At the end of one those events, young adults in a church Palin had attended for over two decades were presented with Samurai swords. "Warriors of old were considered undressed if they were without their sword... Swords were worn in service to the lord of the realm. Some of the most renounced swordsmen were the Samurai," intoned a church member officiating the sword ceremony, who then quoted Psalms 149 verses 6-9:
"May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double edged sword in their hands to inflict vengeance on the nations, and punishment on the peoples, and to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, and to carry out the sentence written against them."
Better to have given them muskets
knowing more of their use than the sword.
Should have given them a rifle
having witnessed how they can persuade.
Better to have given them tanks
so they could flatten the dying to ashes.
Should have given them grenades
to lob into the center of a growing crowd.
Better to have given them truth
to plunge inside their own empty spirit...
© 2009 mrp/thepoetryman