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As we approach tenth anniversary of Sept. 11, a call to action
by John Dear SJ on Jul. 12, 2011
In less than two months, the US military and its media machine will tell us to mark the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks by celebrating their warmaking efforts --and continuing to live in fear.
We were attacked, so we bombed Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, killed hundreds of thousands of people, tortured thousands more, rebuilt our nuclear installations, threw out our basic liberties and spied on millions. In our so-called “war on terrorism,” we became the biggest global terrorists, threatening the planet with drones, bombs, and a spanking-new nuclear weapons arsenal.
Brown University just released a study explaining how the true cost of our wars of revenge in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan will end up costing approximately $4 trillion -- -- far more than the Bush or Obama administrations have said. Because the war has been financed almost entirely by borrowing, the report says, $185 billion in interest has already been paid on war spending, and another $1 trillion could accrue in interest alone through 2020.
President Obama’s recent decision to pull out only 30,000 troops of Afghanistan, on top of his refusal to bring our troops home from Iraq, shows that we have committed ourselves to permanent warfare. We pursue global domination at our own expense, to the detriment of the economy, employment, education, healthcare and environmental cleanup. Dick Cheney once said that our empire will remain in Afghanistan and Iraq for decades. Obama is proving that his colleague was correct.
But the nonviolent Jesus, and the recent movements for nonviolent revolution in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere, insist that we have more power than we realize -- that if we organize, speak out and take action, we can reverse the tide of war, cut our military spending, and pursue a new culture of peace.
The Sept. 11 anniversary and the tenth anniversary of the U.S. war on Afghanistan Oct. 6 offer an opportunity. As we head into the heat of summer, I invite everyone to ponder and plan some public action for peace during those anniversary days.
One idea might be to see this three weeks -- 25 days -- between Sept. 11 and Oct. 6 as three weeks of prayer, fasting and nonviolent action for an end to our wars.
I invite everyone during those three weeks to intensive intercessory prayer for a miracle -- for an end to the US wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and elsewhere. I invite people to fast for a day or two, or more, for peace. And I invite every local peace community in the country to start planning now to hold some public event -- perhaps a teach-in, evening lecture, public vigil, march, or civil disobedience action to demand an to end these wars.
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I urge friends far and wide to share this call, this invitation, with everyone they know.
Some people may want to plan now to come to Washington, D.C. Oct. 6 to join the massive mobilization that is being organized. See: www.october2011.org
As we look ahead to another election year and its pro-war media coverage, I hope we can also reflect on our Christian response -- that instead of placing all our energies in electoral politics, we might rebuild an active nonviolent movement that publicly demands an end to our wars at every opportunity, and announces the coming of God’s reign of peace.
Last month, Jim Wallis and dozens of religious leaders sent an open letter to President Obama calling for aid, not bombs, for Afghanistan. As we ponder our response to these wars and the great peacework to be done, I share this important letter for your reflection in the hope that we might mark the upcoming anniversaries with prayer, repentance and action, and join the chorus of peace.
****
An Open Letter from Religious Leaders to President Obama
June 22, 2011
Dear Mr. President,
As your target date to begin U.S. troop withdrawals from Afghanistan approaches, we are compelled by the prophetic vision of just peace to speak. We represent a diversity of faith communities -- ranging from just war to pacifist traditions. As leaders of these communities, some of us initially supported the war in Afghanistan as a justified response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. Others opposed the war, believing there were better ways than military force to address the al Qaeda threat. Today, however, we are united in the belief that it is time to bring the U.S. war in Afghanistan to an end.
After nine years, what began as a response to an attack has become an open-ended war against a Taliban centric insurgency -- which itself is largely motivated to drive out foreign troops and has no designs beyond its own borders. The military operation has so far resulted in the deaths of over 2,500 Coalition troops, including 1,600 from the U.S. Estimates are that over 20,000 Afghan civilians have died. And yet, the security situation is deteriorating and Taliban influence is spreading. The military situation is at best a stalemate. Al Qaeda barely exists in Afghanistan, but it has metastasized into Pakistan and has established itself in Yemen, Somalia, and other places around the globe.
Relief and development aid, desperately needed after three decades of war, have been integrated into and are subservient to military operations. Civilian aid organizations that attempt to provide much-needed relief are often seen as part of the foreign military occupation and have faced increasing attacks. Additionally, this form of militarized aid has worked to undermine long-term sustainability while proving ineffective in addressing immediate poverty concerns. As the faith community, we have experience doing this kind of work, and maintain relationships with partners on the ground. We see and hear the need for relief and development aid to be provided through these civilian aid organizations, while untying it from a counterinsurgency strategy and involving and empowering local Afghan partners to the greatest extent possible.
Moreover, this type of aid is most effective -- both in terms of the development in Afghanistan, and the cost of the conflict. The past 10 years have shown that we cannot broker peace in Afghanistan by military force; it is time to transition toward a plan that builds up civil society and provides economic alternatives for Afghans. At a time of economic turmoil, as we are presented with difficult financial and budgetary decisions at home, we have an opportunity to invest in aid that both supports the people of Afghanistan, and saves our country much needed funds.
