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Monday, February 12, 2007
Paths to Peace
This past weekend, the Denver Post published an article on Coloradans Working for Peace in Iraq. They interviewed four different people and categorized them as "The Spiritualist", "The Local Activist", "The Peace-builder", and "The Negotiator". My teachers were written of in the "spiritualist" segment. I wish that the media didn't have to label. I don't think any of the people in the story could fit only into one category. Life is just not that simple.
Congratulations to Carolyn Bninski whose story is also portrayed in the article!
My teachers' interview below. For the entire article, click here.
"They're going to solve problems by being the biggest guy on the block, through muscle . It's always confrontation", Elias Amidon says of the Bush administration.
Amidon and his wife, Rabia Elizabeth Roberts, spent three months in Iraq in the fall and winter of 2002-03. The co-directors of the Boulder Institute for Nature and the Human Spirit held anti-war protests there - hanging banners saying to bomb this site is a war crime from a hospital, for instance. And they wrote about what was happening in that country in e-mails to friends and supporters.
Amidon, 62, hasn t been to Iraq since February 2003. "It s too dangerous", he said.
Instead, he's traveled to other parts of the Middle East, including Syria, Iran, Jordan, Israel and Palestine. He's working on the Abraham Path Initiative, an effort to develop a walking trail through the Middle East following the path of the prophet who was considered the father of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The idea is to build respect and understanding among people of different faiths, as well as bring tourism money to the area.
Today, Amidon is as frustrated as anyone over the situation in Iraq. "The planned troop increase indicates a level of isolation, as well as a continued insistence on resolving conflict through confrontation", he says.
He'd prefer to see U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq and replaced by an international peacekeeping force. Peace talks should include Syria, Iran, and even al-Qaeda, he believes.
Despite the troop increase, Amidon is heartened by the growing opposition to the conflict.
"What I'm pleased about is the level of intelligent inquiry with which people are coming out now. I wonder where they've been."
Congratulations to Carolyn Bninski whose story is also portrayed in the article!
My teachers' interview below. For the entire article, click here.
"They're going to solve problems by being the biggest guy on the block, through muscle . It's always confrontation", Elias Amidon says of the Bush administration.
Amidon and his wife, Rabia Elizabeth Roberts, spent three months in Iraq in the fall and winter of 2002-03. The co-directors of the Boulder Institute for Nature and the Human Spirit held anti-war protests there - hanging banners saying to bomb this site is a war crime from a hospital, for instance. And they wrote about what was happening in that country in e-mails to friends and supporters.
Amidon, 62, hasn t been to Iraq since February 2003. "It s too dangerous", he said.
Instead, he's traveled to other parts of the Middle East, including Syria, Iran, Jordan, Israel and Palestine. He's working on the Abraham Path Initiative, an effort to develop a walking trail through the Middle East following the path of the prophet who was considered the father of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The idea is to build respect and understanding among people of different faiths, as well as bring tourism money to the area.
Today, Amidon is as frustrated as anyone over the situation in Iraq. "The planned troop increase indicates a level of isolation, as well as a continued insistence on resolving conflict through confrontation", he says.
He'd prefer to see U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq and replaced by an international peacekeeping force. Peace talks should include Syria, Iran, and even al-Qaeda, he believes.
Despite the troop increase, Amidon is heartened by the growing opposition to the conflict.
"What I'm pleased about is the level of intelligent inquiry with which people are coming out now. I wonder where they've been."
posted by Carol at 8:37 AM
3 comments
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Four Years
For the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war and subsequent occupation, Christians will be gathering in D.C. to pray, vigil, and participate in acts of civil disobedience. I am sure that many followers of Jesus have been standing against this violence of our government all along - even though W sometimes frames the need for war in Christian terms. It warms my heart that thousands of Christians are organizing to show that Jesus would not support this atrocity.
