Category Archives: Dear

DRONES: Studying moral ramifications in “Ten Reflections on Drones”

Posted on May 16, 2013 | Leave a comment

Rev. John Dear, S.J.

by Fr. John Dear, S.J.
Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace

Last week, Dr. Robert J. Lifton, the esteemed psychiatrist and author of many important books such as The Nazi Doctors, Hiroshima in America and Destroying the World to Save It, published a long, brilliant essay about the moral ramifications of drones. In “Ten Reflections on Drones” (Part One, Part Two), Lifton argues that we better start grappling with the effects of drones in our lives and get rid of them before they take us to entirely new levels of psychic numbing and global violence.

“I seek to begin a conversation about our relationship as human beings to these robotic objects as weapons,” Lifton writes.

Like many, I, too, have been long pondering the omnipresence of drones, the Obama administration’s criminal commitment to drones and their subtle effect on all our lives. Since my arrest at the Creech Air Force Base, the national drone headquarters, and my recent trip to Afghanistan, where I heard many stories of relatives who lost loved ones from our drones, I’m convinced these drones are destroying us, too — spiritually. As someone once said, “Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.”

I think all those who care for peace should study Lifton’s 10 points about drones. Here is a shortened version of his 10 “meditations” on drones and the illusion that they work…

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Posted in Ambassadors of Peace, Bread for the Journey, Dear, Drones, Nonviolence, Reflection, Sharing Wisdom

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REFLECTION: Only 32 states left after Maryland’s repeal of the death penalty

Posted on May 7, 2013 | Leave a comment

Rev. John Dear, S.J.

by Fr. John Dear, S.J.
Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace

Maryland’s had the death penalty since 1638; that is, until Thursday, when Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley signed a law abolishing it. This is cause for great rejoicing and gratitude. Maryland becomes the 18th state to abolish the death penalty. Six states have done so in the last six years. That leaves 32 states.

“Maryland has effectively eliminated a policy that is proven not to work,” O’Malley said. “Evidence shows that the death penalty is not a deterrent, it cannot be administered without racial bias, and it costs three times as much as life in prison without parole,” he said in a statement. “Furthermore, there is no way to reverse a mistake if an innocent person is put to death. Working together with law enforcement partners, Maryland has driven down violent crime and homicides to three decade lows.”

You could say that after almost 400 years, Maryland has finally entered the age of enlightenment. Ben Jealous, president of the NAACP, put it this way: “This is the day we join the rest of Western civilization.”

Does that mean that the other 32 states have yet to join Western civilization? Unfortunately, yes…

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Posted in Ambassadors of Peace, Bread for the Journey, Dear, Death Penalty, Nonviolence, Reflection, Sharing Wisdom

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REFLECTION: ‘Good Bishop’ Walter Sullivan shows how to be good Christians in bad times

Posted on May 1, 2013 | Leave a comment

Rev. John Dear, S.J.

by Fr. John Dear, S.J.
Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches that if our righteousness does not surpass that of the religious authorities, we will not enter the reign of God.

Bishop Walter Sullivan

Bishop Walter Sullivan speaking at anti-torture rally in 2007.

It’s a shocking instruction. He seems to have learned early on that power corrupts, and not just politicians, but professional religious people, too. If professional religious authorities do not break out of the trappings of power, authority, money and cultic privilege, if they do not embody the beatitudes and struggle for justice and peace, they will not enter the reign of God. I think he means not just in the next life, but here and now, in this life, where the reign of God is at hand.

We see this play out everywhere today, where our religious leaders go along with the culture of violence and war and remain silent in the face of war making, nuclear weapons, poverty and violence. They fear rocking the boat, so they do nothing, protect their money, stay close to their benefactors, accept whatever the military tells them and reject the way of the cross. Or if they speak, they only denounce abortion, claiming to be pro-life even though they actively support U.S. war making and nuclear weapons. In doing so, they come across to the faithful as radically pro-death. They remain clueless to the prophetic vocation which Jesus calls us all to live in the Sermon on the Mount.

The exceptions, of course, make the rule, and one great exception was my friend Walter Sullivan, bishop of Richmond, Va., and former president of Pax Christi USA who died Dec. 11.…

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Posted in Ambassadors of Peace, Bread for the Journey, Dear, Nonviolence, Reflection, Sharing Wisdom

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REFLECTION: ‘No more hurting people,’ 8-year-old bombing victim begs

Posted on April 23, 2013 | Leave a comment

Rev. John Dear, S.J.

by Fr. John Dear, S.J.
Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace

Last week marked a typical turn in our world of violence — dozens killed in explosions in Iraq, U.S. drone attacks in Afghanistan, the ongoing U.S.-backed occupation of Palestine, the force-feeding of U.S. prisoners at Guantanamo, our president’s daily perusal of his assassination list, millions of children starving to death around the world, ongoing U.S. preparations for nuclear war, the continued exploitation of the earth and its creatures, inner-city shootings, 14 dead from a fiery factory explosion in Texas — and the Boston Marathon bombings.

