Nonviolent witness at military idolatry parade

By Art Laffin
Pax Christi USA 2016 Teacher of Peace

On Saturday, June 14, eight peacemakers from the Washington DC area held a nonviolent witness in resistance to the parade commemorating the 250th anniversary of the US Army — a $45 million parade Mr. Trump ordered to be held on his birthday. The parade, with more than 6,000 soldiers and 128 tanks, was one Trump tried to make happen in his first term but which never came together until the parade was added to an event recognizing the Army’s birthday.

Our small faith-based witness was in solidarity with the more than 2,100 “No Kings” protests that took place on June 14, and all who are now nonviolently resisting the Trump regime’s reign of terror on all fronts.

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Use this link to read about Pax Christi USA member Steve Herro’s experience at the No Kings demonstration in Green Bay, WI on June 14.

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On the eve of the parade, members of Veterans for Peace and About Face held a protest on the US Capitol steps demanding an end to US support for wars abroad and no military on US city streets. Sixty veterans were arrested.

On Saturday, we passed through a security checkpoint — surprisingly with our banners and signs — to get to the parade route on the opposite side of the Mall on Constitution Avenue, which had security fences on both sides of the street where the parade would take place.

Numerous police were stationed between 18th and 19th Streets, the only area where we could be, as well as on Constitution Avenue. When we arrived, spectators were lined up along the fencing and also on a grassy area. We staked out a space where we could display our signs and banners, including displaying a banner on a ledge covered with bushes.

Our two main banners said “Wage peace — practice nonviolence” and “Even the generals recognize him as a fascist. What will you do when he authorizes the military to suppress protest? Will you just follow orders like the good Germans? Remember the White Rose.” Our signs read: “Real kings don’t need tanks” with an image of Jesus on a donkey entering Jerusalem; “Monarch butterflies, not presidents!” and “Follow Jesus’ way of nonviolence.” We met a number of people who were very supportive, including a veteran who also stood on the ledge with a sign, and gave several media interviews.

When I first heard about this parade, I thought that an appropriate name for it would be: “The Military Idolatry Parade.” This event, like Mr. Bush’s so-called “victory parade” following the US war against Iraq in 1991, was about worshipping the empire’s idols of death, glorifying war, and perpetuating the myth of redemptive violence. As hundreds of troops and numerous tanks passed by along the route, and as war planes flew overhead, I thought of different bible passages including those listed below:

You shall have no other gods before me… you should not make for yourself an idol… you shall not bow down to them and worship them. — Deuteronomy 5:7,9

Do not turn to idols or make cast images for yourselves. — Leviticus 19:4

…There is no end to their chariots (weapons) … Their land is full of idols and they worship idols made by their own hands. — Isaiah 2:6-8

They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. — Isaiah 2:4

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. — Mark 12:31

Love one another. — John 15:17

Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God. — Matthew 5:9

You shall not murder… — Matthew 5:21

Love your enemies… — Matthew 5:45

Put your sword back into its place for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.  — Matthew 26:52

As people of faith, we believe in God’s reign of justice, love, and Gospel nonviolence. God’s love knows no borders.

• We reject all that is contrary to God’s commandment to love our neighbor.
• We denounce empire, white supremacy, Christian Nationalism, and all systems of domination and structures of power that oppress, exploit and kill and endangers God’s creation.
• We denounce the deployment of troops to help carry out ICE raids and the detention and deportation of immigrant sisters and brothers and student organizers.
• We denounce the immoral budget bill, narrowly passed by the Republican-controlled House and now being taken up by the Senate, which proposes cuts to lifesaving services for those who are poor while giving huge tax breaks to those who are wealthy and increasing the Pentagon budget to $1 trillion.
• We decry the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza and the call for the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land.
• We denounce US support for Israel’s war against Iran.

In response to the perilous time we are in, more faith leaders and increasing numbers of people of faith are publicly calling for the creation of a political and economic order dedicated to serving the common good and that upholds the dignity and human rights of every person, protects the environment and meets the human needs of all, especially those who are poor, and abolishes war and all weapons, from guns and assault weapons to killer drones and nuclear weapons.

In our liturgical calendar, we have recently commemorated the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, who has forever overcome the powers and principalities of this world. And as we have just celebrated Pentecost, we’ve been empowered by the Holy Spirit to boldly proclaim the Gospel of the Risen Jesus. Now is the time for all followers of Jesus to rise up, as many are already doing, and be Gospel witnesses of love, peace and resurrection hope in resistance to the forces of oppression, destruction and death. Let us continue to act in solidarity with everyone who is laboring to end all that separates, wounds and divides God’s global family and create the Beloved Community!