A Brief Op-Ed on Pacifism

Pacifism is not a moral philosophy of inaction or passivity. Quite the opposite, it is electric, expansive, even forceful. See Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speeches if you don’t believe me. A pacifist cannot be a coward, but must be prepared to stand up and speak on behalf of peace and higher ideals, even humbly, even faced with violent retribution.

As a pacifist, I see no problem with people who are not catagorically opposed to war, but with war apologists and warmongers. Journalist Chris Hedges refers to the “mythmakers” of war who fly the flag of patriotic glory while shunting compassion, caution, and bitter reality into a dark closet of the architecture of social conscience. (War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges, 2002 Anchor Books)

A moderate approach to violence is far better than an extreme thirst for glory and battlefield meaning. While my own philosophy may lie far to an extreme, I am at least able to respect the “moderates.” The same cannot be said for those at the other end of the spectrum.

As a species, we must defy the dictates of the gods of war, starve them of their blood sacrifices, and evolve past their station. Conflict, strife, and even violence may be human, but mass killings are well beneath us. We can no longer attempt to justify such behavior with a thin veneer of false idealism. It is time now, with our ever-increasing capacity for mass suicide, to take this stand and hold our ranks firm in the name of peace and prosperity.

~ NG

Another Burma Post

The situation in Burma is much worse than the American media knows or says.

Duh. I have no comment on this at this time.

~ NG, again

You Must Be The Change

As cliche as it has become, Mahatma Gandhi revealed his wisdom when he said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

One of the problems I have with progressives, anarchists, and other peace-loving types like myself is that they are too aggressive and, often, mean about… just about everything. They have not personally integrated the traits which they preach the loudest, such as peace and tolerance. If they had, they wouldn’t be so ready to jump down the throats of opponents and allies alike in the case of minor factual mistakes or a simple difference in experience or opinion.

“Arrogant Jerks for Peace” is not a movement you’re likely to run into, and yet it’s the message being broadcast by the intelligentsia of this country every day. Perhaps instead of trying to solve All The Big Problems all the time, we should first focus upon fixing our own problems. Society is a collection of individuals. If those individuals are not ready to evolve, neither will their social and political institutions.

To sum-up, a little compassion and understanding goes a long way.

~ NG

Iran A More and More Viable Military Target

And yes, I see this as a problem. Iran’s president is not one of my favorite people, but attacking Iran would have a ridiculously great destabilizing effect upon the entire Middle East region. Seymour Hersh on today’s Democracy Now! went so far as to say that if we were to compare Iraq to Vietnam, an attack on Iran would be much worse than Cambodia. As he pointed out, the Vietnam war, as stupid and awful as it was, never went beyond the tactical boundaries of the conflict, whereas the wars in Iraq and the almost forgotten Afghanistan (we Americans have such short memories, it seems) have already had a strong largely negative impact upon the entire region. War with Iran would be much worse, drawing nearly the entire Middle East into the conflict including Pakistan and Israel.

In related news, a Pentagon official was quoted as saying, “I hate all Iranians.” Cute. And cuter still, the Democrat-run Senate OKed $150 billion in additional war funds. This goes to show that we Americans need to grow out of the dualistic view that the parties can be easily differentiated into “good” and “evil”, “right” and “wrong”, or even “peaceful” and “warlike”. It simply isn’t true! Neither of the two big parties is “good” or even “on our side”. They are purely self-serving. Learn that and integrate it into your own political reality. See today’s headlines on Democracy Now!

~ NG

Full Disclosure

So much for extreme, grandiose statements… I’ll try to avoid those in the future.

As it turns out, this is already having a negative effect on my health. It isn’t serious, but it does mean that I’ll need to eat a bit more than rice. I’m going to stick mostly with rice, two meals a day, and supplement that with a small regular meal (some sort of protein perhaps). That should work out. My health is important to me and to those I love. I’m not a hard-core hunger striker. Still, even this really lets one know just how fortunate we are as Americans! Those displaced villagers hardly have options, and yet here I am able to say, “Oh, I have low blood sugar and will fall unconscious and require hospitalization if I don’t have a bit fuller diet.” Still, even this humble “fast” will be meaningful and challenging for me over the long-term. I pray that change comes soon.

I apologize for not being as good at this activism stuff as some other, better men and women but, as the quote over on the side says, the world won’t wait for perfect people to come along and fix everything so we need to all do what little we can along the way.

Anybody who finds this subject of interest, please see the US Campaign for Burma website. I’m not a member myself, but I find that they have good intentions and take appropriate actions.

~ NG

Letter to Congress

[I sent the following letter to my Senators and Representative in the United States Congress. I can only pray that it works. Feel free to use all or part of it in your own letters, e-mails and phone calls.]

