peace

You have proven your love and devotion and deserve a resting place. It seems the mind of Christ creates minds of sacrifice. I think it might be the agony of the cross, but we all seem to take up the cross from time to time. We all seem to have been humiliated, dishonored and disgraced at some time or many times.

I know what it means to dishonor the dead but what does it mean to honor the thousands who died as a consequence of state belligerence? How does one find kind words for those we never knew and now will never know? What can we say to their widows and orphans?

The number Of Iraqis slaughtered since the U.S. invaded Iraq is 1,320,110. [1]

The number of U.S. military personnel whose mothers will never see them again live has been officially acknowledged at 4,284. [2]

So far, the War in Iraq has bled $667,095,136,653.00 from USA tax payers wallets.

The genesis of Mother's Day in the U.S.A. began when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community and fifteen years later, Julia Ward Howe, a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragist, and author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," organized a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace.

As mothers bear the loss of human life more acutely than anyone else, in 1870, Julia Ward Howe wrote the first Mother's Day Proclamation, from which I excerpt:

Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor; nor violence indicate possession. At the summons of war let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.

On Arpil 5th, 2009, President Obama stood on the world stage amongst thousands of flag-waving Czechs and spoke of good humor, home town Chicago, the will of the people over tanks and guns, old conflicts, revolution, moral leadership as the most powerful weapon, iron curtains that fell and the state of 21st century nuclear weapons.

An excerpt:

…We are here today because enough people ignored the voices who told them that the world could not change. We're here today because of the courage of those who stood up and took risks to say that freedom is a right for all people, no matter what side of a wall they live on, and no matter what they look like. We are here today because the simple and principled pursuit of liberty and opportunity shamed those who relied on the power of tanks and arms to put down the will of a people…

Some argue that the spread of these weapons cannot be stopped, cannot be checked -– that we are destined to live in a world where more nations and more people possess the ultimate tools of destruction. Such fatalism is a deadly adversary, for if we believe that the spread of nuclear weapons is inevitable, then in some way we are admitting to ourselves that the use of nuclear weapons is inevitable…

For the past week I've been reading the news of the military skirmishes between the Israelis and Hamas in the Gaza Strip with a sense of sadness. I have to admit that I am not very knowledgeable about the issues that have lead up to this latest fight between the two, but after the terrorism in Mumbai, both events just seemed tragic reminders of the problems in this world.

My wife had gotten the movie Joyeux Noel from Netflix, and as I watched the film yesterday night, I began to think about the Palestinians and the Israelis and the tragic history that prevents them from living together in peace.

Joyeux Noel is based on an actual event that took place during Christmas in 1914 in the trenches of the Western Front .

“Hamas is a prisoner to a logic of hate; Israel to a logic of faith in force as the best response to hate. One must continue to search for a different way out, even if that may seem impossible.“
–The Vatican

Principles

1. As a PACIFIST, I believe not only that war is evil but that in almost all situations aggressive, creative nonviolence is better able to bring about justice. This is evidenced by numerous movements and even nonviolent coups in the last century.

2. As a CHRISTIAN, I give my allegiance not to any nation-state, but only to the very political entity that is the transnational Body of Christ. Thus the situation in the Middle East (and in every similar scenario) becomes not an issue of 'what countries should get what land?', but rather of 'how do we establish justice and peace for the victims on all sides?'

Application

On December 20th, 2008, I turned eighteen. United States law demands that every male between 18 and 25 register for the Selective Service (aka the draft). This was my 'civic duty'.

I am a pacifist.

I believe that participation in war is essentially incompatible with an attempt to emulate the example of Jesus Christ. Jesus says, 'Blessed are the peacemakers' and 'Love your enemies' and 'Turn the other cheek'. He lived this out in radical subservience (but not obedience) to 'authority', spreading a message that ultimately undermines temporal power; for, to quote N. T. Wright, if Jesus is Lord, then Caesar is not. And Jesus, a King who knows no borders, rules over a Kingdom that exists most fully at the margins of empire

Thus I am a pacifist.

Many will say that nonviolence is not 'practical', not 'realistic'. But the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from his grave after a death by crucifixion was not practical, not realistic. My hope, my life, is in that resurrection. Christ's resurrection renders the impossible, possible; the fantastic, realistic; the idealistic, pragmatic.

If you aren't already familiar with it, I commend Progressive Secretary for your consideration. It's a project started by a retired Quaker activist sometime in the 1990s as a self-funded endeavor. The aim is to counterbalance the flood of organized right-wing letters to legislators, federal and state agencies, and the White House by making it easy for 'progressives' to fire off letters on topics suggested by many different 'progressive' organizations.

For information on the Progressive Letter Writing Cooperative, go to http://www.progsec.org/DynMenu/DynMenu.php. During the maybe 6-8 years I've been using the service, I've sent 4,573 letters, counting copies to multiple addressees, and not counting letters I've written on my own on the same topics.

You can make suggestions for letter topics, with or without your own text. You can also add your own text to their prepared text: "At this time, Progressive Secretary does not have the technology for modifying your letters, but you can add additional text and send them with a unique subject. Click the link below and tell me the text you want to add and or the subject you wish to use.
http://www.ProgSec.Org/a.php?p=QS2qSRHPhSCV

Here's the text of what was in my inbox this morning. It's a sad subject that has come up repeatedly. But the USA has been unresponsive.

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No cluster bombs!