Breaking many hearts

break-ing hearts

Stop it please

stop it please

Before it's gone too far

gone too far

====

People you know that

Love's in need of love today

love's in need of love today

Don't delay

don't de-lay

Send yours in right away

right a-way

You know that hate's

hate's

Hate's goin' round

goin' round

Breaking many hearts

break-ing hearts

Stop stop it please

Before it's gone too far

gone too far

= =

It's up to you cause

Love's in need of love today

love's in need of love today

Don't delay

don't de-lay

Send yours in right away

right a-way

You know that hate's

hate's

Hate's goin' round

goin' round

Breaking—hate's tried to break my heart many times

break-ing hearts

Don't—you've got to stop it please

stop it please

Before before before

gone too far

===

Love's in need of love love today

love's in need of love today

Don't delay

don't de-lay

Send yours in right away

right a-way

You know that hate's going around

hate's goin'

Hate's going around hate's going around

round break-

====

And it tried to break up many hearts

ing hearts Stop

You've got to I've got to They've got to

it please

We've got to They've got to We've got to

gone

Stop it before it's gone too far

too far

====

Love's love's in need of love

love's in need of love

Did you ever think that love would be in need of love today

to-day don't

Don't delay

de-lay

Send yours in right away

right a-way

====

Hate's hate's

hate's goin' round

Bring it down a little love is very peaceful

So bring it down a little

stop it please

gone too far

love's in need

of love today

don't delay

right away awaaaay

=====

love's in need

of love today

don't delay

right away awaaaay

hate's goin round

breaking hearts

=====

Well, please stop it

Um L-O-V-E love

Oh, L-O-V-E lo~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ve

love's in need

of love today

don't delay

right away

Just give the world LOVE.

Back

SeS©1997

Call me sentimental if u like , but I can't listen...

it's impossible for me to hear this song sans...

[sha]

A Recipe For Making Peace

 

Patrisia Gonzales and Roberto Rodriquez

 

http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/04.09I.Making.Peace.htm#

 

Weak leaders with powerful weapons are not made strong by their mere possession, nor simply by the ability to unleash them. A leader who wages war and brings about peace at the expense of terror upon innocents does not actually achieve peace. Such a leader is to be feared, not admired. It takes no wisdom to wage war. It takes strength to bring about peace.

 

Blessed are the peacemakers.

 

[Tarun]

Yes, yes, yes.

Personally I feel no hate for Bushy, Cheney, Jews, nothing.

But we must be careful because generally what happens nowadays:

A politician some how or other comes into office (no Clinton pun intended), executes his job in ignorance & passion, causes soldiers, judges, cabinet members all to perform heinous crimes...

Then after his term is over, he gets a fatcat pension + perks

As for us, we're left holding the bag, his bag of sinful reactions in the form of increased unemployment, environmental pollution, innocent prisoners, horrific foreign policy, so many detailed defects.

A far cry from Yudhisthir's or Parixit's presidential program.

[sha]

http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/05.09A.JJJ.Peace.htm

 

t r u t h o u t | Statement

Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr.

 

 

Peace Is Possible In The Middle East

 

Thursday, May 2, 2002

 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "quiet is the absence of noise, but peace requires the presence of justice."

 

As Americans, that is our charge and our challenge in the Middle East. We seek not only to establish quiet from bombs and bullets, but also to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.

 

Even at this dark hour of death and destruction, peace is still possible in the Middle East.

 

Although involving Arabs and Jews, the crisis in the region is not an ethnic problem. While it invokes Judaism and Islam, it is not a religious problem. Though engulfing an ancient land, it is not an archaic problem.

[Bhaktavasya]

Originally posted by mahak:

Doggone, I thopught you were inviting me for talks on the Trident Nuclear Missile System. Oh well, at least I got to read som Bono here, say howzit to me braddah, di edge.

Mahaksa; give a listen to the U2 song 'Walk On' from the recent 'All That You Can't Leave Behind'. In the chorus it sounds exactly like 'Hare, Hare, Hare' and a Hallelujah!

