MARK TWAIN'S WAR PRAYER

[OurLordLennon]

He was talking about jewish MONEY CHANGERS promoting usury, unethical BANKING PRACTICES then & especially now. This WAS common knowledge for centuries before Twain. Corporate bankers buying the govt then & still now. Look it up US Grant, our founders wanted THESE parasite SONS OF CAIN exiled from America FOREVER MORE! AS they had been exiled from countless nations since the days of The bible for blood letting,war mongering, & ruthless commerce worldwide. KNOW THINE ENEMY written in ALL HISTORY!

[adamredwine]

Why won't you let me respond to the accusations about me you wrote in that article? You know, the one where you quoted me without asking my permission or informing me of your actions. Come on, be a man, allow an honest exchange of ideas.

[honipop]

This is only a short excerpt from the whole story called the "War Prayer".. needs to be heard in it's entirety to be fully understood and appreciated.

[MSWmson]

Yes, it should. It is more thoroughly damning in its enirety.

[robtul12]

Indeed. I concur.

[captainlevi]

this is more a prayer to satan than it is to God, I am a Soldier and i pray God accepts me for who i am and why i do what i do for my country and for this world i wish not to kill, i wish not their families to be homless their children to starve and wonder the waste, and im damn sure God doesnt want that either!

[xdarkinsidex]

Out of context, your statement makes sense. If you read the actual story that Mark Teain wrote, you'll see that it was worded the way it was to try to get the people around the preist to see that there are horrible consequences to war and that it isn't a grat and glorious occasion.

[winterwolf211]

we were given 2 pcs of paper entitled "war's prayer" for our project, when i read it a few times and at first thought "this is a prayer?" then when i 'really' read it, i thought...just like

xdarkinsidex "the horrible consequences to war"

[MSWmson]

CaptainLevi, please know this not a jibe. You're obviously sincere; I only want to say I hope you get a print version of the full short story (or grab it online) and read the whole thing, particularly the stranger's thoughts of the soldiers listening in church.

Twain was one of the most neutrally compasionate writers of recent time, and I think you'll see that this in no way should be construed as a prayer to Satan.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas to you and your field brothers. Truly.

[Spiritflier07]

I loved your reading so much I'm trying to figure out how to delete mine and make yours show up on my channel.

[Bandershot]

Spirit- OMG, thank you, you've humbled me, but please don't remove yours. In making your own recording you've done a great thing. Let it stand. Every voice counts.

love,

John

[Waffledough]

Definitely the best of the "War Prayer" presentations here on YouTube, capturing the real spirit of Twain. And the musical score? Oscar worthy!

Thanks

[Bandershot]

Dear Waffledough- I couldlive for a year on a compliment like that!

love,

Mark

[RPenta]

@Waffledough Best version is an short film starring Edward Hermann as the "Stranger"-it is fully set in the era of the Spanish American War.

[dodong325]

This was penned by Mark Twain in his opposition to the American conquest of the Philippines (1899-1903) which cost hundreds of thousands of Filipino lives and several thousand American soldiers.

When will humanity learn?

[Bandershot]

Its tempting to say never, but I got to hold out hope tht it can be done. Its just weird to see the same process of attacking those who speak out against war as being unpatriotic repeating itself over and over and over again. Thanks for commneting.

[Jcolinsol]

It's a matter of biology. We have a strong animal impulse to fight, for resources or influence.

If anyone really wishes to end wars as a phenomenon of collective human behavior, we must become something other than animals.

Perhaps man. Whether that is physically possible is debatable.

[Bandershot]

Jcolinsol- Given Twain's huge intellect maybe I'm just being naieve, but I think the more we can get in touch with our spiritual nature the less war there would be & I guess the point of the war prayer is to show how religion confuses and gets in the way of that. Even though Twain had numerous psychic experiences that it seems to me would have led him to conclude differently,he didn't seem have much faith in man's spiritual abilities to change the world.

Thanks for commenting.

love,

John

[Jcolinsol]

Spiritual if you wish. It seems to be more of a genetic thing, aggressive or passive personality characteristics passed on through procreation.

Some spiritual revelation might effect someone to be non-violent. There tends to be a backsliding effect with spiritual revelation though.

More likely such a change will occur through natural selection as a result of civilization. Or perhaps genetic engineering.

Here, Twain was pointing out the hypocrisy of church sanctioned murder throughout history.

