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 To receive e-mail alerts about actions you can take to promote the consistent life ethic, email CL Action Alerts. We encourage you to reproduce and distribute our brochure, fliers, etc. Get clothing, buttons, bumper stickers, magnets, mugs and cards promoting a consistent life ethic at the CL Online Store |  Amnesty International surveyAmnesty International is running a survey to find out more about what people think of its activities. You may remember that we were very upset that this fine organization, doing so much important work, tainted itself with a positive position on abortion as if it were a woman's right, rather than a wrong against women and an act of violence. This was exacerbated by the shockingly undemocratic and secretive manner in which the decision was made. Several of us have resigned our membership accordingly. We encourage anyone who would otherwise be sympathetic to AI and would like to communicate to AI through this survey to go to: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=zB3x_2f7QiIewM066qu34KLA_3d_3d They do have one question as to why the person answering the survey is not donating to Amnesty International, with an “other” box for a comment. Consistent Life Presence Planned at Two Conferences Consistent Life member group Sojourners Magazine is co-sponsoring a Mobilization Against Poverty to take place in Washington, D.C., April 26-69. For more information, go to http://www.sojo.net/mobilization. On Monday of the conference, we are intending to have a consistent-life caucus and/or an informal introductory session for those not yet familiar with us, and hopefully some leafleting (the conference has no exhibits). If anyone on this list is intending to go and would like to help out or hook up, please email Rachel MacNair. [Update: The Consistent Life meetup will be Mon., April 27, 2009 at 12:15 PM (latecomers welcome), Haad Thai Restaurant, 1100 New York Ave. NW, Washington, DC. Those not attending the Mobe are welcome.] Remember – if you know of conferences we should cover, or you have local conferences you can cover, send information to president@consistent-life.org. Also find flyers that you can print up for passing out or placing on appropriate tables at events at http://www.consistent-life.org/downloads.html. 1) New book is now out!
Achieving Peace in the Abortion War, by Rachel M MacNair, Ph.D., published by the Feminism and Nonviolence Studies Association and iUniverse, January 2009. Paperback, $16.95. E-book, $6.00 We have a flyer that can be printed up for any one interested. You can order the book from:
2) New resource for upcoming inauguration Consistent Life has filed a document with the Obama Transition Team which you may find of use in newsletters and a variety of other locations. We also remind you that if you want to put your personal views in, the incoming adminstration has put up a forum for this. 3) Nonviolent Choice Directory needs more participants Mary Krane Derr has started the web site Nonviolent Choice Directory to have a comprehensive listing of pro-woman life-affirming abortion-reducing resources. Her ambitions for the page now overwhelm what any one individual can do, so she is asking for volunteers ranging from content and maintenance of the page to publicizing it to help with legal matters like getting 501(c)(3) status. If perusing the site interests you in being part of a group providing this service, please contact Mary. The Obama Administration's transition website includes a section where you can "Share Your Vision". Wouldn't a consistent-life vision be a marvelous one for them to hear about from plenty of people? Given the abortion-reduction rhetoric that is the incoming administration's only mandate (because it was what was publicly known during the campaign), here is current information on a couple of pieces of legislation that connect solutions to abortion and poverty: 1) The Pregnant Women Support Act An initiative of Democrats for Life, a member group of Consistent Life, it has a goal to reduce abortion by 95 percent over a 10-year period. Representative Lincoln Davis and Senator Bob Casey are planning to reintroduce it in the next session. This bill would:
An initiative of Feminists for Life, a member group of Consistent Life, this was co-sponsored by U.S. Representatives Marcy Kaptur and Sue Myrick in the House and Elizabeth Dole and Ben Nelson in the Senate. If re-introduced in the 111th Congress, it would provide funding for college and university campuses to provide needed services for pregnant and parenting students to enable them to remain in school. These provisions are also in the Pregnant Women Support Act, which is clearly more comprehensive, and we are unaware of whether there are plans to re-introduce this one. See the text of H.R. 1088 (in PDF) See the text of S. 915 (in PDF) A couple of tidbits:
