War or Peace?
@bantilesroger (341)
Philippines
January 23, 2009 5:35am CST
I have just finished reading a "unique book by a unique woman." (Library Journal) The book was written by Peace Pilgrim: HER LIFE AND WORK IN HER OWN WORDS. It's very interesting, try to get hold of a copy.
Here are a number of quotes in that book:
General Omar Bradley: "Wars can be prevented just as surely as they can be provoked, and we who fail to prevent them must share in the guilt for the dead."
General Douglas MacArthur: "I have known war as few men now living know it. Its very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a means of settling international disputes."
Pope John XXIII: "If civil authorities legislate for or allow anything that is contrary to the will of God, neither the laws made nor the authorizations granted can be binding on the consciences of the citizens, since God has more right to be obeyed than men."
Dwight D. Eisenhower: "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who are hungry and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
John F. Kennedy: "Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind... War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today."
Lyndon B. Johnson: "The guns and the bombs, the rockets and the warships, all are symbols of human failure."
Pope John Paul II: "In the face of the man-made calamity that every war is, one must affirm and reaffirm, again and again, that the waging of war is not inevitable or unchangeable. Humanity is not destined to self-destruction. Clashes of ideologies, aspirations and needs can and must be settled and resolved by means other than war and violence."
Herman Goering, at the Nuremberg Trials: "Why, of course people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? 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 a 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 pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
This book was written in 1981, its main concern the Cold War and the Nuclear Arms Race. Despite the book's vintage, do you think the book's message and the foregoing quotes are still very resonant and relevant to today's world, today's wars and search for peace? As a Sovereign Citizen, what will you tell your President or your Prime Minister, your Senator and Congressman or Member of your Parliament?
5 people like this
17 responses
@faith210 (11224)
• Philippines
23 Jan 09
Hi bantilesroger! I completely believe that all the quotes mentioned are very relevant and resonant in our present time. War is destructive and there are no winners in wars. It is true that the leaders of each and every nation pulls the string and we have to make a stand against violence and wars. I think I will tell my president and all the senators and congressmen, that if they want to go into war--they do it themselves and not send their people to the battlefield. They be the first to wear the soldier's uniform, carry their weapons and be the frontliners in the battlefield and not just shouting orders from a very safe distance!
Take care and have a great day!
lovelots..faith210
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@bantilesroger (341)
• Philippines
23 Jan 09
Dear Faith,
That's a very clear message, thank you. I think it will induce a lot of cool thinking (and talking or parleying) from decision makers before they will ever give the go-signal to start a war, considering that they themselves will be right in front of the soldiers of the other side immediately at the outset of hostilities.
3 people like this
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@catdla1 (6005)
• United States
23 Jan 09
It's funny you should mention Jonathan Livingston Seagull. I have been poking around used bookstores lately looking for a copy. It's actually a very hard book to come across and I wanted my step daughter to read it. Or local library has a copy of Peace Pilgrim and I've already reserved it and looking forward to reading it. Thanks for bringing to light a book that otherwise I never would have known about!
1 person likes this
@bantilesroger (341)
• Philippines
23 Jan 09
The book is actually light reading but the impact on you is profound. To me, it was like reading Jonathan Livingstone Seagull.
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@smacksman (6053)
•
26 Jan 09
You ask - 'As a Sovereign Citizen, what will you tell your President or your Prime Minister, your Senator and Congressman or Member of your Parliament?'
Well by the time todays version of Herman Goering have worked their propaganda on you you will be saying exactly what they want!
I have seen it in action before the Falklands War. By the time the Government propaganda machine had been working a week, the public were baying for Argie blood. It was quite sickening to watch.
1 person likes this
@michaeldadona (5684)
• Malaysia
23 Jan 09
War cannot be defined only one areas of interest. By law it is a crime subject. By culture it is part of warrior and the colonial factor. By custom it is part of defense. In world of business, it is a great economy construction and destruction. That is why, by historical facts and figures started before centuries there is no one country that able to maintain a total peace keeping for more than 50 years.