Christian Peace Witness for Iraq
From the site:
We invite you to join thousands in a "Christian Peace Witness for Iraq." As followers of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, our faith compels us to make our voice heard - to repent of our complicity with the invasion and occupation of Iraq and to renew our commitment to peacemaking. We ask you to join us in praying for peace, studying the scriptures, learning nonviolence, lighting candles of hope, and gathering together for an ecumenical public witness on March 16, 2007, the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq. We stand in solidarity with sisters and brothers in other faith
As Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in The Trumpet of Conscience," There is nothing wrong with a traffic law which says you have to stop for a red light. But when a fire is raging, the fire truck goes right through that red light... Massive civil disobedience is a strategy for social change which is at least as forceful as an ambulance with its siren on full."
It is critical that people of faith and conscience respond to the emergency of the ongoing violence in Iraq by engaging in prayerful, determined and nonviolent civil disobedience (or, as some call it, "divine obedience") and other forms of peaceful witness at the White House on March 16.
Christian Peace Witness for Iraq
From the site:
We invite you to join thousands in a "Christian Peace Witness for Iraq." As followers of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, our faith compels us to make our voice heard - to repent of our complicity with the invasion and occupation of Iraq and to renew our commitment to peacemaking. We ask you to join us in praying for peace, studying the scriptures, learning nonviolence, lighting candles of hope, and gathering together for an ecumenical public witness on March 16, 2007, the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq. We stand in solidarity with sisters and brothers in other faith
As Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in The Trumpet of Conscience," There is nothing wrong with a traffic law which says you have to stop for a red light. But when a fire is raging, the fire truck goes right through that red light... Massive civil disobedience is a strategy for social change which is at least as forceful as an ambulance with its siren on full."
It is critical that people of faith and conscience respond to the emergency of the ongoing violence in Iraq by engaging in prayerful, determined and nonviolent civil disobedience (or, as some call it, "divine obedience") and other forms of peaceful witness at the White House on March 16.
May their voices be heard. May all of our voices be heard.
posted by Carol at 12:52 PM
0 comments
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Lessons On A Street Corner
"The world is not perfect!"
- Anonymous young man as he drove by our Women in Black, Standing in Silence for Peace signs
Today I stood at our Women in Black corner for the first time in three weeks. Two weeks ago, some of us were at the rally in Denver. Last week, I called the vigil off, because we had shivered in ice and frigid temps for so many weeks that I thought one more of those would push me over the edge.
But today's weather was almost, well, cool - up from frigid and that's good. Something about weekends in Colorado recently...
But it didn't snow, so no complaints.
Last Monday, I started teaching my first Communicating and Listening with Compassion class. I am using Marshall Rosenberg's model of Nonviolent Communication. What "they always say" is so true. We learn by teaching.
Thanks to Marshall's teachings, today, as I stood on our corner, I felt so much appreciation when people yelled or gestured with gusto. They were expressing themselves, beginning to connect with us and creating an opening for dialog. At least if someone tells us to get a F***ing job, I know they are paying attention and that they have some feelings about something. It would be easy to watch the people in most cars as they pass and think that our country has been taken over by robots.
And our supportive police officer passed by, showing her appreciation for what we were doing. Funny, she has thanked us before, and I am touched. But irony of ironies (are you reading this, nogo?) I'm pretty darn sure that she is the officer that testified against my friends when they were on trial for blocking the recruitment station. Guess it's all about approval of the method...
.
Labels: Women in Black
posted by Carol at 3:57 PM
1 comments
Friday, February 09, 2007
Illusion of Separation
"He who wants to do good knocks at the gate; he who loves finds the gate open."
- Rabindranath Tagore
posted by Carol at 4:06 PM
4 comments
Thursday, February 08, 2007
I Don't Understand Men
My friend wrote to a local Vietnam vet, telling him that her Marine son just got a promotion. Her son is proud of his new stripe, but he hates the Marines. She wrote the vet that she doesn't understand men.
Part of the vet's response:
You say you don't understand men and I say you have good reason.
