Shame and the Discourse of the Silent
Today's print news contain two juxtaposed headlines: one dealing with the wake of violence and destruction left in New Orleans following the racism and incompetence that marks the legacy of the Bush administration’s "handling" of Katrina, and the other dealing with the continuing (racist AND imperial) violence and destruction ensuing in the Middle East that marks the shame of our nation as we tolerate the Bush Administration’s "handling" of the "War on Terror."
Here's how the New Orleans analysis begins (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/us/11orleans.html?th&emc=th):
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News Analysis
Storm Left New Orleans Ripe for Violence
By ADAM NOSSITER
NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 10 — The storm of violence that has burst over this city since New Year’s Day can be traced in part to dysfunctional law enforcement institutions, aggravated by a natural disaster that turned the physical and social landscape of New Orleans into an ideal terrain for criminals.
Eight killings have occurred in 10 days. New Orleans, the United States’ murder capital by many measures in 2006, is well on its way to keeping that distinction in 2007. Since July 2006, there have been at least 95 murders per 100,000 residents, and possibly a higher ratio depending on how the city’s depleted population is counted, said Peter Scharf, a criminologist at the University of New Orleans.
Frightened citizens now see their city as a stalking ground, roamed with impunity by teenagers with handguns — an image that may not be far off the mark, experts here say.
There are a variety of reasons for the descent toward chaos..."
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And then there is the WAR (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/washington/11assess.html?th&emc=th)
News Analysis
Bush’s Strategy for Iraq Risks Confrontations
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 — By stepping up the American military presence in Iraq, President Bush is not only inviting an epic clash with the Democrats who run Capitol Hill. He is ignoring the results of the November elections, rejecting the central thrust of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group and flouting the advice of some of his own generals, as well as Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq.
In so doing, Mr. Bush is taking a calculated gamble that no matter how much hue and cry his new strategy may provoke, in the end the American people will give him more time to turn around the war in Iraq and Congress will not have the political nerve to thwart him by cutting off money for the war...~
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Following last night's Presidential Address to the Nation, I responded to a friend who suggested that this was just another Bush "mess".
I said, I wish it were only a penchant for screwing up. Alas, I think this is real evil: the deceit that goes along with a hunger for power and the masking of that by lies and brutality; the sowing of confusion to avoid discovery; the pure opportunism and impunity that allows an evasion of responsibility by sacrificing human life. To me, this is the picture of the Powers at work. $450 BILLION WASTED (HOWMANY SCHOOLS AND MEDICAL FACILITIES COULDTHAT BUY?) OVER 800,000 IRAQUIES HAVE BEEN KILLED AND OVER 3000 AMERICAN SOLDIERS ARE DEAD. AND ALL OF THIS TO MAINTAIN THE PRESCOTT BUSH DYNASTIC MALIGNANCY WHOSE LEGACY IS A NATIONAL DISGRACE. I'm very ashamed of what I saw on television last night. Disgrace and despair has got me by the heels today.
As I consider how to act in a more faithful way than despairing, I think of how important it is to speak in community; to speak with the intention of taking action; to speak in some way that will actually motivate action.
To this end, I wonder if we can agree to establish a table that shares information on inter-denomination/inter-faith ANTI-WAR actions that we can participate in and report back to our brothers and sisters on this site.
Let us not be like those whom we all have read about (and perhaps known) who maintain a "discourse of silence" in times of shame - one that is constituted by arcane discussions designed to blind our eyes and shield our hearts from the real evil of our time.
If you have any suggestions on HOW to undertake to do this please respond ... [Thanks to Fr. Dear for your excellent coverage of peace initiatives; this is an adjunct effort.]
Thanks for the not so
Thanks for the not so obvious reminder. The nice thing about real communing with God is that I find myself much more inclined to let Him come up with His solutions, rather than dictating mine to Him. Sometimes I even like His solutions. :)
Amen, Kate! And so much the
Amen, Kate! And so much the better, if we pray both corporately and PUBLICLY as a means of bringing our prayers to the Lord and the world to prayer.
The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near." (Phil 4:4-5)
Amen Kate! The more we
Amen Kate!
The more we discover how much we are Loved by God, the more we want to do God's Will
I receive e-mail
I receive e-mail opportunities to make immediate responses to salient issues by way of internet instuments that provide reports of effect in the aftermath. Some of the organizations that I correspond with are : tikkun.org , Sojourners.com , NCADP.com , Stop the NRA and others. I actively sought them out in my disgust and disappointment with the current state of affairs. NCDAP gives me the chance to contact Governors who can grant clemency to those who face imminent engagement with Capital Punishment. Many Environmental groups offer similar opportunities in the form of petitions and letter writing campaigns.