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by Bhaktavasya (edited 05-09-2002).]

[sha]

"Edgar Hofer"

 

Peace between Brothers

Please forward this text to anyone you know - thank you.

 

Beloved Brother,

 

Brother in India, in Pakistan, beloved Brothers in

Kashmir and all over the rest of the world:

 

I really don't know if you call yourself a Hindu,

Moslem, Christ, Jew, Buddhist or anything else. I

don't care about that. What I want you to know, is:

 

You are part of God, as everybody else is part of God.

No Matter which religion, thoughts, believes, gender,

nationality, morality, sins, lies or any other faults.

 

 

Everybody is part of it, and in everybody there is a

living part of God. In every living being, no matter

if it is human, an animal or a plant. If you kill

animals and plants for the reason of living, of

surviving, of eating, it is o.k. – it is meant to be

so, just now, just on this planet.

 

If you kill each other for reasons like hate, being an

enemy, whatever the reason may be, remember, you kill

a part of god. If you are ruining this planet, you are

ruining the one planet, which was meant to be and

become paradise.

There is no other paradise than earth. God will

forgive you anyway, but can you forgive yourself?

 

Killing your beloved brother?

 

Brother, know well, in everybody of us is the same

"I". In silence, there is no difference between this

living "I". So you are only going to kill another

instance of yourself. If there is no silence, there

are plenty of thoughts, and this thoughts can be

contradictory in each of you, it can be contradictory

even in yourself – did you have the same thoughts and

truths 10 years ago?

 

So why killing just for some beliefs?

 

If you kill your brother cause he killed someone you

loved yesterday, his son will comeback tomorrow

killing you. And your son will go on, and this will

only stop if there is someone in the future who says,

 

"STOP! IT IS ENOUGH – I FORGIVE YOU !!!".

 

Why not start NOW? Why not YOU being this one, which

starts to forgive and forget ? Maybe cause of this,

tomorrow your son will sit with your enemy's son

eating cookies and have a good laugh, how stupid you

were.

 

Did you totally misunderstand religion?

 

Did you totally misunderstand the great teachings

which came from Mohammed, Krishna, Jesus, Moses,

Buddha and all the others?

 

Maybe you follow one special Prophet, Messenger,

Founder, Wise-One.

But all of them told the same. There is no difference

in their speaking, it happened just in

different cultures and different times for different

kind of people and their minds and ability to

understand.

 

But all of them talked about the same God. The same

Existence, the same Universe, the same humans, the

same Spirituality, the same LOVE, the same heaven, the

same paradise, the same GOD!

 

All of them could see, there is ONLY ONE GOD and there

IS ONLY GOD and nothing exists outside of him. This

God owns consciousness –

even YOUR consciousness – owns thoughts – all thoughts

– even YOUR thoughts, owns all the bodies, even YOUR

body, owns the he whole universe, even THIS PLANET.

 

He is the creator and the creation. He existed before

there was a big-bang (in HIM) and he will go on

existing even if this universe, which is just (a part

of) HIM will eventually go to end.

 

Beloved Brother in India:

Did you never realize, that Mohammed is just another

incarnation of Vishnu, like Krishna, was before, like

Buddha was before, like even Jesus was before? Don't

you know that Islamic people are just the same,

believing in THE SAME GOD you believe?

 

There is no God but Brahman, and if you call him

Brahman or Allah, what's the difference? He does not

care about names, nor does he have a name. Didn't you

know, that "Allah" in the original language just

means: "God" ?

 

So, how can there be a difference? And Islamic people

are just like you - very much devoted to God, which is

also YOUR God! They are YOUR BROTHERS.

 

Beloved Brother in Pakistan, in every Islamic country:

 

 

Didn't you ever realize, that Allah, which is the one

God, is the only God?

 

There is no other God then Allah, even others may call

him Brahman, Shiva or Vishnu. Allah does

not care about names. He forgives. Nothing exists

outside of Allah.

