No power can exist without the legitimacy that WE
give it. And that is how you defeat it; you can take away its legitimacy.
As I've already stated, money is power. Why is money power? Because of its
value in what you can buy with it. But what if only one person has money?
What value does money then have? And what power does money then have? In
Venezuela
, the black market economy is half again larger than the legal economy of
Venezuela
. The corruption of oligarchy is quickly making the legal economy of
Venezuela
irrelevant to Venezuelans. In
America
, I see the same thing all over the country. From jitnies in Pittsburgh
replacing taxis, to individuals buying 'flack jackets' on the internet
(which is against the law here) because soldiers were sent to Iraq ill
equipped, to whole states replacing American pharmaceutical companies with
Canadian sources, the black market in America is now alive and well
because of the corruption of the oligarchy that neoconservatives in the
Republican Party in America foisted on us. And there is only one way to
reverse this, and that is to take away Republican legitimacy; because of
the hijacking of the Republican Party by neoconservatives, and that
includes Bush, every Republican has to go. Now consider that I'm a
Republican, my grandfather used to host Republican get-togethers in the
state capital of
Kansas
in his home! My roots in the Republican Party go back all the way to
Abraham Lincoln.
And
in order to fix the Middle East, we need to starve the Middle East of the
petrodollar; thereby stripping imams, emirs and all the other
miscreants in the
Middle East
from the teat they feed upon. In the short term, this will increase
suffering in the
Middle East
. But just like weaning a baby from its mother's milk, it has to be done!
Likewise, you have to take away the legitimacy of the Wahhabiists, and all
the other 'crack-pot cults' in the
Middle East
. Let me tell you a little story about Roman Emperor Constantine.
Constantine
's devotions were offered first to Mars and then increasingly to Apollo,
reverenced as Sol Invictus. During the night before the
Battle
of the
Milvian
Bridge
, Lactantius records that
Constantine
was commanded in a dream to place the sign of Christ on the shields of his
soldiers. Eusebius relates that Constantine and his army while on their
march toward
Rome
they observed in broad daylight a strange phenomenon in the sky: a cross
of light and the words "by this sign you will be victor."
During the next night, Christ appeared to
Constantine
and instructed him to place the heavenly sign on the battle standards of
his army. The new battle
standard became known as the labarum.
Constantine
was victorious at
Milvian
Bridge
and he attributed his victory to the power
of "the God of the Christians." While this
may be a nice story, the artifacts of history tell us something different.
It has often been supposed that
Constantine
's profession of Christianity was a matter of political expediency more
than of religious conviction.
In February 313, as close as anyone can currently
tell, Constantine and Licinius met at
Milan
. Licinius, you may remember was the ruled the eastern
Roman Empire
. On this occasion
Constantine
's half-sister Constantia was wed to Licinius.
Also on this occasion, the two emperors formulated a common
religious policy. Several months later Licinius issued an edict which is
commonly but erroneously known as the Edict of Milan.
Unlike
Constantine
, Licinius did not commit himself personally to Christianity; even his
commitment to toleration eventually gave way to renewed persecution. And
not to mention that
Constantine
's profession of Christianity was not an unmixed blessing to the church.
Constantine
used the church as an instrument of imperial policy, imposed upon it his
imperial ideology, and thus deprived it of much of the independence which
it had previously enjoyed.
The scriptures themselves speak of
Constantine
's imperial ideology should one consider the timing of various scriptures
to the events taking place in
Rome
. For instance, the following scriptures were written at a time of
Christian persecution ...
Acts 7:35 This Moses, whom they rejected, saying: Who
made you a ruler and a judge? Was the one God sent to be a ruler and a
deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush?
Acts 23:5 Then Paul said, I did not know, brethren,
that he was the high priest: for it is written, You shall not speak evil
of a ruler of your people.
Romans 13:3 For rulers are not a terror for those who
do good works, but to those who do evil. Do you want to have no fear of
the one in authority? Do that which is good, and you shall have his
praise.
Romans 13:4 For he is a minister of God for your
good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid; for he does not bear
the sword in vain; for he is a minister of God to execute wrath upon the
one who does evil.
Romans 13:5 Therefore you must be subject, not only
to avoid wrath, but also for conscience sake.
Romans 13:6 For this reason you also pay taxes: for
they are God's ministers, attending continually to this very service.
Titus 3:1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and
authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do every good work,
What these speak to when taken in chronological
context is the unquestioned authority of a ruler -- and theologically or
idealistically in a messianic movement, that if one wants to save their
soul, then obey your rulers or betters. In other words, suffer the
torments during your entire life of conniving, scheming despots, or suffer
an eternity of languishing in worse.
So Islam is not alone in using religion as a basis
with which to rule the poor by despots. Christianity has also had its fair
share. And our current administration's 'faith based' agenda falls in lock
step with the despots of old. Your web site and your efforts are a big
step to take away the legitimacy of the Wahhabiists, and all the other
'crack-pot cults' in the
Middle East
. But just as it takes an aircraft carrier or supertanker two miles to
turn around, the American government and your 'crack-pot cults' are large
powers requiring you and me to be consistent, vigilant, and relentless;
you can't ever back off, and unless you know that the person you've chosen
to carry the baton for the next relay is up to the task, you can never
trust someone else to do the job that you know needs doing. Once both
financial support for Middle Eastern miscreants and the ideologies they
use to retain power are stripped from the seething cauldron that is the
Middle East, the
Middle East
will have to adjust to life without them. And before democracy can take
root, people will have to have the resources to educate themselves.
Because that is the nature of democracy; when the whole citizenry are the
electorate, the whole citizenry have to be well informed.
I hope that this clears things up, and I remain
Very cordially yours,
Terrence Robertson
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