Men grow up with GI Joe, Navy Seals, countless war movies, countless television programs that glorify violence or the military and they want that glory. Just as they play football to gain glory and gain comradeship so too they go to war. Once in the military many of us discover there is no glory to be found but refuse to accept that. Surely all the trials and abuse should have some meaning. Surely the dying friends and civilians should have meaning. So we attach some macho bullshit meaning to things like making it through boot-camp or getting rank. Even though we hate the Marines (or whatever service) we grow close to those who suffer with us and feel we owe allegiance to them. Even if we hate it, we carry the fact of "making it" as some shield of honor.
I can go into any room and get instant credibility by telling a group I was a Marine combat infantryman in Vietnam. I go into the same room and just say I'm a peace activist and I'll not get the same respect. When I was jailed in the city of Denver they treated me and all those arrested with me with disdain and nastiness. We went through several holding cells before we finally ended up in the assigned cell. When we got to the holding cell where they inventoried our personal property the sheriff's noticed I had a Purple Heart insignia and Marine Corporal pins on my collar. The two sheriffs asked me if I was a Marine in Vietnam. When I told them I was, all the nasty stuff stopped. They talked to me like I was human and part of their group. I was... they were both ex-Marines. The sad part of this story is the two sheriffs and most of the jail staff were black. They were the ones dehumanizing the inmates. Like men in war, they had to become "hard" to even bear what they had to do each day.
Imagine the power of this fraternity turning away from the violence. Think if we could quit being the universal soldier and become the warrior of peace.
One story I will tell you. I had a tight group in Vietnam. Whenever one of the guys talked about re-upping and coming back to Vietnam, we swore we'd kill them before they ever made it back out into the bush. Just our way of expressing our love for the man and disgust for the war at the same time. I use this story to suggest to all the young troops who tell me they feel they owe a duty to their buddies still in combat that they should ask those buddies if they want them to rejoin them in hell. They should ask themselves if they'd want their friends back in harms way.
You're right to question us men. I hope you keep challenging the male culture we've created. Duty, honor, country doesn't come at the end of a rifle or the explosion of a bomb. There are true acts of heroism in any combat situation. And any combat infantryman can tell you a hero in the morning can become a coward by night from fatigue and trauma. Heroic acts are merely reactions to intense stress but we all have a breaking point.
Part of the vet's response:
You say you don't understand men and I say you have good reason.
Men grow up with GI Joe, Navy Seals, countless war movies, countless television programs that glorify violence or the military and they want that glory. Just as they play football to gain glory and gain comradeship so too they go to war. Once in the military many of us discover there is no glory to be found but refuse to accept that. Surely all the trials and abuse should have some meaning. Surely the dying friends and civilians should have meaning. So we attach some macho bullshit meaning to things like making it through boot-camp or getting rank. Even though we hate the Marines (or whatever service) we grow close to those who suffer with us and feel we owe allegiance to them. Even if we hate it, we carry the fact of "making it" as some shield of honor.
I can go into any room and get instant credibility by telling a group I was a Marine combat infantryman in Vietnam. I go into the same room and just say I'm a peace activist and I'll not get the same respect. When I was jailed in the city of Denver they treated me and all those arrested with me with disdain and nastiness. We went through several holding cells before we finally ended up in the assigned cell. When we got to the holding cell where they inventoried our personal property the sheriff's noticed I had a Purple Heart insignia and Marine Corporal pins on my collar. The two sheriffs asked me if I was a Marine in Vietnam. When I told them I was, all the nasty stuff stopped. They talked to me like I was human and part of their group. I was... they were both ex-Marines. The sad part of this story is the two sheriffs and most of the jail staff were black. They were the ones dehumanizing the inmates. Like men in war, they had to become "hard" to even bear what they had to do each day.
Imagine the power of this fraternity turning away from the violence. Think if we could quit being the universal soldier and become the warrior of peace.