Even your brother is part of Allah. Didn't you know,

that all the Prophets spoke about the same God? Not

only Mohammed, but Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Moses too?

 

They all found Allah, and they spoke about Allah. All

this teaching came in times, where people believed

there are many Gods. And the message of all the

prophets was the same:

 

There is only one God. Why don't you believe in your

own religion? There is only one God – no matter which

name you give him!

 

And this God is A GOD OF LOVE !!!

And this God is full of power, he is Almighty.

He would NEVER allow to exist ANYONE outside of him.

He would never allow anyone to exist, if there would

not be, even deep inside one remaining silent part,

which is JUST LOVE !!!

Didn't you ever realize, that already the whole world

is Islamic – in the essence of it ??

 

So: Stop killing your brother, hug them instead.

 

Deep inside of them is the same love for god, the same

devotion and the same little child which is full of

fear. Hug this child, forgive them, and you will be

forgiven.

 

Beloved Brother in the United States:

 

Beloved Brother in the White House! It is beautiful

how far you developed. You reached a kind of freedom

and independence, never anyone reached before. But,

did you oversee, that now people are depended on YOU?

There are still many brothers which live in a

different culture, different time with different

values of life.

 

Your values of life are honestly good, but they are

not the only possible values of life. This world is

not created to be all the same in every corner. It is

so beautiful to have different people, different

nations, religions, cultures, beliefs.

In this times you are almost responsible for what

happens in EVERY part of the world. You wanted this

role, now be a wise man.

 

Whatever you do and whatever you say outside of the

United States, do and say it in the consciousness of a

human being, of a wise member

of the whole world, of another part of god who is

speaking to his brother. Outside of the United States

nobody cares about the United States. And this has to

be so. They have the same right to care about their

country, their beliefs, their culture, then you have.

There is nothing wrong in that. If you want to rule

the world, do it as a King Solomon, not as a Caesar.

Otherwise your rule could be over even tomorrow.

 

Beloved Brother in Israel:

 

Your wounds are still deep. And still you see enemies

all around you. This makes you alert, but also, out of

this alertness many misunderstand happens. Maybe

sometimes you will overhear if there is a voice of

love, because you still think the whole world (around

you) hates you?

 

Did you forget, that you came home to the world of

your brothers? They stayed there while you where away.

They too are the sons of Abraham.

 

Isn't it time to make peace? You are a country of 6

Million people, while they grew to almost one milliard

– and they gave you home, rest, country. Still, after

2000 years.

Which other culture can talk about such a great gift?

Why not feel as a guest first? Why not say "Thank you"

to them?

 

Isn't it time TO REALLY COME HOME ??

 

Beloved Buddhist Brother and all others:

 

May we pray in silence for peace in the world and may

ALL beings be happy.

May we forgive other beings for their faults, as God

is forgiving us for our faults.

For in the Absolute there are no faults and God is all

that is.

 

LOVE

 

from:

divinelove2/message/6382

[sha]

The Troubling New Face of America

 

By Jimmy Carter

 

Thursday, September 5, 2002; Page A31

 

Fundamental changes are taking place in the historical policies of the United States with regard to human rights, our role in the community of nations and the Middle East peace process -- largely without definitive debates (except, at times, within the administration). Some new approaches have understandably evolved from quick and well-advised reactions by President Bush to the tragedy of Sept. 11, but others seem to be developing from a core group of conservatives who are trying to realize long-pent-up ambitions under the cover of the proclaimed war against terrorism.

 

Formerly admired almost universally as the preeminent champion of human rights, our country has become the foremost target of respected international organizations concerned about these basic principles of democratic life. We have ignored or condoned abuses in nations that support our anti-terrorism effort, while detaining American citizens as "enemy combatants," incarcerating them secretly and indefinitely without their being charged with any crime or having the right to legal counsel. This policy has been condemned by the federal courts, but the Justice Department seems adamant, and the issue is still in doubt. Several hundred captured Taliban soldiers remain imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay under the same circumstances, with the defense secretary declaring that they would not be released even if they were someday tried and found to be innocent. These actions are similar to those of abusive regimes that historically have been condemned by American presidents.