1. On-line PetitionConsistent Life's member group Sojourners is collecting signatures for a "Prayer and Pledge" to call upon President-elect Obama to be accountable for his promises and to pledge to be part of a citizen movement to help him when he does. One of the four items for high priority is explicitly the consistent life ethic, which includes ending the death penalty and reducing abortions; poverty and war are two of the other high priorities.The case of abortion is most tricky, of course, since Obama's public rhetoric on this has not been consistent as to abortion reduction, his less publically-known actions and statements have been worse, and he maintains a “pro-choice” position. Nevertheless, we must work with what we have, and trying to hold President-elect Obama to the more positive parts of what he has said is one of many strategies we now have. Those interested in either signing on or simply knowing more about this campaign can go to: http://go.sojo.net/campaign/prayerandpledge/8us83erq7kbtk36?source=act_0811_pledge This is a faith-community campaign, so those who prefer a more secular approach can still write their own letters or otherwise organize. 2. FOCAOne especially dangerous piece of legislation we need to work on urgently before the Congress even convenes is the so-called “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA). Read a fact sheet on it.We need to move quickly to educate the newly-elected as to what is wrong with this before they sign on. We can ask current co-sponsors of FOCA to remove their names. See current co-sponsors. Of course, letters and visits to all Members of Congress, along with letters to the editor of newspapers and blog postings, are needed. In many cases, explaining what is wrong with this from a consistent life perspective may be especially effective. 1. Conferences
One of the best ways we have of getting out the word on the consistent life ethic is to have literature tables at various conference. Lately, more people seem to be willing to hear the message. The photo is of our table at the recent Peace & Justice Studies Association, and you can see we have an attracting table-top display. If you know of large conferences we should cover, please email information to Bill Samuel. Also let Bill know if you'd be available to help staff tables in your vicinity. If you know of small local conferences where you can simply set out some literature on tables, you can find flyers and brochures and print up as many as you need at our downloads page. We do need to know if anyone is or knows someone who is a delegate to the conference of the historic peace churces, called Heeding God's Call: A Gathering on Peace. Unlike most peace conferences, this is one where they're inviting delegates rather than recruiting anyone interested, and we've been told it would be more effective if our table were set up and supervised by a delegate. Anyone that can help on this should email Bill Samuel. 2. ElectionsOne reporter referred to the consistent life voter as “political orphans.” We're a non-profit that doesn't take positions in elections anyway, and our members take a wide variety of views on the best approach on how to vote. What is clear, however, is that whatever the outcome, this could be a teachable moment on peace and life issues. We encourage you to think in your own local context and your own state races, as well as the national one, what letters to the editor and other kinds of communication might use the outcome of the elections to make cogent points about the consistent life ethic. We do still have some of our bumper stickers which say We're pro-life peace voters. Where are our candidates?. If you would like one or many, they can be requested without charge; since time is now very short, you can email Rachel MacNair or call 816-753-2057, and they can be sent out first-class mail. September 10, 2008 Action Alert 1) The ProgressiveThe September issue of The Progressive magazine has on page 42 an advertisement from Consistent Life on our book, Consistently Opposing Killing: From Abortion to Assisted Suicide, the Death Penalty, and War. If past experience is repeated, there may be some letters to the editor responding to the ad, and some can be quite assertive in a negative way. We ask those who subscribe to this magazine or have a friend who does or who have access to it at a library to pay attention to the letters to the editor in the October issue, and consider if any of these inspire you to write letters of your own into the magazine. 2) The SurveyWe have over 200 responses to the survey, so it is in excellent shape. We do really need more responses from people who answer pro-choice on abortion, and who favor the death penalty and/or the Iraq war, in order to have more balance in how many are in each group in order to compare. If you have friends or know of listserves that fit that category, please send it on to them. I copy the original notice below. ===================================================== The research arm of Consistent Life has an on-line survey ready. It's to help answer these questions: To what extent does the consistent life ethic strengthen the case against issues of violence by being more persuasive? To which kind of people is it more persuasive, and which are more unimpressed? Does the idea of killing as trauma have any impact on people's understanding of issues involving