For those who follow the Christian tradition, Christmas is a time of hope and promise in the unlikely person of a child. It is a time of celebrating the birth of the one spoken of by the prophet Isaiah and heralded by Handel as the “Prince of Peace.”
Yet religion and war have become so grotesquely interconnected that we can scarcely tell them apart. Indeed, to suggest that war is antithetical to the message of Jesus is to risk accusations of treason, heresy or both.
Most people are unaware that for the first few hundred years of the Church, Christians were total pacifists. For example, St. Martin of Tours refused to fight against the Gauls in 336CE because of his faith. In spite of the Church’s history of complicity and the downright instigation of war, a vein of this ancient ethic has persisted throughout history.
In the dominant culture, religion and war have become so enmeshed that some areas of the military have become evangelistic recruitment centers. Politicians and ministers alike fawn over our military as if war and religion were made for one another. Military commanders have become aggressive in promoting a “weaponized Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Steven Green, the soldier who raped a 14-year-old Iraqi girl before murdering her and her family, says that he “didn’t think of the Iraqis as humans.” While our troops include many good people whose consciences would be repelled by Green’s deeds, the reality is that we must desensitize ourselves and dehumanize the enemy in order to go to war and in order to kill.
One military training cadence shows the perverse nature of training for war: “Bomb the village, kill the people/throw some napalm in the square/do it on a Sunday morning/kill them on their way to prayer. Ring the bell inside the schoolhouse/watch those kiddies gather round/lock and load your 240/mow them little mother f….s down.” (See the movie The Ground Truth - its trailer follows.)
SSgt. Craig Wiesner in 1986 at the Defense Language Institute
In 1987 I left the United States Air Force after serving honorably for eight years. I couldn’t stand the idea of having to hide who I was, having to live a lonely isolated life, and despite being willing to live without love or true companionship, facing the constant threat of being outed and having my career destroyed.
This week, Congress can help to right a wrong that has destroyed lives, careers, and perpetuated prejudice and discrimination against people who simply wanted to serve their country. The military has spoken and those who serve have said that they want an end to “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” Let’s show our military that we listen to them and urge Congress to put an end to this stain on our nation’s honor.
US Army: Border Police in Paktiya (photo by Staff Sgt. Andrew Smith)
In times of war, sacrifice is, unfortunately, required. The US is at war now, and we live in a profoundly dangerous world. Thus, while we may wish it were not so, when it comes to DADT we must put personal agendas aside and focus on the greater good.
That’s right, DADT supporters, I’m talking to you.
The hypocrisy of Veteran’s Day in the United States is stunning.
It is mind-numbing, mind-blowing, jaw-dropping, stomach-churning-turning astonishing. On Veteran’s Day, we talk about the heroism of the women and the men who serve in our military. We talk about how much we honor them. Yet, the other 364 days of the year, we seem to forget our veterans. Veterans are homeless in the United States of America. Many need to be in rehab programs for drug and alcohol abuse, and they are not because of a lack of space. They suffer from physical, psychic and moral injury. On Veteran’s Day, we say we care. The facts say we do not care.
by: Megan Dowdell on March 19th, 2010 | Comments Off
On Sunday, March 21, 2010, a diverse coalition of veterans, scholars, and faith leaders will hold a public hearing for the Truth Commission on Conscience in War, bringing the public an opportunity for lament and interfaith dialogue on moral conscience in the military. Testifiers will offer their stories and expert testimonies on the issues of conscience facing U.S. service members in war and a group of commissioners will reflect on their contributions in order to promote further dialogue and advocacy.
The public hearing of the Truth Commission will open up a national interfaith dialogue on the moral decisions that each military service member faces. Held at the historic Riverside Church in New York City, the public hearing begins at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday and is free and open to the public.
Founder of Faith Voices for the Common Good and long-time anti-war activist, Rev. Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock has dedicated much of her scholarship and activism to inter-religious education. As chair of the planning team for the Truth Commission on Conscience in War, to be launched this Sunday, March 21 in New York City, she has turned her attention to Conscientious Objection regulations and the realities of military service during times of war.
To create the Truth Commission, Brock has worked with the filmmakers behind “Soldiers of Conscience,” an Emmy-winning documentary film that follows several soldiers through their moral decision-making on whether to fight in the war in Iraq or apply to be Conscientious Objectors. In her piece, “Moral Conscience in War: Small Acts of Repair,” Brock tells the stories of her father’s US Army service, including two tours in Vietnam. She explains how her father’s stories and the influence of veterans she has grown to respect have shown her how opportunities for repair and healing during war can come in many sizes.
Moral Conscience In War: Small Acts Of Repair
By Rita Nakashima Brock
My father Roy, from rural Mississippi, was barely 18 and had an eighth grade education when he joined the U.S. Army in 1941. He was captured in North Africa and spent the rest of the war as a POW. A career enlisted man, he served two tours in Vietnam as a medic who ran a battlefield aide station.
In the days before cell phones and email, my father sent us cassette tapes and letters. As the oldest child of three, I received my own tape.
Washington, DC – In the immediate aftermath of the 5 November Fort Hood killings, some media commentators, alerted by gunman Major Dr. Nidal Malik Hasan’s Muslim name, immediately described the murders as a manifestation of his religious beliefs, reinforcing many Americans’ fears about Islam. In a moment like this one, the topic of religious freedom might be one we wish to avoid, but protecting it is essential to preventing another such tragedy. All Americans — both Muslims and non-Muslims — now have a role to play in ensuring that the country moves forward productively and peacefully.
