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Patriotism
"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to
stand by the president or any other public official, save
exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the
country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he
efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to
oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or
otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In
either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether
about the president or anyone else." - Theodore Roosevelt
Because it is Right
"Cowardice asks the
question — is it safe? Vanity asks the question — is it
popular? . . But Conscience asks the question — is it right?
There comes a time when one must take a position that is
neither safe, popular, or political; but because it is
right." — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Silence
"Our
lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that
matter." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.
We Will be the Cause of
the Lose of our Freedom
"America will never be
destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our
freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." --
Abraham Lincoln
I’m for
justice
"I am
for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter
who it is for or against. I’m a human being first and
foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits
mankind as a whole." -- Malcolm X
The ultimate weakness of violence
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending
spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead
of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you
may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie nor
establish the truth. Through violence , you can murder the
hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely
increases hate. Returning violence for violence multiplies
violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of
stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do
that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do do that."
--
Martin Luther King, Jr.
War deadens the spirit of
true manhood
"War paralyzes your courage
and deadens the spirit of true manhood. It degrades
and stupefies with the sense that you are not responsible, that 'tis
not yours to think and reason why, but to do and die,' like the
hundred thousand others doomed like yourself. War means blind
obedience, unthinking stupidity, brutish callousness, wanton
destruction, and irresponsible murder." - Alexander Berkman
America makes the same
mistake
"The people of
England have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will
be hard to escape with dignity and honor. They have been tricked
into it by a steady withholding of information. The Baghdad
communiques are belated, insincere, incomplete. Things have been far
worse than we have been told, our administration more bloody and
inefficient than the public knows. It is a disgrace to our imperial
record, and may soon be too inflamed for any ordinary cure. We are
today not far from a disaster. How long will we permit millions of
pounds, thousands of Imperial troops, and tens of thousands of Arabs
to be sacrificed on behalf of colonial administration which can
benefit nobody but its administrators?" -- August 22, 1920, written
by former Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence (AKA Lawrence
of Arabia)
Glory is not Dominion, but
Liberty
“[America] goes not abroad in
search of monsters to destroy. She well knows that by once enlisting
under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of
foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of
extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual
avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the
standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would
insensibly change from liberty to force ... she might become the
dictatress of the world. She would be no longer be the ruler of her
own spirit.... [America's] glory is not dominion, but liberty.” --
John Quincy Adams
Dominance of our ideas
"If those in charge of
our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of
press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be
secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling
the streets. We will control ourselves." --
Howard Zinn
What difference does it
make to the dead
"What kind of victory is
it when someone is left defeated? What difference does it make
to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad
destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or
the holy name of liberty and democracy?... What is a war
criminal? Was not war itself a crime against God and humanity,
and, therefore, were not all those who sanctioned, engineered
and conducted wars, war criminals?... The weak can never
forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong...
Non-cooperation with evil is a sacred duty." --
Mahatma Gandhi
The force of nonviolence
"Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind.
It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction
devised by the ingenuity of man." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Democratic Despotism
"A democratic despotism is like a theocracy: it assumes
its own correctness." -- Walter Bagehot
War is Always Evil
"War may
sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary,
it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn to
live together in peace by killing each other's children." --
Jimmy Carter 2002
A Double Wrong
"To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the
hearer as well as those of the speaker. It is just as criminal to rob a man of
his right to speak and hear as it would be to rob him of his money" -- Frederick
Douglass 1860
Sin by Silence
"To sin by silence when
they should protest makes cowards of men." -- Abraham
Lincoln
Threatening the Fate of Humanity
The war against Iraq as threatening the
''fate of humanity".... "When war, as in these days in Iraq,
threatens the fate of humanity, it is ever more urgent to
proclaim, with a strong and decisive voice, that only peace
is the road to follow to construct a more just and united
society.'' ... ''Violence and arms can never resolve the
problems of men.'' --
Pope John Paul II, Mach 23, 2003
To announce that there must be no criticism of the
president
"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." --
Former President Theodore Roosevelt, 1918
Bush's war
big political mistake, Gorbachev says
''The move
defies the existence of the United Nations and
international laws. The U.S. stance...means it regards
other nations as subject countries or states.'' U.S.