We recognize that legitimate ethical and moral issues are at stake in Afghanistan -- U.S. national security, protecting the lives of Coalition servicemen and women, protecting Afghan civilians, defending the rights of Afghan women, supporting democracy and, of course, saving innocent lives from the inevitable death and destruction that accompany war. We humbly believe there is a better way than war to address these important issues.
What is needed now is a comprehensive package of interlocking arrangements to enhance security and stability. This alternative path is not without some risk, but it is preferable to the known dangers of war. As you said in December 2009, the U.S. should begin a responsible but accelerated withdrawal of troops, beginning with a significant number in July 2011 and continuing along a set timetable. This must be linked to a comprehensive security agreement, a regional multilateral diplomatic initiative, and increased public and private assistance for locally based economic and social development programs. We must commit to proactively share the costs of war, which have been borne disproportionately by the veterans of these wars, their families, and thousands of Afghan civilians.
We reaffirm our religious hope for a world in which “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more; but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid.”
(For a complete list of the co-signers, see: www.sojo.net)
***
[Editor's Note: John Dear's column is on a summer schedule and will be posted every other week through early August.]
Next year, John Dear will undertake a national book tour for his forthcoming book, Lazarus Come Forth!, which portrays Jesus as the God of life calling humanity (in the symbol of the dead Lazarus) out of the tombs of the culture of war and death. To host John in your church or school for an evening talk and book-signing, send an email through www.johndear.org. From August 8-15, he will offer a weeklong retreat on Jesus’ teachings on peace, hope and love at the spectacular Ghost Ranch Center in New Mexico (www.ghostranch.org). John’s latest book, Daniel Berrigan: Essential Writings (Orbis), and other recent books, are available from www.amazon.com. To contribute to Catholic Relief Services’ “Fr. John Dear Haiti Fund,” go to: http://donate.crs.org/goto/fatherjohn. For further information, or to schedule a lecture or retreat, visit: www.johndear.org.
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I always feel a little sick
I always feel a little sick when there's a soldier/ex-soldier around and everyone always feels they have to "honor" them for their "service to their country"....I believe those of us who work hard, who raise our kids, educate them, & send them out to work hard are also serving our country...when we vote, having actually studied issues from both sides, we are serving our country. When we give our time to our churches, our social agencies, to kids, to the poor, to the elderly, to the sick...we ARE serving our country. When we quietly pay our taxes, not asking for special treatment like corporations, we are serving our country.
Why is being trained to kill considered the only way that one serves their country? Why??
truly, Rachel, this is the
truly, Rachel, this is the most grotesque disservice possible to our nation, to our world, to humanity, to Creation, to God, to one's self.
You are correct, and I thank you for your courage and clarity in pointing this out so well here.
Because those of is who have
Because those of is who have done all that have not placed our all-too-mortal bodies at risk to serve our country. THAT'S what makes soldiers special. Courage.
far greater courage is needed
far greater courage is needed for the nonviolence epitomized by this Reverend Father John Dear SJ, in living the Gospel of Peace and of Love thus drawing us closer to the Reign of God.
Drones are cowardly, and our endless pirate invasions of weak nations worldwide for resources.
We honor those in service as
We honor those in service as they are ready to serve in harm's way at this country's bidding so that the rest of us may "serve" in relative peace enjoying freedoms. (We honor police with guns and firemen - in some cases volunteers - facing danger protecting us as well. Of course we all live dangerously getting behind the wheel of a car and driving down the road but that is faced by almost all adult citizens daily as we go about our business in this country so it is common place and not extraordinary.) "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." Benjamin Franklin, 1759.
No, Rachel, being a soldier
No, Rachel, being a soldier is not the only way that one serves one's country, and never has been. However, you have the freedom to serve your country in all those other ways because of the sacrifice and heroism of the soldier and ex-soldier that it makes you sick to honor.
You might try thinking about that simple truth the next time it makes you "a little sick" when the folks around you choose to honor the bravery of the soldiers who protect our way of life.
Clint, no one can kill and
Clint, no one can kill and follow Jesus.
Any and every Christian cannot be a soldier, cannot kill.
Thanks Charles, for being the
Thanks Charles, for being the final arbiter of who can and who cannot be a Christian. Of course, Our Lord never said that; neither did Simon Peter tell the centurion Cornelius that in order to be a follower of Christ he would be required to leave the Roman military and stop being a soldier. And, of course this is not the Church's official and authentic teaching on this matter, as contained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and twenty centuries of Magisterium...
Now I think about it, maybe you are not the final arbiter of who can and cannot be a Christian.
Peter, put up the sword. Who
Peter, put up the sword. Who lives by the sword shall die by the sword.
You have heard Thou shalt not kill. Whosoever even calls someone a fool is liable for judgment.
thus spoke the arbiter
Jesus is, and says Love thy
Jesus is, and says Love thy enemy.
