Catholic Peace Fellowship Newsblog

Do Whatever He Tells You

2006-12-12T12:56:00.000-08:00

Advent must begin with Mary, who presents us with the infant Christ. “The flesh of Jesus is
the flesh of Mary,” St. Augustine wrote. “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”
When I go to the crib this year I will think, as I always do, that we are not dependent on the
governments of this world for our safety, but “the government will be upon His shoulder.” This
baby cradled in a manger, this boy talking to the doctors in the temple, this youth working with St.
Joseph as carpenter, this teacher walking the roads of Palestine, “Do whatever He tells you,” Mary
told us.
————
First published in the November 26, 1966, issue of Ave Maria at Notre Dame, IN.

Cardinal Bertone Urges Nonviolence

2006-11-29T10:38:00.000-08:00

An Article from the Houston Catholic Worker

Vatican Declares Catholicism a Peace Church:
Follow the Way of the Great Prophets of Peace, the way of Conscientious Objection and of Alternative Social Service, the way of Nonviolence

by Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, new Vatican Secretary of State

Excerpted from Cardinal Bertone's first address to the Vatican Diplomatic Corps, all the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, on September 29, 2006.

Our contemporaries hope that the diplomats in their role will contribute to establishing and maintaining "an international order, the art of establishing reasonable human relations among peoples" (Paul VI, Speech to the Diplomatic Corps, January 8, 1968). They desire also that the diplomats will be peacemakers, "servants of the interests of the peoples" (cf. John Paul II, Speech to the Swiss Diplomatic Corps, June 13, 1984), men of law, of reason, of sincere dialogue, and who promote a renewed impetus of solidarity among peoples, especially in order to review the matter of the debt of the poorest countries so that there will never again be persons, above all children, who die of hunger or endemic illnesses, that never again will there be innocent victims of war or local conflicts; that never again will anyone be mistreated for their convictions or their beliefs.

A universal commitment is urged on behalf of the neediest of the world, of the poorest, of the persons who often seek in vain for that on which they and their families might live. The dignity, the freedom, and the unconditional respect of every human being in their fundamental rights, in particular their liberty of conscience and of religion, must be among the primordial concerns, given that we must be in solidarity with their situation and with the future of our brothers and sisters, not remaining indifferent in the face of the sufferings that disfigure man and which each day are before our eyes.

I know how much diplomats are particularly attentive to these delicate questions in the whole world. I think especially of the violence, in all its forms, inflicted on women, and on children, born or about to be born. The defense of life, from conception to its natural end, just as the defense of the family based in marriage, are also essential themes of social life. Paul VI also emphasized that diplomacy "confronts more directly the real and concrete problems of social life, and above all what can be defined as the most important of all, the problem of peace" (Speech to the Diplomatic Corps, January 8, 1986).

As he said, in a speech on December 6 of 1986:

"The contribution of the Holy See to the question of peace is particularly rich and comprehensive, since the key points of the Magisterium largely surpass the systematic and organic in-depth study of the theologians." There exist profound links, underlined by the Popes, between peace and the development of peoples, between peace and liberation, between peace and human rights, between peace and international solidarity.

The Popes have given new names to peace and have offered ways to arrive at true peace. Ways that do not exclude, but integrate one with another: political and diplomatic ways, that become concrete through agreements that prevent and block conflicts; juridical and institutional ways, that raise up new institutions to guarantee security and peace; a psychological and pedagogical way-I say this as a Salesian, as a son of Don Bosco-that through multiple educational centers tends to form a culture of peace; the way of the witness of the great prophets of peace; the way of conscientious objection and of alternative social service, the way of nonviolence.

The crucial fields where the intersection of the prophetic aspect and the concrete necessities of life appear most strongly-that a human ethics also must consider, particularly in the context of private and organized violence, marked also by the plurality of opinions that confront them are the following:

- Social Protection to guarantee objective order and the defense of human rights;

- Condemnation of war in the field of ethics, and its exclusion as a means to resolve eventual differences between States

- Security , which privileges nonmilitary components and reinforces instead political, economic and social structures;

- Disarmament , which must embrace all types of arms, and thus become general, including the objective of "unilateral disarmament," that covers a great ethical and positive value.

On these themes, the search of intellectuals and the reflections of organisms of the Church and Christian communities will never stop.

In every case, the documents of the Holy See, and above all the clearly evident Magisterial postwar texts, are not texts which one can read over quickly or, even worse, be allowed to be ignored. They are texts that must be read attentively and meditatively, so that the ideas can be translated into practical actions and the world can recognize the force and current importance of the Christian message in the gift of self and the courage with which Christians act on behalf of peace, today, for all people.

( Translated by the Houston Catholic Worker from the Spanish-language text provided by the Vatican ).

Houston Catholic Worker, Vol. XXVI, No. 6, November-December 2006.
http://www.cjd.org/paper/peacechu.html

Ireland, Principles, and Jobs

2006-11-28T09:01:00.000-08:00

So, Shannon Airport in Ireland is still on my mind. I was chased out of there in the fall of 2002 with an Irish peace activist who was keeping tabs on American military planes stopping over on their way to the Middle East. Ireland's constitution declares it a neutral state, so some of the Irish understandably take offense to foreign warplanes landing in the country. I was doing research on nonviolent activism in Ireland at the time.

The fight over Shannon Airport in Ireland, like so many other defense industry fights, comes down to principles vs. jobs. On the one hand you have folks advocating for peace and neutrality, and on the other, folks reminding everyone that a fella's got to eat. And if a fella earns his daily bread by cashing in on a heavy traffic of military personnel and equipment on its way to blow away who-knows-what-sorry-bastard, well... That's the way the world is. Not pretty. But a fella's got to eat.

I caught a little fresh perspective on Shannon Airport, and on this whole sad principles/jobs divide, just last week. I was returning from a trip to Europe and one of the airports I hit on the way back was Shannon. Now, I've known for some time about US transport jets refueling there, terror suspects being sent through in "extraordinary renditions," etc. etc. Still though, it was jarring to walk into the airport lounge and be confronted with some 50 odd American Navy sailors in sand-colored cammies.

Most of them were standing around the bar, drinking pints. A few younger enlisted types were wandering around the duty free shop, which is where I was. They were coming home for Thanksgiving and picking up gifts for their mothers, little brothers, alcoholic uncles, and so on. Normal Americans, good kids, the sort of women and men I talk with every day on the GI Rights Hotline.

Now, I don't look like much, but I don't think I look like a penniless slob (OK, I actually do look like a penniless slob, but I try not to while traveling--less hassle from security). So it was interesting to see what happened as I stood there perusing the whiskey selection. As soon as a man or woman in cammies entered the whiskey aisle, a nice Irish lady would run up and ply them with free samples of expensive booze, cajoling them to take a nice bottle home to mom, or dad, or of course to alcoholic uncle Steve. Meanwhile, I was thoroughly ignored. Even when I was left alone in the whiskey aisle, staring at labels, with the free sample lady similary unoccupied a few feet away at her table.

The lesson? Free sample lady knew where the money was. It was in the pockets of the lonely American boys and girls heading to Chicago for a weekend-long reprieve from the worst experience of their lives.

This is what the jobs side of the principles vs. jobs fight looks like. An old lady pushing booze into the hands of giddy and sad American kids.

Related links:

Peace On Trial, website for the Irish Ploughshares community which smashed up a US navy jet at Shannon using hammers, prayed, were arrested, had three trials, and were unanimously acquitted.

...Into Ploughshares, a brand new blog by Ciaron O'Reilly. Ciaron was one of the aforementioned Ploughshares activists, and he's a friend of mine.