 

While the president has reserved judgment, the American people are inundated almost daily with claims from the vice president and other top officials that we face a devastating threat from Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, and with pledges to remove Saddam Hussein from office, with or without support from any allies. As has been emphasized vigorously by foreign allies and by responsible leaders of former administrations and incumbent officeholders, there is no current danger to the United States from Baghdad. In the face of intense monitoring and overwhelming American military superiority, any belligerent move by Hussein against a neighbor, even the smallest nuclear test (necessary before weapons construction), a tangible threat to use a weapon of mass destruction, or sharing this technology with terrorist organizations would be suicidal. But it is quite possible that such weapons would be used against Israel or our forces in response to an American attack.

 

We cannot ignore the development of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, but a unilateral war with Iraq is not the answer. There is an urgent need for U.N. action to force unrestricted inspections in Iraq. But perhaps deliberately so, this has become less likely as we alienate our necessary allies. Apparently disagreeing with the president and secretary of state, in fact, the vice president has now discounted this goal as a desirable option.

 

We have thrown down counterproductive gauntlets to the rest of the world, disavowing U.S. commitments to laboriously negotiated international accords.

 

Peremptory rejections of nuclear arms agreements, the biological weapons convention, environmental protection, anti-torture proposals, and punishment of war criminals have sometimes been combined with economic threats against those who might disagree with us. These unilateral acts and assertions increasingly isolate the United States from the very nations needed to join in combating terrorism.

 

Tragically, our government is abandoning any sponsorship of substantive negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis. Our apparent policy is to support almost every Israeli action in the occupied territories and to condemn and isolate the Palestinians as blanket targets of our war on terrorism, while Israeli settlements expand and Palestinian enclaves shrink.

 

There still seems to be a struggle within the administration over defining a comprehensible Middle East policy. The president's clear commitments to honor key U.N. resolutions and to support the establishment of a Palestinian state have been substantially negated by statements of the defense secretary that in his lifetime "there will be some sort of an entity that will be established" and his reference to the "so-called occupation." This indicates a radical departure from policies of every administration since 1967, always based on the withdrawal of Israel from occupied territories and a genuine peace between Israelis and their neighbors.

 

Belligerent and divisive voices now seem to be dominant in Washington, but they do not yet reflect final decisions of the president, Congress or the courts. It is crucial that the historical and well-founded American commitments prevail: to peace, justice, human rights, the environment and international cooperation.

 

Former president Carter is chairman of the Carter Center in Atlanta.

 

----------------

 

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president,

or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only

unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."

 

--Republican President Teddy Roosevelt

---------------

[sha]

"liberty and democracy become unholy when their hands are died red with innocent blood."

 

-- mohandas gandhi

 

 

Here is one more helpful post from another board:

 

Many key Representatives and Senators oppose any military action against Iraq. It is essential that we raise our voices to prevent another 'rich man's war' being fought by the poor!

 

To get contact information for your Representatives, go to:

 

http://clerk.house.gov/members/index.php

 

To get contact information for your Senators, go to:

 

http://www.senate.gov/senators/index.cfm

 

This is not a time to sit on the sideline and belly ache about the situation in Washington. It is time for words and actions!

 

My Senator, Chuck Hagel, is a key member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He opposes action against Iraq because the intelligence information does not substantiate the claims of the Bush Admin.

 

He has contacted me personally because of my interest in this issue. Our voices are heard!

 

Please write to them. Now!

 

JIM

 

_____________

[Tarun]

After one year of rant & rave, did u look more carefully at Bushel's face as he toured WTC ruins?

Did he know? Was he forewarned? Was he just going through the motions? 'Acting' as 10th Canto assures?