Jesus is, and says not only Thou shalt not kill, but not to call anyone a fool, or be liable for judgment, my brother.
Jesus is, and says put up thy sword.
I, cowardly, would rather play it safe and do as Jesus says.
CWG you are about 3 centuries
CWG you are about 3 centuries behind. The magisterium of the Roman church has it's foundation in the Council of Nicaea, not what the teachings of Jesus was. Romans act as though God wanted Jesus to undergo pain in order for us to ignore his teachings of nonviolence. If Jesus had only been a man, truth seekers could believe that he died to show us that a man could forgive his enemies. If Jesus is God, his death could be made to look like a sacrifice that God did not want or need.
Peace!
Our gargantuan military
Our gargantuan military destroys our options, not increases them.
We have far less freedom under the Pentagon . . .
Anyway our soldiers are cowardly wimps, and in no way honorably brave.
They protect no lives but their own, and in no way protect my way of life which is peace, and love.
Mr. Scanlon, this may be the
Mr. Scanlon, this may be the most offensive and revolting comment I have ever seen posted on this website.
Have you ever met a soldier? Have you ever spoken to any of these young men and women who enter the military for the purpose of serving their country and defending the lives of their family and friends, folks they have never met, even people like you who make such despicable comments about them?
You may shout from the rooftops that your life is about "love", but this comment demonstrates that it is about the polar opposite of love.
killing innocents from behind
killing innocents from behind impenetrable protective gear takes no courage, only insanity and gross immorality
killing by drone takes no morality, and zero courage, only a grotesque and inhuman ability to kill without remorse, even with a sick pride and what is called being blood simple, driven numb by killing.
nuclear weaponry takes no courage, only an insane commitment to kill, idly, boringly, massively, like an idle, bored wimp.
no soldier serves Jesus Christ.
And no army defends us from any enemy
Or Dick Cheney would not be a multi-millionaire
my love for the confused,
my love for the confused, deluded, deceived and desperate souls trapped in that diabolical institution that is imposed as "our" military in which suicides outnumber enemy fire as the leading cause of death, leads me to shout to them "DESERT!", out of my loving concern and compassion for their lives and eternal souls
DESERT!!!
come to the desert . .
DESERT!
I regret NCR, as so often,
I regret NCR, as so often, did not permit my eloquent response to this typical Clint Green insult
Soldiers must desert to follow Jesus in Truth.
Our soldiers running drones and the rest are cowards, and they know it and so resort in large amounts to suicide.
Remember that military psychiatrist who could no longer take his job of getting traumatized kids to go back to meaningless and unjust warfare, murdering civilians, women and children indiscriminately, and so resorted in frustration to gunfire?
I know soldiers, Clint, youngsters and have met them coming back to their families blinded and legless here to southernmost New Mexico, for the greater profit of Bush and Cheney's corporations like Halliburton.
Have you met them, Clint and held their handless limbs, and looked into their sightless eyes, and embraced with love their broken young bodies, destroyed and trapped in a living death?
For what?
You are entitled to your
You are entitled to your thoughts, opinions and to live your life as you choose. In the spirit of this article, I would like to tell you of a person who fought for the U. S. in Viet Nam (he was not an American citizen). He took his duty as a soldier seriously, fought courageously, remembered the name of each and every one of the soldiers under his command, who lost their lives. He could not re-enlist for another tour of duty because he was able to see the corruption of both the South Vietnamese and the Americans. Years later, as the security officer for a very large investment firm, he led almost 2000 of their employees of that firm to safety from one of the Twin Towers on 9/11. He lost his own life in that process. I lived through WWII as a child, sitting in bunkers and basements as the bombs dropped on my hometown. I have been anti-war from my childhood on, and for non-violence since the days of the Civil Rights protests led by Martin Luther King, Jr., but I have also worked in a VA hospital as a Clinical Social Worker treating soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. My point is that to target soldiers and to blame them, like what was done to so many military personnel as they returned from Viet Nam, isn't helpful. The entire situation is much more complicated. Yes it takes great courage to embrace and live out non-violence, but making comparison as to who is more courageous is counter-productive. Again, if you don't want war, do the difficult work for justice so as to eliminate the cause of wars and violence. Often the difficult work for justice means changing the ways we live our own lives, which most of us are most reluctant to do.
We mark of the Americas the
We mark of the Americas the the forty-eigth anniversary, near half century, of the Nixon-Kissinger murder of the freely and democratically elected President of Chile, Salvador Allende, in a vicious and deadly coup d'estat which massacred civil government and stuffing in the bloody Nixon puppet Pinochet, who brought untold suffering to countless Chileans and other nationals working on humanitarian projects in Chile, and whose successor continues as ruler of Chile, as Pinochet profoundly and permanently distorted the fabric of Chilean society as wojtyla did our Church, never to recover, with impunity.
