In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. - Martin Luther King Jr.
Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence. - Leonardo da Vinci
We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. - Elie Wiesel
While it appears the majority consents to the violence and coercion of life, I refuse to remain silent or participate in such vulgar and abusive behaviour. I shall confront those that engage in the abuse directly AND all those who stand by and say nothing.
I just sent a letter to the Mayor of the City of Windsor Ontario as some dear spiritual brothers and sisters were being bullied, intimidated, threatened and abused by government powers. Why is it that all governments fail to resolve matters peacefully FIRST before they then engage in violence? Did you know that the Queen swore an oath to use mercy in all her judgements? That requires compassion and forgiveness, which we do not see in any interaction with the state.
Instead they are at war, which violates the very oath that the Queen swore on her coronation in 1952. Every government officer has a duty to be peaceful and merciful with compassion and forgiveness. They have a duty to engage in peace first, but they rather engage in violence first as it is quicker.
To stand in contrast to this violence requires courage, knowledge and faith. Courage to stand against those who chose violence over peace, knowledge of both and the faith that peace can and will overcome violence. I don't care what form the rebuke takes, stand up and rebuke! All I care about is that we are peaceful doing it.
Time to stand on our soap box and be a witness to what is unfolding around us. We cannot be a witness until we testify! Speak up and testify! Spiritual Warriors are spiritual beings who will testify despite all the violence, threats and / or intimidation thrown their way.
Those who engage in violence are cowards. That is why they use violence instead of peace. Violence is used by those who don't have anything to stand on. They need the violence to force their own will and ego, rather than standing in the power and authority of their own spirit. They sold their soul in exchange for the proceeds of violence. When confronted about their actions, their shame tarnishes their actions and they will have to stand to account for their decisions.
The troubling thought is that most people fail to see their own violent actions. Because they don't see most of the violence, they fail to stand as a witness as well. Even I am still learning just how deep the violence goes. This is a deep and complex subject that requires a life time of study. Most people are so busy with life that they don't even scratch the surface of that subject matter.
Time to get to work so that we can Graduate Life with Honours my dear spiritual brothers and sisters. If we fail to do the work, we may find ourselves doing this again, except the lessons would be even more harsh. A Spiritual Warrior acknowledges their duty to confront.
May we learn how to be peaceful.
The red sun as a result of the smoke from forest fires August 10, 2018
Most world leaders are cowards. Instead of talking peace and healing their people they would rather threaten and retaliate against perceived slights.
It takes a strong person to admit when they are wrong and extend the olive branch or their hand in friendship. When they are confronted with their actions and words, they know in their hearts they are wrong but cover it up with more violence. They cannot accept their part and will not face up to the consequences until they are forced to.
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May we all find the courage to hold up the mirror so that these violent offenders 'see' and 'hear' what they are doing. May their hearts be softened through the experience so that they can find salvation and healing. I forgive them all but work hard to rebuke and confront them. This is not an easy, pretty or comfortable process for everyone.
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It's really annoying because they've been saddled with the responsibility of protecting the people. Violence should never be an option, especially as the aggressor. Thank you for speaking up, and more, actually doing something about it
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@wwf I'll never forget how a boy was beaten innocently by a violent mob after being falsely accused of stealing. I could've intervened but I was too scared to do so. Till today I regret that
Violence is never the answer but if we really want change, we must be bold enough to stand up to injustice
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My heart reaches out to you and asks that you forgive yourself and learn from the experience. I thank you for sharing that experience with us so that we too can learn from it. I pray the boy's sacrifice is not wasted. I pray for you both. May Creator bless you both.
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I resteemed this and will put it on the book of faces as well. Excellent! I love it! What is our purpose if not to speak the Truth?
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Thank you my friend. What is the 'book of faces'?
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Facebook lol. It does little good. Steemit posts are invisible on the book of faces....
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Amen brother. Right behind you and will stand tall in protest along with you
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Every man must live his life. And life should be happy. But other people want to lead you. To this end, and invented various laws, so that people follow the laws.
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Violence is in my opinion, done out of fear. It is a reaction of those who are very insecure and often ignorant of the ways of peace. Perhaps I could dare go so far as to call them all mentally ill. Violence used as a measure against those held in a state of duress, is a cowardly and cruel method. Governments are afraid of the herd, the way I see it. The herd has every right to counter violence with any means necessary even up to deadly force. May we soon see the day where human decency and intellect backed by a sound critical thought process, rules the day 😊😁
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I agree with most of what you said, but where we differ is your view that the herd has the right to counter violence with any means necessary even up to deadly force. That is, in itself, violent.
Consider this: If you and I had a confrontation and you decided to punch me, your intent is to do harm. That is violent. If I block your punch, I end up deflecting your punch with the intent of self-defense. The violence is still yours. However, if I counter that block with a punch of my own, my intent changes from self-defense to harm as now my intent is to put you down so that you don't get back up. I've crossed the line from self-defense to being violent. Deadly force is no different. I'm not going to sacrifice the spiritual rewards that I've worked so hard to acquire by killing somebody else. That violates spiritual values and protocols, even though physically it has been justified and even 'legalized' for many generations.
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I can see your point there🤔. So do we have the right to defend our lands from invading armies with deadly force if we know their intent is to kill us first I wonder..that is something I still question and the reason why is the "thou shalt not kill" rule. Where I struggle with that though is how ministers who are so supportive of that biblical law will quickly heap huge amounts of honor and praise onto the shoulders of soldiers. A great number of these are young men who are barely 20 years old. They call them patriots and defenders of freedom. They will pray over them and encourage them and pump them with pride knowing full well they are headed out to murder people. Then they will firmly stand on the thou shalt not kill rule in the pulpit. That has perplexed me to no end. Maybe i should ask them lol.
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Maybe you should ask them. The 'right to defend our lands from invading armies with deadly force' usually comes from the state. That requires that you swear an oath of fealty to your new feudal lord. That lord then makes laws and grants 'rights'.
But if you walk away from all of that, you return to the Spiritual jurisdiction and the rights granted to you by Creator. Thou shalt not murder is a big one. We are also supposed to forgive our trespassers and a whole bunch of other methods of bringing peace and freedom to our lives. We cannot end violence by engaging in violence. We only perpetuate the violence when we do that.
Have you read my book, Graduating Life with Honours?
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Very beautiful thought there, no one then has the right to encourage others to commit violence it would seem. Violence is a carnal selfish thing. Many would derive some sort of pleasure out of hurting others, to the point im sure it can be addictive. Im starting to think it all boils down to cultures the Lords have created. Violent loving societies that take no pleasure in it when karma brings it bag to their doorsteps. What a pathetic way to live. The Lords take pleasure in sending our young to die. They are the gainers of these deeds. The victims are the ones who swear fealty to them and the ones they wage war against when they send their soldiers to conquer a neighboring Lords land. Its making sense now 🤗😊. I have not read your book, but I am very much looking forward to it. Thank you for your words. You are very much appreciated my friend 🤗😊
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People are poor. They are looking for food. People do not understand their actions. It is good to be able to manage money. Then you can control people?
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It is also people's responsibility to educate themselves so that they have the knowledge, wisdom and experience to deal with these kinds of issues. Self-governance for those who do the work.
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We've got the smoke blowing in to Calgary it's like soup the air
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