Can True Peace come at the point of the sword? Pt II

regarding G.K. Chesterton quotes …

Continuing on from the previous post “Can True Peace come at the point of the sword?” …

From pages 89-90/second section:The Past And Prophecy/Chapter:6 Loose Ends: The Peace to End All Peace/

The Lessons of History
Things just aren’t always as they seem. That is the dilemma of living in a fallen world. G. K. Chesterton brilliantly captured the essence of this dilemma when he wrote:

The real trouble with this world of ours is not that it is an unreasonable world, nor even that it is a reasonable one. The commonest kind of trouble is that it is nearly reasonable, but not quite. Life is not an illogicality; yet it is a trap for logicians. It looks just a little more mathematical and regular than it is; its wildness lies in wait . . . It is this silent swerving from accuracy by an inch that is the uncanny element in everthing. It seems a sort of secret treason in the univers. An apple or an orange is round enough to get itself called round, and yet is not round after all. The earth itself is shaped like an orange in order to lure some simple astronomer into calling it a globe. A blade of grass is called a blade after the blade of the sword, because it comes to a point; but it doesn’t. Everywhere in things there is this element of the quiet and incalculable.

Mirroring the world’s fallenness, the uncanny element in the efforts of the West to achieve peace in the Middle East is its silent swerving from accuracy by an inch. Its exactitude is obvious, but its inexactitude is hidden; its wildness lies in wait. It is almost operatic in its unreality, creating a peace to end all peace.

Things just aren’t always as they seem.

Even so, God has called us to peace (see 1 Corinthians 7:15). He has called us to be peacemakers (see Matthew 5:9). If we genuinely desire a true peace, a lasting peace, and a just peace, then we have only one course to follow–the course of righteousness. Therefor, “let us pursue the things that make for peace” (Romans 14:19).

So with this I can say, what seems reasonable (Republicanism) is not exactly that. It has a wildness that lies in wait.

Not only that, it’s not even seen by those that call themselves “conservatives”. Those that write things as the above G.G. quote who quotes G.K.C. don’t see it even though they should.

Skipping to the next section (the above is the last part of that section, so it’s not really skipping, just turning natural pages over) he begins the section called The Future and Faith, and the first chapter in it is Back to Babel.

GHWBush is the president in office at the writing of this book and the way he’s described in the book, well, why is it that the son of that president is lauded so … he’s worse! IMO.

Here’s the GHWBUSH wording

…Not at all unlike one of Plato’s philosopher kings, George Herbert Walker Bush has developed a very unique vision of the world as a result of the very unique experiences life has afforded him. It is a vision of peace, justice, harmony, and unity. It is a vision of reason, cooperation, compassion, and prosperity. It is a vision of nothing less than a New World Order.

And now, as president of the United States–arguably the most powerful and influential man on the face of the earth–he would implement that vision and usher in a bright and fortuitous New Age. Speaking before a joint session of Congress, he said:

The crisis in the Persian Gulf, as grave as it is, also offers a rare opportunity to move toward an historic period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times a New World Order can emerge.

President Bush is not the first gifted, powerful, and munificent ruler to be driven by the vision of a New World Order or a New Age. In fact, that vision is as ancient as man himself.

…
The Empire Impulse

I won’t go on. He then supposedly quotes G.K. Chesterton again, but I can’t find the bibliographies info to verify it. I have looked in texts online and only find ONE site that has the quote, and unfortunately it says it comes from G.K. Chesterton’s “Orthodoxy” , and searching in “Orthodoxy” for many of the words in the quote they just are not there. I tried other texts then, nothing.

So this is the bibliography info for that quote: “Quoted in Michael H. Larour, The Inklings and their Influences (LONDON: SFG&L Presentations, 1986), 9.

It’s a good quote, but dratted if I can find it. Dratted if I find it at all in any piece either, no, only on a site that has lots of quotes and puts it under the topic “New Age” and has the George WH Bush quote (as is found above) right below the G. K. Chesterton quote. Too suspect, IMO. I won’t perpetuate this connection if I cannot verify that it’s a real quote. It doesn’t seem to be.

But G. Grant goes on to talk about Empire Builders. Why?!! He now seems to support our current Super Empire Builder.

Yakkety Yakkety it goes on and on that New World Order and The Tower of Babel are the same old thing run through the ringer for a fresh wash, that’s all. There are more quotes by others and more Grant-talk. But it boils down to: Who today is there to support? Bush and his Empire? His Military machine churns out supposed-democracy, but it’s not that, if it’s supposed to be it’s a far cry from that, and if it’s not supposed to even be that, well then, what is it supposed to be?

Democratic Empire, or some other sort of Empire?

It matters not which it is, it is all the same in the end, anti-God, setting itself up as “god” and oppressing the earth with centralized government(s) but not for the good of the people, for the good of itself and the continuance of itself at the expense of the people. No centralized government is good. Only one goverment is good, and that is God overall, not centralized as men do, but Top Level as Creator, giver of life, it’s the right of God to be there, not man over men.

This little delve into G. Grant’s “The Blood of the Moon” has taken me on a search for G. K. Chesterton writings. In the past I’ve read quotes here and there. Now I’m reading the real stuff, the context. It’s good.

He was a Christian Catholic. I can’t say much for his Catholicity, but I can say that MOST of his stuff is good. I haven’t delved deep enough but will, and will widely comment on it all here. 🙂

I say this from a Reformed Presbyterian perspective, mind y’all!

Not only all of the above is going through my head, but also Isaiah, from the Bible, is our church’s Sunday evening study, and has been for a long while already. This entire topic is intertwined with Isaiah in particular. 🙂

Here’s a link too: G.K. Chesterton: the Colossal Genius, a page with links to many e-texts, and a bibliography, quotes, and more.