September 11 marks the 48th anniversary of our overthrow forever of democracy in Chile, and the torture, slaughter and disappearance of hundreds of thousands, a sin which cries out to the heavens, unheard, an infinite crime against humanity, as our interventions in Guatemala in the fifties overthrowing a democraticly elected president there, as in El Salvador, as in Nicaragua, as in Colombia, and as we plan in Venezuela, a crime against GOd and humanity as our continuing suffocating state of seige against the tiny and valient island of Cuba.
I hardly think it's a mark of
I hardly think it's a mark of shame to bear enmity to an island whose primary export for two decades was mercenaries for wars which even the Soviet Union found to distateful to intervene directly. (They sent regular military formations to Angola, Mozambique, and Ethiopia, and aided political terrorist organizations in Bolivia and El Salvador.) Given the growing relationship between Allende and Castro, Chile is lucky that Pinochet rescued it from following in Cuba's path. The loss of few thousands (3,000 by estimate, not the six figure sum you recite) was well worth it to save Chile from Allende's unconstitutional defiance of Chile's legislature and Supreme Court, and to make Chile, in the words of General Pinochet, "[N]ot a nation of proletarians, but a nation of entrepreneurs." It is no accident that Chile is perhaps the most stable country in Latin America today.
God bless General Augusto Pinochet and all such men who face and bravely make difficult choices for the good of their countries. I pray it never is necessary again.
Cuba's primary export for
Cuba's primary export for decades has been medical, not military, brigades, including to Nicaragua while I lived there in the eighties, and throughout the hemisphere. While we restrict medical training, Cuba promotes it, and employs it generously. After Katrina in fact Cuba sent medical brigades to New Orleans where our own citizens were left to dehydrate and die, swollen in the streets and in the stadium, a humanitarian mission. These good doctors were turned away at gunpoint by the US military under Bush, as our only export is war.
President Chavez went to Cuba for his recent medical care, wanting the best, and safest and cheapest.
Jeff, your Pinochet
Jeff, your Pinochet portraiture at no point bears isomorphism with the deadly reality.
Obama is defying Congress and the Supreme Court, and rightfully so, as then. How long before you send in the most brutal and corrupt of the Pentagon's generals to round us all up in the National Stadium for torture and disappearance?
To be consistent, if one is
To be consistent, if one is the condemn Pinochet (who is very much worthy of it), one MUST also condemn Castro, and vice versa. They were both brutally cruel.
Pete, your historical
Pete, your historical analysis, like your theological, holds no water, and bears no logic.
Which promoted universal and implemented universal health care, to such a degree that we found our heroes and victims of 9/11 finding tearfully their only hope for health care upon the island as documented in Sicko by the Catholic Michael Moore, a health care system so highly respected internationally that the president of Venezuela now resorts there, not to Pinochet's profit-driven Chile, for his intensive chemo-therapy (BY THE WAY in the profit driven Pinochet driven Chile, in which Pinochet's media master is now president, what kind of health care did those miner's receive, and the many other workers we do not ever hear of?)
Proportionally Cuba produces more doctors than any other nation, as the USA tightens supply in order to drive up profits instead of spreading the health care and relieving our suffering, as Jesus wants.
Pinochet produced generations of suffering and of terror. Cuba educates, and heals.
Which is the more Catholic?
Ask the bishop of Havana, except the USA won't let you.
by their fruits we shall know
by their fruits we shall know them
One international medical brigades coming to New Orleans only to be turned away by our military
the other, workers trapped in mines under the Pinochet follower and media billionaire Sebastian Pinera
Our prayers for Venezuelan
Our prayers for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as he returns shortly to the island of Cuba for further cancer treatment, knowing where to find world-class care at a reasonable price, capable of buying the best, he travels to Cuba, like those victims of September 11, 2001 who could find no care in the USA and traveled to Cuba for free, compassionate, professional and generous health care with Catholic Michael Moore as documented in 2007 in Sicko.
Jesus says Heal the sick. alleviate suffering; not profit by it.
Who is doing it, the USA or Cuba?
How much did the Good Samaritan charge, or spend, to care for a national enemy, unquestioningly, measurelessly, mercifully?
I'm afraid you have been
I'm afraid you have been terribly misinformed, Jeff. Please start re-learning the history of our involvement in South America by reading "School of Assassins," by Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, professor of peace and justice studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN.
In it, he describes the Army's School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia, where we have trained Latin American dictators, their soldiers and intelligence people in methods of torture and assassination. Its graduates have been responsible for such atrocities as the murder of Archbishop Romero, Jesuit priests, and nuns and labor organizers in several Latin American countries.
After decades of demonstrations and other pressures, the US closed the School, only to change its name and re-open it within a day or two.
We have interfered in the elections and internal affairs of country after country. And why??? To keep them safe for US corporations and to try (not always successfully) to keep in power the right-wing dictators who do our bidding.
for those who despair of our
for those who despair of our Once Holy Roman and Catholic Church, we have the Reverend Father John Dear SJ, and he is magnficent.