President George W. Bush's policy ''is far from real world
leadership,'' Gorbachev said. ''It's really too bad. What
has become of the world? I'm afraid the U.N. system has
collapsed. We have to give our earnest consideration to
the problem.'' ''The United States seems to believe this
military action shows its world leadership. But that is
its misconception. Real world leadership is to take
initiatives in promoting the Kyoto Protocol, nuclear
disarmament, and arms control, and solving environmental
issues'' -- Former Soviet President Mikhail, Third World
Water Forum, Japan, March 20, 2003.
War is Failure of Diplomacy
This president failed so miserably in diplomacy that we
are now forced to war.
--Tom Daschle
It Makes No Sense
"I speak of peace
because of the new face of war. Total war makes no sense
in an age when great powers can maintain large and
relatively invulnerable nuclear forces and refuse to
surrender without resort to those forces. It makes no
sense in an age when a single nuclear weapon contains
almost ten times the explosive force delivered by all the
allied air forces in the Second World War. It makes no
sense in an age when the deadly poisons produced by a
nuclear exchange would be carried by wind and water and
soil and seed to the far corners of the globe and to
generations yet unborn." --
President John F.
Kennedy, Commencement Address at American University,
Washington, D.C., June 10, 1963
Carter on Bush and North Korea
January 14, 2003 - "Rejection of the 'sunshine
policy,' which had earned the Nobel Peace Prize for South
Korean President Kim Dae Jung; announcements that North Korea,
like Iraq and Iran, was part of an 'axis of evil'; public
statements that the new "Great Leader" was loathed as a
'pygmy' who deliberately starved his own people, that America
was prepared to fight two wars at the same time, and that our
missile defense system was a shield against North Korea -- all
this helped cause many in that country to assume that they
were next on America's hit list after Iraq." -- Former
President Jimmy Carter in Washington Post article on January
14, 2003
War - Humanities Cross of Iron
April 16, 1953 - "Every gun that is
made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in
the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not
fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms
is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its
laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its
children... This is not a way of life at all, in any true
sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity
hanging from a cross of iron." -- Former U.S. President,
Dwight D. Eisenhower, in a speech on April 16, 1953 |
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Pre-emptive Action - World Dominance
September 23, 2002 - "President Bush now asserts that
we will take pre-emptive action even if we take the threat we
perceive is not imminent. If other nations assert the same
right then the rule of law will quickly be replaced by the
reign of fear - any nation that perceives circumstances that
could eventually lead to an imminent threat would be justified
under this approach in taking military action against another
nation. An unspoken part of this new doctrine appears to be
that we claim this right for ourselves - and only for
ourselves. It is, in that sense, part of a broader strategy to
replace ideas like deterrence and containment with what some
in the administration term 'dominance.'" -- Former U.S. Vice
President, Al Gore, in a speech on September 23, 2002
Bush Strategy Sends Wrong Signal to the World
December 2002 - "A policy that sets the United States above and apart from
the rules that other states are expected to follow is
ultimately unsustainable and self-defeating. Perpetuating U.S. reliance on nuclear
weapons as a key component of protecting U.S. security will
only make the acquisition of nuclear weapons more attractive
to others, not less." -- Daryl G. Kimball, the executive
director of the Arms Control Association
Isolation from the World
"We are advancing
headlong into committing our nation and our treasure to an
untried and unproven missile defense system, which we may or
may not need and which may or may not protect us, while at the
same time we are in full retreat from the arms control
treaties and policies that have helped stabilize the world for
decades. . . A handshake, no matter how sincere or
well-intentioned, is no substitute for a signature." (Senator
Robert Byrd, Senate speech, December 13, 2001)
United
States has a special role in the world
"[It is] not
isolationist to suggest that the United States has a special
role in the world and should not adhere to every international
convention and agreement that someone thinks to propose . . .A
Republican administration will proceed from the firm ground of
the national interest, not from the interests of an illusory
international community." (National Security Adviser
Condolezza Rice, Foreign Affairs, Jan-Feb. 2000)
Bush Attempts to Silence Opposition to War
December 22, 2002 -
After a number of Democratic Presidential hopefuls criticized
President Bush's approach to the war, White House spokesman, Ari
Fleischer said, "Any candidate who suggests that when the enemy
attacks, the blame lies with the United States and not with the
enemy does so at great peril to their own political future."