Soon after the attack, Muslim American individuals and organisations, such as Dr. Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), responded by unequivocally condemning the murders as reprehensible and outside the domain of Islam.
According to CAIR, “No political or religious ideology could ever justify or excuse such wanton and indiscriminate violence. The attack was particularly heinous in that it targeted the all-volunteer army that protects our nation. We Muslim Americans stand with our fellow citizens in offering both prayers for the victims and sincere condolences to the families of those killed or injured.”
The attack has spurred Muslim organisations to urge non-Muslims to refrain from viewing the incident through the prism of religion.
Over the last few years, India has made much news on the global stage for its impressive economic growth rates and its “shining democracy” (a campaign slogan from the 1990s that sits well among ruling classes and a shrinking middle-class even today). However, like all shining images, this one too wears thin quickly when one is able to discern the growth of inequality, the fact that India ranks 94 / 119 on the Global hunger Index (of 2009) and has 27% of the world’s undernourished population while boasting of billionaires every year added to the list.
The following is a statement of appeal to the Government of India put out by a progressive group in the US, Sanhati that is a deeply concerned and superbly informed document offering a glimpse into the realities of India. The kind of violence that is unleashed by the Indian state on the pretext of quelling mass uprisings that have themselves become armed movements over time reminds me of Bishop Dom Helder Camara’s powerful insights in 1970s from northeast Brazil on the Spiral of Violence — where he spoke of three violences — violence of poverty and dependent development (Violence 1), armed violence of resistance of the poor and those acting on their behalf (Violence 2) and the crushing violence of the state to suppress this resistance (Violence 3). Not surprisingly, India’s aboriginal population of more than 75 million is at the receiving end of this state violence that brings the state and capital directly into conflict with the welfare of citizens.
This morning I woke up at “Oh Dark Thirty” (5:30am for you civilians) and by 6:34 was on a train heading to San Mateo for a meeting with staffers of Representative Jackie Speier (D – California) to talk about torture. The organizer of this gathering (BARCAT – Bay Area Religious Campaign Against Torture) had asked each person in the delegation to be prepared to share ONE thing about torture, that represented their unique perspective on the issue. I wear many hats when I attend such a meeting. Today, I was representing Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice, a ragtag group of folks from various faith traditions who have been working for peace and social justice since the lead up to the Iraq war. I call myself a Jewbyterian, Jewish by birth, Jewish in much of my spirituality, but who spends most of my time among progressive Presbyterians at the First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto.
I had the pleasure of attending the recent Woodstock Peace Economics Forum, held in the town of Woodstock NY (yes, it’s THE Woodstock) on the 40th anniversary of the original Woodstock concert. The theme seemed to be “Turning Swords into Wind Turbines.” There was a lot of interesting talk about the impact of the military on our economy, environmental issues, and the state of activism in general.
While some participants seemed to have been stuck in old arguments and rhetoric that hasn’t changed much since the 1969 concert, there were some interesting new facts and approaches. Economist Robert Pollin gave the following information from a recent study about the impact of federal spending on job creation. If $1 million were spent by the government in various different ways, the study concluded how many jobs would be created. As usual, the real figures are very eye opening. How many jobs would be created if the government spent $1 million on:
The Military – 11 jobs
The Green Agenda – 17 jobs
Education – 23 jobs
Child Care – 40 jobs
These are only the immediate impacts. The long term benefits on job creation for spending money on better education could be fairly dramatic, but that was not projected in this study.
There was some interesting historical discussion refuting the idea that the military spending in WWII was necessary to pull us out of the Great Depression. Some economists have convincingly argued that government spending such massive amounts of money as they did during WWII would have pulled us out of the Great Depression almost no matter what it was spent on. In fact, there were many other projects where the money spent would have produced much bigger economic benefits.
So if anyone still tries to claim that massive military spending is needed for the economy and for job creation, you can tell them that the facts just don’t support that.
Everybody wants to talk to someone…
Everybody wants to talk to someone…
My job is to discover the one you want to talk to and become that one.
A U.S. Army interrogator…
Those lines in the song you are about to hear sum up the job of a U.S. Army interrogator. Recognizing that everybody wants to spill their guts to someone, an interrogator has to figure out who that person is, and become that person, so that the detainee/prisoner, talks to the interrogator.
John Crigler, performing his original composition, “A U.S. Army Interrogator.”
We’ll post more segments here which came from an incredible gathering of people that took place in June 2009 that included a former Army interrogator, a former senior CIA analyst, a psychologist compiling powerful oral histories from people who committed torture from WWII until today, an award-winning religious/political columnist who also happens to be a Presbyterian minister, and victims of torture.
We’re editing the videos now and will post new ones as they are ready.
For the latest in Mikey Weinstein’s campaign for religious freedom in the US military check out this video “showing that US military forces in Afghanistan have been instructed by the military’s top chaplain in the country to “hunt people for Jesus” as they spread Christianity to the overwhelmingly Muslim population.” If this is all news to you, check out Jeff Sharlet’s lead article in Harper’s this month (online for subscribers only), or mine from last year in the UK’s New Humanist.
How many jobs would be created if the government spent $1 million on:
