A Visitor From The Past

[jackkniphe]

read this and tell me what you think

A VISITOR FROM THE PAST
(Thelen Paulk)

I had a dream the other night, I didn't understand.
A figure walking through the mist, with flintlock in his hand.
His clothes were torn and dirty, as he stood there by my bed.
He took off his three-cornered hat, and speaking low, he said:

"We fought a revolution, to secure our liberty.
We wrote the Constitution, as a shield from tyranny.
For future generations, this legacy we gave.
In this, the land of the free and the home of the brave.

"The freedom we secured for you, we hoped you'd always keep.
But tyrants labored endlessly while your parents were asleep.
Your freedom gone, your courage lost, you're no more than a slave.
In this, the land of the free and home of the brave.

"You buy permits to travel, and permits to own a gun,
Permits to start a business, or to build a place for one.
On land that you believe you own, you pay a yearly rent.
Although you have no voice in choosing, how the money's spent.

"Your children must attend a school that doesn't educate.
Your Christian values can't be taught, according to the state.
You read about the current news, in a regulated press.
You pay a tax you do not owe, to please the I.R.S.

"Your money is no longer made of Silver or of Gold.
You trade your wealth for paper, so your life can be controlled.
You pay for crimes that make our Nation, turn from God in shame.
You've taken Satan's number, as you've traded in your name.

"You've given government control, to those who do you harm,
So they can padlock churches, and steal the family farm,
And keep our country deep in debt, put men of God in jail,
Harass your fellow countrymen, while corrupted courts prevail.

"Your public servants don't uphold the solemn oath they've sworn.
Your daughters visit doctors, so their children won't be born.
Your leaders ship artillery, and guns to foreign shores,
And send your sons to slaughter, fighting other people's wars.

"Can you regain the freedom for which we fought and died?
Or don't you have the courage, or the faith to stand with pride?
Are there no more values for which you'll fight to save?
Or do you wish your children, to live in fear and be a slave?

"People of the Republic, arise and take a stand!
Defend the Constitution, the Supreme Law of the Land!
Preserve our Great Republic, and GOD-Given Right!
And pray to GOD, to keep the torch of Freedom burning bright!"

As I awoke he vanished, in the mist from whence he came.
His words were true, we are not Free, we have ourselves to blame.
For even now as tyrants, trample each GOD-Given Right,
We only watch and tremble, too afraid to stand and fight.

If he stood by your bedside, in a dream, while you're asleep,
And wonders what remains of our Rights he fought to keep,
What would be your answer, if he called out from the grave:
"IS THIS STILL THE LAND OF THE FREE AND HOME OF THE BRAVE???"

[Jormundgandr]

My first impression is that these are the inane ramblings of a paranoid Christian Right extremist.

[poxpower]

Great shitty poem by some religious nut/conspiracy theorist who doesn't understand economics or simple politics!

boo hoo you need a permit to own a hot dog stand, THE FREEDOM IS GONE, LET'S PRAY.

[drDAK]

The part about the gold and silver and dollars doesn't really make a difference. My life is not gonna stop sucking because my money is made out of metal. Actually, lugging that shit around all day would hurt my already shitty back... so no.

And yeah, I guess that ghost didn't mention the slaves and other religions that were supressed during his time.

[Villhelm47]

I can sum up an otherwise verbose response very simply: it may be your right as an American to say what you like, but it is still mine to disagree.

Don't forget that "freedom of speech" applies to both sides of every argument.

As a personal note in regards to this poem, I believe that clinging to a false sense of nostalgia such as those of the writer breeds nothing but ignorance.

[Memorize]

At 7/21/08 12:08 AM, poxpower wrote: Great shitty poem by some religious nut/conspiracy theorist who doesn't understand economics or simple politics!

boo hoo you need a permit to own a hot dog stand, THE FREEDOM IS GONE, LET'S PRAY.

I bet it really must drive you insane about all of the "Christianity/God" references from the Founding Father's, doesn't it?

[SadisticMonkey]

load of shit.

[GunnerX86]

Forget what those ***holes are saying.You did a good job on the poem and you spoke a very good truth.The only part I don't agree with is the part about fighting other people's wars.

[Cuppa-LettuceNog]

At 7/21/08 02:57 AM, Memorize wrote:

I bet it really must drive you insane about all of the "Christianity/God" references from the Founding Father's, doesn't it?

Like the countless ones where they go on and on about how god doesn't exist and how Jesus was just a regular human?

Atheists and Agnostics existed back then, and the founding fathers had quite a few of them.

Anyway, I love how the poem implies we aren't free because we don't reshape the political spectrum to completely adhere to god.

[AniMetal]

It took two seconds to find this and prove that the OP is a stealing, religous piece of shit.

