Tag: War

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War and Families…

RJ Walters

This post is a continuation of my story about my father and his early years. I know there there millions of families that have been seriously affected by all the wars we have been involved in during my lifetime. Some grievously damaged, some to a lesser extent. I see too many people who are still living with the wounds of my generation’s war and that is Vietnam. They can’t let go of their feeling and seem to live them almost daily. To what extent my father’s war time experiences effected the family is hard for me to grade. Dad graduated from … Continue reading War and Families…

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Is It Worth It???

RJ Walters

If it were challenged by Russia, how important is Estonia’s sovereignty to you? Would you kill and die for it? Send your children to do so? Would you risk the nuclear annihilation of your civilization? Is your gratitude for use of Estonia’s airspace during the war on terror that great? SOURCE: Don’t save Ukraine – The Week. The publication “The Week” is becoming a favorite of mine. It is from a British organization so it lends a different viewpoint than most traditional U.S. sources.  It seems to have the same contrarian philosophy as me. When we take away all the … Continue reading Is It Worth It???

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Wounded Souls….

RJ Walters

Christians have a presumption against war as well as an obligation to help heal those who suffer its consequences. The above title and words come from a Sojourners Magazine article by Gregg Brekke in the April 2014 issue. I have made it clear on most of my blogs that I am pro-peace in almost all regards and of course that makes me anti-war. All the wars and conflicts that the U.S. has fought in  my lifetime have not had any long, or even medium term, consequences. If they had not been fought at all nothing much would have changed. The … Continue reading Wounded Souls….

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To Prevent War…

RJ Walters

Somebody is always telling us in the papers how to prevent war. There is only one way in the world to prevent war and that is for every nation to tend to is own business. Trace any war and you will find some nations was trying to tell some other nations how to run their business. All these nations are interfering with some other nations’ personal affairs but with an eye to business. Why don’t we let the rest of the world act like it wants to? Will Rogers June 28, 1925 Continue reading To Prevent War…

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Let Them Do Their Own Fighting…

RJ Walters

If we can just let other people alone and let them do their own fighting. When you get into trouble 5,000 miles away from home, you’ve got to have been looking for it.” – Will Rogers, 9 February 1932 Thanks Will for reminding us what common sense, which seems to be a rare commodity these days, sounds like…. My Republican friends like to say that they are dismantling the country’s safety net in order to rescue those trapped in it. That is the reason many give for cutting so many programs to the poor.   Well I say we need to … Continue reading Let Them Do Their Own Fighting…

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One Minute For Peace…..

RJ Walters

It has been a while since I have visited this site (click on the picture to go there). Of course if you have spent any time on this blog you know that I frequently say that we just spend too much money on our military. Forty times more than any other country on earth and more than the rest of the world combined!  That comes to a whopping $1,200,000.00 per minute 24/7. My friends at AFSC are being very meager in their wishes of only one minute for peace. If we really are serious about deficit reduction, and I think … Continue reading One Minute For Peace…..

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Peace Talks…

RJ Walters

What would happen if we spent as much money on seeking peace as we did going to war?  I suspect the cartoon would be much different. It would be a fleet of Maseratis on the Autobahn instead of what you see above. I don’t know if peace would actually happen even with this reversal but wouldn’t it be interesting to find out? Maybe we could say “if you don’t kill any of your neighbors outside your borders this year we will give you $80 billion” Even with that we would come out ahead….. Continue reading Peace Talks…

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Starry Eyed…

RJ Walters

I know many think of me as one of those starry eyed liberals who doesn’t have any sense of reality. With this post I will probably cement that vision with many of my more conservative friends. But what would happen if we just refused to be enemies with those our leaders dictated us to hate.  What would happen? Let’s look at maybe the worst leader in that regard in the twentieth century. What would have happened it the German people had refused to invade their neighbor in 1938? Would Hitler’s power have been erased? What would have happened if people … Continue reading Starry Eyed…

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Early Christians and War….

RJ Walters

While Tertullian emphasized the negative aspects of the military to Christian discipleship, Origen pointed out the positive vision of a life of Christian peacemaking. He criticized the army as a society of “professional violence,” pointing out that Jesus forbids any kind of violence or vengeance against another. “We will not raise arms against any other nation, we will not practice the art of war,” he wrote, “because through Jesus Christ we have become the children of peace.” To him the spiritual life means rejecting all forms of violence, and “absolute pacifism.” A People’s History of Christianity: The Other Side of … Continue reading Early Christians and War….

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The War To End All Wars….

RJ Walters

“[War] won’t stop till there is as much brains and scientific study put to aid peace as there is to promote war.” – Will Rogers, 1 June 1929 Of course these words were spoken not long after World War I which was inaptly titled the “war to end all wars”. Of course it didn’t accomplish that noble task. President Wilson tried his best to put together the United Nations to insure no more world wars but like these times there was just too much Republican bravado going on to prevent that from happening. I wonder what the world would be like … Continue reading The War To End All Wars….

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About The Debt…

RJ Walters

We are three billion in the hole and will be three billion more next year, and not a Congressman has got the nerve to ask voters to pay part of it.  —  January 29, 1933    Will Rogers Obviously this quote was said long before even Grover Norquist’s parents were born but it is equally true today as it was in Will’s time. The fact of the matter is up until President Bush, taxes have always gone up to help pay for our wars. But when so many  from the GOP crawled up to the altar of Mr. Norquist with … Continue reading About The Debt…

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Amber Lights…

RJ Walters

  But every one of us write our own history. If it sounds better the way we want it than the way it might have been why that don’t stop us any more than an amber light. – September17, 1933  Will Rogers Will’s quote here is still pretty much true today except to maybe change the word amber to red. The number one cause of accidents now are people running red lights. Being a senior citizen I have lived in historical times. I personally saw the Civil Rights marches not in person but on TV.  I was a naive teen … Continue reading Amber Lights…

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I am War Weary…….

RJ Walters

I saw a statistic  somewhere that said that 68% of U.S. citizens are war weary.  I am certainly one of them.  Neither party seems to shy away from sending our kids and/or our dollars to fight in this or that conflict. After twelve years of constant war costing us thousands of our kids and $trillions I am war weary. Do we really need to be the policemen of the world even if it bankrupts us? Our war machine has cost us enough! Continue reading “I am War Weary…….”

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RJ’s Doctrine….

RJ Walters

Tonight is, thank heavens, the last debate for this presidential season. It will be on foreign policy. I can tell you in advance what will happen. Each side will tear into the other saying their opponents foreign policy will assure the total destruction of the United States. There will be little of anything but put-down and counter-put-downs.

If I were running for president I would give you very clearly what I would proudly call RJ’s Doctrine: Continue reading “RJ’s Doctrine….”

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How About Some Changes….

RJ Walters

I guess I am still fixated on the post from yesterday about how so many very sparsely populated States in the U.S. now have so much power. It seems that our country is quite out of balance right now as a result of past decisions.  Maybe it is time to revisit some of that stuff.  Being that I am the fool who rushes in where angels fear to tread I will take a stab at this. If you want to call this the Walters’ Doctrine go ahead. I will take the blame for all of it. Here is my list … Continue reading How About Some Changes….