Summer of Hell in Syria |

Read my post of Thursday, July 19 in the blog of CODEPINK: Women for Peace:

Summer of Hell in Syria | PINKtank


'via Blog this'

In the Christian Scriptures

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus taught his followers in what has come to be called, The Sermon on the Mount. There he included these words:

"You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. "You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

In the Letter of Paul to the Romans are these words:

Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly;do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 

Awesome August

I am exploring and reading a book. It is about a holy conversation that was held on the battlefield of what we in Kentucky call, a feud, such as that famous one held in the post-Civil War hills of Eastern Kentucky/West Vrginia.

The book is that of  Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation by Steven Mitchell (New York: Three Rivers Press, c 2000).

The book, often called just Gita, is part of the foundational poetic epic of India and it was a favorite of Emerson and Thoreau. Gandhi called it his mother.

I happen to be getting into the Gita, coincidentally, in the auspicious month of August. On August 6, 1945, the United States of America  initiated an atomic bomb attack on the city of Hirhoshima, Japan. August 6  is also the day that the Christian ligurgical calendar reserved for the Transfiguration of Jesus . On August 9, 1945, the United States attacked--atomically again --another city of Japan, one called, Nagasaki.

Robert Openheimer, a U.S. scientist witnessing the first atomic explosion on July 16, 1945,  quoted the  book the Gita.

Mitchell writes in his introduction:

The climax of the Gita is its eleventh chapter, in which Krishna appears to Arjuna in his supremem form. It is a terrifying theophany, a glimpse into a level of reality that is more tha the ordinary mind can bear. Arjuna sees

the whole universe enforded, with its countless billions of life-forms, gathered together in the body of the God of gods.

 Krishna dazzles his sight blazing in

the measureless, massive sun-flame splendor of his radiant form.

This is a vision of pure energy, which does not discriminate between good and evil, creation and destruction. No wondered it entered modern history through the story of Robert Oppenheimer's response to the first atomic explosion at Alamogordo on July 16, 1945. What other image form literature could have been so uncanny right for that occasion?

If a thousand suns were to rise and stand in the noon sky blazing, such brilliance would be like the fierce brilliance of that mighty Self.

As the bomb exploded, Oppenheimer thought of another, later verse:

I am death shatterer of worlds annihilating all things.


Chapter twelve in the Gita, the chapter following the sight of  radiant Krishna, contains these words:

He who has let go of hatred, who treats all beings with kindness and compassion ...

The same to both friend and foe ...

that man is the one I love best.


According to the Gospel stories. aftter Jesus was transfigured, he descended the mountain and began a journey of holy conversation to Jerusalem where he was crucified.

Before Jesus was arrested, he told his disciples, as the apostle Paul later told the Christian community of Rome:

Love one other.


On August 23, my husband and I celebrate our thirtieth wedding anniversary.


May Peace Prevail On Earth!

I Declare World Peace.

May you do so also.


_______

For more about the Gita, see Karen Armstrong's The Great Transformation.

Books!

Books have guided me on my spiritual and activism journey. It seems there is usually another book with my name on it just around the corner.

Here is a list of some books of rather recent vintage that have guided this Peace Advocate and provided the backdrop to my blog. I provide the list by author and group by subject or relatedness. The year given is the year of publication. I share these books to let folks know where I am coming from and with hope that some may perk readers' interest. There are a number of other books by some of these authors that readers may find helpful.


I will have to give some credit to my husband. He and I have both had a chance to read the last few years since our children have been grown and he has retired. He has pointed out a number of them to me and we have had some good discussions.

Karen Armstrong ~ 

• 
  
  A History of God (1993)
• 
  
  Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths (1996)
• 
  
  The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (2000)
• 
  
  The Great Transformation: The Beginning of our Religious Traditions (2006)

John Dominic Crossan ~

• 
  
  Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (1994)
• 
  
  With Jonathan Reed ~ In Search of Paul: How Jesus' Apostle Opposed Rome's Empire with God's Kingdom (2004)
• 
  
  God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now (2007)

Marcus J. Borg ~

• 
  
  The Heart of Christianity (2003)
• 
  
  Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary (2006)

John Dominic Crossan and Marcus J. Bog ~

• 
  
  The first Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus' Birth (2007)

Brian D. McLaren ~

• 
  
  Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope (2007)

Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin ~

• 
  
  Three Cups of Tea : One Man's Mission to Fight Terror and Build Nations--One School at a Time (2006) 

Greg Mortenson ~

• 
  
  Stones into Schools : Promoting Peace With Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan (2009)   

 Malalai Joya with Derrick O'Keefe ~ 

• 
  
  A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice (2009)

Thanksgiving & Afghanistan

This Thanksgiving was a big one for me and my family. Now I do not usually blog about my family, but this time is an exception.




