"I must not contemplate darkness before it stares me in the face. And in no case can I be party, irrespective of non-violence, to a universal strike and capture of power. Though, therefore, I do not know what I should do in the case of a breakdown, I know that the actuality will find me ready with an alternative. My sole reliance being on the living Power which we call God, He will put the alternative in my hands when the time has come, not a minute sooner." - 'Independence,' Harijan, 28 July 1946 (from The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi edited by Raghavan Iyer)
Since my first air raid drill when I was seven, 1962, ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_tKAg5KIuQ), I have contemplated darkness. Even a seven year old knew that nuclear war would be apocalyptic.
By the age of seventeen, I didn't believe I would live to be thirty. Someone would use 'the bomb.' And not just one bomb, but lots and lots and lots of bombs.
Miracles happen. 'The bomb' has never been used...so far.
In this country (USA), politicians talk about the 'third rail' of politics (the 'third rail' refers to a dangerous, not-to-be-touched, train rail between the two main rails that provides electricity for subway systems and the like). By that they mean the government provided social safety net that prevents the elderly, the disabled, and children from starving to death or dying from disease.
My country still has thousands of nuclear bombs buried in corn fields in Kansas. Still has them deep under the oceans in submarines. Still keeps them loaded on airplanes that are flying at the edge of the go/no-go line. No one ever talks about the fact that this country is still prepared to destroy the planet on a moments notice.
This is not the third rail of American politics. This is buried in our backyard.
There I go again, contemplating darkness.
Miracles happen.
I believe with Gandhi, that God will put alternatives in our hands and until then, I must learn to hope and I must work for peace.
Showing posts with label weapons of mass destruction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weapons of mass destruction. Show all posts
11 April 2011
01 April 2011
Children - The Number One Threat to National Security
"Its use (Passive Resistance*), therefore, is, I think, indisputable, and it is a force which, if it became universal, would revolutionize social ideals and do away with despotisms and the ever-growing militarism under which the nations of the West are groaning and are being almost crushed to death, and which fairly promises to overwhelm even the nations of the East." -'Theory and Practice of Passive Resistance,' Indian Opinion, Golden Number, 1 Dec. 1914 (from The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi edited by Raghavan Iyer)
As I watch my country try to balance it's budget by slashing money for children, the poor, and the sick, and I hear almost no voices talking about reducing the number of soldiers, guns, bombs, and weapons of mass destruction, I can only hang my head in shame. The richest nation in the world can keep enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world several times over, can develop the most high-tech weaponry for the slaughter of other human beings, can fight three wars, but won't take care of it's own neglected, abused, and orphaned children.
And the irony is, that even if they cut every dollar for every child in this country, we would still have a massive debt because of the money we spend on military weapons to abuse, orphan, or kill other people's children.
Apparently the politicians in this country consider children to be the biggest threat to our nation's security.
This is not higher mathematics. You don't have to be a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon to figure this stuff out.
The truth is that the politicians in this country are liars and we want to be lied to. If we didn't want that, we would stop voting for these people. And it's not one party or the other. Both parties are in this together.
The Policy of the United States of America: Neglect, Abuse, Orphan, and Kill Children - ours, other peoples, doesn't matter.
Neglect, Abuse, Orphan, and Kill Children.
*Gandhi explained earlier in the quoted article that the term 'Passive Resistance' was really a misnomer for what he called satyagraha, Truth-Force and what Tolstoy called Soul-Force or Love-Force.
As I watch my country try to balance it's budget by slashing money for children, the poor, and the sick, and I hear almost no voices talking about reducing the number of soldiers, guns, bombs, and weapons of mass destruction, I can only hang my head in shame. The richest nation in the world can keep enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world several times over, can develop the most high-tech weaponry for the slaughter of other human beings, can fight three wars, but won't take care of it's own neglected, abused, and orphaned children.
And the irony is, that even if they cut every dollar for every child in this country, we would still have a massive debt because of the money we spend on military weapons to abuse, orphan, or kill other people's children.
Apparently the politicians in this country consider children to be the biggest threat to our nation's security.
This is not higher mathematics. You don't have to be a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon to figure this stuff out.
The truth is that the politicians in this country are liars and we want to be lied to. If we didn't want that, we would stop voting for these people. And it's not one party or the other. Both parties are in this together.
The Policy of the United States of America: Neglect, Abuse, Orphan, and Kill Children - ours, other peoples, doesn't matter.
Neglect, Abuse, Orphan, and Kill Children.
*Gandhi explained earlier in the quoted article that the term 'Passive Resistance' was really a misnomer for what he called satyagraha, Truth-Force and what Tolstoy called Soul-Force or Love-Force.
26 March 2011
"The End of the World as We Know It"
"I hold that he who invented the atom bomb has committed the gravest sin in the world of science. The only weapon that can save the world is non-violence. Considering the trend of the world, I might appear a fool to everyone; but I do not feel sorry for it. I rather consider it a great blessing that God did not make me capable of inventing the atom bomb." - Talk with Englishmen (G.), Biharni Komi Agman, pp. 253-4 (from The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi edited by Raghavan Iyer)
I am not capable of inventing the atom bomb. I am, however, capable of loading an atom bomb on an airplane, strapping in the pilots, starting the engines, and taxiing the plane out of the bunker it was stored in, and I have done just that.
The birth of my biological daughter and son were paid for because I could do that. My home loan was cheaper and my loan was guaranteed because I could do that. My health insurance is paid for because I could do that. I can be buried in a hero's grave because I did that.
I have practiced the end of the world, many, many times.
At the time, I thought my motives were good. I was not a patriot protecting my country, I was a husband supporting his family.
I didn't think I had any other options at the time, and I am not ashamed that I made that choice.
But the sin is a heavy weight.
A heavy weight that has opened my eyes to what I believe to be the true path; non-violence.
I am not capable of inventing the atom bomb. I am, however, capable of loading an atom bomb on an airplane, strapping in the pilots, starting the engines, and taxiing the plane out of the bunker it was stored in, and I have done just that.
The birth of my biological daughter and son were paid for because I could do that. My home loan was cheaper and my loan was guaranteed because I could do that. My health insurance is paid for because I could do that. I can be buried in a hero's grave because I did that.
I have practiced the end of the world, many, many times.
At the time, I thought my motives were good. I was not a patriot protecting my country, I was a husband supporting his family.
I didn't think I had any other options at the time, and I am not ashamed that I made that choice.
But the sin is a heavy weight.
A heavy weight that has opened my eyes to what I believe to be the true path; non-violence.
21 February 2011
I Voted for Richard Nixon, pt. 2
"The stench that comes from that life (politics) has appeared to some to be so suffocating that they came to the conclusion that politics were not for a god-fearing man." Speech at Guildhouse Church, under the auspices of the Franciscan Society, The Guildhouse, 23 Sept. 1931
Not that I'm a god-fearing man (sometimes I am and sometimes I'm not), but the stench does appear to be suffocating.
Even if I ignore the creeps and crumb-bums and ignoramuses who go into politics in this country, even if I ignore present day political policies designed to ensure that tens of thousands of Americans die from automobiles, junk food, toxic air and water, etc., even if I ignore the money that has always swamped our political system and now threatens to drown us all, I can't ignore the guns and bombs.
I have a marksman's medal awarded by the U.S. government for shooting an M-16. I loaded a live nuclear bomb on my airplane in a revetment in Germany, strapped in the pilots, taxied it out, and saluted the end of the world.
My first vote was for a crook, a criminal. My last vote (Barack Obama) was for (sigh) just another politician.
But I have hope that things can change.
Not that I'm a god-fearing man (sometimes I am and sometimes I'm not), but the stench does appear to be suffocating.
Even if I ignore the creeps and crumb-bums and ignoramuses who go into politics in this country, even if I ignore present day political policies designed to ensure that tens of thousands of Americans die from automobiles, junk food, toxic air and water, etc., even if I ignore the money that has always swamped our political system and now threatens to drown us all, I can't ignore the guns and bombs.
I have a marksman's medal awarded by the U.S. government for shooting an M-16. I loaded a live nuclear bomb on my airplane in a revetment in Germany, strapped in the pilots, taxied it out, and saluted the end of the world.
My first vote was for a crook, a criminal. My last vote (Barack Obama) was for (sigh) just another politician.
But I have hope that things can change.
19 February 2011
I Voted for Richard Nixon, pt. 1
"My bent is not political but religious and I take part in politics because I feel that there is no department of life which can be divorced from religion and because politics touch the vital being of India almost at every point" Letter to G.S. Arundale, Young India, 6 Aug. 1919
In 1972, having just left home to go to college, I registered and voted for Milhouse. My father was a dyed in the wool Republican and I respected and feared my father. I was afraid of everything. Voting Republican was an attempt to put up a bulwark against fear.
After this election, I fell in with a bad crowd - bridge players. I spent the four years learning the finer points of how to squeeze RHO to unblock his queen of hearts. I lost track of politics.
Then came the military and politics had a new urgency for me. Politic decisions affected my paycheck. Political decisions could end my life. An bent winged bug sucker (F-4E Phantom) with my name spray painted on the cockpit could fly away with a nuclear bomb to help end the world. I had a baby girl.
My views changed. Unfortunately, politics in America had not.