I was in Ontario, Canada, last week to speak about nonviolence and was unable to follow the news from Boston. But I was stopped short by the heartbreaking photo of 8-year-old bombing victim Martin Richard from Dorchester, Mass., who was killed while standing with his family at the finish line April 15.

In the photo, Martin smiles at the camera, holding a handmade poster with two red hearts and a peace sign. It reads: “No more hurting people. Peace.” He made the poster at school in response to the shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida.

“No more hurting people.” For me, that’s the voice of God speaking to us all. It’s the cry of the world’s children. It’s the message of Jesus and Buddha passed on to us down through the ages.…

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Posted in Ambassadors of Peace, Bread for the Journey, Dear, Nonviolence, Reflection, Sharing Wisdom

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REFLECTION: Hungering for justice at Guantanamo

Posted on April 19, 2013 | 1 Comment

Rev. John Dear, S.J.

by Fr. John Dear, S.J.
Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace

 

On Saturday, U.S. military prison guards at Guantanamo fired rubber bullets at prisoners to try and stop their ongoing hunger strike. The prison reaction only exacerbates the situation. Reports indicate that many of the 166 prisoners at Guantanamo have been on a hunger strike since Feb. 6. (Although the U.S. military acknowledges 43 strikers, lawyers say the number is well above 100.) At least 13 are so thin and weak that they are being painfully force-fed. The United Nations Human Rights Commission has declared force-feeding prisoners “a form of torture,” so one could argue the U.S. torture at Guantanamo continues at this very moment.

 

The grave injustice of Guantanamo must end immediately. President Barack Obama and the U.S. government need to address the issues of the hunger strikers now before a prisoner dies. The death of one of these prisoners will turn millions more around the world against us. Even if U.S. officials do not care for human rights, prisoners’ deaths will be disastrous for the U.S.

 

But the demands of the hunger strike are perfectly reasonable and legal under international law. They want an immediate end to indefinite detention, torture and poor conditions.…

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Posted in Ambassadors of Peace, Bread for the Journey, Dear, Human Rights, Reflection, Sharing Wisdom

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REFLECTION: Jesus’ baptism is key to his peacemaking

Posted on April 14, 2013 | Comments Off

Rev. John Dear, S.J.

by Fr. John Dear, S.J.
Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace

This past weekend, a group of us gathered in the Poconos near East Stroudsburg, Pa., for a simple weekend retreat, “Jesus the Peacemaker.” We looked at general themes of peacemaking in his life, then focused on Luke 10 and how he sends 72 disciples out on a mission of peace (“like lambs sent into the midst of wolves”). We then shared stories from the missions of peace we had undertaken during our own lives. We concluded Sunday morning with reflections about encountering the risen, peacemaking Jesus, like the downcast disciples on the road to Emmaus, and how he turns us around with new hope to carry on the struggle of peace.

One of my questions was: How did he do it? How did Jesus practice such perfect peacemaking? How did he embody nonviolence so well, as Gandhi said he did?

We looked for clues in the story of Jesus’ baptism, when he is at prayer by the Jordan River and hears God say, “You are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased.” This moment holds the key in my understanding of Jesus’ peacemaking life: Unlike the rest of us, Jesus accepts this announcement of God’s nonviolent love for him and claims his true identity as the beloved son of the God of peace. From then on, he knows who he is. He’s faithful to this discovery of his identity until the moment he dies.

I think God tells every one of us, “You are my beloved.” If we could hear this invitation and claim this truth as our core identity, we too could go forth into the culture of war as peacemakers. This insight, I believe, is the key to Christian nonviolence, the spiritual life and our very humanity.…

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Posted in Ambassadors of Peace, Bread for the Journey, Dear, Nonviolence, Reflection, Sharing Wisdom

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REFLECTION: Welcoming the resurrection gift of peace

Posted on April 5, 2013 | 1 Comment

Rev. John Dear, S.J.

by Fr. John Dear, S.J.
Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace

Easter invites us to welcome the risen Christ’s resurrection gift of peace with all our hearts.

“My peace I give you; my peace I leave with you,” the nonviolent Jesus told his friends the night before he was executed. By all accounts, when he appeared to them that Sunday, he said to them over and over again, “Peace be with you.” He comes back and shares his peace with us. He offers it to us as a gift. He wants us to live in his peace. Indeed, he lives on in us when we welcome his peace and make it real within and around us.

Easter is the time to welcome this great gift of Christ’s peace with all our hearts. As Easter people, we take that gift of peace seriously, and make it part of our lives, and do what we can to share that resurrection gift with others, even the whole world.

But as we look around at our hearts, our lives and our world, one wonders if anyone is interested in accepting that resurrection gift of peace.…

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Posted in Ambassadors of Peace, Bread for the Journey, Dear, Lent 2013, Nonviolence, Reflection, Sharing Wisdom

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