We will not be silent!!! –
We will not be silent!!! – Excerpt, another Article by Rev. Father Dear -
We pledge to speak out against our government's wars, no matter what their excuse, no matter how just the cause appears, no matter how patriotic they portray mass murder. We will continue to come together and build a grassroots movement that someday will flourish and become contagious.
For the rest of our lives, we will speak out for peace. We will not be silent. We will not give in to the lie of war. We will remember the great truth, that we were created to live in love, peace and justice with all peoples.
If we are faithful to the task of speaking out, some day the truth of peace will be revealed.
LINK:
http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/67334
Nice try, Fr. Dear. President
Nice try, Fr. Dear.
President Obama promised to pump more men into Afghanistan, and he kept his word. 80,000 more. Plus 70,000 "contractors"
2-1/2 years ago you were giddy about the President's election. Were you really happy about the election of a self announced war-monger?
Or was it his support for 55 million abortions? And the legalized killing Down's Syndrone? 90 percent of them are killed before they breathe. Part of the NCR's seamless garment. Its Pax Christi's Social Justice.
Muslims and tradional christians call it mass murder, a denial of that all men are equal in the eyes of God. Yes, Fr. Dear. Mass murder. Thanks.
Now, now Mr. Shabazz. Don't
Now, now Mr. Shabazz. Don't try to look for consistency in the progressive movement. Lawful military action in defense of the nation's interests, as in Afghanistan, or in order to protect innocents from slaughter, as in Libya, is always, in every circumstance, evil, according to Father Dear and his progressive cohorts.
A mother taking the life of her unborn child simply because that child is inconvenient or unwanted (as happens in more than 90% of cases of abortion, according to Right to Life) is simply a mother exercising her constitutional choice and should be celebrated, so say the progressive leftists with whom Father Dear and his peacniks have allied themselves.
Clint claims: "so say the
Clint claims: "so say the progressive leftists with whom Father Dear and his peacniks have allied themselves."
cite your sources, Clint.
You cannot.
You lie.
Actually, I very much
Actually, I very much remember reading on these pages back before the election that self styled progressives were VERY much in support of Mr. Obama. Granted, at that time, he was still campaigning, so he HAD to tell his base he was in favor of pulling out of our wars.
Independents like myself tried telling people that there was nothing 'hopeful' in him, nor was there any 'change'. In fact, Obama and McCain were mere carbon copies of one another. They would both, in essence, carry on the Bush legacy. No one believed us. Now as we approach 2012, we can see that Obama's greatest legacy is... that he carried on the Bush legacy. Geez! Who would have thought?
Progressives hitched their wagons to Obama in masse. The reason for this was, once you got past the rhetoric, simply that he wasn't the other guy.
Progressives will once again hitch themselves to Obama in the coming elections. Why? Same reason as last time: 'he isn't the other guy'. Seriously, what else are they going to do, vote for Romney or whatever laughable candidate the Republicans put forth? Actually finding some other party that REALLY matches their principles seems to be a totally foreign concept. I mentioned this behavior in Fr. Dear's last article.
What most people don't seem to realize is that neither Obama or McCain actually exist. Really! What people see as the presidential candidate is a mere conglomeration of two speech writers, a gestures coach, three polling firms, a makeup artist and wardrobe technician, and millions upon millions of corporate/union dollars. You aren't actually voting for a person.
"cite your sources"
- Actually, the evidence that most (note, I did not say ALL) of the 'progressive' anti-war, pro-peace movement was actually nothing more than an 'anti-bush' movement is all around us. I remember when Bush was in power there seemed to be news coverage of anti-war demonstrations and rallies practically every day. Where are they now? Sure, once in a while you will hear of a small demonstration, but most all the marchers and demonstrations are gone now that Mr. Obama is in office. And yet nothing of any real note has chanced in our international policy. What is their excuse?
Same thing with Republicans when Clinton attacked Serbia.
I know there are quite a few principled anti-war advocates. Most however, it would seem, are mere political opportunists.
Pete writes to the answer the
Pete writes to the answer the request to Clint for his sources:
""cite your sources"
- Actually, the evidence that most (note, I did not say ALL) of the 'progressive' anti-war, pro-peace movement was actually nothing more than an 'anti-bush' movement is all around us. I remember when Bush was in power there seemed to be news coverage of anti-war demonstrations and rallies practically every day. Where are they now? Sure, once in a while you will hear of a small demonstration, but most all the marchers and demonstrations are gone now that Mr. Obama is in office. And yet nothing of any real note has chanced in our international policy. What is their excuse?"
in other words, you can cite no sources . . .
just saying . . .
Mr. Scanlon, with such
Mr. Scanlon, with such overtly and blatantly offensive, libelous and calumnous comments as those you made about our soldiers, calling them "cowardly wimps", you have absolutely no ground on which to stand and call others to defend their statements.