 

[sha]

http://zmag.org/cartoons/toons//892.jpg

 

http://zmag.org/cartoons/toons//896.jpg

 

http://www.bushwatch.net/iraqevidence.htm

[Guest guest]

Lisa Thomas wrote:

 

This should be saved for any time when we are at a

loss for words as to the wrong of what George Bush is doing to Iraq, to us, and to the world:

 

The following letter by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark has been sent to all members of the UN Security Council, with copies to the UN General Assembly.

 

Please circulate.

 

September 20, 2002

 

Secretary General Kofi Annan

United Nations New York, NY

 

Dear Secretary General Annan,

 

George Bush will invade Iraq unless restrained by the United Nations. Other international organizations-- including the European Union, the African Union, the OAS, the Arab League, stalwart nations courageous enough to speak out against superpower aggression, international peace movements, political leadership, and public opinion within the United States--must do their part for peace. If the United Nations, above

all, fails to oppose a U.S. invasion of Iraq, it will forfeit its honor, integrity and raison d'etre.

 

A military attack on Iraq is obviously criminal; completely inconsistent with urgent needs of the

Peoples of the United Nations; unjustifiable on any legal or moral ground; irrational in light of the known facts; out of proportion to other existing threats of war and violence; and a dangerous adventure risking continuing conflict throughout the region and far beyond for years to come.

 

The most careful analysis must be made as to why the world is subjected to such threats of violence by its only superpower, which could so safely and importantly lead us on the road to peace, and how the UN can avoid the human tragedy of yet another major assault on Iraq and the powerful stimulus for retaliatory terrorism it would create.

 

1. President George Bush Came to Office Determined to Attack Iraq and Change its Government.

 

George Bush is moving apace to make his war unstoppable and soon. Having stated last Friday that he did not believe Iraq would accept UN inspectors, he responded to Iraq's prompt, unconditional acceptance by calling any reliance on it a 'false hope' and promising to attack Iraq alone if the UN does not act.

 

He is obsessed with the desire to wage war against

Iraq and install his surrogates to govern Iraq by

force. Days after the most bellicose address ever made before the United Nations--an unprecedented assault on the Charter of the United Nations, the rule of law and the quest for peace--the U.S. announced it was changing its stated targets in Iraq over the past eleven years, from retaliation for threats and attacks on U.S. aircraft which were illegally invading Iraq's airspace on a daily basis. How serious could those threats and attacks have been if no U.S. aircraft was ever hit?

 

Yet hundreds of people were killed in Iraq by U.S. rockets and bombs, and not just in the so called "no fly zone," but in Baghdad itself.

Now the U.S. proclaims its intentions to destroy major military facilities in Iraq in preparation for its invasion, a clear promise of aggression now.

 

Every day there are threats and more propaganda is unleashed to overcome resistance to George Bush's rush to war. The acceleration will continue until the tanks roll, unless nonviolent persuasion prevails.

 

2. George Bush Is Leading the United States and Taking the UN and All Nations Toward a Lawless World of Endless Wars.

 

George Bush in his "War on Terrorism" has asserted his right to attack any country, organization, or people first, without warning in his sole discretion. He and members of his administration have proclaimed the old restraints that law sought to impose on aggression by governments and repression of their people, no longer consistent with national security.

 

Terrorism is such a danger, they say, that necessity compels the U.S. to strike first to destroy the potential for terrorist acts from abroad and to make arbitrary arrests, detentions, interrogations, controls and treatment of people abroad and within the U.S. Law has become the enemy of public safety.

 

'Necessity is the argument of tyrants.'

'Necessity never makes a good bargain.'

 

Heinrich Himmler, who instructed the Nazi Gestapo

'Shoot first, ask questions later, and I will protect you,' is vindicated by George Bush. Like the Germany described by Jorge Luis Borges in Deutsches Requiem, George Bush has now 'proffered (the world) violence and faith in the sword,' as Nazi Germany did.

 

And as Borges wrote, it did not matter to faith in the sword that Germany was defeated.

'What matters is that violence ... now rules.'

Two generations of Germans have rejected that faith.

Their perseverance in the pursuit of peace will earn the respect of succeeding generations everywhere.