Ave [Senator Isakson, Senator Chambliss, Representative Linder],

I am generally somewhat of an isolationist when it comes to international affairs. I make exceptions, however, for severe human rights issues. The situation coming to a head now in Burma is one such issue, and I cannot sit silently and watch it unfold.

Around 200 peaceful protestors, including Buddhist monks, have been killed in Burma for nothing more than wanting liberty and democracy. This number doesn’t even scratch the surface.

Hundreds more have been beaten and/or arrested. Over 3000 civilian villages have been attacked and destroyed by the Burmese military. Buddhist monasteries have been ransacked. Rape and torture are used as tools of social control. What we have here is not a case of a sovereign nation taking care of its own internal business in a manner which we find to be slightly distasteful; it is a full-blown atrocity which we, as liberty-loving Americans and as a moral people, must confront.

I understand that the UN has attempted to come to some decision on this matter, but has been stalled-out by China’s refusal to cooperate. China, of course, has its own sordid history of human rights violations (to use the polite term), and is now facilitating yet more slaughter and degredation of Buddhist practitioners (who, regardless of faith, are fellow human beings first and foremost) in yet another nation.

I humbly but passionately ask that you, and your colleagues in Congress of all political parties, do something, anything, in your power to help the UN in moving forward on this issue. I am not advocating military action, but diplomatic and economic actions which are well within the power of the UN and UN member nations.

Until such time as there is some level large-scale of decisiveness by the international community, I will be eating mostly rice and drinking only water to show my solidarity with the Burmese people and to illustrate a small part of their hardships: the diets of the internal refugees, displaced populations from the destroyed villages, consist mostly of rice and water as they do their best to hide from military forces who will arrest, beat, rape, and murder them on sight.

Thank you, and God bless.

In Peace Profound,
Nicholas Graham [last name withheld]

An Important Open Letter

Avete Brothers & Sisters,

As anyone who has looked at this blog recently can see, we are concerned over the current situation in Burma. I wish I had known enough about this before, but unfortunately this long-term situation is only now coming to the attention of most Americans.

Not only have numerous civilians and Buddhist monks alike been beaten, arrested, and killed already, but the UN’s efforts to intervene have been stalled by China’s refusal to do anything about the situation. I may not be a big fan of international interventions, but human rights violations are my one exception. I find the lack of a concrete international response to be unconscionable in light of the desires of the men and women involved in the peaceful uprising. What are these desires which produce such intense rage in the hearts of the Burmese military government? Liberty, democracy, and the simple right to life. These are similar to the reasons why China has done everything in its power to stem the tide of popular Buddhism within its own borders and abroad. Buddhism encourages liberation and discourages the fear of earthly powers.

That said, I will begin a partial “hunger strike”* in which I will eat only simple rice and drink only water to simulate the diet of those thousands of villagers who have been displaced since the takeover of the military junta in Burma. And yet I still will have many advantages: my rice and water will be clean and disease-free, and I will not have to walk through wilderness in constant worry of being caught by military guards who will arrest, rape, and/or kill my family and friends on sight.

I do this to make myself realize in some small way what these people are going through. Also, I hope that this will bring some measure of attention from my friends and family, that I may share with them just what this issue is really about and how terrible it is.

Throughout this process, I will be sending e-mails, letters, and phone calls to members of congress, to the UN, to the Olympics council, and to the Chinese government. I will not return to my “regular American diet” until some significant progress has been made and the UN has succesfully come to an arrangement with Chinese cooperation.

I ask that anybody who reads this, anybody who values liberty and life, make their voices heard among the governments of the world. Let it be known that you are a peaceful person, in favor of a peaceful resolution to the world’s problems. Stand up for your ideals!

In Peace Profound,
Nicholas Graham

*I only use the term hunger strike because I don’t know what other term to use. I’m not actually striking from anything, or trying to get anybody’s attention with this stunt. It’s just a way for me to try to understand in some small way what the displaced villagers and imprisoned protestors have to put up with. In the interest of full disclosure, it turns out that I’m hypoglycemic and I will unfortunately have to supplement my diet a little bit to keep from being hospitalized and unconscious. Ah well… So much for grand ideas. Still, it makes me realize just how lucky I am!

Burma Again

For those who don’t understand the intense severity of Burma’s current protests and human rights violations, please please take a look at Ko Htike’s blog. Want to do something? Check out the US Campaign for Burma.

~ NG

Monks, the new freedom fighters!

In Myanmar, or Burma, the citizens are facing an enormous catastrophe due to increasing military control over the populace. What is more than this is that Buddhist monks seem to be targeted now as they continue to lead rebellions and anti-government protests. May divine providence shine down upon these warriors of peace!
Myanmar

- Griff

PS – Forget the U.S. