Some Human Shields Leaving Iraq?
- Thread starter Bartram
- Start date
J C
Well-Known Member
Bartram: Here's an opinion from a local Montgomerian relating to "Human Shields" in Iraq. :dude:
http://montgomeryadvertiser.com/NEWS/StoryOpiniononvoice0302web.htm
Neutrality not option for local church leaders
By Jon Broadway
The words of Dante from the 13th century echo down through the centuries: "The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality."
Our president would have us believe our beloved America is frightened and ready to make a first-strike, pre-emptive war upon an enemy that threatens our land. Our assembled naval fleet, which makes the greatest naval armadas of history look like children's bathtub toys, now aims the world's most advanced weaponry at the literal Garden of Eden of our Holy Scriptures -- the land of Adam and Eve.
As we stand on the brink of war, I wonder if there is any possibility of hope for a better outcome. But what is hope? Can we find truth in the words of St. Augustine of the fifth century when he said, "Hope has two beautiful daughters. They are Anger and Courage: Anger at the way things are and Courage to change the way things are?"
Are Hope's daughters still active today? Anger is active for sure. The news from Iraq yields much anger -- a vicious dictator causing his people to suffer in unparalleled horror, people dying from drinking water contaminated from the collateral damage from the ongoing U.S. and U.K. bombing of Iraq. According to United Nations reports, 5,000 children die each month because of contaminated drinking water.
What about courage? Surely that is active, too. Many of us agonize as our sons and daughters ship out for a war mission of unknown scope, length and exit strategy. Yet can we leave such a massive war decision only to the military professionals?
My personal pathway has become clearer as I have prayerfully considered during the past four months what my contribution might be to the quest for good, reliable knowledge of the true situation on the ground. I have been led to volunteer my service to the Christian Peacemaker Teams of Chicago to be available for a mission to Iraq, a mission of hope in a world of fear and threats.
Yet I am no apologetic pacifist. I "hit" the sandy beaches of Quantico, Va., in the summer of 1963 and trained to go to Vietnam under Marines and Navy Seals of incomparable courage and skill. Then in 1964, I mounted massive 50-caliber rotating barrel machine guns on the wooden-hulled minesweeper Albatross. But I never saw that protective blanket of bullets laid down while patrolling the Mekong Delta, defending against those primitive but supremely effective razor-sharp bamboo spears of the Viet Cong embedded along the riverbanks.
Even though I was as gung-ho as the rest, my privilege of an engineering education at Auburn University allowed me to spend my four-year Vietnam era struggling to solve and teach differential equations at the Navy's Nuclear Power School, while most of my friends left to struggle for survival in the jungles of Vietnam. I returned from the war effort with a congratulatory wall plaque while my Auburn classmate in the adjacent apartment, who preferred pepperoni pizza to solving equations, went to Vietnam and returned to his mother's arms in a black plastic bag. That was Vietnam 50,000 times over.
Let me be clear. I, too, shudder at the horrific acts of Sept. 11 and would not hesitate a minute to stop an enemy force that threatened another person. However, if necessary, I am ready to offer up my own life if that would allow even one of those young soldiers headed to the Middle East to be able to return home to his or her family.
Why? Because I believe in the Bible. The thematic message of Micah, Jeremiah, Isaiah -- and certainly from Jesus -- is clear: God intends for us a new creation, a new way of doing business, one in which tears and death from war will be no more. Instead of pre-emptive violence, the Bible clearly calls for pre-emptive non-violence; that's what these missions are about.
Those who did the unspeakable acts of Sept. 11 hijacked their scriptures to justify their terror. Unfortunately, our Bible is too often hijacked by our own church leaders and laypersons who narrowly read our scriptures to justify our cultural self-righteousness in a similar way.
Let's be honest; if Iraq were not pumping the world's second largest oil supply, our military forces would never be going there. With the United States having 6 percent of the world's population and using some 40 percent of the world's oil production just to power our own motor vehicles, that is a thirst not easy to quench. But blood for oil is a poor exchange.
Most of the national Catholic and Protestant denominations, including Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Episcopalian, as well as the National Council of Churches and even President Bush's own United Methodist church, have already spoken forcefully against the impending war, but sadly what we hear from local church leaders is deafening silence. I call for local church leaders to get off the bench and speak of that Biblical vision for resolving our conflicts. Neutrality is simply not an option.
As one of our fallen leaders from the 20th century said, "There comes a time when silence is betrayal." Friends, this is that time. The words of Dante from the 13th century echo down through the centuries: "The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality."