[r06u3AP]

@Jcolinsol In the context of the human soul and the human mind, the animalistic alpha-style social order becomes a social pathology.

[Jcolinsol]

@r06u3AP

I'd say that the breakdown of hierarchical social structured has a lot to do with population growth.

[JoeNietzsche]

@Jcolinsol

It is true that, as animals, we will act selfishly and out of anger. However, there hasn’t been a war in history that was fought by those that actually sought it. So, unfortunately, Jcolinsol, for your claim to be relevant here, war would have been waged on virtual impulse rather than as a matter of massive planning and long term strategy. And that, if you are familiar with US foreign policy, you will know has never been the case.

[Jcolinsol]

@JoeNietzsche

Have you ever read any Lloyd Demaus?

[WaldoMaui]

"War creates peace like hate creates love."

--David L. Wilson

[lvlwin]

Thats the most stupid fucking comment i've heard in a long time - yet you quote it - i would say 2% of the people who watch this will get the underlying message. Ah well not like im surprised.

[MSWmson]

I'm not sure to whom your comment is addressed. I'd really like to know.

[johnnoM12jr]

The version I like is :

"Fighting for Peace is like F**king for virginity"

[MSWmson]

You know,I've tried this, with very mixed results.

[Jcolinsol]

All war is morally repugnant. A disgusting, and vulgar, animal exhibition. Seeded in the primate origin of our minds, it sates blood lust, and impotent materialistic pursuits.

Pity the children who fight our wars. And shun the ones who incite our wars.

Kill the hatred in your own heart. And be willing to die, rather than fight. That is true honor.

[sweetalysum]

Freeminder you are incorrect. You do not know what is in my heart. You missed the lesson in Twain's story by only viewing one piece. I do agree with something you said - hate and war are blocks in our hearts. However, your focus is in the wrong place! You have more hate than I have seen in a long time. Be comfortable with yourself enough to avoid imposing such ugly words on people. Perhaps you should trust your Jesus more. Maybe then you wouldn't be so angry.

[sweetalysum]

You're a very lovable enemy...yes you are!

[sweetalysum]

Gosh, you're angry. Maybe you should move to space!!! Apparently you don't use much oxygen anyway. You would survive just fine. You could take your Jackie and Dunlap CD's with ya!

[sweetalysum]

Many of the troops don't support the political views of the war. Many go to war hoping never to have to fire their weapon. Most wish only try to rebuild part of what stupid politicians have destroyed and then safely come home to their loved ones! Last I checked Satan was the BEST one at pointing fingers and making accusations Perhaps it is you we should be suspicious of and NOT those who fight for your right to be obnoxiously ignorant.

[sweetalysum]

FREEMINDER this has nothing to do with the troops or the current war. Read all of the story not just a piece. Then again that's what fundamentalists do with the Bible/Qur'an anyway, no? Take from it what one needs and then throw the rest away? Even the Bible says there is a time for war I pray that you see the ridiculousness in your own rhetoric.

[sweetalysum]

They missed some important pieces "If you would beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same time." I kinda thought that was an important part of the whole lesson in the story. Still an artistic view indeed.

[uticacb]

Freeminder should remember he could not post such bull if we did not have troops fighting for him. Freeminder is just another word for "CHICKEN LITTLE"

[Arianela]

He sounds convincing. Hope I get to see him someday.

Thanks for info

[Arianela]

So how was this produced? Whose voice is it?

[Bandershot]

A violin was used to make the twangs and some of the wind. The voice (and the rest of the wind) is John Benneth's, a Mark Twain impressionist who performs mostly in Nevada, California and Hawaii.

[chickiesgrettagirl]

This is tremendous Thank You soo much for making

this !!!!!

[AwakeningAlchemist]

awesome!

[Stingbaby01]

A sarcastic prayer at the least...I love the "Amen" at the end. It sounds so innocent.

[wiskawind]

LOL They don't get any better than Mark Twain; his sarcasms are timeless! LOL Another good title for this one in this day and age would be "The Neo-Con Creed!" (giggle)

[eddietru]

the neo-con creed .....priceless

[eddietru]

brilliant.

[BrosaJarlen]

Yes, and timeless. This prayer will be just as pertinant as it was then and today, in another 103 years.

[A21stCenturyGrl]

This video should be shown to the entire country. It is about the skeleton of war. Maybe the Bush Administration should be watching. The actor is professional and should be doing more of this.