killing? The last time we ran an on-line survey, it got almost 800 responses just by this technique of asking supporters to spread the word; the results were valuable, and you can find them in the Consistently Opposing Killing book, chapter 11. Below is a notice asking people to participate. We do have the odd circumstance that we're not asking people on this CL action alert list to fill out the survey; you're certainly welcome to, but it's people who are not yet familiar with the consistent life ethic who are of most interest. Please COPY AND PASTE the message below the line, rather than forwarding this entire message. The wording is carefully crafted so as to be neutral about what is expected in responding, since people who know what's expected tend to answer differently than those who get a more neutral invitation. We're especially interested in listservs, blogs and forums that serve people of strong opinion on any political issue at all -- Republicans and Democrats, independents and third parties, and a variety of views on the issues of violence and issues that have nothing to do with violence. I'd also much appreciate your letting me (Rachel) know where you copied and pasted and sent the message on to. ====================================================== Heated Debates SurveyDebate on issues gets even more heated during election years. We're interested in looking not just at stands on individual issues – in this case, the Iraq war, the death penalty, and abortion – but on how you might react to various different ideas of connecting them together. These are in different combinations of being for and against each. We would be most grateful if you could help us by filling out this on-line survey, which should take 10-15 minutes. The link is: http://www.surveymethods.com/EndUser.aspx?D5F19D85D59F878EWe would also be grateful if you would send this message on to other individuals or listservs of people who might be interested in taking the survey. We're hoping for a sizeable group with a variety of stands on these issues. Any questions, comments, or requests for results can be emailed to: admin@rachelmacnair.com. This survey is sponsored by the Institute for Integrated Social Analysis, Rachel M. MacNair, Ph.D., Director. 1) For the political season: a flyer for Obama rallies, events and supportersConsistent Life takes no stand in the U.S. presidential race, there being no consistent-life candidates there, but we do want to encourage the candidates and their supporters to move in that direction. Attached is a new flyer that is specifically designed for Obama supporters, and we encourage you to keep it on hand and print up as many as you can use whenever such events happen in your neck of the woods. The flyer is on our web-site, along with many other flyers that can be printed up and used for a variety of occasions (see our downloads page). 2) Our book at amazon.comAmazon is now offering Consistently Opposing Killing: From Abortion to Assisted Suicide, the Death Penalty, and War at the 20% discount rate, and has free shipping. It's therefore the lowest-price place to send people to get the book. (We are hoping to get a paperback version at a better price out as soon as the publisher will allow for that, but that will be a while). Meanwhile, it would be helpful if those who have read it and feel so inclined could add a customer review at Amazon. The more there are positive reviews, the likelier people will be to buy it; and even if they don't, each review can give more education about the consistent life ethic. 3) We still need people to help us cover the following conferencesIf you are planning to go or if these are near you and you're willing to help, please contact President Bill Samuel and we can make arrangements. June 8-10, 2008Envision: The Gospel, Politics & the Future Princeton University, Princeton, NJ June 13-15, 2008 Pentecost 2008 - Sojourners/Call to Renewal Trinity College, Washington, DC June 21-23, 2008 Witness for Peace 25th Anniversary Grassroots Conference Georgetown University, Washington, DC June 28-29, 2008 National Assembly to End the Iraq War and Occupation Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cleveland, OH July 3-5, 2008 NRLC 2008: Changing America one heart at a time Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia July 9-13, 2008 Friends United Meeting Triennial High Point, NC July 18-20, 2008 Peace Action 50th Anniversary National Congress Trinity University, Washington, DC May 2008 - Where are our candidates?
We are including this bumper sticker in a mailing to everyone on our mailing list. If you are not on our mailing list, we will be glad to mail you one as long as our supply lasts. To get one, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Consistent Life, PO Box 9295, Silver Spring, MD 20916-9295. It is too long to fit in a standard #10 long envelope, so it will be folded if that's the size you send. You will need to send at least a #11 to receive it unfolded. If you have a Facebook page, you can also put an image of the sticker on your Profile page using the Bumper Sticker application. ACTION ALERT: April 22, 2008 - The Book Is Out!