One story I will tell you. I had a tight group in Vietnam. Whenever one of the guys talked about re-upping and coming back to Vietnam, we swore we'd kill them before they ever made it back out into the bush. Just our way of expressing our love for the man and disgust for the war at the same time. I use this story to suggest to all the young troops who tell me they feel they owe a duty to their buddies still in combat that they should ask those buddies if they want them to rejoin them in hell. They should ask themselves if they'd want their friends back in harms way.
You're right to question us men. I hope you keep challenging the male culture we've created. Duty, honor, country doesn't come at the end of a rifle or the explosion of a bomb. There are true acts of heroism in any combat situation. And any combat infantryman can tell you a hero in the morning can become a coward by night from fatigue and trauma. Heroic acts are merely reactions to intense stress but we all have a breaking point.
posted by Carol at 11:50 PM
0 comments
Mistrial
As noted by anonymous, (Watada on Trial) Ehren Watada's court-martial was declared a mistrial by the judge.
The trial, at this point, is rescheduled for March 19th - the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the war. I wonder if the judge realized that.
From Ehren Watada's website:
According to Eric Seitz, Lt. Watada's attorney, "The mistrial is very likely to have the consequence of ending this case because double jeopardy may prevent the government from proceeding with a retrial."
Interviews at Truthout. A good article at Time's website.
The trial, at this point, is rescheduled for March 19th - the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the war. I wonder if the judge realized that.
From Ehren Watada's website:
According to Eric Seitz, Lt. Watada's attorney, "The mistrial is very likely to have the consequence of ending this case because double jeopardy may prevent the government from proceeding with a retrial."
Interviews at Truthout. A good article at Time's website.
posted by Carol at 9:20 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Truth comes as conqueror only to those who have lost the art of receiving it as friend. - Rabindranath Tagore
posted by Carol at 11:54 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
We Did Not Listen
Newsweek's website has a photo gallery with audio titled The Other Side of War.
Click here to check out their site, and scroll down a short way to find the gallery.
As you view photos from the book, The Other Side of War: Women's Stories of Survival and Hope, written by Zainab Salbi, Founder and President of Women for Women International, you will hear Alice Walker's voice reading her introduction to the book.
"What is happening in Africa and elsewhere is because the men did not listen to the women and the women did not listen to the women either. And because the people did not listen to each other and themselves. And because nobody listened to the children and the poets..." - Alice Walker
Click here to check out their site, and scroll down a short way to find the gallery.
As you view photos from the book, The Other Side of War: Women's Stories of Survival and Hope, written by Zainab Salbi, Founder and President of Women for Women International, you will hear Alice Walker's voice reading her introduction to the book.
"What is happening in Africa and elsewhere is because the men did not listen to the women and the women did not listen to the women either. And because the people did not listen to each other and themselves. And because nobody listened to the children and the poets..." - Alice Walker
posted by Carol at 2:40 PM
0 comments
Watada on Trial
Yesterday, the trial for Ehren Watada began. Watada is the first commissioned officer in this war to refuse to be deployed to Iraq. He faces four years in prison for a charge of missing movement and two charges of "conduct unbecoming" for public statements critical of President Bush and the Iraq occupation war.
Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu supports Watada, saying:
"In Christian tradition, ethicists insist on the absolute primacy of obeying one's conscience. It is a categorical imperative... I pray for you fervently and those who will sit in judgement on you."
Truthout.org provides reports on the trial. In this type of case, it appears one doesn't get a trial of his/her peers.
I guess once you sign on the line, you get to go along for the ride. No more making your own decisions based on your own ethics and morals. And kiss your rights goodbye.
How many 18 and 19 year olds really know what they're getting in to when they sign up?
Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu supports Watada, saying:
"In Christian tradition, ethicists insist on the absolute primacy of obeying one's conscience. It is a categorical imperative... I pray for you fervently and those who will sit in judgement on you."
Truthout.org provides reports on the trial. In this type of case, it appears one doesn't get a trial of his/her peers.
