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Obama and the works of death
by John Dear SJ on Feb. 09, 2010
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Printer-friendly versionSend to friendPDF versionNew Mexico is abuzz with the news. Soon from our austere landscape will rise a spanking new, state-of-the-art, plutonium bomb factory. Setting pen to paper and thereby blessing the project was President Obama, who had announced a year ago in Prague the goal of a nuclear-free world, but with his recent budget, will actually increase nuclear weapons production more than any other president since Ronald Reagan.
Here's a piece of hypocrisy that surpasses even that of George W. Bush. Cheer on disarmament while drawing up plans for new facilities. Raise up a hopeful vision and, behind the scenes, ensure its dying. An Orwellian nightmare.
Need it be added, the weapons manufacturers are delighted.
"Obama's Nuke Vision Sees Cash Flow to Labs," was the headline last week in the Santa Fe New Mexican. The article reported that Obama will increase funding for nuclear weapons research and security programs $7 billion more next year, an increase of $624 million from the 2010 fiscal year.
Obama approved three new nuclear weapons facilities, according to the National Catholic Reporter, the second in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and the third in Kansas City, Mo. As Obama feeds the nuclear weapons industry with a $7 billion increase, he'll go through the motions of hammering out a disarmament deal with Russia —and of reviewing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. In that convoluted logic, so common to the holders of nuclear weapons, he thinks he can promote peace while adding billions for nuclear advances.
"This budget is implementing the president's nuclear vision," Thomas D'Agostino, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, told the Santa Fe New Mexican.
The total Department of Energy request for Los Alamos National Nuclear Laboratory totals $2.21 billion, up from $1.82 billion in 2010.
In the actions-speak-louder-than-words department, all this is telling. Said Greg Mello, director of the nuclear watch-dog Los Alamos Study Group "The nation hasn't seen any increase in weapons activities like this since the early years of Ronald Reagan ... It's a complete surrender to Senate Republicans."
Some of this largess, pending final review, will go toward building the new plutonium plant -- a chemical and metallurgy research facility known as the "CMRR," to replace a 58-year-old lab. The CMRR will enable Los Alamos to make far more new plutonium pits (a nuclear weapon's triggering device). In previous years they could make 20 a year; they'll soon be able to make 125 a year.
Obama -- the nuclear free world visionary -- has given the green light to the nuclear madmen of Los Alamos to lay their largest nest of doomsday bombs in years.
Under Obama, the Pentagon budget for mass murder and the impasse we call deterrence would grow by more than three percent, not counting separate funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan . It adds up to $741 billion. The budget cuts no weapons programs, only social programs.
All this insanity is hard to bear. Obama's recent unmanned drone blitz killed 123 civilians and three al-Qaeda leaders in January; Guantanamo, the off-shore prison and torture center, is still in business; our troops still occupy Iraq and invade Afghanistan. All this insanity while Haiti lies in ruins at our doorstep, like Luke's starving Lazarus lying at the rich man's door. American culture is rotting from the inside out.
I follow developments this week from my home atop a remote mesa in northern New Mexico where lately big snows have hemmed me in. There in the silence, surrounded for miles by white-topped juniper trees and distant mountains, I've immersed myself in the Gospel of John, in preparation for a retreat (April 30-May2, see www.kirkridge.org). And in preparation, too, for a new book I'm writing on the raising of Lazarus.
The Gospel attends very much to our nation's wayward rush to empire. We see the life and death struggle, the nonviolent Jesus confronting in his own time the culture of death. And he calls us to the new life of resurrection, "life to the full," where we live in love, peace, and joy -- as friends. There is nothing on the Galilean political landscape like this daring Jesus, he who confronts death persistently and holds aloft the vision of peace.
The middle chapters of John (5-11), especially. Read them again; read them through the lens of our own culture. He exposes the works of death, and the powers hound him -- trying to discredit, trying to trap, and eventually sending death squads to dispatch him in the usual, efficient, manner. Off they went. Later, the job undone, they sheepishly returned, saying: "No one has ever spoken like him."
Here, in Jesus, is our inspiration. President Obama, as did all his predecessors, stokes the furnaces of the machinery of death. But Jesus invites us to join his nonviolent campaign to resist the works of death. Not a matter of picking this issue or that, but of confronting death in all its forms, including -- in my backyard -- the newest iteration of the Bomb.
Taking the nonviolent Jesus at his word, some of us are mobilizing to do just this. At the end of this month, the Pacific Life Community, a network of Christian activists from the West coast, will gather for days of prayer and reflection in New Mexico then take our message to Los Alamos . (See: www.pacificlifecommunity.wordpress.com)
On April 30-May 1, while I'm at the Kirkridge retreat, a large conference will be held at Riverside Church in New York City to study the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty review, which starts on May 3 at the United Nations. Every five years since 1970, the world gathers to review the NPT's progress toward preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and eventually abolishing them. Each review has failed us. I'll join tens of thousands of people in New York City that Sunday afternoon, May 2, in a march for nuclear disarmament, and that Monday, May 3, for a nonviolent protest at the U.S. Mission. (See: www.peaceandjusticenow.org/wordpress)
On the weekend of July 4th, people will gather from around the nation at the Oak Ridge, Tenn., nuclear factory to pray, reflect, vigil and speak out against nuclear weapons (see: www.stopthebombs.org). On July 30 and 31, we'll gather again at Los Alamos to mark the 65th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and say the time has come to retire nuclear weapons. Our guest speak will be Bishop Gabino Zevala, president of Pax Christi USA. Other plans are afoot as well.
So the works of death continue, but so do the works of life. And with the God of life, "death has no dominion." The last word belongs to God. So we do what we can, as Jesus did, taking him at his word, and trusting in the God of life.
******
To contribute to Catholic Relief Services' "Fr. John Dear Haiti Fund," go to: http://donate.crs.org/goto/fatherjohn. John's upcoming retreats include: "The Road to Peace," March 2-3, Atlanta, Ga., see: http://www.paxchrististjude.webs.com/Home.html; "The Gospel According to John," April 30-May 2, near Stroudsburg, PA, see www.kirkridge.org; and "Gandhi, King, Day and Merton," at Ghost Ranch Center, Abiquiu, N.M., see www.ghostranch.org. John's latest book, Daniel Berrigan: Essential Writings (Orbis), along with other recent books, A Persistent Peace and Put Down Your Sword, as well as Patricia Normile's John Dear On Peace, are available from www.amazon.com. For further information, or to schedule a lecture, go to www.johndear.org.
Thanks John for your "update"
Thanks John for your "update" on the Nuclear Arm race. These items do not show up on our daily news items. Wish I could be in new York to join in the protest. Thanks for all you do for Peace and Justice. To me you are an "off-shoot" of Daniel Berrigan, God be with you and your efforts. Peace Roger
I am deeply disappointed in
I am deeply disappointed in President Obama - and I have tried my best not to be. Was this in his mind in Oslo? This project is preemptive. The legacy of Bush continues: the Bush doctrine if anyone is wondering.
R
Now now, let's not blame Bush
Now now, let's not blame Bush for Obama's decisions. Arms build ups have been the projects of Presidents dating back to Franklin Roosevelt, who, I do believe, was a Democrat as well. Were you really that naive to think Obama was going to be that much different from any other President we've ever had?
I believe when Presidents get
I believe when Presidents get in office they are told "how it is going to be" or else by the real powers that be. You can fill in the blanks. If we are a spiritual people, we have to know that such a thing can happen. The larger "conspiracy" that rules this world. Again, you can fill in the blanks who or what you believe that is.
I have supported our
I have supported our President all along, Father John. But this article about the proliferation of nuclear bomb-making at Los Alamos leaves me at a loss for words. It will merit a letter to the White House! Thanks for the info. It all makes a person feel very small and helpless...
"Lody"
There is a great need for a
There is a great need for a public out cry over the latest development in the presidents commitment to the funding of nuclear weapons facilities and also his ongoing support of the nuclear power cronies..