You never cite sources, beyond those of Fathers Dear or McBrien, or Sister Joan Chittister, or others such, never an objective source and never a source from Church teaching, the Catechism, the Magisterium, etc. You call those you disagree with names, such as "Wojo" (Blessed John Paul II) and "Ratzo" (Pope Benedict XVI), thereby engaging in blatant ad hominem attacks. You call me a liar, without so much as providing even the smallest, simplest piece of objective evidence to support your own claims.
To your point, though, unlike you I will provide some sources. I would direct you to these articles related to abortion on demand and organizations that support "peace and justice":
http://catholicinsight.com/online/controversy/article_889.shtml
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/video/2011/05/11/abortion-quit-raped-peace...
You might also take a look at http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/01/obama-recal...
This of course indicates President Obama's stance on abortion. I note Father Dear has not criticized this President's abortion record, but rather is upset because the President has not withdrawn the troops from Afghanistan...
Some objective sources, Mr. Scanlon, sources that do not seek to defend the writing of a person by referring to other writings of that same person. You might try it sometime...
Clint cites Catholic Insight
Clint cites Catholic Insight and USA Today as credible, conclusive and substantial sources?
Your Honor.
I rest my case.
Clint has not a leg to stand upon, and no clothes for his deceit.
This is an issue where
This is an issue where patience is a virtue. Given time, September 11 will become as important to this nation as Pearl Harbor.
Bob
Pearl Harbor was a fraud set
Pearl Harbor was a fraud set up to drag us in to the war.
It was a self-deceit of this nation which did not want to go to war.
It was a surgical strike of provocative military targets, which touched no land.
Pearl Harbor is yet another example of our military spooking us into engagements we did not want, a strategy of "public diplomacy" highly successful against us civilian sheep and a strategy of deceit which now has us totally bankrupt morally, financially, spiritually, nationally.
Pearl Harbor was a betrayal of our nation by our nation against our nation.
And resembles in this way 9/11
watch the great Catholic Michael Moore carefully.
Michael Moore needs to spend
Michael Moore needs to spend more time making enjoyable films like Canadian Bacon and less time pretending he understands history.
No, Pearl Harbor was NOT an inside job. That entire premise has been debunked so many times it's become a cliche. The only thing the government and command structure was guilty of that day was, like today and every other point in history: gross incompetence.
"which touched no land."
- I think YOU need to spend more time with a history book as well. Ships were not the only thing hit that day.
Now, if you would rather postulate that the entire war with Japan was made almost assured because of the embargo we enforced against Japan, then you have MUCH stronger ground to stand on.
Like everything else, when it
Like everything else, when it comes to the Church and politics it's not a miracle we need, but the cessation of man's manipulation, then we all might get some where.
"There will be wars and
"There will be wars and rumors of war." Indeed. But we don't have to give our sanction to economic and political systems to which "wars and rumors of war" are intrinsic, inevitable and systemic. Be in the world, but not of it.
Fr. Dear, you write, "the US
Fr. Dear, you write, "the US military and its media machine will tell us to mark the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks." The US military and its media machine? What planet are you on? It's so sophomoric, so childishly "radical," and so uninformed/ignorant. Why NCR carries your unintellgent moral zealotry is beyond me.
For unintelligent moral
For unintelligent moral zealots like me who thank God for this one bright and strengthening oasis of peace within the trackless media desert.
hi rachel, funny thing.
hi rachel,
funny thing. there's a bunch of jews in black coats in jerusalem's mea shearim quarter that says the same thing: we dont serve in the army - we protect israel by praying (fat lot of good it does when the koran wielding chap has a bomb in his backpack or sends another mortar into the south from land released from occupation). they go one step further - refusing to pay tax because the messiah hasnt come to establish the true state of the jews.
never forget - you have a choice to do all the truly important stuff you do. most soldiers are conscripted, in one way or another (this applies in the case of people who could not find any other job). nobody really WANTS to be cannon fodder - it goes against basic human instincts. you dont need to honor them, but try to acknowledge the truly galling place they've been sent to and the unpalatable burden they bring home with them. raising kids, working. voting, listening to another boring sermon - it's a picnic in comparison.
I'm no pacifist but the last
I'm no pacifist but the last ten years have been totally ridiculous and useless. The estimate of $4T is probably correct. The increased maintenance and repair of equipment is probably hidden under regular maintenance and then there are the long term costs of disabled veterans, etc. The ironic part, for me, is that the three stooge macho team of Shrub, Rummy and Darth Cheney was so lousy at war. No wonder, since none of them saw combat.
September 11 of this year
September 11 of this year should be marked by solemn remembrances of those whose lives were lost on that awful day, and all those who were affected by that loss, family, friends, spouses, children, etc. And, yes, it should be marked by a renewal of our commitment to root out terrorists, cowards who hide behind the innocent, using women and children as human shields, so that no other family member, friend, spouse or child will ever have to go through what those dear people endured on September 11, 2001.