That is called a human nature of war development. Part of human kind to develop reciprocating the discovery and invention that will never stop; justly like we need heat to cook our food. Without war, dominant party or group will be just like a God. Do you still remember the history of Moses and the Pharaoh?. What happen to the people during that time?. Not developing.
Japan won't be as what it is now, if Hiroshima not involved in the war. There are advantages of war when we talk about defense. Something like our stomach creating the "war" on needing food.
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
24 Jan 09
I am in agreement with policies on one provided by my country, we are not a warring nation, we are peace keepers of the world, and fight only when absolutely necessary to better the world.
@panzerswifey (314)
• United States
26 Jan 09
Thank You I am going to have to get this book and enjoy it.
I love books and I am very instrested in reading this one.
I think this books message is very relevant today as it was in 1981.
maybe I would tell President Obama to read this book.
@bantilesroger (341)
• Philippines
27 Jan 09
Yes, please inform him about this book, if you have a way of reaching him. Thank you very much.
@onlydia (2808)
• United States
28 Jan 09
Some of the Quotes are kind of funny in a sad way. As John F. Kennedy started two wars. Lost one fast. then he is the one that sent the USA to nam. and MacArthur was a big jerk. and if it not been for a war he would of been nobody. If we didn't have war what would the men do. We will always have some kind of war somewhere. as people will never get along so they will fight. There is no easy answer. Have a good day. Your friend onlydia
@savypat (20216)
• United States
23 Jan 09
It sounds to me like this book is very relevant today and the messages should be put before the public over and over again until there is a breakthrough in human consciousness.
@bantilesroger (341)
• Philippines
26 Jan 09
You have hit the key: human consciousness. Thank you very much.
@lampar (7584)
• United States
28 Jan 09
That is so true, if men do not put an end to war, then war will put an end to men. Seeing all these nuclear weapons stockpiles among world superpowers, it is just a matter of time war not only put an end to mankind but also to the earth, reduce it into tiny particles in the universe.
@jakill (835)
•
26 Jan 09
Thank you for sharing the information about this book, and starting such a worthwhile discussion. Since 1981 it seems that incidences of war have escalated. Or it could be just that the media's strides in technology use has rought it all closer and more visible to us. I am desperately sad at the things I hear about wars in different places. Anything that can intervene and bring them to an end wuld be welcome.
@maygodblessu44 (7336)
• India
25 Jan 09
Hello my friend bantilesroger Ji,
No doubt, reading quotations in book are entirely different that real life. A child is always at war with motehr, who is unable to provide her milk. Let's not get intangle in argument further, taht It is liberty of all motehr to provide or not. Wars have always been tragedies and never brought any fruitfull solutions to man-kind. People fight to get their different appettites full-filed. As a Ex soldier's wife, I fully understand taht no on ewants war, but then who are all these culprits, who are not in all. They should come forward and give ways for peaceful solutions. I wis that whole World become War-free Zone. may god bless everyone and have a great time.![](/Content/images/emotes/thumbup.gif)
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@kun2349 (23381)
• Singapore
23 Jan 09
That should be a very interesting book.. hehe ^_^ I like all the quotes in there and they are very true, as well as very beautifully written ^_^
War is never a right thing, and the ones suffering tends to be those innocent ones.. Bloods are shed from soldiers and civilians, but in the end, the ones whom gets honoured are the ones whom goes to war..
More than often, everybody is saying war will be the last thing on their minds, and yet in every country, all males of legal age is made to go thru military training, just in case there's war.. If that's the case, why not go to war instead, rather than betaing round the bush for the same purpose in the end.. lol =D
@izathewzia (5134)
• Philippines
24 Jan 09
I also love reading books. And thi one seemed to be interesting. Thanks for sharing it. I will try to have a copy of it.
@bhanusb (5709)
• India
23 Jan 09
We the citizens always want peace not war.War means bloodshed,war means destruction.Warmongers are the enemy of civlization.In the past war destroyed
many civilizations.We want to protect civilization.So we don't want war.War stop the progress of mankind .As a sovereign citizen my appeal to my Head of State solve the problems with other State or States by negotiation,not by War.Thanks.
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