T.N.G. SIGNS OF THE TIMES - N.M. October 20, 2006 5:13 GMT (#162)

 

Greetings from Russell's Remnant:                                                                                  www.oocities.org/dkone_us

 

 

            The following passage comes from The Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln edited by Anthony Gross for Barnes and Nobles Books:

 

            It may not be amiss, in a collection of this character, in order to show the marvelous fertility of this wonderful genius, to include an excerpt from his second inaugural address.  This has been justly placed among the masterpieces of the world’s greatest oratory.  It has been compared most favorably with loftiest portions of the Old Testament and properly classed among the most famous of all written and spoken compositions in the English tongue.  Like all of Lincoln’s compositions, it had great brevity, but much pith and meat.

“Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.  Yet, if God will that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, ‘The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.’

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan – to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.”

 

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            When a nation is split on an issue of war, the public must make a judgment as to which serves the higher good.  As the Hierarchical Teachers say, every issue should be decided on its own merits and not based on some past actions.  The free world owes the non-free world assistance.  The United States Military has freed millions of down trodden people in the Middle East in the past few years.  Many people are free from oppression and dictators.  Businessmen are able to build their own companies into something to be proud of.  The young girls now have an opportunity get an education, and their older sisters and mothers are free to live a life with more freedom and opportunity for the first time in ages.

 

            Political parties are learning the technique of negotiating matters without bloodshed in many cases.  Old clans are learning to work with former enemies.  Reform for more freedom is being planted in the Middle East.  The war the terrorists have promoted will not benefit from these new freedoms and communities working together for a better country to live in.  How would you like to live in the Middle East where the strongest religious leader kept citizens under their thumbs?  America is free because armies were lead by Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and now Mr. Bush.  Mr. Bush has taken a stand which is absolutely necessary to stop terrorism at its breeding grounds.  He is taking a beating from people who are selfish and are thinking only of themselves.

 

            The four leaders mentioned above were all attacked for the wars they waged.  The first three were proven right for standing up for freedom.  Mr. Bush is taking a beating from the press, democrats, and others who have an agenda that serves themselves and not the planet.  Mr. Lincoln was faced with similar attacks, and he responded in his second inaugural address.  Where freedom is concerned, Mr. Bush and Mr. Lincoln are in similar spots.  Let us hope that Mr. Bush does not cave in to less than honorable motives.

 

            As Edmund Burke stated, “All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.”  I urge good men to be selfless and help free the millions held captive in physical and mental jails everywhere.

 

The following quotes were made by Master D.K. in the books of Alice Bailey about 50 years ago.  Most of these seem to applicable to the present Middle East War.  Maybe the world still needs eyes to see and ears to hear!

 

 

 

 

 

Selfishness and self-interest lengthened the war (1914-45) by years.  Had all the civilized nations of the world banded together and swung into action against Germany going into Poland, or Japan going into Manchuria, or Italy going into Ethiopia; the war which devastated the entire planet would not have been possible.  None of the nations have clean hands.   POH 13+

 

A Hierarchical map shows a heavy cloud over the Jews, Greece, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Palestine, the Arab States, Egypt and Russia.   RAI 430

 

There is a small minority of an inner group of lovers of God, the intellectual mystics who belong to no one religion but who regard themselves as members of the Church universal.  They speak the same language and tread the same path.  They recognize each other.  They accord equal devotion to the spiritual leaders of all races and use each other's Bibles with equal freedom.  They are the nucleus of the coming world religion and will eventually save the world.  Such a body exists in every land.  They do not belong to the past and refuse to accept the authority of the past.  They only recognize two things:  their need for freedom and an intense eagerness for knowledge.   TWM 328+

 

The war which may follow this one would be waged in the field of world religions.  It will be fought largely with mental weapons and in the world of thought.  It will involve also the emotional realm, from the standpoint of idealistic fanaticism.  EOH 453+

 

All faiths should realize that there is no desire to make them Christian, but that they should all move towards some loving synthesis and eliminate their mutual antagonisms and rivalries is equally urgent.  The Vatican must cease its political scheming and exploiting the masses by emphasizing ignorance.  The Protestants must bridge their many divisions.  If none of this is done, humanity is headed towards a religious war which will make the past war appear like child's play.  The politicians of all the nations will take full advantage of the situation to precipitate a war which may well prove the end of humanity.  There are no hatreds so great or so deep as those fostered by religion.   EOH 545

 

World information is usually biased, influenced by national and religious prejudices and serves to make a man a citizen of his own country, but not a world citizen.   ENA 39

 

France cannot grow now because there is no basic religious or spiritual sense on a large scale. RAI 628

 

The importance of Christianity lies in the realization that it is a bridging religion.  The Master took incarnation in Palestine, that slice of land which is midway between Asia and Europe.  Christianity is the religion of the transitional period which links the self-conscious era with that of group-consciousness.  It is primarily a religion of cleavage, demonstrating to man his duality and so laying the foundation for future unity.   EP1 28+

 

Religious differences are the hardest to bridge or heal.  The unintelligent masses everywhere have little or no idea of things spiritual.  The seething millions of the Orient present a more serious problem than do the people of the Occident, for religious ignorance is deeply prevalent among the masses of Asia owing to widespread illiteracy and the consequent easy exploitation and control by the religious demagogues, fervent prophets and reactionaries.  EP1 176

 

America responds rapidly to every form of idealism, to the needs of others - even of its enemies, to compassion for all suffering.   DON 59+

 

True Democracy is as yet unknown.  The battle will be fought out in the U.S.  RAI 747

 

The scintillating and brilliant French intellect has a scientific bent.  England is an exponent of the art of control.  The U.S. has some control and is fusing the nationals of many nations into one federated state.  Great Britain can contact and handle Germany more understandingly than any other nation.   DON 51+

 

Like Russia, the U.S. is in the making and as the nation's power shifts from Washington to New York, the country will take its place as an adult among nations.   DON 89

 

The long divorce between religion and politics must be ended.   EOH 480

 

 

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