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Do
You Hear What I Hear?
‘Princes
are generally the biggest fools or the worst scoundrels on
earth; therefore, one must constantly expect the worst from
them and look for little good.” —Martin Luther, Temporal
Authority (1523)
The lead story in last Friday’s New York Times had
this as its opening paragraph: “Even after the administration’s
aggressive case for going to war soon in Iraq, a majority
of Americans favor giving United Nations weapons inspectors
more time to complete their work so that any military operation
wins the support of the Security Council, the latest New
York Times/CBS News Poll shows.”
In the Hebrew scriptures there is this story of a warrior
so powerful he didn’t think he needed to listen to what the
prophet was saying, nor what the people were saying. The problem
was, he had leprosy, and the prophet and the people were telling
him how he could get it cured. Until he listened, he was dying.
Unless he listened, he would die.
I got a card from a retired pastoral colleague the other day.
“Peacemaking is not an optional commitment.” It was a quote
from the American Conference of Bishops of the Roman Catholic
Church.
My colleague who is the head of the Hudson Mohawk Conference
of Lutheran churches e-mailed about 40 Lutheran clergy a copy
of “Say ‘No!’ In Response to a Declaration of War in Iraq.”
It’s a straightforward little tip sheet, supported by a half-dozen
peacemaking organizations in the Capital Region. It gave a
concise listing of where and when the various peace rallies
would be held in each of the area communities in the days
following any declaration of war.
He got this brochure via e-mail from the Capital Region Ecumenical
Organization, which sent it out to all the various administrative
or pastoral heads of the various mainstream Christian denominations.
Who could object to knowing where and when to take a stand
for peace?
Well, one of our Lutheran colleagues does. Or at least feels
that by passing along this information, the church is taking
a stand for peace (it is), and that somehow this is not the
church’s business.
He writes, “Is this ‘a’ Christian position or ‘the’ Christian
position being articulated and advanced by those in the public
ministry of the church? If there are ‘pro-war’ rallies to
support the efforts of a coalition of nations to depose the
tyrannical and brutal dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and .
. . his cruel regime, will posters promoting these events
also be circulated?”
This is tiring.
My colleague the Rev. Dennis Meyer writes to his congregation
about the “just war” theory that many faith traditions have
endorsed for centuries.
He says that the criteria that must be met should include
concerns like:
A just cause. War is not an option for seeking self-interest
or national interests like cheap oil or access to markets.
Be carried out by the legitimate authority of a nation. War
is not an exercise in vigilantism or a decision that, in our
democracy, is abdicated to one branch of government.
Be fought to restore a just peace. The goal of a just war
is not to become number one or the winner, but to establish
a fair world order where there is no military, political or
economic control by one nation, culture or religious tradition.
Have a reasonable expectation for success. War is not an end
in itself and shouldn’t be pursued if the damage to the participants,
civilians or the environment exceeds what might be gained
in the way of justice or human rights.
Be the last resort. Every other means short of war must be
exhausted first, even if these means are expensive, frustrating
and yield less-than-perfect solutions since war always is
expensive, heartbreaking and never yields the results that
either side of a conflict desires.
I got an e-mail from retired family-court judge Doug Greiset
the other day. Doug writes of what he calls “a theory I have
been developing over the past few months that may explain
the American reaction to the present global crunch.”
“We
are a people of ‘certainty,’ ” he writes. “If nothing else.
Each American knows what they think, knows which
baseball team they love, or hate, knows whether they
are for or against the death penalty, and knows lots
of other things.
“Our
ancestors were Certain. They were certain enough to get on
wooden boats and cross unknown waters to unknown lands. .
. . Not too many wallflowers in our collective genealogies.
“And
we are damned certain about War.
“Even
the Gulf War saw us gathered round CNN watching SCUD missiles
deployed as if in a video game. . . .
“This
one is different. The time is different, the issues are surely
different, the blood lust of the country is different. And
my theory is that the single greatest difference is that we
are very uncertain.
“Sure,
the far right, the far left and the far out are certain, they
always are. But the 90 some percentile in between seem uncertain
this time.
“We
were raised . . . to ‘not hesitate.’ . . . But this time,
I don’t know. And it is that uncertainty that may be causing
us to lose our ability to think clearly and perform in whatever
direction we must go. Our brains are full. We can’t mourn,
we can’t yell, we can’t fight, we can’t not fight, we can’t
even decide whether to not fight.
“So,
Dow Jones slinks along and nobody really watches Saturday
Night Live anymore and Spring Training opens this week
with little fanfare. Instead, we sit and watch ex-CIA operative
Chris Whitcomb or Greta von Susteren or Chris Jansing tell
us a whole lot of words all day on the 657 cable stations.
All adding to my overloaded brain. All adding to my uncertainty.
All making me weak.”
The British playwright Harold Pinter, accepting an honorary
doctorate at Italy’s University of Turin, said: “It is obvious,
however, that the United States is bursting at the seams to
attack Iraq. I believe that it will do this. . . . Many Americans,
we know, are horrified by the posture of their government
but seem to be helpless. Unless Europe finds the solidarity,
intelligence, courage and will to challenge and resist U.S.
power Europe itself will deserve Alexander Herzen’s definition
(as quoted in the Guardian newspaper in London recently)
‘We are not the doctors. We are the disease.’ ”
For me, I keep thinking of
that Hebrew warrior, losing himself bit by bit to the spread
of leprosy and certain to die unless he really let himself
hear what was being said.
—Jo
Page
You
can contact Jo Page at jopage@graceniska.org.
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