Catholic Worker Statement to the Bishops

2006-10-31T12:29:00.001-08:00

At the conclusion of National Catholic Worker Gathering, held from October 19-22 in Panora, Iowa, Catholic Workers from across the U.S. issued a statement appealing to the U.S. Catholic Bishops to break their silence and to call for an immediate end to the U.S. War in Iraq and Afghanistan. They also called on the Bishops to call for the eradication of the recently passed Military Commissions Act which allows for the indefinite detention for "enemy combatants", the ending of habeas corpus right for these prisoners, and the use of abusive interrogation methods which clearly constitute torture.

Over 300 Catholic Workers from over fifty houses, including from Germany and Holland, attended the Catholic Worker Gathering. The Catholic Worker was founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in 1933, and the late John Cardinal O'Connor initiated a process in the catholic Church for her sainthood.

Declaring that torture and war are sins, the group called on the U.S. Catholic Bishops to do the following:

• call for an end to the U.S. practice of torture.
• call for an immediate end to the U.S. war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• offer counsel to and support for conscientious objectors.
• call for the closing of Guantanamo and all secret military prisons and torture centers.
• call on all Catholics and people of faith to engage in prayer, fasting and acts of nonviolent resistance to stop torture and to end the war.

The group also called on Catholics and other people of goodwill to join them for a nonviolent action in Washington, DC on January 11, 2007, the 5th anniversary of the first prisoners arriving at Guantanamo, to call for its closing.

Read the entire statement

Welcome to the No Fact Zone

2006-10-10T07:03:00.000-07:00

I attended a talk the other night at Bethel College, an evangelical college in the South Bend area. The title was “Unmasking Terrorism,” and advertisements promised I’d be hearing from a Palestinian-former-terrorist-turned-evangelical-Christian. So it seemed like the kind of thing that would be worth checking out.

The talk that followed however, given by one Walid Shoebat, truly shocked me. I was appalled. An evening that started with vanilla praise music quickly turned into a hate-fest that had me thinking of 1984. It was horrifying; in fact, I was reminded of the Old Latin version of Psalm 95/96: “The gods of the heathens are demons.” What went on at Bethel truly put me in mind of the demonic. They were saying the name “Jesus,” but the God they described was something hideous and malformed.

The talk also put me in mind of Steven Colbert’s “No Fact Zone.” I always figured he was exaggerating the Right’s tendency to color everything with ideology (which can of course also be said of the Left). I didn’t realize he was describing certain people’s tendency to spread vicious half-truths and lies. Specifically…

Among Mr. Shoebat’s claims throughout the night were the following points (please note that these claims are written as they were communicated during his talk—he might present things differently in writing, but this was the content as heard in the audience):

All terrorists are Muslims; there are no Christian or atheistic terrorists. At all. Anywhere in the world. When confronted with the example of Northern Ireland, he said, “There is no longer terrorism in Ireland.”
Arabs had only been living in (or perhaps ruling, he used ambiguous language) Israel/Palestine for a total of 100 years prior to the creation of the modern state of Israel in 1948.
Until 1948, the Zionist movement carried out the acquisition and settlement of land in Israel/Palestine entirely peacefully, without the use of arms or any kind of coercion.

Meanwhile, his plan for dealing with international Islamic extremism and terrorism seemed to be as follows:

Begin closing mosques. He definitely advocated the forcible closure of mosques in the US and Europe, and as far as I can recall he hinted that this would be appropriate for the Middle East as well.
Send Christian missionaries to the Middle East to accompany American troops. I’m drawing this from a comparison he made between a drug-infested neighborhood and the Middle East. He said that one doesn’t send Harvard professors to a drug-infested neighborhood to solve its problems. One sends ministers and Christian community workers and armed police. He emphasized that the police had to be armed. He left the audience to draw its own conclusions about how his metaphor applied to the Middle East. I think it was obvious what he was suggesting.

Most disturbing of all were the “Amen”s that came from the audience now and then as Mr. Shoebat poured out his hatred.

I don’t really know what to do in response to this kind of stuff. I’d try to bring up the excellent points the Pope made in his Regensburg address about faith and reason, but I’m afraid his quote from that Byzantine text would just encourage them. Sigh…

Letter from Intelligence and Military Professionals on Use of Torture

2006-09-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

Today, a letter was sent to the Judiciary Committee to the attention of Senator Arlen Specter and Senator Patrick Leahy. It represents the views of former US Government and military officials who served in the CIA, in the Army, in the Air Force, at the
Department of State and the FBI. It represents a consensus view that torture is an ineffective and immoral practice.

Read the letter

"Yea, those Muslims and their violence"

2006-09-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

The Muslim world is furious; the rest of the world is nervous. The comments by the pope late last week marked his entry--whether intended or not--into the volatile world of religion and violence. And many Muslims are not liking what was said.

But was he only talking to them?

Christians seem oblivious of the connection between the remarks and our own practice of our own faith. On the topic of religion sanctioning violence, our response is, "yeah, those Muslims." Yet even though the pope used a Christian-Muslim dialogue to make his point, the speech itself was aimed at his own flock: the Christian world. And we too ought to feel the heat (as should Islamicists) of the pope's real bombshell last week at Regensburg: true faith has no room for violence.

Let the Muslim world ponder that claim. And let the Christian world—which has brought us World Wars, nuclear weapons, and now an ongoing hail of violence and threats of violence—ponder the claim with them.

By now most are familiar with the quote from the 15th century Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus. Debating with an educated Persian on the subject of Christianity and Islam, the emperor took issue with the prophet's apparent approbation of violence and said, "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

Yet that is not the end of the quote. It goes on to claim that "God is not pleased by blood....Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats....To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death..."
The pope states his interpretation here quite simply: "Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul."

How are we missing the relevance of these words for Western Christians who have put forward military might as a tool in "spreading freedom?" Certainly no one is saying the War on Terror is religious, but to hear the rhetoric and to see the ecclesial supporters, the whole enterprise has a kind of religious feel to it. And besides, if religious doctrine is no rational basis for war, is politics somehow okay?

George Weigel and Richard John Neuhaus seem increasingly perplexed by the growing pacifism of the Holy See. First they tried to dismiss John Paul the Great as a kindly old man who, of course, wants peace but really should stick to religion and let the U.S. exercise "prudential" warcraft. But now comes along Benedict, the one who in a May 2, 2003 Zenit interview said that "we should be asking whether it is still licit to speak of the very existence of a 'just war'."

And again in last week's Regensburg speech, the pope rejects the very basis for violence. It is not rational. One way of putting the pope's point is that the authentic commands of God are reasonable, even if faith is needed to penetrate their depths. And, of course, to see what the Father commands, we turn to the Son who shows us the face of the Father. In that turn, to Jesus Christ, we have full clarity. Christ offers a way of nonviolent, sacrificial love of friends and enemies. Period. No wiggle room for building nukes—whether it is Muslim Iran or Christian America-—or using violence to further principles.

World Prayer for Peace, Assisi

2006-09-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

The Community of Sant'Egidio just finished hosting the 20th annual inter-religious world prayer for peace in Assisi, an event that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1986. Pope Benedict XVI sent a letter on peace to the gathering, and Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Community, offered his typically wise and loving remarks.

I found his address at the end of the gathering particularly moving. He is so right in saying that conflict is not our metaphysical destiny, and right in pulling the rug out from the "realism" that finds war the only outcome to the mixing of religion and civilizations in the global theater. Riccardi reminds us that we are destined for peace and it is our obligation to actively seek it.

Find the list of all talks given at the gathering here.

Catholic Peace Fellowship featured on the BBC

2006-08-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

The BBC interviewed me a while back and used the interview in the August 24th edition of their program, Crossing Continents.

It's an intriguing episode focusing on military recruitment, a subject which is also, coincidentally, the focus of our forthcoming issue of the Sign of Peace. Especially interesting in my opinion is the time the news team spends with an Army recruiter while he's on the job. He recruits in Kokomo, Indiana, a town with an unusually high number of casualties in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

You can listen to the story, "Recruiting for the US Military," at the Crossing Continents website (note there's about 90 seconds of news before the episode on recruitment begins).