On Saturday the 13th of Feb, many of us from the Unites States and other parts of the world will begin a walk from the Y-12 nuclear facility in Tennessee. This will begin our three month journey by foot to the nuclear non proliferation treaty review conference at the United Nations in New York.
We invite everyone to come and walk with us, either for a day, a week or the entire walk. If you can not make it to the walk, please try and be in New York for the beginning of the NPT. We need a massive show of people to make it clear to the President that nuclear disarmament is an issue that he must hold true too.
Contact Footprints for peace 513-843-1205
www.footprintsforpeace.net
Dear Fr. Dear, President
Dear Fr. Dear,
President Obama isn't the friend of any Nuclear Power Cronies. They made him an offer: Do it our way or your fate will be that of JFK. He is too young and smart to go just yet. He will finesse a way to continue being our live President AND put an end to the arms race, I solemnly pray, and believe, Lord Jesus. With nonviolent protests, Fr., you will assist in this endeavor.
How's that HOPE & CHANGE
How's that HOPE & CHANGE working out for you all?
Thank you for your very
Thank you for your very constructive and well articulated comment. It has added immeasurably to this conversation. While it seems, on the surface, to be a petty partisan "I told you so" I am certain that this was not your intent. Your nuance speaks volumes. Keep the witty jabs coming anonymous. Keep them coming.
Ah John you're so
Ah John you're so beautiful...
Yes, let's continue the struggle for life, love, peace and joy in the face of this absolutely ridiculous, insane, culture of death.
Why would you spend so much on nuclear weapons! Why would you! How could you even consider it!
Oh my goodness - I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
Thank you John for being a voice of reason and life in this insanity and death and inspiring others to try to live up to the Gospel call to nonviolence.
Thank you for writing this,
Thank you for writing this, for bringing it into our awareness in such a compelling way. We are already so disappointed in Oabama's position on nuclear power - he wants $54 billion awarded to the nuclear industry to build more reactors - mini bombs in our backyards. Now this. Not only does he refuse to see that expanding nuclear energy around the globe inevitably leads to more bombs, he seems to want more bombs as well. It's sad, but given who he has around him, predictable. I'll be writing something about this latter for our Web site soon.
We love and support our Footprints for Peace friends who posted above as well. Their commitment is an inspiration.
I may not always agree with
I may not always agree with Father John Dear, but I respect him for his consistency. He is willing to criticize and hold both Democrats and Republicans to the same standards and level of scrutiny. The editors of NCR, unfortunately, are partisan politicians. What has NCR said of this situation? What has NCR said about Darfur in the last year? Remember, Darfur was a major concern for NCR during the Bush years? Moral issues are only of great concern to NCR during Republican administrations. Thank you Father Dear for your consistency.
"Obama's Nuke Vision Sees
"Obama's Nuke Vision Sees Cash Flow to Labs," was the headline last week in the Santa Fe New Mexican. The article reported that Obama will increase funding for nuclear weapons research and security programs $7 billion more next year, an increase of $624 million from the 2010 fiscal year.
Now I understand the NASA outsourcing project. The NUKE money had to come from somewhere.
So much for beating swords into plowshares, Pres. Obama!
For these and all the future "deals with the devil" you will cut, the road to forgiveness and RE-ELECTION for a second term is going to prove to be a VERY bumpy ride!
While the author of the snide
While the author of the snide comments above concerning 'Hope and Change" above and I likely disagree about most everything, I am with him on this call. $54 bllion in loan guarantees - $36 billion of it new - for loan guarantees for nuclear power plants and now new bomb making facilities? I have tried to hang in with President Obama on healthcare, but this is too much! Not what 'My' candidate promised and, sadly, not how 'My' President would run the country.
President Obama and nuclear
President Obama and nuclear policies are so dishearting to so many people who hoped for a change in this age. We must continue to pray and stand up for a non-nuclear world.