I just couldn't vote for Defense Policies that had the end of the world as a backup plan and Republican or Democrat, that was and remains our country's fall back position.
In 1972, having just left home to go to college, I registered and voted for Milhouse. My father was a dyed in the wool Republican and I respected and feared my father. I was afraid of everything. Voting Republican was an attempt to put up a bulwark against fear.
After this election, I fell in with a bad crowd - bridge players. I spent the four years learning the finer points of how to squeeze RHO to unblock his queen of hearts. I lost track of politics.
Then came the military and politics had a new urgency for me. Politic decisions affected my paycheck. Political decisions could end my life. An bent winged bug sucker (F-4E Phantom) with my name spray painted on the cockpit could fly away with a nuclear bomb to help end the world. I had a baby girl.
My views changed. Unfortunately, politics in America had not.
A young Englishman (yes, that Dudley Moore) is talking to a friend about his upcoming visit to America:
“Paxton Whitehead: They (the United States) have inherited our two party system.
Dudley Moore: How does that work?
Paxton Whitehead: Oh, well, they have the Republican Party which is the equivalent of our Conservative Party, and they have the Democratic Party which is the equivalent of our Conservative Party.” – Beyond the Fringe, 1962
I just couldn't vote for Defense Policies that had the end of the world as a backup plan and Republican or Democrat, that was and remains our country's fall back position.
11 February 2011
Collateral Damage
"We should understand that the less violence a religion permits, the more is the truth it contained in it." The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, edited by Raghavan Iyer, p 103
Translations of the Bible vary on what exactly is meant by the Sixth Commandment. Many scholars say that the intent was not "thou shall not kill," but rather, "thou shall not murder." The difference makes killing in self-defense or defense of kingdom or kin acceptable.
Faced with the choice of killing or being killed, I don't know how I would react. If someone attacked my wife or daughters, I would defend them. I would like to think that if a neighbor was attacked I would go to their aid. But what of a total stranger?
And what kind of aid would I provide? What kind of defense would I put up? I don't own a gun, but their is a baseball bat next to my bed and on more than one occasion when a noise has waked me in the night, I have taken it with me when I investigated.
And then there is the whole question of the food I eat? Is it murder to eat a steak for dinner? I know that I didn't kill the cow, but the cow died for my sins. I'm trying to reduce the meat I eat, but I'm not vegetarian yet.
But what if the commandment really is "thou shall not kill?" I don't see any 'if, ands, or buts' in that statement.
My money supports the killing of thousands in far away lands. People who intend no harm to me, my kin, and my country . Women and children caught in the crossfire. I am responsible for their deaths. Directly responsible.
Translations of the Bible vary on what exactly is meant by the Sixth Commandment. Many scholars say that the intent was not "thou shall not kill," but rather, "thou shall not murder." The difference makes killing in self-defense or defense of kingdom or kin acceptable.
Faced with the choice of killing or being killed, I don't know how I would react. If someone attacked my wife or daughters, I would defend them. I would like to think that if a neighbor was attacked I would go to their aid. But what of a total stranger?
And what kind of aid would I provide? What kind of defense would I put up? I don't own a gun, but their is a baseball bat next to my bed and on more than one occasion when a noise has waked me in the night, I have taken it with me when I investigated.
And then there is the whole question of the food I eat? Is it murder to eat a steak for dinner? I know that I didn't kill the cow, but the cow died for my sins. I'm trying to reduce the meat I eat, but I'm not vegetarian yet.
But what if the commandment really is "thou shall not kill?" I don't see any 'if, ands, or buts' in that statement.
My money supports the killing of thousands in far away lands. People who intend no harm to me, my kin, and my country . Women and children caught in the crossfire. I am responsible for their deaths. Directly responsible.
10 February 2011
Lucky Man
"(Modern Civilization's) greatest achievements are the invention of the most terrible weapons of destruction, the awful growth of anarchism, the frightful disputes between capital and labour and the wanton and diabolical cruelty inflicted on innocent, dumb, living animals in the name of science..." The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, edited by Raghavan Iyer, p. 83
I am a lucky man. I don't have to think about these things if I don't want to. I can indulge myself with wonderful food, mass entertainment, and tons of stuff to make my life easier, softer.
And I do.
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/373116/february-07-2011/exclusive---the-seven-deadly-sins---gluttony-mash-up
FYKSYAR4G3GH
I am a lucky man. I don't have to think about these things if I don't want to. I can indulge myself with wonderful food, mass entertainment, and tons of stuff to make my life easier, softer.
And I do.
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/373116/february-07-2011/exclusive---the-seven-deadly-sins---gluttony-mash-up
FYKSYAR4G3GH
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