(Also note that we're actually in the old St. Stephen's rectory, not the old St. Vincent's rectory.)

Updates from Lebanon

2006-08-23T06:35:00.000-07:00

The following is an excerpt from Kathy Kelly's "Massacre at Qana," which she posted while in Southern Lebanon.

"Cana. New Testament scriptures say that Jesus spent time here. A story tells of Jesus’ mother, Mary, entreating the beloved son to show concern for newly arrived wedding guests. Who would listen to a widow’s concern? The tradition tells of a miracle, of water turned to wine.

"Qana. Who will listen to bereaved mothers entreating the heavens for an end to the hellish, fiery explosions that slaughter their children. The facts tell of a massacre, the astonishing technological capacity to identify and then to exclude the children from life itself."

Kathy Kelly, currently in Beruit with Farah Moktareizadeh, has posted further updates and pictures of their experience in this devastated area on the "Voices of Creative Nonviolence" website, www.vcnv.org..

Recruiting "Irregularities"

2006-08-21T13:40:00.000-07:00

A new report from the Government Accounting Office outlines what it calls “recruiting irregularities.” For those unfamiliar with such charitably bureaucratic language, that means instances of unethical or illegal behavior by recruiters.

Apart from the always-shocking instances of recruiters sexually assaulting new recruits, the bland GAO report actually has quite a few stories to tell.

Particularly interesting are a few statistical tidbits that confirm some of the things I’ve heard on the GI Rights Hotline. For instance, pages 30-34 show that about 30% of recruiting irregularities in the Army have to due with recruiters covering up, in one way or another, new recruits’ medical histories. Many of the people I talk with (some with quite debilitating illnesses, like one poor guy who seems to have had Guillain-Barré syndrome) accuse their recruiters of having cajoled/encouraged/persuaded/commanded them to lie about their medical histories. They need to lie about medical histories because otherwise they couldn’t get into the military.

There’s a heck of a lot of problems with recruiters doing that. Apart from the fact that they’re endangering the recruit’s life, the lives of his/her fellow servicemembers, and asking him/her to lie, recruiters also cost the government a lot of money. According to the GAO report (page 25), the Army spends $17,000 just to recruit and process each recruit, and another $50,000 or so to get them through basic training.

That means that this particular “recruiting irregularity,” aside from being grossly immoral in and of itself, probably also costs American taxpayers millions of dollars a year.

So why do recruiters do it? Well, every branch of the military (except the Marines) rewards recruiters based on how many recruits they get to sign an initial contract, not how many recruits actually make it through training (page 25). So a recruiter can put sick recruit after sick recruit into boot camp, and even if every one of those recruits gets sent home early for medical reasons, that recruiter can still win that “Best Recruiter of the Year” trophy.

The GAO has been recommending a change in recruiter evaluation policies for some 8 or 9 years in order to do away with the institutional rewards for immoral recruiting practices, but nothing has come of it yet.

Ah, bureaucracy. Let’s give it a hand, folks.

The Lebanon 2006 war has produced its first conscientious objectors.

2006-07-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

by Lily Galili
Ha'aretz

The Lebanon 2006 war has produced its first conscientious objector - Staff Sergeant Itzik Shabbat, a 28-year-old TV producer. He refused to comply with an emergency order (Tsav 8) to report today for reserve duty in the territories in order to free forces in the standing army for the war in Lebanon.

Shabbat, a resident of Sderot, had not yet decided last night whether he would go to his reserve unit today and announce there that he was refusing to do reserve duty or whether he would not report at all and be considered absent.

"I know people will attack me and ask how could I not take part in this war when Qassams are falling on my hometown and Katyushas on the towns in the north," he told Haaretz. "In my opinion, only this type of opposition that I've chosen will put an end to the madness that is going on now and will shatter the false feeling that the entire home front supports this unnecessary war that is based on deceptive considerations." Read More

Irish Activists Acquitted

2006-07-25T12:07:00.000-07:00

A few friends of mine from my Ireland days have just been acquitted in a three-year-old case. They damaged a US Navy jet in Ireland back in the spring of 2003. A Dublin jury found that they had lawful excuse to damage the plane, i.e. destroying the plane would hinder an illegal war (!) and therefore such destruction was not technically illegal . An amazing precedent (though legally it's probably not a precedent-setting case)...

Read about it here.

Liturgy and war and the United States Cathoic Bishops

2006-07-12T08:39:00.000-07:00

Read Robert Waldrop's commentary on the recent actions of U.S. Bishops. Robert is a member of the Oscar Romero Catholic Worker House and Director of Music at the Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Church in Oklahoma City. His essay does not necessarily reflect the views of the Catholic Peace Fellowship.

www.justpeace.org/liturgyandwar.htm

Philippines Abolishes Death Penalty

2006-06-28T09:53:00.000-07:00

On June 24, the feast of St. John the Baptist, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines presented Benedict XVI with a new law that abolishes the death penalty in her country, meaning that 1200 inmates on death row will now receive life in prison.

President Arroyo's move was praised by the Pope as a hopeful sign. However, the Filipino Church, the largest in Asia, will continue to speak out against the multitude of human rights abuses, including extrajudicial executions and mining operations, in the country.

Christian Just War Theory and Moral Laxity

2006-06-20T09:04:00.002-07:00

"If there is any absolute moral law in Christianity, in Catholicism or in Natural Law Morality, it is 'Thou shalt not murder.' In moral law, murder is the intentional unjust killing of a human being(s). Two Popes have said that the war by the United States Government on Iraq is unjust. Killing in an unjust war is unjust killing - murder. Yet, every bishop, archbishop and cardinal who is an Ordinary of a diocese in the United States - save one - believes, to the point of strict moral certainty, that the killing in this war is just. With moral certainty they have chosen in the midst of a most grave moral matter, intimately connected with the sanctity of human life and the recognition of the sanctity human life, to follow George Bush's interpretation of the moral will of God rather than John Paul II's. They have also countenanced, without even a whisper of protest, those immortal souls in their spiritual care doing the same. Something is very wrong here."

Emmanuel Charles McCarthy

Read "Christian Just War Theory and Moral Laxism" in its entirety

Iraq Vets Go Homeless

2006-06-12T11:49:00.000-07:00

From the New York Daily News

New wars swell ranks of lost vets

Ex-G.I.s fight to survive on home front

BY CORKY SIEMASZKO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Ten years after the U.S. pulled out of Vietnam, an army of shell-shocked veterans began reporting to homeless shelters.

Now those desperate ranks are being joined by veterans of conflicts where the guns are still blazing - the Iraq and Afghan wars.

And social workers fear the trickle of stunned soldiers returning from Baghdad and Kabul has the potential to become a tragic tide.

"The Iraq vets are showing up now, and asking for help now," said Yogin Ricardo Singh of the Brooklyn-based Black Veterans for Social Justice. "What surprises me is how young they are."

Read more...

Women COs to be Honored

2006-05-31T10:22:00.000-07:00

On Friday, June 9, 2006, the War Resisters League will present its annual Peace Award to four women who are conscientious objectors to the U.S. Military. Diedra Cobb, Anita Cole, Kelly Dougherty and Katherine Jashinski, will represent the growing class of these new COs.

All are welcome to attend the dinner and ceremony at 6:30. You must register by June 5. For registration information, go to https://secure.serve.com/resist/dinner2006.htm

The Haditha Massacre

2006-05-31T07:56:00.000-07:00

On November 19, 2005, when the Marines from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, killed unarmed civilians in Haditha, Iraq, we lost the lives of 24 precious images of God. What is more, we suffered the wounds of the numerous souls of the ones who deliberately killed them. We mourn both of these losses.

