Tag: war

A letter from Trappist nuns in Syria

Catholic World Reports:

In March 2005 a small group of nuns from the Cistercian Monastery of Valserena in Tuscany moved to Aleppo, Syria, to found a new monastic community there. The nuns were inspired to take up the legacy of seven monks who were martyred in 1997 in Tibhirine, Algeria. The sisters wanted to follow the example set by these men, who had totally dedicated their lives to God and to their beloved Algerian neighbors, both Christian and Muslim.

The sisters’ guiding Scripture is John 10:16: “There are other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and I must led these too. They too will listen to my voice.”

Today, like many Syrians they wait to see if Obama and the US will decide to follow through on their plans to attack their country.

The sisters write:

Today we have no words, except those of the Psalms that the liturgical prayer puts onto our lips in these days:

Rebuke the Beast of the Reeds, that herd of bulls, that people of calves…oh God, scatter the people who delight in war…Yahweh has leaned down from the heights of his sanctuary, has looked down from heaven to earth to listen to the sighing of the captive, and set free those condemned to death…Listen, God, to my voice as I plead, protect my life from fear of the enemy; hide me from the league of the wicked, from the gang of evil-doers. They sharpen their tongues like a sword, aim their arrow of poisonous abuse…They support each other in their evil designs, they discuss how to lay their snares. “Who will see us?” they say. He will do that, he who penetrates human nature to its depths, the depths of the heart…Break into song for my God, to the tambourine, sing in honor of the Lord, to the cymbal, let psalm and canticle mingle for him, extol his name, invoke it…For the Lord is a God who breaks battle-lines! … Lord, you are great, you are glorious, wonderfully strong, unconquerable.

We look at the people around us, our day workers who are all here as if suspended, stunned: “They’ve decided to attack us.” Today we went to Tartous…we felt the anger, the helplessness, the inability to formulate a sense to all this: the people trying their best to work and to live normally. You see the farmers watering their land, parents buying notebooks for the schools that are about to begin, unknowing children asking for a toy or an ice cream…you see the poor, so many of them, trying to scrape together a few coins. The streets are full of the “inner” refugees of Syria, who have come from all over to the only area left that is still relatively liveable… You see the beauty of these hills, the smile on people’s faces, the good-natured gaze of a boy who is about to join the army and gives us the two or three peanuts he has in his pocket as a token of “togetherness”…. And then you remember that they have decided to bomb us tomorrow. … Just like that. Because “it’s time to do something,” as it is worded in the statements of the important men, who will be sipping their tea tomorrow as they watch TV to see how effective their humanitarian intervention will be…

I’m challenged to believe that there is a third-way in Syria and other conflict situations around the world. The cycle of violence isn’t the answer.

There’s no redemption in violence and there’s no reconciliation in it. There must be another way.

I’m praying that the Church will rise up against the current violence in Syria and the pending violence and stand with these sisters and others who are standing firm, believing another world is possible.

There is something wrong, and it is something very serious… because the consequences will be wrought on the lives of an entire population…it is in the blood that fills our streets, our eyes, our hearts.

Yet what use are words anymore? All has been destroyed: a nation destroyed, generations of young people exterminated, children growing up wielding weapons, women winding up alone and targeted by various types of violence…families, traditions, homes, religious buildings, monuments that tell and preserve history and therefore the roots of a people…all destroyed…

As Christians we can at least offer all this up to the mercy of God, unite it to the blood of Christ, which carries out the redemption of the world in all those who suffer.

HT:

The Secret War – NSA Snooping is Only the Beginning

INSIDE FORT MEADE, Maryland, a top-secret city bustles. Tens of thousands of people move through more than 50 buildings—the city has its own post office, fire department, and police force. But as if designed by Kafka, it sits among a forest of trees, surrounded by electrified fences and heavily armed guards, protected by antitank barriers, monitored by sensitive motion detectors, and watched by rotating cameras. To block any telltale electromagnetic signals from escaping, the inner walls of the buildings are wrapped in protective copper shielding and the one-way windows are embedded with a fine copper mesh.

This is the undisputed domain of General Keith Alexander, a man few even in Washington would likely recognize. Never before has anyone in America’s intelligence sphere come close to his degree of power, the number of people under his command, the expanse of his rule, the length of his reign, or the depth of his secrecy. A four-star Army general, his authority extends across three domains: He is director of the world’s largest intelligence service, the National Security Agency; chief of the Central Security Service; and commander of the US Cyber Command. As such, he has his own secret military, presiding over the Navy’s 10th Fleet, the 24th Air Force, and the Second Army.

…Stuxnet is only the beginning. Alexander’s agency has recruited thousands of computer experts, hackers, and engineering PhDs to expand US offensive capabilities in the digital realm. The Pentagon has requested $4.7 billion for “cyberspace operations,” even as the budget of the CIA and other intelligence agencies could fall by $4.4 billion. It is pouring millions into cyberdefense contractors. And more attacks may be planned.

The gardener

Kildare - Saint Fiachra’s Garden [Patron Saint Of Gardeners]

I found the gardener sitting quietly in the grass by a large shade tree. It had been a long day of trimming trees, cutting grass and pruning flowers and the day was coming to an end.

He stared out across his garden. It stretches far beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I can tell his garden is his sacred space and he treats it as such.

He notices me and waves for me to come near.

After a few pleasantries i ask him how long he’s been tending the garden.

“Well,” he began as he wiped the sweat from his brow, “It wasn’t long after the great war that I started here.”

He picked up a fallen rose nearby and gently pulled away the bruised outer petals.

“I didn’t head off to war like many of my friends. It just felt wrong to me.”

He recounted how his friends and family began to distance themselves from him as he tried to make a stand against the violence.

“They called me a traitor and unpatriotic. They said I should stand up against the evil in the world. I argued that that’s exactly what I was doing — but they kept beating the war drums. The politicians, the celebrities, the talking heads — they all called for swift and dramatic vengeance against our enemies. They said it was a just and holy war. There was so much celebration and excitement as the men went off to war.”
Continue reading The gardener

Ten reasons why I make a poor pacifist

pacifist demonstration
Pacifists Demonstration (03) - 17Jun08, Paris (France) | By Philippe Leroyer
  1. I still get a kick out of watching professional wrestling and will still “mark-out” from time to time during a great match
  2. I want to pummel anyone who hurts my wife or boys
  3. I often think it would be far easier to just bomb the heck out of evil dictators
  4. Truth be told – part of me was excited that we got Osama bin Laden
  5. I can have a horrible temper if I’m not careful
  6. I still want to flip off half the drivers around me on the road
  7. I can still get caught up in nationalism and military pride from time to time
  8. I still love movies where the good guy wins by destroying the bad guy
  9. I’ve never participated in an anti-war rally
  10. Forgiving my neighbors who sprayed paint on the back of my house is hard enough – and you want me to forgive my enemies?!

And two reasons I want to be a really good pacifist…

Tomorrow needs you today
My boys and my new Two Futures Project t-shirt | Photos by Jonathan Blundell

Where do you struggle with putting your ideals into practice?