[Pontificate]

At 7/21/08 02:57 AM, Memorize wrote: I bet it really must drive you insane about all of the "Christianity/God" references from the Founding Father's, doesn't it?

And I imagine that whole 'seperation of church and state' clause must keep you awake all night long.

Anywho the poem has a very clear political agenda which would only be excusable if it was used intelligently; frankly it's not. The rhyming scheme is very simple as is the rhythm; it really is the sort of thing you'd expect a twelve year old to write. On several lines they actually manage to mess the meter up so all in all I'd dismiss it as a terribly thoguht out, terribly composed and rather ignorant poem.

[Pontificate]

At 7/21/08 05:21 AM, smc316 wrote: It took two seconds to find this and prove that the OP is a stealing, religous piece of shit.

Sorry to double post but he quite clearly accredits the 'poet' in the post.

[CousinIt]

At 7/21/08 05:21 AM, smc316 wrote: It took two seconds to find this and prove that the OP is a stealing, religous piece of shit.

He NEVER claimed to have written it,he even has the authors name at the start of the post.

[AniMetal]

At 7/21/08 06:44 AM, Pontificate wrote: Sorry to double post but he quite clearly accredits the 'poet' in the post.

At 7/21/08 06:53 AM, CousinIt wrote: He NEVER claimed to have written it,he even has the authors name at the start of the post.

You two are idiots.

The name is written EXACTLY the same as it was in the orignal poem.

He copied + pasted this not realizing that someone else already had their name below the title.

Its painfully obvious.

[poxpower]

At 7/21/08 06:56 AM, smc316 wrote:

The name is written EXACTLY the same as it was in the orignal poem.

smc316, your name now officially goes on the moron list.
Congrats.

[poxpower]

At 7/21/08 02:57 AM, Memorize wrote:

I bet it really must drive you insane about all of the "Christianity/God" references from the Founding Father's, doesn't it?

hey look what Fark dragged in: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-
beliefs5-2008jul05,0,7730914.story?story

bwa bwa bwaaaaaa

[Elfer]

I like how he claims that he's the victim of unfair religious oppression, only to turn around and decry the imprisonment of "holy men," as though the state should turn a blind eye to crimes committed by members of a certain religion.

[ThePretenders]

Lol, what a stupid libertarian conspiracy theorist. "Ooh, the government did 9/11! Ooh, the government is taking our liberty!"

Libertarianism - a crock of shit presented as a ideology

[uhnoesanoob]

Meh, we don't want your god in our public places. Send the message on to your young ones' smiling faces.
While one may jerk and cry, you still can't deny that freedom is as freedom be, to be free from authority.
The church has taught lessons, that is clear, yet some in this nation are still queer
And how you seem to shiver in fright! That we are taking away your rights.
One must realize this one fact: If you take away rights, don't expect them back.
- Uhnoesanoob

[drDAK]

Bottom line: Things are better now than they were back then. A lot of people are taking modern society for granted. Our precious Civil Rights Act is not even 50 years old... meaning less than 50 years ago it was legal to deny a man a job because he looked different than you.

[jackkniphe]

At 7/21/08 05:21 AM, smc316 wrote: It took two seconds to find this and prove that the OP is a stealing, religous piece of shit.

i gave credit to the writer, Thelen Paulk. it is stated at the top of the page. I don't wish to get involved in any why that will effect the thought of the people that post them.

[Memorize]

At 7/21/08 04:53 AM, Cuppa-LettuceNog wrote:

Like the countless ones where they go on and on about how god doesn't exist and how Jesus was just a regular human?

Declaration of Independace: "God"
Constitution: "Creator"

I'm sorry, what?

Atheists and Agnostics existed back then, and the founding fathers had quite a few of them.

They did, but that didn't stop them from opening up with a prayer every meeting.

The idea of Seperation of Church and state was followed by examples of Required Religious Faith in order to obtain Office, which was stuck down and rightly so.

Their idea was being respectful and secular. Our idea today is to "push out" without a single mention.

For example: A cross on a gravesite.

Personally, I think anyone of any family should be able to put up any religious symbol they want as a tombstone. After all, it's their funeral.

A presidential candidate can hardly go up to the mic and even mention the word "God" without being rattled for it.

Of course, this is all very ironic considering we still pay for Chaplains in the Military. I guess we haven't gotten to the point yet where liberals have the balls to rally against it, or else look like a total jackass.

At 7/21/08 06:43 AM, Pontificate wrote:

And I imagine that whole 'seperation of church and state' clause must keep you awake all night long.

Come back when you've actually read my positions on such things.

In fact, i'll save you the trouble. I LOVE Seperation of Church and State.

The difference? I don't twist it to push people out.

Anywho the poem has a very clear political agenda which would only be excusable if it was used intelligently; frankly it's not. The rhyming scheme is very simple as is the rhythm; it really is the sort of thing you'd expect a twelve year old to write. On several lines they actually manage to mess the meter up so all in all I'd dismiss it as a terribly thoguht out, terribly composed and rather ignorant poem.