Jon Broadway is an elder at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Montgomery. He has worked as an expert on projects for the World Health Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency. He is a former Fulbright scholar to Russia, where he evaluated the post-Chernobyl nuclear situation, and also has evaluated water systems throughout Latin America.
http://montgomeryadvertiser.com/NEWS/StoryOpiniononvoice0302web.htm
Neutrality not option for local church leaders
By Jon Broadway
The words of Dante from the 13th century echo down through the centuries: "The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality."
Our president would have us believe our beloved America is frightened and ready to make a first-strike, pre-emptive war upon an enemy that threatens our land. Our assembled naval fleet, which makes the greatest naval armadas of history look like children's bathtub toys, now aims the world's most advanced weaponry at the literal Garden of Eden of our Holy Scriptures -- the land of Adam and Eve.
As we stand on the brink of war, I wonder if there is any possibility of hope for a better outcome. But what is hope? Can we find truth in the words of St. Augustine of the fifth century when he said, "Hope has two beautiful daughters. They are Anger and Courage: Anger at the way things are and Courage to change the way things are?"
Are Hope's daughters still active today? Anger is active for sure. The news from Iraq yields much anger -- a vicious dictator causing his people to suffer in unparalleled horror, people dying from drinking water contaminated from the collateral damage from the ongoing U.S. and U.K. bombing of Iraq. According to United Nations reports, 5,000 children die each month because of contaminated drinking water.
What about courage? Surely that is active, too. Many of us agonize as our sons and daughters ship out for a war mission of unknown scope, length and exit strategy. Yet can we leave such a massive war decision only to the military professionals?
My personal pathway has become clearer as I have prayerfully considered during the past four months what my contribution might be to the quest for good, reliable knowledge of the true situation on the ground. I have been led to volunteer my service to the Christian Peacemaker Teams of Chicago to be available for a mission to Iraq, a mission of hope in a world of fear and threats.
Yet I am no apologetic pacifist. I "hit" the sandy beaches of Quantico, Va., in the summer of 1963 and trained to go to Vietnam under Marines and Navy Seals of incomparable courage and skill. Then in 1964, I mounted massive 50-caliber rotating barrel machine guns on the wooden-hulled minesweeper Albatross. But I never saw that protective blanket of bullets laid down while patrolling the Mekong Delta, defending against those primitive but supremely effective razor-sharp bamboo spears of the Viet Cong embedded along the riverbanks.
Even though I was as gung-ho as the rest, my privilege of an engineering education at Auburn University allowed me to spend my four-year Vietnam era struggling to solve and teach differential equations at the Navy's Nuclear Power School, while most of my friends left to struggle for survival in the jungles of Vietnam. I returned from the war effort with a congratulatory wall plaque while my Auburn classmate in the adjacent apartment, who preferred pepperoni pizza to solving equations, went to Vietnam and returned to his mother's arms in a black plastic bag. That was Vietnam 50,000 times over.
Let me be clear. I, too, shudder at the horrific acts of Sept. 11 and would not hesitate a minute to stop an enemy force that threatened another person. However, if necessary, I am ready to offer up my own life if that would allow even one of those young soldiers headed to the Middle East to be able to return home to his or her family.
Why? Because I believe in the Bible. The thematic message of Micah, Jeremiah, Isaiah -- and certainly from Jesus -- is clear: God intends for us a new creation, a new way of doing business, one in which tears and death from war will be no more. Instead of pre-emptive violence, the Bible clearly calls for pre-emptive non-violence; that's what these missions are about.
Those who did the unspeakable acts of Sept. 11 hijacked their scriptures to justify their terror. Unfortunately, our Bible is too often hijacked by our own church leaders and laypersons who narrowly read our scriptures to justify our cultural self-righteousness in a similar way.
Let's be honest; if Iraq were not pumping the world's second largest oil supply, our military forces would never be going there. With the United States having 6 percent of the world's population and using some 40 percent of the world's oil production just to power our own motor vehicles, that is a thirst not easy to quench. But blood for oil is a poor exchange.
Most of the national Catholic and Protestant denominations, including Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Episcopalian, as well as the National Council of Churches and even President Bush's own United Methodist church, have already spoken forcefully against the impending war, but sadly what we hear from local church leaders is deafening silence. I call for local church leaders to get off the bench and speak of that Biblical vision for resolving our conflicts. Neutrality is simply not an option.
As one of our fallen leaders from the 20th century said, "There comes a time when silence is betrayal." Friends, this is that time. The words of Dante from the 13th century echo down through the centuries: "The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality."
Jon Broadway is an elder at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Montgomery. He has worked as an expert on projects for the World Health Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency. He is a former Fulbright scholar to Russia, where he evaluated the post-Chernobyl nuclear situation, and also has evaluated water systems throughout Latin America.