I guess once you sign on the line, you get to go along for the ride. No more making your own decisions based on your own ethics and morals. And kiss your rights goodbye.
How many 18 and 19 year olds really know what they're getting in to when they sign up?
posted by Carol at 7:52 AM
1 comments
Monday, February 05, 2007
Our True Colors
Take away one color, block out one ray of light, deny one shape
And the beauty and balance of the whole will be diminished.
And the beauty and balance of the whole will be diminished.
posted by Carol at 9:49 AM
0 comments
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Oh Blessed Sun!
It seems like there have been too many yesterdays
of gray and snow and layer upon layer of clothes.
I walked outside today
and didn't need to contract against the cold.
I require a day like this
now and then
to feel the sun's hug around my shoulders
to soak in the warmth that will
last me through
the dark moments of life.
of gray and snow and layer upon layer of clothes.
I walked outside today
and didn't need to contract against the cold.
I require a day like this
now and then
to feel the sun's hug around my shoulders
to soak in the warmth that will
last me through
the dark moments of life.
We are nearing the next 100th, the next landmark in a sea of souls who have willingly given their lives for our country (though in reality, the lives are payment for W's fun and games). We are nearing 3100 U.S. soldiers deaths in Iraq.
I have fasted at each 100 mark for the last 6 months or so (except for the big 3000 when I was traveling). I ask myself if I will fast when the number hits 3100. I have some physical issues going on, and I really don't think that depletion will serve my body. Fasting is about sacrifice. Am I willing to possibly sacrifice my health for W's war? I'd do it in a second if I thought it would stop the insanity. But it won't. So I will light a candle instead of fasting.
My body and my acupuncturist will be happy about that.
posted by Carol at 2:36 PM
1 comments
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Pearl Harbor Serious
Diane Carman writes, in her Denver Post article, "The Scary Truth About the Climate" (added links are mine):
"Part of the curriculum at the University of Denver's Institute for Public Policy Studies is Dick Lamm's graduate-level course on building a sustainable America. The former governor brings an array of speakers to the class to talk about economics, politics and climate change.
This quarter his bright young students were so upset by what they were hearing, he worried that they were plummeting into despair. 'One of the students said she thought they needed a therapy session,' Lamm said.
That was before the dire forecast of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was released last week...
The findings of the 21-page summary appeared on the same day that Exxon Mobil reported earning $39.5 billion in 2006, the largest annual income by a U.S. company ever.
Now we all need therapy.
'The dilemma we're faced with is that if we present the reality of the future, it's so depressing,' Lamm said. 'It raises the issue of whether our society can stand as much reality as this report presents us.'
...'There is a path through the labyrinth,' Lamm said, 'but we need to get serious.
'Pearl Harbor serious.'"
I am troubled because we have allowed ourselves to create a world that gives young people a future they can hardly stand to face.
I have friends who think that global warming is being caused by governments, using weather warfare tactics. I know people who think that weather patterns just change and nothing out of the ordinary is going on. And I have lots of friends who believe that humans are soiling their own nest.
Do you think that we are really facing serious global environmental problems? Do you think there is hope? If so, where does that hope lie?
"Part of the curriculum at the University of Denver's Institute for Public Policy Studies is Dick Lamm's graduate-level course on building a sustainable America. The former governor brings an array of speakers to the class to talk about economics, politics and climate change.
This quarter his bright young students were so upset by what they were hearing, he worried that they were plummeting into despair. 'One of the students said she thought they needed a therapy session,' Lamm said.
That was before the dire forecast of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was released last week...
The findings of the 21-page summary appeared on the same day that Exxon Mobil reported earning $39.5 billion in 2006, the largest annual income by a U.S. company ever.
Now we all need therapy.
'The dilemma we're faced with is that if we present the reality of the future, it's so depressing,' Lamm said. 'It raises the issue of whether our society can stand as much reality as this report presents us.'
...'There is a path through the labyrinth,' Lamm said, 'but we need to get serious.