 

The Peoples of the United Nations are threatened with the end of international law and protection for human rights by George Bush?s war on terrorism and determination to invade Iraq.

 

Since George Bush proclaimed his 'war on terrorism,' other countries have claimed the right to strike first.

India and Pakistan brought the earth and their own people closer to nuclear conflict than at any time since October 1962 as a direct consequence of claims by the U.S. of the unrestricted right to pursue and kill terrorists, or attack nations protecting them, based on a unilateral decision without consulting the United Nations, a trial,

or revealing any clear factual basis for claiming its targets are terrorists and confined to them.

 

There is already a near epidemic of nations

proclaiming the right to attack other nations or intensify violations of human rights of their own people on the basis of George Bush's assertions of power in the war against terrorism.

 

Mary Robinson, in her quietly courageous statements as her term as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ended, has spoken of the 'ripple effect' U.S. claims of right to strike first and suspend fundamental human rights protection is having.

 

On September 11, 2002, Colombia, whose new administration is strongly supported by the U.S., 'claimed new authority to arrest suspects without warrants and declare zones under military control,' including '[N]ew powers, which also make it easier to wiretap phones and limit foreigners' access to conflict zones... allow security agents to enter your house or office without a warrant at any time of day because they think you're suspicious.'

 

These additional threats to human rights follow

Post-September 11 ?]'emergency' plans to set up a

network of a million informants in a nation of forty million.

 

See, New York Times, September 12, 2002, p. A7.

 

3. The United States, Not Iraq, Is the Greatest

Single Threat to the Independence and Purpose of the United Nations.

 

President Bush's claim that Iraq is a threat

justifying war is false. Eighty percent of Iraq's military capacity was destroyed in 1991 according to the Pentagon.

Ninety percent of materials and equipment required to manufacture weapons of mass destruction was destroyed by UN inspectors during more than eight years of inspections. Iraq was powerful, compared to most of its neighbors, in 1990.

Today it is weak. One infant out of four born live in Iraq weighs less than 2 kilos, promising short lives, illness and impaired development. In 1989, fewer than one in twenty infants born live weighed less than two kilos.

 

Any threat to peace Iraq might become is remote, far less than that of many other nations and groups and cannot justify a violent assault. An attack on Iraq will make attacks in retaliation against the U.S. and governments which support

its actions far more probable for years to come.

 

George Bush proclaims Iraq a threat to the authority of the United Nations while U.S.-coerced UN sanctions continue to cause the death rate of the Iraqi people to increase.

 

Deaths caused by sanctions have been at genocidal levels for twelve years. Iraq can only plead

helplessly for an end to this crime against its

people.

The UN role in the sanctions against Iraq compromise and stain the UN's integrity and honor. This makes it all the more important for the UN now to resist this war.

 

Inspections were used as an excuse to continue

sanctions for eight years while thousands of Iraqi children and elderly died each month. Iraq is the victim of criminal sanctions that should have been lifted in 1991.

 

For every person killed by terrorist acts in the U.S. on 9/11, five hundred people have died in Iraq from sanctions.

 

It is the U.S. that threatens not merely the authority of the United Nations, but its independence, integrity and hope for effectiveness.

 

The U.S. pays UN dues if, when and in the amount it chooses. It coerces votes of members. It coerces choices of personnel on the Secretariat. It rejoined UNESCO to gain temporary favor after 18 years of opposition to its very purposes. It places spies in UN inspection teams.

 

The U.S. has renounced treaties controlling nuclear weapons and their proliferation, voted against the protocol enabling enforcement of the Biological Weapons Convention, rejected the treaty banning land mines, endeavored to prevent its creation and since to cripple the International Criminal Court, and frustrated the

Convention on the Child and the prohibition against using children in war.

 

The U.S. has opposed virtually every other international effort to control and limit war,

protect the environment, reduce poverty and protect health.