The men who actually pulled the triggers that ended the lives of these innocent civilians must ask for forgiveness from God for their heinous crimes. We pray that they do.

At the same time, we must not exonerate others of this massacre - those who have trained these men to kill on command, those who have sent these men for their third tour in Iraq to kill on command, and those who have celebrated U.S. victories won by the soldiers who have killed on command.

Lt Col. Dave Grossman, in his book On Killing, quoted a Vietnam veteran on the My Lai massacre, which he said was carried out by "ordinary, basically decent American soldiers": "You put those same kids in he jungle for a while, get them real scared, deprive them of sleep, and let a few incidents change some of their fears to hate....Kill, rape, and steal is the name of the game."

We all share some of the responsibilty for this murder, and must ask forgiveness for not stopping it. As Paul wrote, "When one member suffers, all the members suffer with it" (1 Cor 12:26). We are suffering.

US to soften tactics

2006-05-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

Interesting article from the Guardian:

US softens tactics in Iraq after British claims of trigger-happy troops

Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Wednesday May 3, 2006
The Guardian

US forces are switching tactics in Iraq to take a less confrontational approach to civilians in response to criticism from British military commanders that they have been too tough.

American commanders are ordering marines and soldiers manning checkpoints or travelling in convoys to be less trigger-happy. Instead of firing into the air or at civilians to warn them off as they approach checkpoints or convoys in cars, troops nervous about suicide bombers are being encouraged to use strobe lights and other means to signal that they should slow down or back off. Troops are also being told to be less rough during searches.

Lieutenant-General Peter Chiarelli, commander of day-to-day operations in Iraq, has sent his commanders articles from the British press that criticised US forces for being unnecessarily tough.

Read the whole article here.

Army Suicides Increase

2006-05-01T07:34:00.000-07:00

An AP article that ran in USA Today a week ago on Army suicides.

Quite a tradeoff--fewer desertions, more suicides. Though obviously the ratio is not one to one.

Army suicides hit highest level since 1993

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of U.S. Army soldiers who took their own lives increased last year to the highest total since 1993, despite a growing effort by the Army to detect and prevent suicides.

In 2005, a total of 83 soldiers committed suicide, compared with 67 in 2004, and 60 in 2003--the year U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq. Four other deaths in 2005 are being investigated as possible suicides but have not yet been confirmed. The totals include active duty Army soldiers and deployed National Guard and Reserve troops.

"Although we are not alarmed by the slight increase, we do take suicide prevention very seriously," said Army spokesman Col. Joseph Curtin.

"We have increased the number of combat stress teams, increased suicide prevention and training, and we are working very aggressively to change the culture so that soldiers feel comfortable coming forward with their personal problems in a culture where historically admitting mental health issues was frowned upon," Curtin said.

Of the confirmed suicides last year, 25 were soldiers deployed to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars -- which amounts to 40% of the 64 suicides by Army soldiers in Iraq since the conflict began in March 2003.

Read the whole article here.

Desertions Decreasing?

2006-04-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

The Chicago Tribune, the least slanted of the Chicago newspapers, had a decent article Monday on folks who go AWOL or UA from the military:

Iraq War Spurs Few Deserters

American soldier Levi Moddrelle returned on leave from Iraq on Christmas Eve 2003, his mind and body scarred from war. A few weeks later, scheduled to deploy to Iraq again and telling friends he didn't want to die, the Kentucky helicopter mechanic went missing.

"Something happened to him over there that made him run away," said his mother, Susan Tileston, from her home in Stanford, Ky.

Moddrelle, 22, is one of more than 9,500 enlisted military personnel--from all branches of the service, including the National Guard--who have abandoned their service since the start of the war, according to military statistics.

Moddrelle, however, is part of a diminishing minority, not a growing trend. The number of desertions has dropped every year of the Iraq war, despite rising opposition to the conflict at home. More...

Why We Fight

2006-04-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

Why We Fight... And Don't Fight

Did you know... One in six soldiers returning from Iraq experiences mental health problems; 60 percent of all recruits receive no college funding from the military; according to the VA, 90 percent of recent women veterans reported experiencing sexual harassment and a third of those were raped. . . . Read more of these hard facts, as well as devastating personal testimony of military members and their families, in 10 Reasons Not to Join the Military, a new book edited by Elizabeth Wiell-Greenberg and published by The New Press.

We also encourage you to get to the nearest theatre to watch Why We Fight, the brilliant new documentary by Eguene Jarecki, winner of the grand jury prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. Why We Fight examines how Dwight D. Eisenhower's prediction of an uncontrollable American military-industrial complex has been actualized in recent decades, especially in the Iraq War.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961

Enemy Soldiers Gather for Peace

2006-04-10T09:20:00.001-07:00

The Christian Science Monitor reporter Ameilia Thomas reports on "Combatants for Peace," a group of Israeli and Palestinian soldiers who have been meeting in secret for a year to search for common ground. All are former combatants who struggled to defend their state - but half of them are former Israeli soldiers or pilots, while the other half are former Palestinian "freedom fighters," many of whom served time in Israeli jails. Combatants for Peace brings together these ex-fighters to encourage dialogue, peace, and an end to conflict in the region. Read the story...

Visit the Combatants for Peace Website.

Sailors learn Army basics

2006-04-04T12:46:00.002-07:00

Sailors learn Army basics to prep for downrange deployment

With the Pentagon's call on the Navy to provide forces to ease the strain on Army and Marine Corps ground units, naval individual augmentees are flocking to South Carolina to learn the basics of ground combat.

"You take a sailor... who has lived on a 564-foot ship, and all of a sudden, you're integrating him into a ground combat environment. It's night and day for us," said Master Chief Petty Officer Anthony Evangelista, fleet master chief for U.S. Naval Forces Europe/6th Fleet. Read the Stars and Stripes article

Allegiance, or, Serving Two Masters

2006-03-28T13:24:00.000-08:00

Friend of CPF Joshua Casteel posted this comment in response to the discussion under Jesuit Priest Defends ROTC. But I think his thoughts are worth bringing up to the top:

"The ongoing conversation of ROTC and Catholic education is missing the point with regard to one major issue: allegiance. Let's leave violence aside for a time and assume fully that the Church didn't just screw up when it thought through the rigorous parameters which eventually developed into the Just War doctrine. So, with that assumption already made, let's take a look at what enlisted soldiers and commissioned officers swear they will do in fulfillment of the offices to which they are charged.

ENLISTMENT
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).

COMMISSIONING
"I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God." (DA Form 71, 1 August 1959, for officers.)

The military is an institution that serves two entities: the Constitution and the President. The President is the servant of the Constitution. By serving these two entites, the military serves the Nation. Once a person raises their right hand and takes this oath, they abdicate all moral autonomy to make future decisions as to who exactly is an enemy to the Constitution, and how such enemies are to be dealt with. A service member is a servant to a new master, and the interests of this master trump any and all personal convictions (within the bounds of civic law) which might complicate the fulfilling of obligations, which is why we should look to a few main areas of the oaths themselves.

Both oaths demand "true faith and allegiance," and commissioned officers must be "without any mental reservation" as to their readiness to serve the interests of the nation in defense against enemies to the Constitution. So, without addressing any specifics of any war in particular as to whether it may or may not meet the criteria of the Just War doctrine, we see from the very moment of initiation a demand made of service members essentially to submit entirely, without reservation, to the absolute authority of the State in determining the parameters of justice, and more importantly, how individual soldiers are to treat their "enemies". So, let's look at the command of another authority.

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other." -Matthew 6:24

Until such a thing exists in the US allowing Catholics to selectively object to wars deemed unjust by the Church, ALL Catholics serving in the military are put into a position of grave moral peril where they must choose which master to follow. It is a decision between the State and Christ's Church. The State is not an institution entirely indebted to the Gospel, and as long as Catholics are willing to raise the right hand and swear an oath of allegiance always and without reservation to uphold State interests, as interpreted by the State, Catholics will continue to serve two masters.

