December 2007 archive

No, it’s not Protestantism or Baptis(m?)…

It doesn’t have anything to do with God, you see.

America’s real religion is Violence, with a capital “V.”

America was born out of violence, the massacre of the aboriginal North Americans, the war upon Britain for Independence, and the Civil War that solved the final question of the enslaving of other human beings.

America still worships violence, as can be seen on any television station (even religous programming talks of “War against Islam” and “Soldiers of Christ” and “Crusade…”)

And the 2nd Amendment, in my view, is what has so polluted and corroded the social fabric of American culture.

OK, my last diary was pretty much pro-Democratic party.  Just to show that I am a real progressive, here’s another diary.

I had a conversation on the phone with a staffer from the DCCC.  Nice guy, who described his own politics as “red and green” (he did not mean Republican Red).  We talked for about 10 minutes.  I eventually agreed to give a minimal gift – a gift so small it’s almost an insult, like leaving a nickel tip.  But he gave me a phone number to call, to tell them what I think.  He assured me, they are eager to listen.  Maybe he’s just blowing smoke.  But I’m gonna call

202 863 1500

Here’s what I intend to say.  I propose a 7 point plan:

1) Begin impeachment proceedings

2) Repeal the Patriot Stolen Freedom Act

3) Reverse the Bush tax idiocy

4) Eliminate the Department of Homeland Security Privacy Invasion

5) Back an inclusive ENDA

6) Repeal NCLB

and, oh yeah

7) De-fund the War

Today I’d like to write about peacemakers – who are they and what do they do? And no, not the kind that try to avoid conflict – but the kind that take on the war machine and attempts by the powerful to marginalize whole groups of people. The more I look into this, the more I see that there are peacemakers of all kinds who find their own various paths to peacemaking.

A few months ago I found a wonderful site that many of you might know of already, peaceCENTER. They have a list of peace heroes with short bios about their contributions to the world. I know you could never do an exhaustive list of peacemakers, but this one inspired me in all its wonderful history and diversity. Of course it includes the names of those we cherish in this work, like Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Cesar Chavez, Bishop Oscar Romero, Henry David Thoreau, Bishop Desmond Tutu and The Dalai Lama. But how about some of these names?