Either you are with us, or you are with
the terrorists
September 20, 2001 - "Every nation in every region now
has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are
with the terrorists." President George W. Bush
Preparation for War - Preservation of Peace
"The preparation for war is essential for the
preservation of peace." - Geo. Washington during his 1st
State/Union address
Naturally the
Common People Don't want War
"Naturally the common people don't
want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that
matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is
the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is
always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is
a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a
communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can
always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy.
All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and
denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing
the country to danger. It works the same in any country." --
Hermann Goering, president of the Reichstag, Nazi Party, and
Luftwaffe Commander in Chief, is attributed with making the
statement at the Nuremburg trials
Whip the
Citizenry into a Patriotic Fervor
“Beware the leader who bangs the
drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic
fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both
emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the
drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils
with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no
need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the
citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will
offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so.
How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar.”
-- Julius Caesar is
attributed with offering this.
Lies Become the Truth
"A lie told often enough becomes the truth." -- Linen
War to Achieve Peace
"I have never advocated war except as a
means of peace." --
Ulysses S. Grant
Pride above Facts
"The
notion of a farseeing and despotic statesman, who can lay down
plans for ages yet unborn, is a fancy generated by the pride
of the human intellect to which facts give no support."
-- Walter Bagehot
Politics
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it
whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and
applying the wrong remedy." -- Ernest Beade
Make things Appear what they are Not.
"Half the work that is done in this world is to make things
appear what they are not." -- Elias Root Beadle
The Threat of Evil
“An evil exists that threatens every
man, woman, and child of this great nation. We must take steps
to insure our domestic security and protect our homeland."
-- Adolph Hitler
Doubt
"...there is no freedom of thought without doubt. --Bergen
Evans, The Natural History of Nonsense
Infringement of Human Freedom
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human
freedom It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of
slaves." --William Pitt
Ariel Sharon
"Even today I am willing to volunteer to do the dirty work
for Israel, to kill as many Arabs as necessary, to deport
them, to expel and burn them, to have everyone hate us, to
pull the rug from underneath the feet of the Diaspora Jews,
so that they will be forced to run to us crying. Even if it
means blowing up one or two synagogues here and there, I
don't care. And I don't mind if after the job is done you
put me in front of a Nuremberg Trial and then jail me for
life. Hang me if you want, as a war criminal..."
From an Interview with Ariel Sharon published in the
Israeli daily Davar Dec. 17, 1982
Prayers for Peace
Praying for our troops
By Ayodele Thomas
I just wanted to take a moment to
voice my support of our troops who are risking their lives on
my behalf, although I do not support the Bush administration
in its decision to declare war. Too often, discussions of war
and peace become polarized into anti-war vs. pro-troop, but
that narrow view doesn't capture the feelings of most
Americans who are against the war. I appreciate our troops so
much that I would rather them be home than fighting a war
that I do not see as just or immediately necessary. The Bush
administration has tried to make it seem as though this is! a
good war and that God is on the American side. However, as
Jimmy Carter stated in his Nobel acceptance speech, "War may
sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it
is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn to live
together in peace by killing each other's children."
I pray daily for all of those who
are touched directly and indirectly by the war. I pray that
our soldiers will be able to return home - alive. I pray for
families who have been torn apart and for Americans who seem
to have forgotten that it is OK to disagree. I pray for the
citizens of Iraq and yes, even their soldiers.
I believe that my God is not just
the God of the United States - he is the God of the world. He
does not just love those who claim citizenship in these United
States, He loves all of humanity. We should not just be saying
"God Bless America" nor should we assume that God is happy
with our nation's current actions or our lack of action in the
past. Many of the reasons for which our nation's leaders claim
we are going to war today are problems that we helped to
create by supporting evil dictators to meet our
purposes or by ignoring them
because they were not strategically important. I believe that
God would want us to act on the side of justice and peace,
whether or not it is convenient or strategic for us.
I ask that all of those who
believe in the redeeming power of prayer, whether you agree
with the decision to go to war or not, would join me in prayer
not just for America, but for our world.
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