Since 2001, there has been no serious terrorist attack in the United States, despite the fact that many more attacks were planned. This simple truth demonstrates the correctness of President Bush's decision to fight terrorists abroad rather than at home. That this policy has continued under President Obama is further evidence that this is and always was the right and proper strategy.
Finally, there is no indication yet which direction that this so-called "Arab Spring" will take. It is very possible that "peaceful revolution" will become oppressive theocratic regimes overnight. It may be that what comes from this will not give us reason to cheer, but rather reason to pause as many new enemies (yes, Father Dear, the US does have enemies, so does Christianity...I'm sorry no one told you that before now) spring up in the Middle East.
clint claims: "This simple
clint claims: "This simple truth demonstrates the correctness of President Bush's decision to fight terrorists abroad rather than at home. That this policy has continued under President Obama is further evidence that this is and always was the right and proper strategy."
you skipped logic and rhetoric classes at the sem, right, Clint?
they demonstrate no such thing, clint, and it was never the right and proper strategy.
take a look at Fahrenheit 9/11 for one . . .
Then please be so kind as to
Then please be so kind as to point out the error, if you can.
President Obama was elected on the basis of his intention to end the war in Iraq, which he more or less has done, and to also bring the war in Afghanistan to a close, which he has not done. Instead, he has expanded the war in Afghanistan, began the use of military force in Pakistan and sent troops into Libya on humanitarian missions. He has actively and aggressively prosecuted the war on terror, despite his campaign rhetoric promising the exact opposite.
There are only 2 conclusions one can draw from this. First is that President Obama is a liar and had no intention of doing what he promised, a conclusion not supported by his personal history and behavior; or second, that President Obama has discovered that the best way to protect American interests is to prosecute this war on foreign soil, thereby destabilizing terrorist organizations and providing clear evidence of the consequences of foreign nations providing safe harbor for terrorists.
President Bush's strategy of fighting a war on terror internationally rather than domestically has worked for nearly 10 years in keeping Americans safe from terrorist attacks, despite the best plans of terrorist cells. At the same time that London, Madrid, Oslo, and various parts of Israel and the Middle East have suffered attacks, we have remained untouched. This is a profound statement and points to the rightness of President Bush's, and now President Obama's strategy in the war on terror.
Oh, and Fahrenheit 9/11 is hardly an objective source. It is a film made by a notorious liberal with an ax to grind against the Bush Administration. It is a documentary that was made to tell a particular story, and to make money for its producer. It is less interested in truth than it is in trying to prop up a radical liberal agenda. I'm not surprised you offer it as a reliable source.
"the US does have enemies, so
"the US does have enemies, so does Christianity" without any of the congruence implied here so scandalously by Clint.
In fact the US remains one of Christianity's greatest enemies, in its social, poltical, economic, medical, employment, military, immigration, incarceration, educaitonal and many other policies.
Thank you for this timely
Thank you for this timely article and comments. Since that first frightful act of terrorism on 911- the destruction of the elected government of Dr. Salvador Allende in Chile (september 11th, 1973, orchestrated by our self-styled 'forces of democracy' - I've been privileged to work with exiles, children, women and men, from Chile and from El Salvador, and currently to live and work among the impoverished people of Nicaragua, all of whom have suffered - and go on suffering - from the direct effects of the vicious greed and insularity that are our real convictions. In each case I've been overwhelmed by their strength, courage, compassion and humor despite all the appalling wars, tortures and economic/social mutilation our Christian Western 'civilization' has visited - and indeed continues to visit -on them.
As a small contribution to our shared work of building a grassroots movement for lasting peace, then, Echoes of Silence (the network I co-coordinate: echoes of the disappeared, of ravaged nature, and of the wonderful creativity latent within each of us) offers an open invitation all NCR readers to join 'Take Back the Days', a movement to turn the absurd plethora of 'Special (Shopping!) Days' forced on us by the constant brain-washing to which we are subjected against consumerism itself by using them instead of knee-jerk shopping fests as ongoing opportunities to send the steady heartbeat of our common determination to make lasting peace to the powers that think they be. Inspired by the example of our refugee friends, Echoes believes that lasting peace will forever escape us unless we establish a true balance between women and men in every sphere and at every level, and until we take the anguish of the Earth seriously. And that a balanced, healed Earth is the only fitting memorial to all those who died believing their war would - at last - be the 'war to end war'.
Please see: www.echoesofsilence-ecosdelsilencio.pbworks.com
Why is the truth so obscure?
Why is the truth so obscure? Why are so many catholics so myopic when it comes to the true defence of all life, YES ALL LIFE, because when we devalue any life we devalue all life. Disordered and diabolically confused are those who support war when there is no just cause for it. I am my brothers keeper and protector but not when I cannot even keep my own house in order. Through out history the means to an end has been to create an enemy who does not even exist through a false flag http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_flag where by an enemy is created by a simple blend of concocted evidence and hideous lack of truth. A great example is a man claiming to be pro life shoots up an abortion mill. Who gets the blame? The attacks on 09/11/2001 were just this kind of false flag. Just research it yourself and ask why the greatest military on earth followed a "Stand Down" order and allowed the violent attacks to continue after the 1st plane hit. 9/!! was an inside job and the enemy of all souls was the orchestrator of it all !