My family was all together for the feast! This is the first time in a number of years that my family has been together for the occasion.



My son is vegan; I am vegetarian and my husband and daughter are carnivores. For whatever reason, probably a number of reasons, my daughter had been at odds with my son for some time. She has lived with my husband and me. My son has lived on his own. We have been a dysfunctional family that included mental and emotional problems. Since I am not a great cook and because of our lifestyle, my husband, daughter and I usually ate out--Chinese-- for Thanksgiving.



I realize I am exposing the family’s dirty laundry, but there is a reason.

This year my daughter had a change of heart and instigated a family feast. My son now has a partner and an infant son. She asked my son and his partner to do the cooking at our new abode. They graciously prepared and cooked for us all. Even though it was on Friday, because of my son’s job, it was quite a day--a very good and fulfilling one (in more ways than one).

Now for the reason of my writing:

I am quite disheartened by President Obama’s war surge in Afghanistan.

I have not lived through an actual war, but I have lived through war. For years, there has been tension and conflict in my family. I felt inconsistent in my work for peace in the world with my life at home. To have experienced some sort of reconciliation in my family has been gratifying. I do not know how long it will last, but I am grateful for the present.

I firmly do not believe that war or more war is the way to peace.

Somehow folks on this planet have got to learn to live together. Gandhi said that violence begets violence and he quoted St. Paul in saying that we reap what we sow. I believe this is so.

I certainly do not have all the answers. I do believe that the needs of the people of Afghanistan needed to be tended to and that more war is not one of them.

I sometimes think that people also have to find their own way through the maze and that we just need to give them the support they need to get through it.

Sometimes we wait in support. The Taoists speak of wu wei, creative action of inaction, and there is truth to that and in that.

I am also a firm believe in the power of prayer. I know that I have profited from the prayer of others and that my own prayer has been of value

I have been using the little prayer of the World Peace Prayer Society and variations thereof: May Peace Prevail On Earth! You can read about that prayer and its use here.

I pray such things as,” May Peace Prevail in My Family,” “May Peace Prevail in Afghanistan,” and “May Peace Prevail in the Domestic and Foreign Policies of the United States.” I encourage people to try it ad use it.

I also think about Robert Fulghum’s writing, All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten. He included:


Share everything.


Play fair.


Don't hit people.


Put things back where you found them.


Clean up your own mess.


Don't take things that aren't yours.


Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.


Maybe the United States can learn some lessons.

You can read more from Fulghum’s writing here.

Independence?

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.
--George Orwell, Preface to Animal Farm (1945)

Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof Lev. XXV X
--From the inscription on the Liberty Bell, originally known as "Independence Bell" or the "Old Yankee's Bell", that comes from Leviticus 25:10, "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.“


Coming soon to this country--July 4, in fact-- is Independence Day: a day to wave the flag if there ever was one.

I have been thinking about this concept of “independence.”

I notice that our Declaration of Independence speaks of nations assuming among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them. It also includes, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” That statement is followed by, “That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men.”

Wikitionary give this definition of independence: “The state or quality of being independent; freedom from dependence; exemption from reliance on, or control by others; self-subsistence or maintenance; direction of one's own affairs without interference.“

Wikepedia has this:

Independence is the self-government of a nation, country, or state by its residents and population, or some portion thereof, generally exercising sovereignty.
The term independence is used in contrast to subjugation, which refers to a region as a "territory" —subject to the political and military control of an external government. The word is sometimes used in a weaker sense to contrast with hegemony, the indirect control of one nation by another, more powerful nation.
Independence can be the initial status of an emerging nation (often filling a political void), but is often emancipation from some dominating power. It can be argued that independence is a negative definition: the state of not being controlled by another power through colonialism, expansionism or imperialism. Independence may be obtained by decolonization, or by separation or dissolution.
We, as individuals and as a country, are very proud of our independence. However, this passage from Wikipedia should give us second thought. Independence for ourselves and for our country, but what about others and their countries from us? Shouldn’t we, as the great nation, keep other countries under our influence? I don‘t think so.

Let’s look at what is going on at present.

