Songs of War and Peace
by Adrian Banks
2/17/03
Dear Friends of Peace,
My recent article "Wars Are Occasioned by the Love of Money" resulted in many people requesting to be removed from my mailing list. I think I have removed everyone, but if I missed someone that wanted to be removed, please let me know and I'll remove you as soon as I'm notified again.
It has been estimated that between 8 - 11.5 million people participated in anti-war protests around the globe Saturday. Sadly, I do not think it will matter, for too much money has already been invested in the military buildup against Iraq. Who knows, maybe Armageddon will happen soon. I do not believe that God will allow the warmongers to destroy his beautiful creation.
I have added a songs page to my web site. I did this out of sadness because of impending war that will cause massive destruction and untimely death to multitudes of souls - all out of greed for power, money, and oil.
These songs can be accessed by going to the following link:
http://www.restoreliberty.com/songspage.htm
In this morning's paper, there was an article entitled "Local residents back war." Naturally, the only residents interviewed were ones that were pro-war. The pro-war/anti-Iraq propaganda continues on a daily basis. Some local residents are quite upset that millions of people oppose the war. In their view, we all have a duty to back our country. To me, this amounts to thinking we should all shout "Heil!" to our rulers and blindly follow them. I must dissent.
In 1951, the year's #1 box-office movie was "Quo Vadis." The words from the opening scene of the movie are quoted below.
"This is the Appian Way; the most famous road that leads to Rome as all roads lead to Rome. On this road march her conquering legions. Imperial Rome is the center of the Empire, and undisputed master of the world. But with this power inevitable comes corruption. No man is sure of his life; the individual is at the mercy of the State, murder replaces justice. Rulers of conquered nations surrender their helpless subjects to bondage. High and low alike become Roman slaves - Roman hostages. There is no escape from the whip and the sword. That any force on earth can shake the foundation of this pyramid of power and corruption, of human misery and slavery, seemed inconceivable."
Commander of the 14th legion, Marcus Vinicius, made an interesting comment to his uncle Petronius. He said: "Just as long as there's money to pay the army, Rome will stand forever. That I'm sure of." Tell me, where is Rome today?
"However, those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires which plunge men into destruction and ruin. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things, and by reaching out for this love some have been led astray from the faith and have stabbed themselves all over with many pains." 1 Timothy 6: 9-10
Yours in Liberty
Adrian C. Banks