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Roots
By M. John Allen
It has been said that those who
forget history are doomed to repeat it. No truer words were ever spoken.
It has also been said in recent
years that we are becoming a nation of illiterates. The educational system is
to blame for that, and it is a deep and vast subject which I cover in a later
chapter of my book, The Restoration of Truth, so I will leave the
subject of education until then. But, the United States, and the world in general, stand at an important
crossroads today.
We are nearing the year 2000. It
has been predicted that the world of the future will be one of enlightenment
and peace. But, if you will only look around, current trends put the lie to
this notion immediately.
Most Americans live in a fantasy
world based on this country’s great past. It is a past of rights. It is a
past of responsibility. It is a past of civilized behavior towards fellow man
(at least in the myth if not the reality).
But now something seems terribly wrong.
We now have what many view as a
growing home grown terrorist movement. To the mainstream, average person, who
sits in front of the television set after work and allows that object to do
his or her thinking for them, the words of these “patriots” sound shrill and
dangerous. They sound extreme. It seems to be a threat to our way of life.
And for these same people,
treated to endless episodes of programs filled with mindless violence, the
militaristic tactics of police and Federal agents alike seem justified.
But now that fundamentalist Christians
are under attack, some people are beginning to wonder what is going on.
Indeed. But these were many times the same people who thought that innocent college
students in the ‘60’s who were shot to death got what they deserved because
they were “just hippies.” It seems to matter whose ox is being gored when
someone protests a government excess.
I was a personal friend, for
instance, of a doctor from the ‘60’s who was conducting medical research for
the government on LSD. Unfortunately for him, he made some discoveries that
the government didn’t like. One of those discoveries was that a minute dose
of LSD can actually INCREASE brain power (the dose is so small you probably
wouldn’t even notice you had taken it). But this wasn’t the answer the
government wanted. They didn’t want to make people smarter -- not at all.
That would have been a problem for them, just like a population of people who
were TRULY EDUCATED would be a problem.
However, this doctor wouldn’t
quit, so they took away his medical license. And then they followed him with
the FBI for the next 20 years or so. Nice people.
And so, it is no surprise that
the vaunted “war on drugs” is nothing more but the current government
smokescrean to take away your civil rights. But of course governments have
been in the business of denying people their God given rights ever since
Nimrod corralled the first people into a city called Babylon.
Many people did not pay much
attention in school when the “classics” of American literature were taught. I
don’t even know if they are “studied” in the schools today, as they have no
bearing on vocational training or skills to be a robot for the corporate
world. But, if you did actually READ some of the material that forms the
basis of our country, how much do you remember? Read the quote below, and see
if you can place it:
“Can there not be a government
in which the majorities do not
virtually decide right and
wrong, but conscience?--in which majorities decide only
those questions to which the rule of expediency is applicable?
Must the citizen ever
for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience
to the legislator? Why
has every man a conscience then? I think that we should be
men first, and subjects
afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law,
so much as for the
right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is
to do at any time what I
think right. It is truly enough said that a corporation has no
conscience; but a
corporation of conscientious men is a corporation with a conscience.
Law never
made men a whit more just; and,
by means of their respect for it, even the
well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice. A common and
natural result
of an undue respect for the law
is, that you may see a file of soldiers, colonel,
captain, corporal, privates,
powder-monkeys, and all, marching in admirable order
over hill and dale to the wars,
against their wills, ay, against their common sense
and consciences, which makes it
very steep marching indeed, and produces a
palpitation of the heart. They have no doubt that it is a damnable
business in which
they are concerned; they are all peaceably inclined. Now,
what are they? Men at
all? or small movable forts and magazines, at the service of
some unscrupulous
man in power? Visit the Navy Yard, and behold a marine, such
a man as an
American government can make, or
such as it can make a man with its black
arts--a mere shadow and
reminiscence of humanity, a man laid out alive and
standing, and already, as one
may say, buried under arms with funeral
accompaniment, though it may be,
"Not a drum was heard, not
a funeral note,
As his corse to the rampart we
hurried;
Not a soldier discharged his
farewell shot
O'er the grave where out hero
was buried."
The mass of men serve the state
thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with
their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia,
jailers, constables, posse
comitatus, etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever
of the judgment or
of the moral sense; but they put
themselves on a level with wood and earth and
stones; and wooden men can
perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose
as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or
a lump of dirt. They
have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs. Yet such
as these even are
commonly esteemed good citizens. Others--as most legislators,
politicians, lawyers,
ministers, and
office-holders--serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as the
rarely make any moral
distinctions, they are as likely to serve the devil, without
intending it, as God. A very few--as heroes, patriots, martyrs,
reformers in the great
sense, and men--serve the state
with their consciences also, and so necessarily
resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as
enemies by it. A wise
man will only be useful as a
man, and will not submit to be "clay," and "stop a hole
to keep the wind away," but
leave that office to his dust at least:
"I am too high born to be
propertied,
To be a second at control,
Or useful serving-man and
instrument
To any sovereign state
throughout the world."
He who gives himself entirely to
his fellow men appears to them useless and selfish;
but he who gives himself
partially to them in pronounced a benefactor and
philanthropist.
How does it become a man to
behave toward the American government today? I
answer, that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it.
I cannot for an
instant recognize that political
organization as my government which is the slave's
government also.
All men recognize the right of
revolution; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to,
and to resist, the government,
when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and
unendurable. But almost all say that such is not the case now. But
such was the
case, they think, in the Revolution of '75. If one were to
tell me that this was a bad
government because it taxed
certain foreign commodities brought to its ports, it is
most probable that I should not make an ado about it, for I
can do without them.