 

George Bush cites two invasions of other countries by Iraq during the last 22 years. He ignores the many scores of U.S. invasions and assaults on other countries in Africa,

Asia, and the Americas during the last 220 years, and the permanent seizure of lands from Native Americans and other nations--lands like Florida, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Puerto Rico, among others, seized by force and threat.

 

In the same last 22 years the U.S. has invaded, or

assaulted Grenada, Nicaragua, Libya, Panama, Haiti, Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and others directly, while supporting assaults and invasions elsewhere in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

 

It is healthy to remember that the U.S. invaded and occupied little Grenada in 1983 after a year of threats, killing hundreds of civilians and destroying its small mental hospital, where many patients died. In a surprise attack on the sleeping and defenseless cities of Tripoli and Benghazi in April 1986, the U.S. killed hundreds of civilians and damaged four foreign embassies.

 

It launched 21 Tomahawk cruise missiles against the El Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum in August 1998, destroying the source of half the medicines available to the people of Sudan. For years it has armed forces in Uganda and southern Sudan fighting the government of Sudan. The U.S. has bombed Iraq on hundreds of occasions since the Gulf War, including this week, killing hundreds of people without a casualty or damage to an attacking plane.

 

4. Why Has George Bush Decided The U.S. Must Attack Iraq Now?

 

There is no rational basis to believe Iraq is a

threat to the United States, or any other country. The reason to attack Iraq must be found elsewhere.

 

As governor of Texas, George Bush presided over scores of executions, more than any governor in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 (after a hiatus from 1967).

He revealed the same zeal he has shown for'regime change' for Iraq when he oversaw the executions of minors, women, retarded persons and aliens

whose rights under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of notification of their arrest to a foreign mission of their nationality were violated. The Supreme Court of the U.S. held that executions of a mentally retarded person constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

 

George Bush addresses the United Nations with these same values and willfulness.

 

His motives may include to save a failing Presidency which has converted a healthy economy and treasury surplus into multi-trillion dollar losses; to fulfill the dream, which will become a nightmare, of a new world order to serve special interests in the U.S.; to settle a family grudge

against Iraq; to weaken the Arab nation, one people at a time; to strike a Muslim nation to weaken Islam; to protect Israel, or make its position more dominant in the region; to secure control of Iraq's oil to enrich U.S. interests, further dominate oil in the region and control

oil prices.

 

Aggression against Iraq for any of these purposes is criminal and a violation of a great many international conventions and laws including the

General Assembly Resolution on the Definition of Aggression of December 14, 1974.

 

Prior regime changes by the U.S. brought to power

among a long list of tyrants, such leaders as the Shah of Iran, Mobutu in the Congo, Pinochet in Chile, all replacing democratically elected heads of government.

 

5. A Rational Policy Intended to Reduce the Threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction in The Middle East Must Include Israel.

 

A UN or U.S. policy of selecting enemies of the U.S. for attack is criminal and can only heighten hatred, division, terrorism and lead to war. The U.S. gives Israel far more aid per capita than the total per capita income of sub Sahara Africans from all sources.

 

U.S.-coerced sanctions have reduced per capita income for the people of Iraq by 75% since 1989. Per capita income in Israel over the past decade has been approximately 12 times the per capita income of Palestinians.

 

Israel increased its decades-long attacks on the

Palestinian people, using George Bush's proclamation of war on terrorism as an excuse, to indiscriminately destroy cities and towns in the West Bank and Gaza and seize more land in violation of international law and repeated

Security Council and General Assembly resolutions.

 

Israel has a stockpile of hundreds of nuclear warheads derived from the United States, sophisticated rockets capable of accurate delivery at distances of several thousand kilometers, and contracts with the U.S. for joint

development of more sophisticated rocketry and other arms with the U.S.

 

Possession of weapons of mass destruction by a single nation in a region with a history of hostility promotes a race for proliferation and war. The UN must act to reduce and eliminate all weapons of mass destruction, not submit to demands to punish areas of evil and enemies of the

superpower that possesses the majority of all such

weapons and capacity for their delivery.

