Pretense To War - Cassus Belli Poem by Daniel Partlow

What war was waged without a 'cassus belli'?
What war was started without its Machiavelli?

How often do we take offense
And get taken in by some false pretense?

But the Christian is not a worldly emperialist
Yet so many have been compelled to enlist

Into the ranks of the armed forces
Based on the witnesses of dubious sources

Why can't we turn the other cheek
And let the witness of the Holy Spirit speak?

Why can't we recall Jesus' call to love
When we're smote by some supposed glove.

Again and again a virus spreads more deadly than Lysteria
When the natural defensive reflex provokes an outraged war hysteria

It has been alledged, and though I do not know
Sufficiently convincing evidence seems to show...

...That President Polk, stuck his finger in the Mexican's eye
'They invaded first', was his justifying lie.

...That Teddy Roosevelt wrought his future glory
When an explosion on the Maine made a convenient story

No matter that it was an engine room fire
America had its cause to go dance with Beliar

...That Wilson was drawn in by that clever Bulldog Brit
When Lusitania went down from an effective hit.

Churchill had withdrawn all her Naval escorts
Full knowing that she would never make England's ports

And with six million rounds of ammo below her deck
Her explosion was sure to cause the greatest wreck

Is that why he said that the truth is such a sacred precious prize
That it is often protected by a bodyguard of lies.

I ask that Worldy Wiseman, do good ends justify foul means?
How can truth and peace flourish, when on the sword it leans?

...That for o'er a year FDR sought an excuse to war
McCollum, Turner and Ickes gave him the pearl he searched for

...That Polk's trick worked for Truman on a much later occasion
When he pretened North Korea had begun an invasion

...That LBJ made a blatant lie about an attack on the Maddox
And opened again the door of the pale horseman's paddocks

Whether these allegations are valid is entirely moot.
A Christian fears no enemy when Jesus is his soul pursuit.

That is why we are called to His super-natural standard.
To dropp the sword - even when the offense is real - and daily lift up Christ's peace loving standard.

To lay down your life for another is a love beyond compare.
Christ gave his bravely but not in carnal warfare.

Paul made it clear, the Christian's battle is never carnal
It is to win hearts and souls for the Almighty God Eternal.

It is not for the cowardly or the faint of heart
But such a spirit, God does not impart.

He calls his people to be faithful even to the grave
A crown of glory will they be given whether king or serf or slave

The gnostic false believers jeered the saints for this belief
Yet the strength of the martyrs is what convicted others to belief.





Copyright (c) 2009 dpartlow