All machines have their
friction; and possibly this does enough good to
counter-balance the evil. At any rate, it is a great evil to make a stir
about it. But
when the friction comes to have
its machine, and oppression and robbery are
organized, I say, let us not have such a machine any longer. In
other words, when a
sixth of the population of a
nation which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty
are slaves, and a whole country
is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign
army, and subjected to military
law, I think that it is not too soon for honest men to
rebel and revolutionize. What makes this duty the more urgent
is that fact that the
country so overrun is not our own, but ours is the invading
army. “
Is this the writing of some
subversive modern militia nut? No, it is the famous essay “Civil
Disobedience,” by Henry David Thoreau. So much for our heritage being one of
unquestioning loyalty and obedience to those who arrogantly refer to
themselves as “the authorities,” as though they had some right not derived
from the people. And yet they seem to forget that the people have certain
inalienable rights given to them by God Himself. This was the reason for the
Second Amendment -- not for duck hunting.
In our overly militarized
society, we seem to forget that the idea of maintaining a standing army in
peace time, as well as interference in the affairs of other countries, was
anathema to the founders of this country. Their simple philosophy was that if
we minded our business, other countries would mind their own business. This
is a little bit idealistic in human terms, but in reality
it can be very practical. Standing armies are as much a danger to the citizens
of a country than to those outside. Sometimes
even more. People have also left God out of this picture, but that is a topic
for another day. I will write an eye opening article shortly about what God
thinks of war and military service.
So what has our interference in
the affairs of other countries gained us? Love? Praise? Honor? Hardly! The
sad truth is that for well over a hundred years while the American people
have been sleeping, their government has been oppressing other peoples around
the world. That’s the truth and it goes on to this day.
Until I moved to Costa Rica, I had a hard time understanding this fact. Costa Rica is a peaceful country that has no army and that believes
in peace for all. Their tradition is one of civility in dealing with others.
But now, there is a problem. Costa Rican police have been trained, along with
police from other Latin countries, in the “modern techniques” used by our
Federal government. The biggest training school is the infamous School of the
Americas.
And what do these people learn
from their friends to the north? They learn how to torture civilians to get
confessions. They learn how to rape and murder. They are taught Nazi storm
trooper tactics. They are taught to shoot first and ask questions later. They
are trained to send a whole platoon of Nazi storm troopers to go after
helpless civilians. And they are taught to brutalize human rights as long as
it is done in the sacred name of “the war on drugs.”
Human rights activists from
around the world have cried out for the closure of this “school,” but it is
still open in the good old US of A.
I could go on and on about the
atrocities and murders our government has been responsible for over the years
overseas, but I think the above is enough to make a rational mind stop and
think. And now, the government is starting to bring these tactics home to our
own people.
But, the problem is, the
chicanery didn’t start 20 or 30 years ago. Or even 50. No, it started under
none other than good ol’ Abe Lincoln! Yes, Lincoln is the one who really
got this ball rolling! I won’t say any more here, but read an article about
it in this issue, and see if your view of history doesn’t change radically.
And remember, all of these facts are DOCUMENTED from the public record -- so
there is no room for calling this some patriot fantasy. It’s reality,
and the sooner the country comes to grips with reality,
the better off it will be.
That’s why also, starting in
this issue, I’m going to also reprint at least one historical document per
issue for a couple of issues, starting with “Civil Disobedience” in this
issue. This is all important reading if you are going to understand the
historical perspective and why we are in the situation we are in today.
But of course, that is not the
end of it either. There are more steps to tracing down the roots of our
modern problems. As I stated in my book, trying to understand this present
world’s problems with only the knowledge of the present and the recent past
is like going into a movie theater in the last minute or so of the movie.
There is action. The actors are talking. But you have no idea what is going
on because YOU DID NOT SEE THE MOVIE FROM THE BEGINNING!
Thus, while we must understand
our American roots and heritage, we must go one step further and understand
the roots of the human race. And, once we understand this, the whole picture
begins to come into focus and we have the answers to the most burning
questions of the ages. Questions like ”Why was I
born?” “Is there a purpose in human life?” and also “Why, if there is a
loving God, does He allow such horrible things to happen?”
Two thousand years ago, a Great
Newscaster came to this planet to tell people the answers to these and other
questions, and to show the way that leads to life, liberty,
happiness, freedom, and prosperity and abundance for all. His was a simple
philosophy that could be understood by the smallest child. His was a
philosophy of total love. His was a philosophy of give, rather than get. His
was a philosophy of concern for the welfare of others.
One would think that mankind
would have welcomed Him with open arms. Nothing could be further from the
truth! They returned love by spitting on Him. They returned the Words of Life
with the cross of death! And then, after His brutal and illegal death at the
hands of jealous religious authorities and a cynical Roman Government, they
attempted to suppress His message so that others could not receive it. They
hunted and persecuted and martyred the Apostles and saints for most of the
intervening 2,000 years between then and now! To carry this message meant
that you could be lion food!
So what is this message that
Satan does everything in his power to suppress and make sure you don’t see or
understand? The long answer can be found in my book, The Restoration of
Truth, which is being serialized here one chapter per month. It gives you
the DYNAMIC ANSWERS to the questions of the ages! If you have missed any
installment, you can read it in back issues posted on this website.
There is also a wealth of information
in our library section. Just this past month, I completed indexing
our archives, and they now contain 14 BIBLE CORRESPONDENCE COURSE lessons
that will help you to unravel the mysteries of life!
So, while it is vitally
important that we keep up on current events and trends in the world around
us, and while it is important that we look at our own history, and that each
people do the same thing around the world to understand where they come from,
it is even more vitally important to understand the mysteries of the origins
of mankind itself! So, start digging today, and you will finally begin to
understand that you are not just a number, BUT A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THE
OVERALL PLAN OF CREATION ITSELF!
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