We have supported, especially by our actions, including our military aid, the State of Israel and its Occupation over the Palestinians who have been denied their own rights and land. In March 2003, we invaded the sovereign state of Iraq and still have a military presence there. Following 9-11, we invaded the rather failed state of Afghanistan and are now escalating our troops there. (Not to mention that we had supported insurgents there in the eighties in resistance to the Soviets and then deserted them.) We have been sending drones over Afghanistan’s neighbor, Pakistan, killing and displacing many there and encouraging their own country to do so. (This is all not to mention our many troops stationed at military bases all over the globe.) The Shia Islamic nation of Iran has recently had an election of which the results are in doubt and the people are rising up which in turn has been followed by the clerical regime cracking down. To our credit, our president is staying out of it, but has denounced the violent crackdown. (The Iranians still remember that in in 1953 we overturned their duly elected president and put in our own man, the despotic Shah, in his place.)

I do believe that we need to support human rights and independence, but I do not believe that war is the answer. I know that to some that sounds very naïve, but I am even saddened that our own independence was gained by violent revolution. I just noticed that Howard Zinn in an article called, “A Just Cause [Does Not Equal] a Just war,” in The Progressive of July even questioned this use of violence. (The issue is not online yet, but the magazine’s Website is here.) I think of Gandhi and his use of ahimsa (nonviolence) and satyagraha (truth force) in ending British rule over his India. I also think of King and his use of those principles in helping his African-Americans obtain their civil rights in this country.

In 2006, CODEPINK posted a page online and still there that gives passages for July 4 talking points. I would like to give some of them here for reflection.

James Madison wrote in his Political Observations of April 20, 1795:

Of all the enemies of true liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the people. The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in the inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war, and in the degeneracy of manner and of morals, engendered in both. No nation can preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.
War is in fact the true nurse of executive aggrandizement. In war, a physical force is to be created; and it is the executive will, which is to direct it. In war, the public treasuries are to be unlocked; and it is the executive hand which is to dispense them. In war, the honors and emoluments of office are to be multiplied; and it is the executive patronage under which they are to be enjoyed; and it is the executive brow they are to encircle. The strongest passions and most dangerous weaknesses of the human breast; ambition, avarice, vanity, the honorable or venal love of fame, are all in conspiracy against the desire and duty of peace.
The then-Secretary of State John Quincy Adams in a speech to Congress on July 4, 1821 said of the United States:

She has abstained from interference in the concerns of others, even when conflict has been for principles to which she clings, as to the last vital drop that visits the heart. She has seen that probably for centuries to come, all the contests of that Aceldama the European world, will be contests of inveterate power, and emerging right. Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy.
She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all.
She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.
She will commend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example.
She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force....
She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit....
[America's] glory is not dominion, but liberty. Her march is the march of the mind. She has a spear and a shield: but the motto upon her shield is, Freedom, Independence, Peace. This has been her Declaration: this has been, as far as her necessary intercourse with the rest of mankind would permit, her practice.
Finally, Rep. Barbara Lee in a speech to Congress on September 14, 2001 opposing the Post 9-11 Use of Force Act said:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart, one that is filled with sorrow for the families and loved ones who were killed and injured in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Only the most foolish or the most callous would not understand the grief that has gripped the American people and millions around the world.
This unspeakable attack on the United States has forced me to rely on my moral compass, my conscience, and my God for direction.
September 11 changed the world. Our deepest fears now haunt us. Yet I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism against the United States.
I know that this use-of -force resolution will pass although we all know that the President can wage war even without this resolution. However difficult this vote may be, some of us must urge the use of restraint. There must be some of us who say, let's step back for a moment and think through the implications of our actions today-let us more fully understand their consequences.
We are not dealing with a conventional war. We cannot respond in a conventional manner. I do not want to see this spiral out of control. This crisis involves issues of national security, foreign policy, public safety, intelligence gathering, economics, and murder. Our response must be equally multifaceted.
We must not rush to judgment. For too many innocent people have already died. Our country is in mourning. If we rush to launch a counterattack, we run too great a risk that women, children, and other non-combatants will be caught in the crossfire.
Nor can we let our justified anger over these outrageous acts by vicious murderers inflame prejudice against all Arab Americans, Muslim, Southeast Asians, and any other people because of their race, religion, or ethnicity.
Finally, we must be careful not to embark on an open-ended war with neither an exit strategy nor a focused target. We cannot repeat past mistakes.
As we approach Independence Day, maybe besides our own independence, we should think about the independence of others and how to get there. Maybe we should wave a pink flag for peace. Maybe we should even think seriously about implementing true energy independence--green energy and conservation.

As the biblical Apostle Paul told the Philippians, “ Think about these things.”