9/17/01
To those of you who've been writing me, thank you so much. I am trying to
answer as many emails as I can. Right now, I feel impelled to record my
daily thoughts, so forgive me if you haven't heard from me. But know that
your responses mean the world to me. Your contributions are adding to my
thoughts and considerations. So thank you.
I've had people agree with me, disagree with me, and many people start
dialogues as a result of their responses to these writings. It's a wonderful
outgrowth of these expressions of my experience.
Please, if you wish to forward these emails to others, please do.
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A frightening thought just occurred to me: Tuesday's violence was the first
successful salvo on our shores of the World Revolution.
It dawned on me, that this is not an isolated event. We may think it so, but
we need to put it into the greater context. We have to look into what drives
the front-line soldiers to commit such dire actions. When we look at the
diabolical leaders, the bin Ladens of the world, the Saddams, the Hitlers,
we're looking at one horrifying aspect. But there are much greater
world-issues at hand. The problems they face have driven them to look for
blame in the world. We are the target of that blame and it is not entirely
ill-placed. At the same time, there are those who profit from, and gain
power from, the actions of the front-line soldiers.
Where there is power and profit to deal, there is greed and pride to battle.
When the Murrah building was struck. I was horrified. That the culprits were
disgruntled Americans was almost a relief compared to the current scenario I
foresee today.
To call this the World Revolution startled me. The blood rushed into my
head. I was overwhelmed by the thought. That it came to me in such simple
words made it all the more striking. For years I've been anticipating
something of this nature. When it would erupt, I had no idea, but it seemed
to me that the conditions on the planet would eventually lead to a
world-wide backlash. This looks like the early stages.
Speaking of revolutions that were fought against out-financed, out-manned,
out-gunned insurgencies, I had to think of the circumstances that led to
this nation being founded. From the military perspective, if we consider how
George Washington led his ill-equipped, poorly trained troops to win the
fight against the British, he had to fight by stealth. He had to violate the
code of conduct that warfare followed. He was a far lesser power, fighting a
far greater power. You can be sure that these suicidal men believe they are
fighting a similar kind of war.
Why a revolution?
Lowell Downey reminded me that 40,000 children in the world are starving to
D E A T H in 2001. That one fact, alone, demonstrates the terrible inequity
that exists in the world. If it were my children who were starving, I would
be led to take desperate, desperate measures. And I wouldn't think twice.
I'd feel justified and righteous.
Consider this: You are a parent. Your child is starving. What would you be
willing to do to feed your family?
Or this: Your children are in imminent danger. If you leap to save them it
may cost you your own life. What would you do?
Clearly, none of us would think twice of doing everything within our power
to provide and protect our families. In America, we don't often see the type
of circumstances that exist throughout much of the world. But there is
terrible suffering right now.
There's a huge problem for us in these thoughts. First of all, the leaders
of our enemies are blaming any and all suffering on our "evil empire." We
are a scapegoat for the ills that have befallen the third world. Yet we have
to admit, that from their point of view, it's largely true. We, the people
of America, are not necessarily directly responsible for the exhaustion of
world resources from regions around the world. We, the people, are not
directly responsible for the oppression of governments in parts of the
globe. It's not our job to take care of all the world's problems; and what's
more, the sovereign states don't necessarily want us mucking about in their
business. Still, we have done the most to establish the circumstances of a
world economy that allows for global wealth and hence, global poverty.
We believe in our values. We hold dear our precious democracy. We cling to
our American way of life. In order to maintain our way of life, we require
huge amounts of resources. We need massive importation of materials and
goods. We have the money. We've designed our country around our ability to
acquire. To do that large, and increasingly larger representatives of
America are spread around the world in order to keep the flow of resources
coming. These representatives are predominantly business or military people.
Their goals are to serve the interests of their leaders. In the case of
business, those leaders are the stock holders. In the case of our military,
they are there to protect our business interests and our national security
(including our allies).
This means that we appear to others as the foreigners who come in and, for
offers of money or hand-outs, extract their national products. In the case
of a small leader in a foreign land, there may appear two choices: resist or
succumb. To resist against all this might, is foolish. Dominance appears
inevitable. So, to succumb is more attractive. As long as its inevitable,
those in power might as well get a percentage of the goodies. Since the
percentage is relatively low, considering its worth in the US, there isn't a
great deal to share. This means that those in power get to be the haves,
while elsewhere in their countries are the have-nots. The have-nots are
destined to become discontent. Discontent becomes anger. Anger becomes rage.
