Tuesday, January 31, 2006
At the Crossroads
As with the injustices that led to such horrid violence in the North of Ireland, the mounting injustices in the US must be addressed foremost by moral authorities if we wish a political reconciliation rather than armed conflict between pro and anti-democratic forces in our country.
It is not enough to simply condemn violence in vague pieties from national offices or ivory towers; if one opposes violent resolution of grievances, then one must not only offer an alternative process, but also work to see it affected. For if politics cannot achieve justice--and it has failed miserably in America--then violence will inevitably follow.
So far, America's religious leaders have not applied themselves to developing solutions to the problems that divide us, problems that themselves are acts of violence--the violence of poverty, the violence of bigotry, the violence of greed. Indeed, they have yet to develop solutions to end American aggression abroad, despite the condemnation of the world for US crimes against humanity.
So until the religious community, Christian and otherwise, actively resist our political system and leadership that is maintained by force and violence against the principles of democracy, let us hear no more about the piety of non-violence. Because as we have seen all too clearly since 12/12/2000, the primary violence of injustice and tyranny in our country has gone mostly unconfronted by the clergy.
Nor should the self-righteous be too quick to engage in conflict resolution before those who have committed these injustices have paid the price for their grievous misdeeds. Much innocent blood has been shed from Biloxi to Baghdad; were some guilty blood to be shed, who are they to condemn it?
It is not too soon for dialogue, though, nor to talk about the responsibilities of both moral and political authorities to ensure these injustices are resolved so that the conditions for further violence are removed. But if those who denounce violence truly wish to end it, they must demonstrate the existence of an alternative strategy as well as a coalition of forces sufficiently powerful to make this achievement a credible possibility.
If there is no peaceful struggle and genuine sacrifice, then moral condemnation of violent struggle is the worst form of hypocrisy. For this tyranny that envelops us must be opposed--one way or another.
It is not enough to simply condemn violence in vague pieties from national offices or ivory towers; if one opposes violent resolution of grievances, then one must not only offer an alternative process, but also work to see it affected. For if politics cannot achieve justice--and it has failed miserably in America--then violence will inevitably follow.
So far, America's religious leaders have not applied themselves to developing solutions to the problems that divide us, problems that themselves are acts of violence--the violence of poverty, the violence of bigotry, the violence of greed. Indeed, they have yet to develop solutions to end American aggression abroad, despite the condemnation of the world for US crimes against humanity.
So until the religious community, Christian and otherwise, actively resist our political system and leadership that is maintained by force and violence against the principles of democracy, let us hear no more about the piety of non-violence. Because as we have seen all too clearly since 12/12/2000, the primary violence of injustice and tyranny in our country has gone mostly unconfronted by the clergy.
Nor should the self-righteous be too quick to engage in conflict resolution before those who have committed these injustices have paid the price for their grievous misdeeds. Much innocent blood has been shed from Biloxi to Baghdad; were some guilty blood to be shed, who are they to condemn it?
It is not too soon for dialogue, though, nor to talk about the responsibilities of both moral and political authorities to ensure these injustices are resolved so that the conditions for further violence are removed. But if those who denounce violence truly wish to end it, they must demonstrate the existence of an alternative strategy as well as a coalition of forces sufficiently powerful to make this achievement a credible possibility.
If there is no peaceful struggle and genuine sacrifice, then moral condemnation of violent struggle is the worst form of hypocrisy. For this tyranny that envelops us must be opposed--one way or another.