Consistently Opposing Killing: The book is officially due out form Praeger/Greenwood April 30, but several of us already have it. Uses for it, beyond reading it for yourself, include:
For details, flyer, and to order from publisher: Barnes & Noble members also get the 20% discount at Please pass this message on to any individuals or listservs that you think might be interested. Any other ideas for publicity are welcome; send to allforlifeaction@swbell.net. ACTION ALERT: February 8, 2008 - Conference Edition[Conferences list updated April 26, 2008] Having a presence at already-established conferences is a prime way for Consistent Life to get out its educational materials. Below is a list of conferences that we think we can do well at, either because people are inclined to be sympathetic or because they are disinclined and would benefit from the interchange. We ask that anyone who is in the vicinity of any of the conferences, or has friends who are in the vicinity, and who would like to help out in staffing a table or otherwise having a presence for the consistent life ethic, please let us know. If you know of any other national conferences we should be considering, please send that information in also. If you have local conferences at which having brochures or flyers would be helpful, you can find suitable ones for downloading at our downloads page. You can print up as many as you need. Remember also that we have speakers available. 2008 Conferences of Interest to Consistent LifeFebruary-MayEverything Must Change Tour Weekend gatherings in 11 cities Tied to book Everything Must Change, by Brian McLaren (CL endorser) June 6-8 National Conference for Media Reform Minneapolis, MN June 8-10 Envision: The Gospel, Politics & the Future Princeton University, Princeton, NJ June 13-15 Pentecost 2008 - Sojourners/Call to Renewal Trinity College, Washington, DC July 9-13 Friends United Meeting Triennial High Point, NC July 10-13 Convention for the Common Good Philadelphia, PA Sponsored by a number of Catholic groups including Pax Christi, Network, Catholics in Alliance, Center for Concern September 11-14 Building Cultures of Peace - Peace and Justice Studies Association Portland State University, Portland, OR October 17-18 Gandhi-King Conference on Peacemaking Christian Brothers University, Memphis, TN ACTION ALERT: January 10, 2008 - Roe Anniversary Events The East Coast and West Coast Roe anniversary events are a prime time to get our message that pro-peace and pro-life go together out to mainly sympathetic audiences, especially on the West Coast where the speakers for the rally are more inclined to understand the concept. For those wishing to be in the Consistent Life contingent: March for Life, Washington, D. C. Tuesday, January 22 Look for the large blue Consistent Life banner. Meet at 11:30 AM on Constitution Avenue between 7th & 9th Sts. NW across from the Archives in front of the Sculpture Garden, about 2 blocks from Archives Metro. For more information, contact Bill Samuel. Cell phone: (301)943-6406. Walk for Life West Coast Saturday, January 19 Look for the Democrats for Life banner -- no partisan implications intended, but they are a member group and we don't yet have our West Coast banner made. Meet at 11:00 AM in the lawn area of the Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco. Further information may be found at the Walk for Life West Coast's website. Consistent Life will also have a table at the Walk's Info Faire, at a tent pavilion located at the Marina Green, near the end point of the West Coast Walk for Life, from noon to 3:00 p.m. For more information ahead of time, contact Ross Heckmann, phone (626)256-4644. On site, the cell phone number is that of Joan Baranow at (415)846-7175. Grassroots actions all over the country Remember that we have a small variety of flyers on our web page; you can select which ones are most suitable for the occasion, and print up as many as you need. Find them at our downloads page. Those will of course also be useful for local events and conferences all throughout the year. ACTION ALERT: January 3, 2008 - New Year, New Book The exciting news is that the progress on the consistent life anthology is that they it's expected out now in April, and pre-orders are now being taken. See (click on cover graphic for catalog description):
We will, of course, let you know when it's actually out. The action I would like to request of those who are so moved is to consider the description, which was given by the publisher, not by any of us. Please send comments on the description directly to me. (The cover can't be changed, but the description is another matter.) Other Web Articles of Interest The following two articles will be of interest to those wanting to know more about consistent life ethic topics, and you may find them useful in your work.