The problem is not so much one of doctrine, but one of deeds and duties. And as long as Catholics continue to abdicate, freely and voluntarily, the moral freedom given to them by Chirst, Church teaching will continue to be without effect. The issue is much more one of allegiance and taking seriously the fact the parameters of the State and the parameters of the Church, and the duties implied by each sphere are radically different. The political landscape has altered greatly since the time of Augustine and Aquinas. If they read our oaths, what would they think? Would they think democracy a likely avenue to arrive at Gospel interests? Would they think reformulating the geopolitical landscape of a region as equally a "just cause" as defense of the Church? Would they think natural resource security as high a cause as defense of the Church? And what would Prophets such as Isaiah, Ezekiel, or Jeremiah think if they looked at the oaths we so flippantly take in service of worldly dominions? I argue that everyone from Isaiah to Aquinas would be quite saddened by how easily we have accepted the new gospel of democratic nationalism, and how easily we have forgotten that we already have a political nation called the Church, and we already have a commander in chief - Christ. Which master do we choose?"

Conscientious Cooperation

2006-03-27T11:52:00.000-08:00

The LA Times has published an excellent obituary for Desmond Doss, the heroic "conscientious cooperator" of World War II:

"Desmond T. Doss was an unlikely World War II hero.

A conscientious objector who served as an Army medic in the Pacific, he was ridiculed and cursed in boot camp by fellow soldiers for refusing to carry a weapon.

Instead he carried a pocket-size Bible on Guam, Leyte and Okinawa and when not treating the wounded, the Seventh-day Adventist from Virginia would read Scripture.

But although his religious beliefs forbade his taking of lives, Doss did what he could to save the lives of comrades.

For his heroic actions on Okinawa, including braving heavy enemy fire to single-handedly rescue 75 wounded infantrymen and lower them one by one down a cliff to safety, he received the nation's highest military award — and he did it without ever firing a shot.

"What I did," he later said, "was a service of love." "

Read the whole story here.

Christian Peacemakers Freed

2006-03-23T06:13:00.000-08:00

"Blessed be the Lord our God--He has come to His people and set them free."

As many people may now know, the three Christian Peacemakers still held captive in Iraq have been freed. We give thanks and praise to God for this wonderful turn of events, and we especially give thanks that, according to news reports, their rescue was accomplished without a shot being fired.

We continue to pray for all those still held captive, Iraqis as well as internationals.

More updates and comments to follow.

Tepid Anti-War Movement?

2006-03-21T13:12:00.000-08:00

One question that lingers for those of us in the antiwar movement is whether we have "staying power." To wit, the recent 3rd anniversary of Iraq invasion saw rather small demonstrations throughout the country and world. And yet, at the same time, popular support for an end to the war has never been stronger. Is the lesson that activists can back off as their cause is taken up by the public? Or are we becoming jaded to the idea of perpetual war?

Moreover, it is disappointing that in Catholic churches throughout the land, there was little commemoration of the tragic anniversary. And it fell on a Sunday...what a chance to share our peace tradition. Some parishes did mark the event, but they seemed to be the exception. Again, my fear is that we are simply getting used to a Hobbesian view of the world rather than a Christian view of the world.

The Martyrdom of Tom Fox

2006-03-13T15:00:00.000-08:00

Friday night we heard the news that Tom Fox was dead. He had been held in captivity along with other members of Christian Peacemaker Teams for over one hundred days. The Quaker, the follower of Jesus, died of gunshots to the head and chest. They say he was beaten before his death.

This is a season of heaviness, a time to weep with those weep. It is a time to pray constantly. We are praying now especially for Tom Fox's family, for his wife and children, before whom an endless sorrow has suddenly opened. We are still praying for the other Christian Peacemakers still held hostage, Jim Loney, Harmeet Singh Sooden, and Norman Kember. We say, "Let this cup pass from them! Let them not be put to the trial."

Tom Fox went to Iraq on a great mission of humanity and, properly speaking, of Christianity. He went also to weep with those who weep, and truly to rejoice with those who are rejoicing--because even in the middle of the most infernal suffering, there is still joy. There is still singing, and there is light.

What Tom Fox did, going to Iraq and working on behalf of the poor and the imprisoned, was a Christian act. And it was a Christian act because of the Incarnation. The fact that God became human has changed everything. There can be no more hatred among people, because we have finally been shown how truly each person is the image of God--how truly God lives in every person. In Iraqis, in Muslims, even in terrorists. Neither nationality nor religion nor the blackest of hatreds can undo God's presence in every heart. God's light overcomes all.

A number of commentators have said that Tom Fox's death should be a "wake-up call to naive peaceniks." Now, they say, the eyes of us who despise this God-forsaken war will be opened, and we will see how necessary it is to fight and kill. Now, they say, we will finally understand what it is to be hated. And they hope that we in turn will surrender to hate.

They are greatly mistaken; they do not see with the eyes of faith. They say, "Ah, now those who love peace will understand hatred, and join us in this war." But it is precisely when a person understands hatred that he must resist giving in to it. It is because people like Tom Fox understand hatred that they oppose war, and it is because they know Love Incarnate that they hand themselves over to people who are full of hate.

In all our weeping, it is very hard to remember that martyrdom is the crown of the Christian life. And though Tom Fox was not seeking to be a martyr, he knew it was possible--and it is what he became. Martyrs like Tom Fox are beaten and killed. But their deaths, so the Church reminds us, are triumphs. They are a sign to an unbelieving age and a real victory of the power of love over the power of death.

We can add to our many prayers this last one, that the sign of Tom Fox's death and birth into eternal life will be understood and heeded by our own age, which seems right now to be so blind and so lost. Our age demands that we respond to hate with hate, and meet anger with anger, violence with violence. But we have God to thank that Tom Fox has shown us a different way: to conquer hatred with love, anger with kindness, violence with trust.

'At last, all-powerful Master, you give leave to your servant to go in peace, according to your promise.'

Tom Fox, rest in peace!

-Mike Schorsch

St. Ignatius, Jesuit ROTC, and All ROTC

2006-03-07T15:37:00.000-08:00

In the latest issue of The Sign of Peace journal, we published a series of reports from Jesuit schools that have ROTC. Our intent is that this is just the beginning: we wish to call into question why any Church institution would support ROTC. In this blog we post some of the material that could not fit into the journal, and we hope you will join the fray. Before we begin, we also want to point any readers from Jesuit schools to another blog focused specifically on the SJ connection to ROTC. Check it out at: www.myspace.com/jesuitintegrity

Okay, in the next post is the piece that spurred us to run the series in the first place. It is from Bob Graf and appeared in the Marquette Tribune. After it, we post some of the angry letters to the editor, then his response. For sake of a good discussion POST ALL COMMENTS to this entry.

ROTC Has No Place at Marquette: Bob Graf's Letter That Ignited Tension at MU

2006-03-07T15:30:00.000-08:00

from Marquette Trib 1/26/06
By Robert Graf
Gradute Student, Arts & Sciences

Most of us value our education in a Catholic Jesuit institution. As a result of this shared love of values and persons we have encountered at a Jesuit university, I feel compelled to challenge the military presence at Marquette in the form of the various ROTC programs on campus for the following reasons:

1) The Catholic Church in no uncertain terms has declared the war in Iraq "immoral, unjust and illegal." Yet Marquette hosts an independent group, ROTC, that is not accountable to the university as all other programs are and that trains young men and women to fight this immoral war.

2) At the Ignatian Family Teach In, this year, at Fort Benning, Ga., speaker after speaker from Jesuit institutions all over the United States spoke out against the military training of soldiers from Latin America on this military base. No one spoke about this same type of military training going on at the Jesuit campuses. Finally, a brave young man from Loyola University used his five minutes to articulately point out how the presence of ROTC on 22 of the 28 Jesuit university campuses violated the very principles these schools teach. He logically took on and answered each reason for ROTC, money, Christianizing the military, etc. He dissected them and showed how ROTC training violated the values of these Jesuit universities.