All I did was direct a statement towards Poxy. I can give 2 shits about the writer. I don't care for his sudden ability to write poetry (which is very overrated to begin with).

At 7/21/08 08:15 AM, poxpower wrote:

hey look what Fark dragged in: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-
beliefs5-2008jul05,0,7730914.story?story

bwa bwa bwaaaaaa

lol, Poxy. You think this is new to me?

Pathetic.

[danicos]

It`s O.K and kinky at tha same time

[danicos]

And tha guy on top ove my othr post, do U realli think sumone is going 2 read that,o.k maybe sum ppl

[Pontificate]

At 7/21/08 01:47 PM, Memorize wrote: Come back when you've actually read my positions on such things.

In fact, i'll save you the trouble. I LOVE Seperation of Church and State.

Nonsense, you love it to the extent enough religion is allowed to remain in the public domain to satisfy your purported deism.

The difference? I don't twist it to push people out.

Really? It seems to me that you do but it is in the other direction: 'yes seperation of church and state is good because history has repeated the lesson so many times it would be nothing short of mental illness to deny this but there should be a certain amount, funded by everyone's taxes regardless of their actual beliefs of course, because of our shared heritage along with institutional prejudice, slavery, segregation and witch burnings. Also atheists are all bastards who want to steal christmas away from children!'. Where exactly do we atheists fit in to your state-funded religious sentiments?

Oh and we're tired of the same old 'atheists took away the gravestones of the dearly departed!' diatribe as if that actually had anything to do with the discussion at hand and wasn't clearly just a potshot at those who believe differently to you. You see, not one of us was actually those atheists and most likely (I do anyway) disagree with such sentiments.

All I did was direct a statement towards Poxy. I can give 2 shits about the writer. I don't care for his sudden ability to write poetry (which is very overrated to begin with).

Oh I'm sorry, did you think that very general and non-directed paragraph clearly concerning the original post and prefaced with an indication I had changed subject was aimed at you? Must be my fault.

Oh and if you fail to see the values of poetry that doesn't reflect badly on poetry, rather yourself and your ability to make sweeping generalisations about staggeringly heterogenous groups.

[AniMetal]

At 7/21/08 07:51 AM, poxpower wrote: smc316, your name now officially goes on the moron list.
Congrats.

Your an idiot as well, apparently.

Just look at this;

At 7/20/08 11:43 PM, jackkniphe wrote: A VISITOR FROM THE PAST
(Thelen Paulk)

I had a dream the other night....

^His quote.^

The first few lines of the actual link;

"A VISITOR FROM THE PAST
(Thelen Paulk)

I had a dream the other night...."

THEIR EXACTLY THE SAME.

He copied and paste the poem with the intent of making it apear as his own but he was to dumb to realize that he actually copied + pasted the maker's name as well.

[hrb5711]

At 7/21/08 06:22 PM, smc316 wrote:

At 7/21/08 07:51 AM, poxpower wrote: smc316, your name now officially goes on the moron list.
Congrats.

Your an idiot as well, apparently.

Just look at this;

At 7/20/08 11:43 PM, jackkniphe wrote: A VISITOR FROM THE PAST
(Thelen Paulk)

I had a dream the other night....

^His quote.^

The first few lines of the actual link;

"A VISITOR FROM THE PAST
(Thelen Paulk)

I had a dream the other night...."

THEIR EXACTLY THE SAME.

He copied and paste the poem with the intent of making it apear as his own but he was to dumb to realize that he actually copied + pasted the maker's name as well.

You are the only one who thinks he was trying to say he wrote the poem. He cited the author, why can't you understand that?

[AniMetal]

At 7/21/08 06:46 PM, hrb5711 wrote: You are the only one who thinks he was trying to say he wrote the poem. He cited the author, why can't you understand that?

He did without meaning to.

If you actually followed the link you would see that the author's name is written in () below the title.

He just copied and pasted the whole thing.

If he was citing the author he would have said the author's name outside of the quote at least once.

[IETFB]

At 7/21/08 06:22 PM, smc316 wrote: He copied and paste the poem with the intent of making it apear as his own but he was to dumb to realize that he actually copied + pasted the maker's name as well.

You just keep digging yourself into a hole...

I'll give you a clue: the OP wasn't claiming it as his own. He MEANT to copy and paste it, and was asking our opinion on the piece.

---

Personally, I think it's a load of rubbish, but then I'm not American so the whole Founding Fathers thing means nothing to me. From what I know of American politics, it seems to me the poet is an alarmist who doesn't really know what they're talking about.

[poxpower]

At 7/21/08 06:48 PM, smc316 wrote:

He did without meaning to.

How the fuck would you know?