Often, when articles that help the consistent life ethic come out, we would send out an Action Alert asking people to send in postive feedback in order to encourage more. Here, however, one is biting satire and the other is in an already relatively sympathetic source. But I do want to remind everyone that if you run across helpful articles in print or web yourself, to send them in to me so that we spread the word on the Action Alerts. We're a community, and we can only find things out if they're shared. ACTION ALERT: August 9, 2007 - American Pyschological AssociationThe American Psychological Association (APA) has appointed a Task Force on Abortion and Mental Health. This is the second one; the first one several years ago found no detrimental effects. The current Task Force includes people on the first one and new people, but 3 of the 6 members have a clear history of regarding psychological aftermath of abortion as a right-wing propaganda ploy. The other three are neutral; the voice of the woman who believes she was traumatized by her abortion is not represented on the Task Force. The idea of stacking a group of this kind is not limited to abortion, of course. It is a common tactic when violence needs to be justified. Right now, large numbers of APA members are exercised over a similar task force that found it acceptable for psychologists to be involved in harsh interrogation techniques – that is, torture. See below for text of a leaflet that CL supporters will be passing out at a rally sponsored by Psychologists for an Ethical APA at their rally at 4 PM on Friday, August 17, near the American Psychological Association convention in San Francisco. We are looking for people in the San Francisco area to help us leaflet. Please let me know if you're interested or know someone else who is either by email or by calling 719-684-1154, Mountain Time Zone. -- Rachel MacNair, Vice-President, Consistent Life Similar Patterns: Authority and ViolenceConsistent Life is an educational organization focusing on connections between socially-approved violence, and accordingly we support the efforts of Psychologists for an Ethical APA on the obvious connection between war and the harsh interrogation techniques that amount to torture. Scholars of psychology know a great deal about how the human mind is capable of perpetrating violence, including the Milgram electroshock experiments and Bandura's mechanisms of moral disengagement. The use of authority has a role in defending the indefensible.We note that there have been similar patterns not just on this issue, but on what we believe fits as another category of violence: abortion. Harsh Interrogations:“In 2005, APA President Ron Levant created the PENS Task Force to assess the ethics of such participation. Six of the nine voting psychologist members selected for the task force were uniformed and civilian personnel from military and intelligence agencies, most with direct connections to national security interrogations. Perhaps most problematic, it is clear from the OIG Report that three of the PENS members were directly in the chain of command translating SERE techniques into harsh interrogation tactics. Although we cannot know exactly what each of these individuals did, their presence in the chain of command is troubling.”-- From the June 6, 2007 Open Letter to APA President Brehm Abortion:The Task Force on Mental Health and Abortion has six members. Three of them have a clear and publicly stated ideological stand on what the outcome of its work ought to be. Two of them have a web-site the very purpose of which is to correct information on this matter so as to reflect a pro-choice view, with authors asserting such explicit values do not interfere with the scientific nature of their work (see http://www.apa.org/monitor/apr03/letters.html). The remaining three members are two experts in domestic abuse and one in methodology.While there are excellent members on this Task Force, it remains unbalanced – and its lack of balance will hurt both sides of the abortion debate, as any bias can be expected to do. This is the second such task force; the previous one, with some of the same members, found there were no detrimental after-effects of abortion. Both the pro-life and pro-choice movements have a clear interest in a credible decision by the Task Force. To the ideological pro-life movement, women who believe they were traumatized by their abortions are a major constituency group. To have their voice entirely blocked from such a task force will seriously detract from the credibility of its conclusion in their eyes. There are already suspicions that the outcome is rigged. To the ideological pro-choice movement, who most commonly don't believe pregnancy termination is a form of violence at all, the interest in having a credible outcome is also strong. If the what the original task force found is accurate (no or minimal psychological effects), then having this put forth by a task force that is so easily accused of bias could end up doing more harm than good. The report of this Task Force is due out in 2008 – an election year, a point which increases suspicion that it is a political enterprise rather than a scientific one. We have been told that only the science will drive the result, no matter what the personal opinions of the task force members might be, and that there will be a thorough review process after the report before it is disseminated. We hope this is true. But the decision against establishing balance in the personal opinions is puzzling if a credible report is truly desired. The precedent of the PENS Task Force is not reassuring. ACTION ALERT: July 12, 2007 - Amnesty International Survey Amnesty International is running a participants survey, so this is a good opportunity to express dismay at their recent move toward supporting abortion. They even include the euphemism “a women's right to choose” in their list of issues! While they didn't have a spot for general comment, I put my comment