3) Finally the straw that forced me into action was my attendance in November, to the première showing of the Dorothy Day documentary: "Do Not Call Me a Saint." I thought of the many attempts members of the local Catholic Worker community had attempted to engage in a dialog with Marquette about the presence of ROTC only to be ignored. It was not hard to imagine, after viewing the movie, what Dorothy Day would do or say about this situation.

St. Ignatius says that love should show itself in "deeds over and above words." However, since I know that some of you reading this support ROTC at Marquette by your word, deeds or silence, I am suggesting that we start with words or a dialogue on the question: Do ROTC programs belong at Marquette? After we see where we are, we can judge the situation and take the necessary actions to keep Marquette a place of sacred values on life and death issues.

One of the first acts of St. Ignatius, after his conversion, was to take a pilgrimage to Montserrat and lay his sword, the symbol of his former way of life, at the feet of the statue of the Black Madonna. Let us now put aside military training at Marquette and start the journey of renewing the soul of it.

For now I appeal to all of you, especially any of you that are students presently, to rise up and tear down the walls of institutional militarism. There is nothing inherently wrong with military training, it just seems wrong to host it on a Catholic Jesuit campus.

As the Rev. Dan Berrigan says: "It is a schizophrenia that runs deep in the soul to try to teach how to love God and to kill in the same place."

Nonviolence is a powerful force. Let us use it to overturn the presence of the military at Marquette.

The Response to Graf Begins...

2006-03-07T15:29:00.000-08:00

from Marquette Trib 1/31/06
By Matthew Fueston
Senior, Engineering

Mr. Graf,
I just read your Viewpoint in the Jan. 26 Tribune and felt compelled to respond to your thoughts. I would like to tell you that I am a proud Midshipman Petty Officer at Marquette, and I come from a strong line of both Naval and Army servicemen in my family. Your article bashes some of the most intelligent and patriotic people I have ever met. For some strange reason, perhaps the fact that your arguments have no substance to them, I have been able to counter each of your main points.

1. The Catholic Church has not released a single statement against the war since the beginning of our engagement with the insurgents. It is obviously not due to a lack of official letterhead, or the unwillingness of the Pontiff to share his thoughts. Your statement on the accountability of the ROTC programs to the university is completely hollow, and I guarantee you have no evidence to back it up. Perhaps you have not been educated on this matter. For one, the Naval ROTC, including our commanding officer (who happens to be a professor of naval science) as well as all staff officers of the unit, are held accountable for every aspect of their actions on and off campus. We are involved in many different activities, including color guard detail at many different sporting events, Al's Run, and all the way to community service events such as Habitat for Humanity, both on and off the campus itself. It is also wrong to say that we "train young men and women to fight this immoral war," when in fact the ROTC supports many different fields in the service, including nurses, naval intelligence and the Naval Reactors program (which trains individuals for employment in private sector nuclear power stations without any military requirement at all).

2. Your entire paragraph on how one person spoke out for five minutes about God knows what, and seeing how you don't even talk about what was said, it adds nothing to your argument whatsoever. Because this one person said something, that means the university should not have any ROTC programs... Good point.

3. Catholicism, as well as religion in general, is a large part of the military. Our services boast having the largest religious participation of every single government organization. We value our involvement in a religion that denounces immoral acts, both domestic and foreign.

I have sworn to protect the Constitution of the United States from enemies, both foreign and domestic, and in doing so, I believe, as well as a large portion of this campus believes, that what our program is doing is for the betterment of all. Our training helps us become more efficient, ethical individuals that actually care about the course of our nation, and feel compelled to act upon that feeling. Unlike you, I have made it a point to give back to the country what thousands of brave individuals have given their lives for. And that is the choice to be free. While I do not agree with what you say, I will defend your right to say it, even if it means my life. It is that single aspect you just don't understand.

GOD BLESS AMERICA.

ROTC Student Takes Issue

2006-03-07T15:28:00.000-08:00

from Marquette Trib 2/2/06
By Ryanjon Milan
Freshman, Nursing

I am a freshman in the Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps program majoring in Nursing. Even though I have only a single semester of experience with the ROTC program, I already know that my involvement will develop me into a competent leader.

Robert Graf argued in the Jan. 27 Tribune that ROTC has no place at Marquette. He mentions St. Ignatius' conversion from a life by the sword to a life in the name of the Lord. Graf then claims that ROTC "trains young men and women to fight this immoral war" against Iraq. What he fails to realize, however, is that we are in a War on Terror. Iraq and terror are not synonymous. While ROTC does train its members to be proficient and professional leaders in the military, he fails to realize that ROTC is primarily an academic program where aspiring officers learn about teamwork, leadership, physical fitness, and the history and customs of our great military.

He then calls upon students to "rise up and tear down the walls of institutional militarism." In essence, he is calling for the termination of a program training the leaders and defenders of tomorrow.

The only thing he says that I can consider sensible is that "there is nothing inherently wrong with military training," but why not at Marquette? The four pillars of Excellence, Faith, Leadership and Service uphold Marquette's mission, and frankly, the ROTC programs are among the best sources of all four of these qualities.

Our training as cadets and midshipmen ready us to be unparalleled proactive Leaders striving for Excellence. We often volunteer on campus and throughout the community with a deep sense of service. In addition, the MU mission statement strives for faith in not only Christianity, for we are not an exclusively Catholic school, but also in "human intelligence," which is greatly fostered through ROTC. Therefore, removing ROTC from our campus would only weaken the pillars of Marquette's mission statement.

So Graf, while most ROTC members would most likely disagree with what you had to say, we will — and we literally do — defend to the death your right to say it.

MU Student Angry with Graf's anti-ROTC piece

2006-03-07T15:26:00.000-08:00

from Marquette Trib 2/2/06
By Jacob Spielbauer
Freshman, Health Sciences

In light of the attack on Reserve Officers' Training Corps presented in the Jan. 25 Tribune Viewpoints section by Robert Graf, I feel compelled to make a case for a group I believe to be comprised of some of Marquette's finest individuals. My roommate for the first half of this year is a marine option in the Marquette Navy ROTC. The character I saw displayed in this young man is the reason I have chosen to respond to Graf's challenge of the military presence on campus. There are many reasons I could give for this, but as for the reader's sake, I will limit myself to these few:

1. Granted, the Vatican and Washington obviously disagree whether the war in Iraq is justified or not. I am not here to discuss the war itself any further than simple mention, and will not argue any opinion about the war itself. The problem presented in using the Vatican's disdain for the war as a reason to contest the military as a whole, though, is evident. The American military existed before the Iraq war, and will exist after the Iraq war. Its identity, thus, cannot be attributed solely to this singular conflict. Iraq and American military are not synonymous ideas.

2. It is uncanny that no matter what the military does, it cannot escape the stereotype of being a killing machine. People such as Graf choose not to mention that the American military is the largest supplier of humanitarian aid to the Pacific in the entire world. When the tsunami struck southern Asia, the American Navy was the first to respond to those in need. The Navy immediately used all means necessary to help, including using the equipment on board their ships to create fresh drinking water and using helicopters to evacuate stranded victims.

3. My "final straw" (and this is by far the biggest straw) with Graf's article is that he is using a Catholic moral outlook to judge what does and doesn't belong on campus. My question, then, is where the judging stops. If his logic assumes that because the Catholic Church doesn't agree with it, it doesn't belong on campus, then who really does belong here? Because traditional Catholicism holds homosexuality as a sin, should people who lead alternative lifestyles not be allowed to live on campus? Should those who engage in premarital sex also be refused? This idea is ridiculous and undermines the diversity Marquette celebrates.

