Santa Cruz, CA
Sunday, March 16, 2003
Dear friends,
It's a lazy day in California. Don't let them tell you it never rains here.
It's a cozy one, though, perfect for napping, hot tea, writing and wine and
conversation with good friends at the end of the day. And at seven o'clock,
a candlelight vigil for peace.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said "Our lives begin to end the day we become
silent about things that matter." I believe that's true, and the thousands
of lives that are on the line with the impending war in Iraq do matter, so
as I start to write today I want to tell you about my last three weeks on
the road in California and Hawaii, and share news of various exciting things
that are coming up, but my heart and mind are full to overflowing with this
impending war.
All the signs seem to point to bombs starting to fall this week or next. Operation
"Shock and Awe," as it's been dubbed. A war, I suppose, must be
judged on both its efficacy and its morality, and I find that it fails both
tests. We invite generations of hatred and revenge if and when we go through
with this. The war itself, pre-emptive and unsupported by the U.N, is illegal
as well as immoral, and changes the rules for nations forever. Still, there
are reasons for hope.
My deepest hope lies simply in the fact that the world is engaged in conversation
about this, and that's a first. The world has seen the largest protests of
all time in the last few weeks. President Bush dismisses this clear world
opinion majority as a 'focus group,' but the truth is that the founding fathers
were right, governments do derive their power from the people. Not necessarily
in the short term, but without doubt in the long run. There is no country
on the planet, including ours, whose population supports this (though the
headlines read that sixty percent support it, if you go to the Gallup Poll
web site and study the details you'll find that a poll two weeks ago indicated
that the sixty percent they're referring to, if asked whether they support
war without U.N. support, drops to thirty-eight percent - the more recent
polls dropped the part about U.N. support, so the numbers appear to change).
The numbers are, of course, overwhelmingly opposed in the rest of the world.
Even the governments which are staunchly supportive, including Australia,
Great Britain and Spain, face massive opposition from their own people. And
people are questioning the motivations for this war, and even discussing the
validity of war in general. This has simply never happened before on the scale
that it is happening now. There is a new globalism that recognizes that lives
of one nationality are no more valuable than lives of another. One of the
interesting quotations that showed up in my email in the last few weeks is
from a Feb. 17 New York Times article by Patrick Tyler: "There may still
be two superpowers on the planet: the United States and world public opinion."
The short term picture is bleak. Many will die. I think those who profit from
this are being exposed, though, and maybe as a world we are moving to a new
way, if not as a country.
A few months ago I was lamenting the fact that everywhere I looked I saw stickers
and signs that said God Bless America. You may think this unpatriotic of me,
but it strikes me each time I see that phrase that it's conspicuous in who
it leaves out. It's not a bad place to start, but I think it's a dubious place
to end. Is it so different from having a sticker that says "God Bless
White People?" Sure, absolutely, God bless white people, but what about
everyone else? I love people in many nations. And is it a claiming of God's
blessing? A prayer of gratitude? Or a beseeching prayer of intercession? If
the latter, then wouldn't it be more appropriate to say "God Bless Iraq?"
Really...? The prayer that rings truest in my heart is "God bless the
people of every nation." I don't believe in complaining too much about
things I'm not willing to change, though, so I had some stickers printed that
say that. We've distributed about four thousand of them so far. If you want
some, get in touch. Patriotism, friends, is not defined by accepting everything
our government says, but by calling our nation to its highest ideals.
So here we are, lighting candles all over the world. That sounds like a feeble
response at first glance, and certainly if that's all we do then it is lacking.
But it's hardly a foolish gesture. I never would have believed when I was
a child that Nelson Mandela would actually serve as President, leave office
peacefully (by election, not by coup) and that South Africa would model for
the rest of the world how integrity, forgiveness and the transformational
power of listening can be practiced on a national scale to heal profound injustice
and deep injury. And these changes started with the people of nations simply
saying they had had enough, and they were not willing to meet violence with
violence and injustice with revenge.
Last weekend I taught mediation workshops to kids at a Peacemaking Conference
in San Francisco. They were a diverse group, and they got it. This coming
weekend I'll be playing back in North Carolina at a Middle East Peace Conference
called by the moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Fahed Abu Akel.
I've talked with several people in the last few weeks about the idea of touring
in the Middle East in the next year or two. I hope to work some more on that
at the conference this weekend. It's a scary idea, of course, but one of the
things I talk about when I teach workshops is that courage is not the absence
of fear, it's deciding that something is important enough to do anyway, even
in the presence of fear. So let's proceed, in the presence of fear, to speak
actively of love, and act on and from it.
I pray that we may find our way. Speak your truth, however you see things.
It's not unpatriotic, it's what democracy looks like. I have the phone number
for the White House comment line in my cell phone so I can call whenever I'm
so inclined. It's 202-456-1111. Whatever you believe, ring the White House
(during east coast office hours) and let them know. They represent us, and
we must demand that they represent us well.
May peace be within, among and through us,
David