'Pearl Harbor serious.'"
I am troubled because we have allowed ourselves to create a world that gives young people a future they can hardly stand to face.
I have friends who think that global warming is being caused by governments, using weather warfare tactics. I know people who think that weather patterns just change and nothing out of the ordinary is going on. And I have lots of friends who believe that humans are soiling their own nest.
Do you think that we are really facing serious global environmental problems? Do you think there is hope? If so, where does that hope lie?
posted by Carol at 9:14 AM
1 comments
Friday, February 02, 2007
Young People Give Me Hope
Slam Poets at the Rally Last Weekend
I recorded 99% of the rally this past weekend, but for some reason, I turned off the recorder during the slam poetry. So I didn't get the best part: Teenagers expressing what they see going on and what's deep inside them.
These teens are going to the Denver School of the Arts where, it appears, they are allowed to speak truth as they see it, instead of being fed the "right" things to say.
It was hard to listen to them as they ranted about how it is only right that the person who calls himself our leader (or any other leader) should eat the bodies of those whose lives have been taken because of his orders. I was uncomfortable. But I got it when they said that if someone chooses to kill, then they should have to eat the heart of the human whose life they took. In other words - my take - if you can't see the other as human, if you won't see the person's wounds and guts, if you can't admit that the other person has a heart just like yours, then it is too easy for you to kill.
I have not written this as skillfully as these young people. I am not able to convey the punch in the gut that I felt while listening to them. And I apologize for that.
These teens are going to the Denver School of the Arts where, it appears, they are allowed to speak truth as they see it, instead of being fed the "right" things to say.
It was hard to listen to them as they ranted about how it is only right that the person who calls himself our leader (or any other leader) should eat the bodies of those whose lives have been taken because of his orders. I was uncomfortable. But I got it when they said that if someone chooses to kill, then they should have to eat the heart of the human whose life they took. In other words - my take - if you can't see the other as human, if you won't see the person's wounds and guts, if you can't admit that the other person has a heart just like yours, then it is too easy for you to kill.
I have not written this as skillfully as these young people. I am not able to convey the punch in the gut that I felt while listening to them. And I apologize for that.
posted by Carol at 3:50 PM
2 comments
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Happy Birthday!
To the man who loves me and supports me in doing the things that I do.
Thank you for being my desert/hiking/life buddy.
posted by Carol at 2:01 PM
0 comments
Why I Want People To Learn To Get Along
These are some photos I took at the rally this past weekend. There were a lot of young people standing for peace in the cold and snow. My heart breaks wide open when I look into the beauty of these humans who want a safe and happy future.
I know that there are those who think that a safe and happy future depends on us killing all of the bad guys and whipping them into submission, er, democracy. But I ask you... when has that ever worked? When has being beaten down caused someone to love and respect the beater?
When I look into the eyes of these small people, I wonder what price each of us is willing to pay so that they can grow to live healthy, happy lives.
I know that there are those who think that a safe and happy future depends on us killing all of the bad guys and whipping them into submission, er, democracy. But I ask you... when has that ever worked? When has being beaten down caused someone to love and respect the beater?
When I look into the eyes of these small people, I wonder what price each of us is willing to pay so that they can grow to live healthy, happy lives.
posted by Carol at 9:28 AM
0 comments
Yipppeeee!
Blogger hasn't let me post for awhile. It appears that I can now. We'll see...
Denver had a rally last weekend, in conjunction with the huge march in D.C., and the other rallies across the country. I wrote an article and took photos. My article will be published today in the local section of the Denver Post. You can read it here.
If you want to make my day, post a comment on my article on the site.
Denver had a rally last weekend, in conjunction with the huge march in D.C., and the other rallies across the country. I wrote an article and took photos. My article will be published today in the local section of the Denver Post. You can read it here.
If you want to make my day, post a comment on my article on the site.
*
posted by Carol at 9:05 AM
5 comments