in the “Other” box on Question #20. For those who would like to do something similar, the address is: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=bAphja2y89p_2fL_2fSPCboB4A_3d_3d -Rachel MacNair ACTION ALERT: May 7, 2007 - Amnesty International Abortion Policy I am sorry to report that Amnesy International has voted on its abortion policy and made it official -- though is apparently holding off on making any public announcement. You can get more information at http://www.consistent-life.org/ai.html. Documents from AI are at http://www.consistent-life.org/aiabortiondocs.pdf. A good editorial on this is at First Things On the Square blog. We encourage all US members of AI to telephone them at (212) 807-8400 and ask for the membership department. We have been told that they are keeping track of what this abortion policy decision does to their membership; they anticipate that losses may be offset by gains, so knowing of losses is important. We also suggest the following organizations for those who wish to re-direct their human-rights donation budget: [List of organizations omitted here, but can be found at our Amnesty International and Abortion page.] It would be good to include a note to let these groups know that they are getting funds re-directed from AI and why, to make it less likely that they will move in a pro-abortion direction in the future. Student groups who no longer wish to affiliate with AI but would like to continue their good work might consider setting themselves up as independent organizations, and using informational research from AI along with other human rights groups in order to continue acting and educating on these important issues. Please forward this message on to individuals and listservs that would be interested, including those who write for newsletters and other ways of getting out the word. -Rachel MacNair, CL AI Campaign Coordinator ACTION ALERT: April 10, 2007 - Latest Action Needs Regarding Amnesty International I (Rachel MacNair) recently attended the Amnesty International national conference, including a town hall meeting with the national Board of Directors and a workshop on the new abortion policy. For those of you that signed the petition against the new policy, you'll be glad to know I did get a paper copy of that into the hands of each member of the Board. However, at the workshop the next day, they made it clear that that policy was as good as set, though the official international vote was to happen in April. One knowledgeable person said that the announcement of the new policy will be April 16. They are expecting a lot of negative reaction. In the U.K., the membership voted against it; the results of the vote in the U.S. have not been made public. Decision-makers have made themselves immune to the reaction by seeing themselves as courageous. I would like to ask people receiving this to send in information they know on two points. One is that consistent-life people will need to know where to re-direct their donations they have set for human rights and anti-torture work, and we can give them a list. Below are organizations I have found mainly on the web. I was unable to find any abortion position one way or the other on the web, and the phone-call answer is that they have no position on abortion. However, AI was never all that forthcoming either. So if any one has information about these organizations, so we can know whether they are good suggestions or bad suggestions, or if you know of others that should be on the list, please let me know by hitting reply. Also, if you know people in the administration of the groups so that we can make a more personal contact, please let me know.
Any other brainstormed ideas of how to deal with this tragedy would also be welcome. ACTION ALERT: February 22, 2007 - Scott Schaeffer-Duffy Argues Against Just War Theory and Abortion The National Catholic Reporter has published an op ed from Consistent Life's Board member Scott Schaeffer-Duffy, copied below. Positive responses to the publication are always a good idea. An even better idea is letters to the editor that expound upon the points and therefore add to the coverage of the consistent life ethic. You may also want to share the piece with interested people by email. (For print or web-page use, it is copyrighted, so permission would need to be sought). The contact information for the publication is at the bottom of the article. Viewpoint Issue Date: February 23, 2007 Christians must reject all killing Arguments for both just war and abortion contradict our faith By SCOTT SCHAEFFER-DUFFY On Jan. 31, after returning from a visit to Iraq, the new speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, called the situation there “catastrophic” and said, “The question is: How many more lives do we have to lose to prove that the president's plan is not working?” But when National Public Radio's Renée Montagne asked, “Then why are more troops in Afghanistan the answer?” the California Democrat said that the situations were different. True enough. Afghanistan has been unstable for much longer than Iraq, has much more difficult terrain, heavily armed warlords, and a history of fierce resistance to the presence of British, Russian and now NATO troops. Rep. Pelosi's faith in a military solution to the crisis in Afghanistan reminds me of a bankrupted gambler who believes that her luck will be better in a different casino. Rep. Pelosi's view may have been informed by her Catholicism. Ever since St. Augustine devised the just war theory and Constantine made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire, most Catholics have eschewed an absolute rejection of killing. Catholic theologians weigh the morality of war, the death penalty and some questions on a case-by-case basis. A methodology is firmly established that violence is conditionally acceptable. With the dawning of the nuclear age, Catholic leaders questioned whether those conditions could any longer be met, but not that these yardsticks