With God On Our Side

This seemed relevant given the escalation of our "righteous war," and all the other "righteous wars" past and future. From Bobdylan.com, words that thunder across time.

Oh my name it is nothin' My age it means less
The country I come from Is called the Midwest
I's taught and brought up there The laws to abide
And that land that I live in Has God on its side.

Oh the history books tell it They tell it so well
The cavalries charged The Indians fell
The cavalries charged The Indians died
Oh the country was young With God on its side.

(Definitely more below the fold)

Oh the Spanish-American War had its day
And the Civil War too Was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes I's made to memorize
With guns in their hands And God on their side.

Oh the First World War, boys It closed out its fate
The reason for fighting I never got straight
But I learned to accept it Accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead When God's on your side.

When the Second World War Came to an end
We forgave the Germans And we were friends
Though they murdered six million In the ovens they fried
The Germans now too Have God on their side.

I've learned to hate Russians All through my whole life
If another war starts It's them we must fight
To hate them and fear them To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely With God on my side.

But now we got weapons Of the chemical dust
If fire them we're forced to Then fire them we must
One push of the button And a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions When God's on your side.

In a many dark hour I've been thinkin' about this
That Jesus Christ Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for you You'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot Had God on his side.

So now as I'm leavin' I'm weary as Hell
The confusion I'm feelin' Ain't no tongue can tell
The words fill my head And fall to the floor
If God's on our side He'll stop the next war.

Copyright © 1963;
renewed 1991 Special Rider Music

Comments

[dcu]

I often think of these lyrics. It amazes me how so many of the fundamentalists of this world are so quick and eager to kill their brother in the name of their god. When Dylan wrote this it was "kill a commie for Christ." Now it's "kill all the towel-heads for Jesus." Today many Americans are taking to the streets to speak out against the boy-tyrant who would be king. It really is time to take back our country. Bob Dylan's hero once wrote "This land is your land, this land is our land." It is time to make it so. If you can't go out to protest, call your congresspeople. Let them know how you feel. It is making a difference.
"War is over if you want it." - Saint John

[Robert]

Hi dcu - Sometimes it's so bad I want to scream. No one has any business killing anyone for any reason. To quote HH Dalai Lama, "War is legalized murder." And Rudy Huxtable reminded us that we could "Stop it. Just stop it. And they did.... The end."

[Diane Scholten]

Hi Robert -

Isn't Dylan amazing. Two other commentaries come to mind.

"Why do we kill people
Who are killing people
to show that killing people is wrong?
What a silly notion
That war could mean devotion..." --- Holly Near

then there's a bumpersticker I saw recently and loved
"War is terrorism with a bigger budget"

I guess finally
"All we are saying is give peace a chance"

May it be so!

[Robert]

Hi Diane - Glad you've orbited back into this sector of the galaxy. Holly was one of the most impressive "performers" I've ever been privileged to see. Awesome power and complete synergy with the audience. Sort of like Marley...

Eventually the world will "war no more," but only after those on the path of abusing Force move to a different evolutionary system, which of course they will. That sort of thing comes with dis-incarnation, aka death, at the turning point of a planetary Life. And we are moving into the zone over the next few years, so many of these "universal soldiers" will go to another place. Stay tuned for the video.

[carrie ann]

A zone over the next few years, so many of these universal soldiers will go to another place? Can't wait...

[Roberta]

Aaron Neville and his brothers sing a winsome, soulful rendition on their Yellow Moon album (1989). Following the terrible devastation of his beloved hometown of New Orleans, Aaron recently lost his wife.

[sonja]

I don't approve of the current war or any war. But we can't wait for the "bad" people to leave before we have peace again. To paraphrase 2 wonderful teachers, "Violence begets violence" and "Peace begins within our own minds and as long as we are churning with thoughts of anger, resentment, and hatred there will be wars".

How do we stop wars (inside and outside)? We can make decisions based on the good of the entire world instead of just us -- me, my, and mine creates separateness which creates more suffering. We can start treating other beings as though everyone were our greatest love which, in essence, they are because we are all ONE. Even those who start wars are part of us in the BIG picture.

So, instead of waiting for "them" to reap their rewards realize that they must live in a very sad dark world and wish them the strength and wisdom to reach for Love instead of Darkness. And, of course, continue your dance with the Divine striving to reach that place where you merge into the ultimate Love.

Oh yes, a last thought --- vote again and again as many times as they will let you. :)

[Robert]

Hi sonja - I don't think we're "waiting for the bad people to leave" before we have peace. You're right that each of us is generating tendencies toward war or peace within ourselves. It's just that as critical mass develops, whether in a body, an organization, or a planet, eventually that which is not healthy to the entire system is ultimately expelled from that system. That's what I was referring to. It's an evolutionary necessity to all organic systems.

Separateness definitely is the cause of suffering, and exists entirely within the mind and perceptions. I believe George Harrison said some things about "I me mine." And yes, we should start treating each other with respect, dignity, and love, since these are a proper foundation for friendly relations.

However, it is equally true to state there are some life forms on this planet that have by their own choosing become stuck in attachments, delusions, and fear. For many of these, there may be no way out for them other than to evolve to another life frequency "petrie dish" where their violent tendencies will manifest until they realize of their own "free will" that violence only begets suffering. These do live in a very sad and dark world, and of course I do wish them the highest realization of the error of their ways while striving to maintain my own loving equilibrium, no matter how imperfect that may seem. And yes, VOTE! (Now if we could just get open source code systems that aren't owned by companies who contribute to the death machine!)

[Robert]

Hi Roberta - Sorry to hear Aaron Neville lost his wife. I'm sure he's in some kind of deep space. My heart goes out to such a soulful man.

[chickie]

In light of the fact that we are in an earthy "Cappy"mode I do hope God is on my side. The Desert Sun Newspaper here in the Palm Springs, CA area writes about the earthquake due to us that will manifest a much larger version of Katrina! With all of our many shakers we've had over the years, the 'BIG ONE'that is to occur any time now will be celebrating it's 350th birthday. With my MC in Cappy, Lillith in Taurus and Saturn in Virgo opposing Jupiter/Uranus in Pisces, this Lioness hopes the God and the Goddesses are going to allow me to achieve the goal of my soul. According to the paper, the experts are here now and they aint messing around this time. 3+5=8 and that means BALANCE! There was a bumper sticker in the 60/70's that read.."The Goddess put you here and SHE will take you out!" So I invite anyone to pass some mother earth prayers my way. Bless all of you!......chickie