The young men and women I have encountered from the ROTC program are some of the most devout Catholics and most honorable people I have met. They should be respected for the fact that they choose to dedicatee much of their life to protecting the freedom that we enjoy in this country. Graf does a fine job of labeling them as simply tools of a militaristic government, and seems slow to admit that it is only because people such as the members of ROTC have given their lives in sacrifice that he enjoys the freedom to say the things he does. I find it pathetic that in our day and age it is so fashionable to criticize the people who are responsible for preserving our right to speak. You can disagree with the war, but please, be decent enough to respect those who are fighting.

MU Alum Criticizes Graf

2006-03-07T15:24:00.000-08:00

from Marquette Trib 2/7/06
By Ryan McCullough
Alumnus, Business Administration

I find it ironic that in Robert Graf's Jan. 26 Viewpoint he has decided to protest an institution he knows nothing about. His logic and reasoning proves that he has not done his homework in researching the role or the mission of our ROTC programs. I wonder if Graf knows what ROTC stands for. It's the Reserve Officers' Training Corps.

By his logic, any institution that does not exhibit Catholic, Jesuit values should be removed from campus. Goodbye Gay/Straight Alliance. So long Muslim Students Association. It was great having you all of you Pro-Choice students, but you've got to go. Kind of ridiculous isn't it?

Facts, Graf — we need facts. Please don't try to sway readers with statements from the Catholic Church without reference. Your mention of an "immoral, unjust and illegal" war waxes of liberal rhetoric which has been floating around this controversial issue for months and means nothing anymore. Please provide some proof that the Catholic Church has made these remarks.

In addition, I think we all deserve to hear how the "brave young man" from Loyola University made his points. What makes him so brave? Standing up and voicing his opinion? That is not bravery, Graf. That is his right as an AMERICAN! Hundreds of thousands of Marines, Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen have died so that this young man could do this without being hunted down and executed. If we were in North Korea, he would be brave.

As a Marquette alumnus, I believe that Marquette attracts some of the best people in this great country to its halls. I further believe that those in ROTC are no exception. The students in ROTC are just that, students. In addition to pursuing their degrees in their chosen field, they are going through a rigorous and demanding curriculum and doctrinarian program that is preparing them to lead the men and women of our military. A military that just so happens to protect the right to offer opinions, no matter how ill informed. I know it may be hard to believe for Graf and his friends, but ROTC students are not learning to become mindless and numb killing machines. They are learning to be compassionate, intelligent and responsible leaders. That sounds an awful lot like what Marquette is trying to do for the rest of us, doesn't it?

They are not the rogue marauders that Graf makes them out to be. ROTC programs may not be directly accountable to the university, but the students are. The Reserve Officer Training Corps programs belong to the College of Arts and Sciences, just like Graf. Have you ever witnessed an ROTC cadet or midshipman stand up in class and declare that they are independent of the university and could act with impunity? Probably not. Let's not worry about whether or not ROTC has a place on Marquette's campus. Let's just be thankful that Marquette and the ROTC programs are producing outstanding leaders to whom we should all look up to.

Jesuit Priest Defends ROTC

2006-03-07T15:22:00.000-08:00

from Marquette Trib 2/9/06
By John Patrick Donnelly, S.J.
Professor, History

On Jan. 26 The Marquette Tribune printed a Viewpoint written by Robert Graf, "ROTC has no place at Marquette." I have known Graf for some 30 years and respect his idealism, but I must object to his arguments and his conclusion that Marquette should abolish its Reserved Officers' Training Corps program, largely because it is opposed to Catholic teaching and the Jesuit tradition. Graf clearly supports the teachings of Catholic pacifism and he cites two leading Catholic pacifists, Dorothy Day and Daniel Berrigan, S.J. But their position has always been a minority position in the Catholic tradition and the Jesuit tradition.

The case for the ROTC programs being consonant with Christianity can be traced to the New Testament. America's purpose of having a strong military is not to wage war but to avoid war. The most successful military alliance in history is the National Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO is successful because it has never had to fight except in trying to keep the successors of Communist Yugoslavia from killing one another. There is an old Latin saying, "Si vis pacem, para bellum," which translates to: "If you want peace, be prepared for war." Jesus said something similar: "When a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are in peace" (Lk 11:21; see also Mt. 12:29, Mk. 3:27).

Who were the Roman equivalent to the young officers Marquette's ROTC program is turning out? The centurions, officers over units of a hundred men. No profession is so highly praised in the gospels as that of centurions. Jesus said of the centurion whose servant he healed, "Not even is Israel have I found such faith" (Lk 7:9; also Mt. 8:5-13). It was a centurion standing at the foot of the cross when Jesus died who exclaimed, "Truly, this man was the Son of God" (Mk 15:39). Who was the first non-Jewish convert to Christianity? Cornelius, the centurion [Acts, 10:1-48]. The Acts of the Apostles traces many instances when Roman centurions protected the apostles: Acts 22:26; 23:17; 23:23; 27:6; 27:43; 28:16. If a military career is un-Christian, how could St. Paul have told Timothy to "work like a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Tim 2:3)?

Is training officers for our armed forces against our Jesuit tradition? I have recently written or edited three books about the early Jesuits. I note that two of Loyola's earliest companions served as military chaplains, Nicholas Bobadilla and James Lainez. Jesuits have served with distinction as chaplains down the centuries; I believe one received the Congressional Medal of Honor in World War II. Loyola's own spiritual writings frequently use military metaphors to describe how Christians must strive for holiness. Loyola even wrote a long letter of advice for Emperor Charles V on how he should launch a naval offensive in the Mediterranean to prevent the Turks from raiding Christian ports and coastlines.

In short, Marquette's ROTC program is consonant with both our Christian and Jesuit traditions.

Graf Responds to his MU Critics

2006-03-07T15:16:00.000-08:00

from Marquette Trib 2/28/06
By Robert Graf
Graduate Student, Arts & Sciences

This is my response to the Viewpoints disagreeing with my Jan. 26 Viewpoint, "ROTC has no place at MU," that Reserved Officers' Training Corps should not be hosted by Marquette University. I will not respond to the personal attacks on myself. My hope is that this letter will begin more personal dialogue between all of us who are devoted to Marquette and its tradition of a Jesuit Catholic education.

I stated the official Catholic Church teaching is that the war in "Iraq is illegal, immoral and unjust." This statement is reinforced by countless quotes and documents of Catholic Church leaders. Here are just a few: "The concept of a 'preventive war' does not appear in the Catechism of the Catholic Church" (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI);

"The war in Iraq threatens the fate of humanity" (Pope John Paul II). For more background on this statement just check with your moral theology teachers at Marquette and Catholic Church Web sites. As the president chooses to ignore his own church's teaching on the morality of Iraq, many Catholics choose to ignore their church leaders on this issue.

Also, I oppose ROTC at Marquette on Ignatian identity grounds. The first action St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, after his conversion from a solider of the world to a solider for Christ was to lay down his sword at the base of the statute of the Black Madonna at Montserrat. He renounced the violence of his way of life. In his writings St. Ignatius consistently implores his followers — companions of Jesus — to deeply desire, like Jesus "to accept all wrongs and rejections" and "to bear the insults and contempt of my world." He teaches the type of "love" that is at the heart of the creative nonviolence of Jesus, Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

For those concerned about military leaders receiving a Catholic Jesuit education at Marquette, I note the fact that only ROTC classes at Marquette are not accountable for values taught or curriculum content to the university. The military is very clear that what it calls "Army values" take precedent over any other values, like Catholic Jesuit values. Talking about other values, the military code clearly states: "to be an Army leader and a person of integrity, these values must reinforce, not contradict, Army values." The same code states "these values tell you want you need to be, every day, in every action you take."