( I intended this to be posted beneath William Lindsey's response .)
Humans Grow In Virtue Not By Being Forced To Repeat Virtuous Actions But By Freely Choosing Such Actions
And I assume you also
And I assume you also correspond with organizations that represent victims and victims' families? You know, the people left emotionally devastated by the loss of loved ones at the hands of murderers?
The prepared statements at
The prepared statements at the NCDAP site are prefaced with a profound affirmation of sympathy and the need for appropriate redress of the wrongs done.
Humans Grow In Virtue Not By Being Forced To Repeat Virtuous Actions But By Freely Choosing Such Actions
As for myself, I support the
As for myself, I support the President 100%. I am also extremely grateful that WWII was not covered in the same manner that the Iraq war has been. In WWII, at the Battle of the Bulge, roughly 10,000 troops died in the first hour. In Iraq we have lost 3000+ brave soldiers in what, four years? In that time, we toppled a vicious tyrant, helped the Iraqis elect a provisional government, protected them while they wrote a constitution, saw them ratify that constitution, and saw them try and execute Hussein.
The sectarian violence, mainly between the Shi'ites and Sunnis, with material and manpower support from Iran and Syria, is a situation that can be solved. The question is does America have the political will? With the Democrats and the mainstream media openly rooting for defeat because of their venemous hatred of President Bush, I am extremely pessimistic. Just as Hitler's Nazis had Agents of Influence buried in our media, as did the Soviets during the cold war, Al Qaeda has defacto Agents of Influence infesting Washington and the major media, where they gleefully and loudly root for Al Qaeda.
I will continue rooting and praying for the President. I would invite all NCR bloggers to at least join me in praying for him.
While NOT supporting this
While NOT supporting this view, I believe that this is one area were the debate really must be joined, viz. the sectarian violence that IS CURRENTLY going on in the Shi'ite/Sunni civil strife and the impact of the inevitable US troop withdrawal. The human suffering in the Middle East is monumental. My particular concern is where the voices of the churches are and how, in very practical ways, we of moral conscience can address this by way of religious obligation, theological warrant, and committing ourselves in God's name in a way that actually costs us more than rhetorical exchanges.
Is there a way to make common cause around the human suffering if not the political analysis?
The Rev. Dr. E. McCoy
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near." (Phil 4:4-5)
Thank you, Elaine--both for
Thank you, Elaine--both for a posting that draws an eloquent comparison between the Katrina story and the war rhetoric, and for challenging us to recognize that, in being silent, we are complicit.
I share your conclusion that "this is real evil: the deceit that goes along with a hunger for power and the masking of that by lies and brutality; the sowing of confusion to avoid discovery; the pure opportunism and impunity that allows an evasion of responsibility by sacrificing human life."
I also share your conviction that we must challenge evil by speaking and acting in community.
I can point to one inter-denomination and inter-faith anti-war action going on within my own community. I'm referring not to my home, but to the community in Florida in which I am now working.
I discovered soon after I took a job here in June that there is a weekly demonstration in my town calling on the President to bring the troops home. To my shame, I have not yet taken part in the demonstration. At the time of the recent elections, those doing the protesting came under rather heavy fire from some local citizens who see them as unpatriotic. These critics wrote a string of letters to the local papers attacking the protesters. This resulted in a string of letters defending them.
I point to these protests since they are at least one way in which people can be involved in their local communities. "All" that the protesters do is stand on a street corner at a designated time each week, holding signs asking for the troops to be brought home. The letter-writing option strikes me as another possibility to be involved, too.
I'm trying now to channel my energies as an educator in the direction of forming communities of discourse about important values issues facing our society. I hope this is not a cop-out, and that I am not evading more direct activity of the kind I engaged in during the Civil Rights period and Vietnam War years. It just seems extremely important to me now to try to impart some sense of values in young folks, while I still have a voice to use as a teacher.
William D. Lindsey
Maybe this seems obvious,
Maybe this seems obvious, but one thing Christians are called to do regarding situations such as the Middle East is pray. I don't mean a simple sentence in the usual monrning litany. Something that allows us to really commune with God and spend some time focusing on the prayer intention. Ideas of what to do might well come out of prayer.
Kate