Rage becomes violence. Violence becomes war.
That's the frightening part of the scenario. But there is a hopeful part, as
well. When we look at the nation that emerged from those times, we see great
regard for human dignity being included in the foundations for our
government. (Put aside for the moment whether those ideals have been
attained or not. The ideas were put in place. It's up to us to keep striving
toward them.) Today, we are at the turning point in history where we are
being challenged to re-envision the great ideals of freedom, equality and
opportunity, and bring them to all the world.
We need to expand and share those values, so that people everywhere can
participate in the joy that life can be. When we understand our enemy, we
can see that what creates the animosity between us is a greater issue than
the incidents that shocked us. We must see what we can do to end this war.
It doesn't matter who started it. We have more power to stop it with love
and healing than with hate and violence.
Right now, the insurgents are a small fringe group. They have few
sympathizers in the host of nations. But they are a volatile group capable
of infinite mayhem. They are desperate. They will stop at nothing to achieve
their ends. From their point of view, they are railing with a single voice
against the big power.
I am being called to action. All the work I've done to prepare myself for
this day is done. The day is here. The time is now. I cannot sit idly by
while my government steps down a hellish path. I must be a voice of love in
this nation.
I encourage us to reach out to touch the people whose lives we effect. We
must listen. With compassion. So we can hear the other guy's pain. Without
compassion, we cannot perceive how WE are creating these conditions, too.
Americans can no more believe that we're causing world poverty than we could
believe we were seeing the burning Pennsylvania field where a plane crashed;
or watching the invincible emblem of military might split and burn; or
weeping to see those twin symbols of American wealth crumble to the ground.
The alarm has been sounded. To some of us it is the bugle call to battle.
For others it is the clarion call to love. For you and I, the sound we hear
must be that clarion call. We must speak. We must act. We must move. Now.
This is the day. Now is the time.
Thich Nhat Hanh pointed out, "Man is not the enemy. Our anger is the
enemy." We are angry, outraged, horrified. Though we must act, we must not
act blindly. We have to see that the tragic events of Tuesday, were a
symptom of much deeper problems. We must see the other guys pain.
Thich Nhat Hanh went on "The antidote to hatred is compassion." There is
much hatred directed at us. We need to heal it.
Some things to consider:
The people that attacked us Tuesday are now the martyred leaders in a war
against us. They are not just crazy. They are leaders because they were the
first to successfully strike us on our ground. They are martyrs because
those who believe in their cause, see them as such. We have to see that,
however distorted this appears to us, they are sincere in their beliefs.
People want justice. The world wants these violators brought to justice. But
the call to war, is not the call of justice. If we want blood; if we want to
blame them and only them; if we feel that we are victims; if we see
ourselves purely as innocent, untouched by any guilt or responsibility; if
we don't take into account any sense they might have felt like victims of
the "America Effect," then we are doomed to live with this or other
conflicts well beyond the events of last week.
When we seek justice in this country, we go to an adjudicator who unravels
all the evidence of the circumstances, conditions, motives and actions of
the accused. From the examination and deliberation upon all the evidence, a
judgment is made. We need to examine more than just the circumstances of the
crime in order to ascertain what we might do to prevent further
encroachments into our way of life.
Of course, you might protest, inequity on the planet has always existed.
It's not new to us. The problem is: the gross inequity of the distribution
of wealth. Too many people are in abject poverty. This will fuel future
fires. Even if we can destroy this band of terrorists and their leaders, we
will still have to face the conditions that allow for such leaders to
emerge. If we smite with one hand, we must extend the other. We cannot
stand still. We must take action. And our action must be one of compassion.
Even if we strike out, we will have to reach our hand out to the innocent.
We must include them in. We must invite everyone. Otherwise, we are tilling
the ground of discontent.
If people's bellies are full, they will endure almost any condition. We, in
America, have to face--as a nation, as a people--our responsibility. We must
find compassion for those who are suffering through no fault of their own.
In love and light,
Marc