So to those who say we have ROTC to instill Catholic Jesuit values in the military, I say that it is the other way around. The military is instilling its values into Catholic Jesuit education.

Finally, some people quoted the Catholic tradition as supporting war and the military. This is simply not true. The Catholic Church has always condemned war and in the first 300 years of existence even forbade Christians from joining the military. Many in the Church would say that even the "just war theory" does not apply to modern warfare and most moral theologians agree that this just war doctrine does not apply to Iraq.

There is more to say like the university's major financial investment in ROTC, but for now, I can only hope and pray the dialogue continues. To ignore such a major moral issue of our time is wrong.

March for Peace: Tiajuana to San Francisco

2006-02-24T11:11:00.000-08:00

On March 12, the seventy-sixth anniversary of "The Salt March," Fernando Suarez Del Solar will begin a 241 + mile walk from Tiajuana to Camp Pendleton to San Francisco. Fernando will walk for the memory of his son, Jesus, a Marine who was killed in Iraq in March 2003 by stepping on an illegal U.S. landmine.

Many others have already pledged to support Fernando. Conscientious Objectors Pablo Paredes, Camilo Mejia, and Aidan Delgado have already said that they will not allow the 50-year-old man to walk alone. They will join him on his march to end the war, which will end on the anniversary of the death of Jesus, March 27th, in San Francisco. The marchers will lead a large scale blood drive for those in need in Iraq - both civilians and soldiers.

Read more about the march in an article written by Pablo Paredes, conscientious objector during the Iraq war.

Details on the March

Romero Series

2006-02-21T11:44:00.000-08:00

Rutgers-Camden University is holding the Sixth Annual Romero Lecture on Friday, March 24.

Noted professor, author, writer, stirrer of consciences, Dr. Diana Hayes, will deliver a challenging, relevant keynote address, "THE COLOR OF MONEY, ECONOMIC INJUSTICE AND RACISM," at 6:30 PM, highlighting a day, beginning at Noon, filled with film, justice education, panel discussion, seminars, Gospel music, and fellowship. The website www.romero-center.org has full Romero Lecture information.

White Privilege Conference

2006-02-21T11:41:00.000-08:00

For our CPF friends in the South Bend area, don't miss the opportunity to attend this interdisciplinary conference designed to spark intellectual discourse and raise consciousness about the dynamics of white privilege as a form of racism. The format of the conference, to be held at McKenna Hall at Notre Dame, will encourage discussion among all participants with a view toward identifying structures of white privilege within the church, the academy, and society. The conference will be held March 26-28. For more information on speakers and a schedule, visit www.nd.edu/%7Ewpconf/

Sports and Violence

2006-02-05T21:55:00.000-08:00

It's Griff here, and I;ve been meaning to make this post for awhile. I take some grief every now and then, as a CPF staff member and devotee of the game of hockey. Some say the ice rink is no place for a pacifist. Well, after I remind them that I don't like the term "pacifism" and prefer to call it "Christianity," I explain that sports are not the moral equivalent of violence. But are some? What about The Champ here, is he an icon of conscientious objection or a posterboy of brutality?

The Wounded

2006-01-25T10:20:00.000-08:00

Struggling Back From War's Once-Deadly Wounds, New York Times
"It has taken hundreds of hours of therapy, but Jason Poole, a 23-year old Marine corporal, has learned all over again to speak and to walk. At times, though, words still elude him. He can read barely 16 words a minute. His memory can be fickle, his thinking delayed. Injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq, he is blind in his left eye, deaf in his left ear, weak on his right side and still getting used to his new face, which was rebuilt with skin and bone grafts and 75 to 100 titanium screws and plates...
Survivors are coming home with grave injuries, often from roadside bombs, that will transform their lives: combinations of damaged brains and spinal cords, vision and hearing loss, disfigured faces, burns, amputations, mangled limbs, and psychological ills like depression and post-traumatic stress."

Deus Caritas Est: Benedict XVI's First Encyclical

2006-01-25T09:16:00.000-08:00

Benedict XVI's first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, war just released today, January 25th. His message reflects on the concepts of eros (sexual love), agape (unconditional love), logos (the word), and their relationship with the teachings of Jesus Christ.

You can find the encyclical on our website in two parts:

Part I

Part II

Top News Items

2006-01-18T09:48:00.000-08:00

Bishops Urge U.S. to Transition Out of Iraq

Declaring that the United States was at a crossroads in Iraq, the nation's Roman Catholic bishops said Thursday the time had come to withdraw U.S. troops as fast as responsibly possible and to hand control of the country to Iraqis...

Pakistan Demands U.S. Apology

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Pakistan's ruling party on Monday demanded an apology for an alleged CIA airstrike that killed at least 17 people, but the country's prime minister said his trip to the United States this week would go ahead as planned...

Dr. King, Youth, and War

2006-01-18T08:34:00.000-08:00

This Friday, January 20th, join us at the Chicory Cafe (corner of Michigan and Jefferson, downtown South Bend), from 8-11 PM for Dr. King, Youth, and War: a coffeehouse. Come listen to a former military recruiter tell his story, get a first-hand account from a soldier who was in Iraq, hear MLK speech excerpts on war, and enjoy great music, coffee and food.

Spread the word! Download a flier!

MLK Jr.: A Time to Break Silence

2006-01-12T10:06:00.000-08:00

On Monday January 16th please join the CPF in celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Century Center in downtown South Bend. The celebration is being presented by the Martin Luther King Holiday Celebration Committee All day exhibits and events until 10:00pm

Contact 574-280-7092 for more info

Here's an excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech protesting the Vietnam War (April 4, 1967)

For those who ask the question, "Aren't you a civil rights leader?" and thereby mean to exclude me from the movement for peace, I have this further answer. In 1957 when a group of us formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, we chose as our motto: "To save the soul of America." We were convinced that we could not limit our vision to certain rights for black people, but instead affirmed the conviction that America would never be free or saved from itself until the descendants of its slaves were loosed completely from the shackles they still wear....

Now, it should be incandescently clear that no one who has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore the present war. If America's soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read: Vietnam. It can never be saved so long as it destroys the deepest hopes of men the world over. So it is that those of us who are yet determined that America will be are led down the path of protest and dissent, working for the health of our land.

The entire speech, plus a recording can be found at www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm

A Little Taste of Peace

2006-01-12T10:02:00.000-08:00

The South Bend Human Rights Commission invites you to attend “A Little Taste of Peace” in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday on Saturday, January 15 from 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. at Temple Beth-El at 305 W. Madison Street. Please bring a dessert to share and participate in a conversation on how we can build Dr. King’s dream of the beloved community. People from all racial, cultural and religious backgrounds are welcome to come and share their ideas and experiences. Please RSVP to Danya at the South Bend Human Rights Commission at 235-9355. The event is sponsored by the South Bend Human Rights Commission, United Religious Community (URC), the CommUnity Religious Effort (CURE) and the Center for Women’s InterCultural Leadership (CWIL) Saint Mary’s College.

Up and Running

2006-01-12T09:40:00.000-08:00

Thanks for checking out the Catholic Peace Fellowship's new blog!

We've decided to expand out into the blogosphere, which will give us a place to keep you informed on the issues confronting the Peace movement, as well as a place for you to post YOUR comments and questions for others to see. Our hope is that this blog can act as a meeting place for all of you who support peace and reconciliation as opposed to war.

So please add us to your bookmarks and check back daily. Every day we must do something to further the waging of peace. This site will help you stay informed.

In Peace,

The CPF Staff

Welcome to the CPF Blog

2006-01-05T12:15:00.000-08:00

Dear CPF Friends,
This Blog will be used to bring news stories of interest to you, and our occasional comment on them. So from now on, instead of checking our "Newsroom" to find relevant news, you can just check out our new blog - a much easier way for us to keep you up to date.
In Peace,
CPF Staff