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St. Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal Church AKA St. Elsewhere December 2, 2009 WORLD PEACE MARCH
Statement Written for the World March for Peace and Nonviolence Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. (Matthew 5:9) Bienaventurados los que trabajan por la paz, porque esos seran llamados los hijas e hijas de Dios. (Mateo 5:9) It is a great honor to be here this evening from Orange County, where I am pleased to share that the seeds of activism for peace and justice are spreading and taking root. I come as one who is deeply faithful to the vision promoted by the World March for Peace and Nonviolence – SI SE PUEDE – Yes we can, and yes we will! SI SE PUEDE – YES WE CAN is a motto we frequently heard during the Obama campaign for the U.S. Presidency, and many might believe that this motto originated with Obama but the truth of the matter is that it originated with Cesar Chavez, a man of deep Christian faith who fasted for 24 days on behalf of the United Farm Workers. As we all know, Chavez led and won that struggle for many farm workers in this country. Chavez was also a man of peace, and someone who publicly advocated for nuclear disarmament. SI SE PUEDE – YES WE CAN quickly became Obama’s motto but given his speech yesterday on the escalating war in Afghanistan, I am beginning to wonder if Obama has taken himself out of the “WE” in “YES WE CAN???” WE, all of us gathered here in support of the World March for Peace and Non-Violence are the “WE” in “YES WE CAN” – “SI SE PUEDE.” And we call on Obama and the leaders of the world to join the WE - the global WE - in support of peace, and a dignified justice for all the citizens of the world. I don’t need to preach to the choir here, we all know that we live in a time of senseless war and occupation where millions around the world live in destitution and fear. Nuclear arsenals continue to pose a threat, and the American public has lost over three trillion dollars in worthless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The alleged fight against terror in the Middle East continues to ignore the plight of Palestinians living under U.S.-funded Israeli occupation. The perpetrators of violence and war continue their work, and we the taxpayers continue to fund this abomination. Who gives them the right to kill and maim in our name? Who gives them the right to squander our resources in the name of reckless violence? Who gives them the right to escalate wars built on the premises of deception? Who gives them the right to engage in and parade the madness of war as if it were a necessary evil? Who gives them the right to rob millions of God’s children of their right to live a life of dignified peace and justice? We all know the answer to those questions. No one gives them the right to do those things, they simply do them because they are addicted to power, and like the drunk who can’t get enough to drink, they want more, and more, and more, and more, and there is absolutely no concern for the lives they destroy in the process, the so-called “collateral damage”. Weapons are created for destruction, and it takes enormous resources to construct something that literally will go up in smoke. This is madness, especially at a time of economic and global recession. But those who profit from this refuse to see the light, refuse to see the beauty of God’s creation, the underlying splendor that links the entire human family as one rich in gifts, and diversity, and all that is necessary to make the world a place where we can all live in a dignified and just peace. It seems that at the heart of all of this is greed, and the belief that only certain individuals have the right to live in dignity, while the rest, especially those considered to be “surplus humanity” have no right to any of this. But we stand together today, along with the international global community, and the courageous marchers who are literally trekking around the world, to tell our government leaders that we have not lost our vision, and that we see better days ahead, inspired by the universal need for peace, and built on the foundations of justice. We will not stand idly by in the face of military, economic, or any kind of violence that robs the dignity of the human being. We are motivated by a sense of humanity and faith, to reach out and make real what is possible, and in the words of the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “We shall overcome, we shall overcome!” Let the leaders of the world, and our own President Obama, know that we shall overcome. SI SE PUEDE - YES WE CAN – AND YES WE WILL!!! For more information go to: http://www.theworldmarch.org/ See previous Logs |
