Ashes Of The Wake
2004 | Metal
“Whoever appeals to the law against his fellow man is either a fool or a coward. -- Whoever cannot take care of himself without that law is both."
Trivia
- Ashes Of The Wake hit #27 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
- This album was rated by Metal Hammer as the 5th greatest Metal Album of The 21st Century.
- Lamb of God is a heavy metal band from Richmond, Virginia who formed in 1994 as Burn the Priest, with bassist John Campbell, vocalist Randy Blythe, guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler, as well as drummer Art Cruz.
THE HOT TAKES
Luke Tatum
I'm going to anchor to the very beginning of the song. "Whoever appeals to the law against his fellow man is either a fool or a coward. Whoever cannot take care of himself without that law is both." The full song seems to be a reference to the biblical figure of Judas, but this beginning gives some interesting advice. I live by the rule, "Never call the cops." If my neighbor is bothering me, I can knock on a door and have a conversation. If they can't park far enough away from the mailbox, same approach. If we had reason to fear for our lives, we would be armed to the teeth. Beyond the simple fact that police are minutes or even hours away when your life is in imminent danger, there is also a chance that any encounter with police for any situation could turn lethal. They are a class of people drunk with power and free from almost all consequences. Running to "the law" is cowardice.
Sherry Voluntary
Omera literally means “manhood” in Sicilian. Although this song utilizes the story of Judas Iscariot from the bible, I am reminded me of another verse. I Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
As a voluntaryist I do want radical freedom, yes, but radical freedom requires radical personal responsibility. It requires humans to put away childish things like governments, authority, arbitrary laws, and the violence those things require. In contrast, radical personal responsibility requires a high level of character to develop oneself and one’s abilities, and an acceptance that there are things that are out of your control and that you have no right to enact force to change.
Nicky P
One of the great games played on people is the law as it is devised today. I remember a few years ago when I was new to the whole academic libertarian thing I got into a heated discussion with a friend over my issues with our legal system and my belief that it is overwrought. He appealed to how laws are there to help protect the weak from being overrun by the powerful, the big corporations, etc. In his eyes the world is too complex to not let everyone know what is specifically OK. At the time I took what he said into consideration. I knew it was wrong because we have a crazy complicated legal system and the poorest never seem to get ahead. At the time my rebuttal was weak but today I'd laugh at anyone who gave me his answer for so many reasons. This song claims only a fool or a coward appeals to the law over man and my friend was a fool. The cowards are the lawyers that build the system that requires they are needed. Our politicians are to a large majority lawyers and at the end of the day the house wins. The system is so big they can pin three felonies a day on the average American and force plea deals at will. Why not, they built the system. That system they built is also crazy expensive so the best way to win in it is be wealthy...like a big corporation. On it's face my friends position is a joke. The poor would fare far better against the judgement of their peers than a system designed to remove human care from the equation. Don't be a fool or a coward and if possible look into jury nullification.