America is hooked on the
America is hooked on the notion of wars for democracy & wars for nation building. I think most people felt we were justified in attacking Afghanistan where the Taliban originated in response to 9/11. But the response should have been limited to about 6 weeks, tops.
Here we are almost ten years after 9/11 & we are still in Afghanistan! Was it really worth staying there for 9 years just to get bin-Laden? Well, we finally got him, so why are we still there?
Like duh, how about an exit strategy, Mr Obama? You campaigned on an exit strategy for Iraq. Maybe the next time you run, you will have an exit strategy for Afghanistan?
America is hooked on ever
America is hooked on ever diminishing resources and resorts to piracy to get them
America is also the largest consumer of drugs in the world.
and largest arms exporter
but do we have health care, housing, jobs, humanity?
"Pray for a miracle"-because
"Pray for a miracle"-because prayer works, doesn't it? Like every time a kid who was being molested prayed for it to stop-and god stepped right in and the bishops showed up at the door and took the criminal priests away.
Nixon, What is troubling you?
Nixon,
What is troubling you? If you'd like to talk, please feel free to email me at this address:
petethegreekguy@hotmail.com
*NCR ADMIN* this email address is one I keep specifically for giving out on web forums. Please allow it to be posted.
That's so sad putting that
That's so sad putting that way Nixon; but true.
Especially when we read the letter of a cardinale that states:
Any allegations and punishments are to be handled within the church and "must be meticulously followed" and any bishop who tried to go outside canon Law (not civil law), would face the "highly embarrassing" position of being overturned on appeal from Rome.
Sounds familiar in retrospect, maybe there was more to Bishop Morris's fiasco than we're hearing about.
If we exit out of Afghanistan
If we exit out of Afghanistan and let the Taliban take control, this will result in serious social injustice to the women of Afghanistan.
But then again, as Father Dear points out, it is very expensive to maintain our war against the Taliban.
Perhaps we should ignore the evil the Taliban would do to their people and use this money for ourselves or more popular social justice issues.
Don, you're right that the
Don, you're right that the Taliban has a shocking record with women. Sadly, the situation is no better now than it was. Afghani women are calling for the US to leave, then (in their eyes) they will have have fewer problems to deal with. They're also demanding representation in bodies that make negotiate "peace". Currently there are very few women in parliament and fewer still who play real roles in deciding the future for all Afghanis - men, women and children, soldier and civilian.
Don, you're right that the
Don, you're right that the Taliban has a shocking record with women. Sadly, the situation is no better now than it was. Afghani women are calling for the US to leave, then (in their eyes) they will have have fewer problems to deal with. They're also demanding representation in bodies that make negotiate "peace". Currently there are very few women in parliament and fewer still who play real roles in deciding the future for all Afghanis - men, women and children, soldier and civilian.
It seems to me that the
It seems to me that the people who are really suffering from these wars are the men and women who are serving and their families. Many of us are going about our lives as if nothing is happening. So many drive big cars, drive way above the speed limit, and MAY have "We Support Our Troops" on a bumper sticker. There are many others who are praying for an end to the wars, who collect personal supplies to send to the troops. Too many lives are being lost and for what reason?
We're in Afghanistan...for
We're in Afghanistan...for social justice?
What a howl
"If we exit out of Afghanistan and let the Taliban take control, this will result in serious social injustice..............."
America: 55 million unborn children killed. Child mortality greater than Afghanistan. 25 Times that of Moslem Saudi Arabia. That's our Social Justice.
The first and second world
The first and second world wars were fought on the Allied side to stop WORLD domination by people who were led and misinformed by mad dictators. That is a concept that is easily understood - the soldiers of those days were true heroes in every sense - they protected the entire free world. But since that time, from Korea onward we picture ourselves as the model for everyone else to emulate - and we enforce that concept even if we have to destroy them to prove it. Unfortunately our present young soldiers are caught in the middle and we make ourselves feel good by labelling them as "heroes".
The wars that are being fought now in Afghanistan and previously in Iraq are really interference in the INTERNAL affairs of those countries. Sure, I understand that we do not agree with the abysmal way that they treat their citizens but can any reasonable person actually believe that once we leave, and that day is coming soon I hope, before our economy completely collapses from our reckless spending on killing other human beings, that they will become "free" countries with a democracy that we understand? Give me a break - "religiosity" rules the minds of the poor people in those prisoner states.
Unfortunately they are taught to fear God not to love God - there is a big difference. Fear is a way of life in their societies.
have you seen the suicide
have you seen the suicide rates among our soldiers as compared to war casualties (if you can call those wars, not piracy)?
more die by their own hands
why is that?
CHECK OUT THIS
CHECK OUT THIS ARTICLE!
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11199/1161221-454-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml
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