Signs of the Times – part 29
Originally posted April 8, 2013.
Quotes of the Times:
“Free government exalts an armed people, but oligarchies and tyrants ‘mistrust the people and therefore deprive them of their arms.” Aristotle, ancient Greek Philosopher.
“The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the supply of arms to the underdogs is a sine qua non for the overthrow of any sovereignty. So let’s not have any native militia or native police. German troops alone will bear the sole responsibility for the maintenance of law and order throughout the occupied Russian territories, and a system of military strong-points must be evolved to cover the entire occupied country.” Adolf Hitler, dinner talk on April 11, 1942, quoted in Hitler’s Table Talk 1941-44: His Private Conversations, Second Edition (1973), Pg. 425-426. Translated by Norman Cameron and R. H. Stevens.
“I have as many guns as I need, but I don’t have as many guns as I want.” Phil Graham, United States Senator, (Texas).
“You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.” Attributed to, Admiral Isoroko Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy, during WWII.
“You can have my gun when you pry it from cold dead hands.” Charlton Heston, former chairman of the National Rifle Association.
“The beauty of the Second Amendment (the right to bear arms) is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.” Thomas Jefferson, United States founding father.
It is a great irony that the freedoms of the rest of the world rely on the American people being armed – this is because tyranny seldom prospers when faced with a loaded gun. Unfortunately, in this imperfect world, it would appear that an armed population is one of the last deterrents to keep the ‘would be Hitlers’ of this world at bay. If the American people lose their weapons, their freedoms will soon follow – and what does that mean for the rest of us? Well we all know: “what is fashionable in America today – is fashionable in the rest of the world tomorrow.”
All would be, despotic and tyrannical powers begin with demonizing the possession of weapons. Then they move on to the restriction of access to weapons. The next step is to penalize the possession of weapons. Finally, they are able to confiscate the weapons. Once the population is disarmed then the killing/culling, can begin.
History is a great teacher – and it is worth remembering that history has not been kind to those who gave up their weapons – some recent examples from history are:
In 1911 the Turkish government disarmed the people. The result was genocide against the Armenian people, and 1.5 million were murdered.
The Bolsheviks (Communists) disarmed the Russian people in 1929. The helpless population was then subject to endless purges/culling which resulted in the murder of 20 million people.
Hitler disarmed the German people in 1938. His regime was then free to murder his domestic opposition before moving on to Jews and other ‘undesirables.’ It is estimated his regime was responsible for the murder of 13 million people (not including the war dead).
China established gun control in 1935. In the years 1948 – 1952, 20 million (conservative estimate) political opponents to the Mao Tse-tung regime were murdered.
Guatemala disarmed its population in 1964. In the years 1964 – 1981, 100,000 of the indigenous Mayan Indian population were murdered.
Disarmament in Cambodia began in 1956. When the Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975, over 2 million Cambodian’s died (out of a total population of only 7 million) in what became known as ‘the killing fields.’
Uganda has had government and UN sponsored disarmament policies since 1970. The infamous Idi Amin was the first to use the opportunity to eliminate his opposition. In the years 1971 – 1979, 300,000 Christians were murdered (Amin was a Muslim). Disarmament policies in Uganda are continuing to this day, and people are continuing to die (because they are resisting). This is particularly the case in the Karamoja region, of North-East Uganda. [The same thing is happening across the border in Kenya].
Of course the disarmament process has already been well underway in America for a long time. It has already moved well beyond the demonization stage. It is already beyond the restriction stage. At this point in time the penalization process is about to start. Right now the President of the United States is considering legal measures that will tax gun ownership. In the beginning these taxes will be small – so the opposition will be small (and the support from the anti-gun lobby will be great). However, once the precedent (an arms tax) is accepted, the tax rate will rapidly increase. People will find they can no longer afford to possess guns, and gun ownership will decline proportionately as the taxes rise. Fox news recently reported:
If you can’t ban ’em, tax ’em. Lawmakers looking to more tightly regulate firearms in the wake of the Newtown school shooting and other massacres are moving at the state and federal levels to introduce new taxes on firearms and ammunition. The proposals range from the modest — a proposed 5 per cent tax in New Jersey — to the steep — a proposed 50 per cent ammo tax in Maryland. Fox News, March 11, 2013.
Senator Ron Wyden, who has his ear close to the ground (because he sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee}, tells us that the Patriot Act is being manipulated to accomplish a secret agenda. On Feb 22, 2011, he posted on his own website: “I believe many members of congress who have voted on this issue (the Patriot Act) would be stunned to know how the Patriot Act is being interpreted and applied.” http://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-begins-effort-to-amend-patriot-act
One application of the Patriot Act that, we do know about (which we also know is causing some stunned reaction), is that the Department of Homeland Security (and many other Federal Agencies) are purchasing weapons and ammunition on a mammoth scale: “Homeland Security aims to buy 1.6 billion rounds of ammo.” Associated Press Article, Denver Post, Feb. 15, 2013. And not just ammunition; but weapons, and bullet proof road blocking stations, and armoured cars for patrolling streets. In addition, police departments across the nation are up-scaling their weaponry to include heavy assault type weapons and vehicles.
So let’s just review here. The American citizenry are under great pressure from their government (and others) to surrender their arms – and that pressure is constantly intensifying. At the same time, as the pressure is applied to disarm the citizenry, the government is arming itself at a rapid rate and at a rate that would appear to be vastly disproportionately to its legitimate needs (unless the government is expecting something unusual to happen).
Obviously, many people rely on guns for their personal security, but for those of us with an aversion for guns, there is another way. Jehoshaphat is our example. One day King Jehoshaphat was told that three enemy nations had conspired together, and were on their way to destroy him and his people. Jehoshaphat knew that there was no way that he could defeat these enemies. So he called a prayer meeting and appealed for protection from God. God replied, He said: “The battle is not yours it’s the Lord’s.” So Jehoshaphat and his army and all the people, left their assault rifles and their hand guns and their trust in their own ability, and they went out to meet the enemy totally defenseless (in worldly terms). Their actions that day, demonstrated that they had put their trust in what God had promised… You can read the rest of the story in the Bible – the 20th chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles.
Therefore, before the jackboots arrive at your door, and it becomes only too obvious, as to why the citizenry has to be disarmed, and as to why the government is arming itself – we need to decide whether we are going trust in our own ability to defend ourselves, or whether we are going to follow the example of Jehoshaphat.
God bless, Bruce Telfer.