should be rejected altogether. Even the church's recent opposition to the death penalty is not based so much on principle as on the failure of the state to carry out the practice fairly. So dominant is the church's situational acceptance of war that it comes as no surprise that many Catholics accept other uses of violence, such as abortion or euthanasia. Although few couch their arguments in the exact language of the just war theory, Catholic apologists for abortion still operate on the similar assumption that violence, in some circumstances, is either a lesser evil or a means to a better end. While a religious studies student at Holy Cross College, I heard professors of ethics and the theology of liberation argue that violence is essential to overcome injustice. Since then, as a Catholic Worker peace activist, I heard similar arguments from a Jesuit priest in Nicaragua, a Franciscan friar in Bosnia, a rabbi in Israel/Palestine, and a Catholic relief worker in Darfur. But I was able to investigate their claims and learned that the reality of violence is as distant from theoretical discussion as Earth is from Pluto. A Nicaraguan woman I met was as distraught over the loss of one son to the dictator Somoza's army as she was at the loss of another to the Sandanistas. The ethnic cleansing of Muslim and Serb civilians from the environs of Medjugorje and the horrible bloodshed on both sides of Mostar were more chilling than just. The morgue full of the corpses of Palestinian civilians in Israeli-occupied Ramallah and the ruined Jerusalem pizza parlor where a suicide bomber murdered 19 Israelis sickened me equally. After hearing from the head of Doctors Without Borders in Nyala, Darfur, I understood that antigovernment rebels only added to the killing and humanitarian woes of the more than 2.5 million displaced civilians. Just war lingo like “proportionality” and “just cause” counts for nothing to widows and orphans. Real violence is nightmarish. This is why its apologists want its reality obscured. They talk of “collateral damage,” “armed struggle,” “freedom to choose,” and oxymorons like “mercy killing” and “peacekeeping soldiers.” The outrage over the decapitation of Saddam's brother during his hanging was not about mercy, but about feeling uncomfortable with the graphic nature of his execution. Supporters of war, abortion and the death penalty say displaying actual photographs of dismembered victims is insensitive and exploitative rather than merely accurate. Slogans like “war to end wars” and “every child a wanted child” are bandied about without evidence to back them up. In the 21 years that I have helped shelter the homeless, I have seen a steady stream of women trapped in abusive relationships and men crushed by their time in the military. Little effort is spent to prevent war and the sexual objectification of women. War and abortion remain legal, but neither is any closer to becoming rare. The poor can enlist in the military or get cheap abortions, but can't get a living wage, health care or affordable housing. These realities are unacceptable. The church remains enamored with violence largely because its purported successes are widely celebrated and its long-term failures are ignored. We credit the Civil War with ending slavery but downplay how it gave rise to the Ku Klux Klan, sharecropping, and Jim Crow laws to oppress African-Americans for nearly a century. World War II is presented as “the good war,” but internment of Japanese Americans, firebombing of German and Japanese cities, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, followed by the Cold War and nuclear arms race, tarnish the notion that military force achieves a clear or moral victory. We tend to forget that state-condoned violence has social implications as well. Studies show increases in the murder rate after public executions and wars. It also stands to reason that a society that gives mothers the right to kill their children until birth will suffer from higher instances of child abuse. Violence is not easy to limit. It's not a tool that can be taken out of a box and put away without consequences. Witness how the narrow restoration of the death penalty in the United States led to the execution of women, children and the mentally retarded. The Taliban and Saddam Hussein are overthrown only to be replaced by drug-dealing warlords and ruthless civil war. Violence is a cancer. Its justification leads inexorably to greater violence. Abu Ghraib. My Lai. Auschwitz. They grew out of a tolerance for lesser evils. We Catholics urgently need to go back to the roots of our faith for inspiration to reject the just war and to embrace nonviolence. Jesus not only warned us that those who live by the sword will die by the sword, but also encouraged us to love our enemies as he did, and promised us that our tears would be wiped away. Our creativity is nowhere near as limited as the armchair theoreticians suggest. History is replete with marvelous examples of nonviolence being used to oppose injustice and establish peace. The recent histories of successful nonviolent campaigns in South Africa, the Philippines, Chile and Northern Ireland offer much to ponder, as do the lives of Catholics like Francis of Assisi and Dorothy Day. Let the church embrace a truly consistent life ethic, eschewing all killing, so we can focus our energy on the really hard work of actually establishing peace and justice. Scott Schaeffer-Duffy is a member of the Sts. Francis & Therese Catholic Worker community in Worcester, Mass., and of Pax Christi, and a board member of Consistent Life. National Catholic Reporter, February 23, 2007 Copyright © The National Catholic Reporter Publishing Company, 115 E. Armour Blvd., Kansas City, MO 64111 All rights reserved. TEL: 816-531-0538 FAX: 1-816-968-2280 To receive e-mail alerts about actions you can take to promote the consistent life ethic, send e-mail to actionalerts@consistent-life.org. |
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