Barack Obama has made it
Barack Obama has made it clear that he sees killing others as a solution, whether is be through abortion, embryonic research, euthanasia, the death penalty, or war. No matter the problem, this President seems to propose a horrible solution that involves killing people.
John, thanks for giving more
John, thanks for giving more coverage to this otherwise poorly covered decision. It is hard for me to fathom that our congressional delegates can stroke out over 900 billion for 10 years of health coverage for the uninsured and then say squat about DOD spending which beggars the imagination.
New Mexico defense contractors recieved over 9 trillion dollars in contract commitments during the eight years of the Bush administration. Obama's figures will very likely exceed Bush's. And yet this state still ranks at the top of the poverty index. So much for trickle down economics.
Eisenhower tried to warn the American people about the power of the Military Industrial Complex. In fact he called it's influence the single biggest threat to democracy. In reality it's actually the single bigges threat to life on this planet.
Once again the Chicago
Once again the Chicago community organizer plays a shell game with us and the rest of the world. Nobel peace laureate orders surge in Afghanistan. President who speaks for nuclear disarmament authorizes additional funding for new nuclear weapons. I could go on and on but will not.
We, the people, need to wake up. We seem content with the perpetrated delusion that our voice and the voice of our elected officials count for something. Not! Eisenhower tried to warn us. The military-corporate complex has seized control of the world and its elected officials. Naive voters sport bumper stickers, "Vote 'em out. Vote 'em all out." Vote 'em all out. The military-corporate complex will simply put the puppet strings on the newly elected officials.
Father John is right. It will take cocnerted effort by people committed to Gospel nonviolence to expose the military-corporate complex. If Jesus were before Pilate today the conversation would be as follows:
Pilate. Is your cooperation of this world?
Jesus. My corporation is a Kin-dom and is NOT of this world. Rise to new life and a new world order where people come before profit for the few.
I have not heard this issue
I have not heard this issue of nuclear buildup mentioned in any of the major news publications or media presentations save the January 22, 2010 NCR article by Joshua McElwee. Believe me; the talking heads would be delighted to comment. Thus, I take with a grain of salt Fr. Dear's presentation. If there is a story, what's the whole story? Even the McElwee article is far more balanced than Fr. Dear’s remarks imply. Fr. Dear's acrid denunciations of President Obama in recent postings on NCR are very disturbing.
Admittedly, I am an Obama supporter from way back, and until I hear the full story from credible sources other than Fr. Dear, my sense is that Fr. Dear's presentation is misleading at best if not false. In the past, I have been a huge fan of Fr. Dear and truly believe we should be promoting non-violence as a value and a practice. However, Fr. Dear's recent rants about "Obama, the war president” leave me stone cold. Fr. Dear’s recent presentations smack of the half baked slop that Fox news and the ultra conservative right wing Republican base dish out. It is very disturbing when I can't differentiate between Fox News and Fr. Dear. Get the stories straight and stop demonizing the President whose bottom line is non-proliferation no matter what kind of machinations he may have to employ to make it happen in dealing with the incredibly complex political / military complex.
Anonymous
Anonymous of February 12,
Anonymous of February 12, 2010, it seems that you only agree with Father Dear when he is critical of Republicans. As I said in my post above, I may not always agree with him, but I respect him because he is true to his beliefs and principles. It seems to me that your principles and morals are dictated by the liberal Democratic Party platform. This is sad!
I agree with you Milbo. Fr.
I agree with you Milbo. Fr. Dear does not take political sides. He is no hypocrit when it comes to peace issues. Obama's actions can not be justified by thinking he's only going along until he can get his 'peaceful' way. He's either been bought out, or found out he has no say in how our national resources are prioritized.
If the latter is the case, Eisenhower the Republican was right. American democracy is nothing more than a charade, and it only exists as a shell game for the major source of funding for global corporate fascism.
I'm not too sure how many
I'm not too sure how many Catholics are aware of our own dubious history, not in building state of the art plutonium factories but buying shares in companies whose products of war helped fill the Vatican coffers including contraceptives.
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