Peace Messenger

Militarism on Steroids

William Astore, a retired lieutenant colonel (USAF) offers "a seven-point program to return America to a quieter, less muscular patriotism," at TomDispatch.com:

I have a few confessions to make: After almost eight years of off-and-on war in Afghanistan and after more than six years of mayhem and death since "Mission Accomplished" was declared in Operation Iraqi Freedom, I'm tired of seeing simpleminded magnetic ribbons on vehicles telling me, a 20-year military veteran, to support or pray for our troops. As a Christian, I find it presumptuous to see ribbons shaped like fish, with an American flag as a tail, informing me that God blesses our troops. I'm underwhelmed by gigantic American flags -- up to 100 feet by 300 feet -- repeatedly being unfurled in our sports arenas, as if our love of country is greater when our flags are bigger. I'm disturbed by nuclear-strike bombers soaring over stadiums filled with children, as one did in July just as the National Anthem ended during this year's Major League Baseball All Star game. Instead of oohing and aahing at our destructive might, I was quietly horrified at its looming presence during a family event....

 As a society, we've become so addicted to militarism that we don't even notice the way it surrounds us or the spasms of societal 'roid rage that go with it. The fact is, we need a detox program....  more

Religion and Torture: A Disturbing Picture

The results of a recent survey on The Religious Dimensions of the Torture Debate, conducted by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life:

Why Mainline Clergy Make Enemies

Marty E. Marty says it may have something to do with guns in his Sightings commentary (March 9) on a new study from Public Religion Research, Clergy Voices: Findings from the 2008 Mainline Protestant Clergy Voices Survey by Robert P. Jones and Daniel Cox:

While the mainliners have enemies, mainly among conservative Protestants and think-tanks on the right, they go about their work in thousands of vital congregations and more struggling ones.  Those enemies like to portray them as ideological leftists; Clergy Voices does not find them so.  The word "diffuse" shows up in the reports.  They have voices in public affairs, but rarely and mildly try to project or enforce social justice "dogma."...

...They and their members pitch in on other than directly political causes and prefer broad-based works of mercy through voluntary associations in church and beyond it.  On the large screen, most "are firmly opposed to the war in Iraq and most think Israel has to make greater concessions to achieve Middle East peace.  That, in our reading, is the solitary issue that prompts editorial and talk-show talk.  They are generally for control of guns.  Maybe that's a clue to the reasoning of those who attack them:  Taking on guns, they attack what may be America's real religion.  Read the entire column

Our Religion of Guns

From "The Religion of Guns," by John Feffer in the October 28, 2008 issue of World Beat, the weekly ezine of Foreign Policy in Focus:

Americans worship guns. We stockpile nuclear weapons, we spend hundreds of billions of dollars on conventional weapons, and we keep handguns under our pillows. Not me, you might say: never touched a gun, never will. But you can still be part of the religion without visiting the church. Consider all the video games that involve shooting. And all the movies that center around gunfights in the same way that medieval paintings focus on the life of Jesus. And all the plastic guns our kids have. Then there's our $2,000 annual per-capita share of the Pentagon budget - that's a hefty contribution to the collection plate.

Should I Fight?

Conscientious Objection and the Seventh-day Adventist Church Symposium
November 6-9, 2008
Kingsway College, Oshawa, ON

The Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada is sponsoring this event to advance understanding of Adventist teachings concerning conscientious objection, particularly in view of the militarism of Western society.

Visit http://legal.sdacc.org/cos/ for information on the program, speakers and registration.

Speakers include: Allison Bryan, graduate student in sociology at Memorial University in Newfoundland; Barry Bussey, legal advisor for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada; Lt(N) Retired Olaf P. Clausen, CD, BGS, pastor of the Lethbridge Seventh-day Adventist Church and retired Naval Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces; Jeff Crocombe, senior lecturer in theology at Helderberg College in South Africa; Ginger Hanks Harwood, professor of religion at La Sierra University in California; Ronald Lawson, professor of urban studies at Queens College, CUNY; Douglas Morgan, professor of history at Columbia Union College in Maryland; Ronald E. Osborn, Banneman Fellow of the Politics and International Relations Program at the University of Southern California; Karen R. Scott, attorney and trustee of the Center for Liberty of Conscience; Lincoln E. Steed, editor of Liberty magazine; Joel Willett, former military police officer in the U.S. Army and graduate student in Diplomacy and National Security at the University of Kentucky.