 

Israel has violated and ignored more UN Resolutions for forty years than any other nation. It has done so with impunity.

 

The violation of Security Council resolutions cannot be the basis for a UN-approved assault on any nation, or people, in a time of peace, or the absence of a threat of imminent attack, but comparable efforts to enforce Security Council resolutions must be made against all nations who violate them.

 

6. The Choice Is War Or Peace.

 

The UN and the U.S. must seek peace, not war. An attack on Iraq may open a Pandora's box that will condemn the world to decades of spreading violence. Peace is not only possible; it is essential, considering the heights to which science and technology have raised the human art of planetary and self-destruction.

 

If George Bush is permitted to attack Iraq with or

without the approval of the UN, he will become Public Enemy Number One--and the UN itself worse than useless, an accomplice in the wars it was created to end. The Peoples of the World then will have to find some way to begin again if they hope to end the scourge of war.

 

This is a defining moment for the United Nations. Will it stand strong, independent and true to its Charter, international law and the reasons for its being, or will it submit to the coercion of a superpower leading us toward a lawless world and condone war against the cradle of civilization?

 

Do not let this happen.

 

Sincerely,

 

Ramsey Clark

 

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[Guest guest]

class.....class.....CLASS!

 

A little civics lesson for ya.

 

First thing to understand is that the president of the u.s. of a.,really has little to no power.

 

He is beholden to the interests of the people

who put him in office i.e.-bankers,corporate

owners,syndicate mugs,political honchos,

and on and on.

 

The so called reticence of the other countries concerning iraq is a bunch of

jive.

 

They pretend to be against the big bad u.s.a.,for the home crowd.

In reality they all belong to the same crowd

of money ,corruption,and politics.

 

Bush is nothing more then an errand boy for the real controllers of governments.

 

These include the many varied political,

military,mob,intelligence agencies,corporate/banking weasels,dictators,

etc,who all work together around the world

for the safety and security of their own profit and comfort.

 

The U.S. is the appointed scapegoat for these interests,whenever they want some muscle thrown around the U.S. military is used,and they can all pretend to be against

the big bad wolf,while behind the scenes

they are all part of the same confederation

of exploiters.

capisce ?

[theist]

This guy has been a loony tuner for years.

 

Read the article Ramsey Clark,War Criminals Best Friend.

 

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/06/21/clark/

[Guest guest]

Democratic foes of war heading to Baghdad

Wednesday, September 25, 2002 Posted: 5:25 AM EDT (0925 GMT)

 

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two Democratic critics of U.S. military action against Iraq will leave Thursday for a trip to Baghdad, where they say they will make a personal appeal to Iraqi officials to allow unfettered access to U.N. weapons inspectors in order to avoid a potential war.

 

Rep. David Bonior, D-Michigan, formerly the House minority whip, and Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Washington, will travel with a delegation of humanitarian workers and others. They return to the United States next Tuesday.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/09/25/democrats.iraq.trip/index.html

[Guest guest]

KEEP A CLEAR EYE

 

Keep a clear eye toward life's end. Do not forget your purpose and destiny as god's creature. What you are in his sight is what you are and nothing more. Do not let worldly cares and anxieties or the pressures of office blot out the divine life within you or the voice of god's spirit guiding in your great task of leading humanity to wholeness. If you open yourself to god and his plan printed deeply in your heart, he will open himself to you.

 

Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received - fading symbols of honour, trappings of power - but only what you have given: a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.

 

Embrace the god of us all and his word wherever it surfaces. Imitate his preference for the poor and powerless. Enter into his plan of liberating all peoples from everything that oppresses them and obstructs their development as human beings. Do not grow tired of working for peace among all people.

 

Help remove unjust social structures and patterns of exploitation. Uphold the rights and dignity of the human person. Foster the creation of a society where human life is cherished and where all peoples of the planet can enjoy its gifts, which god created for all in a spirit of love and justice and equality.

 

Adapted from St. Francis of Assisi's "Letter to the Rulers of the People", circa 1220.

 

-HEPSTER 4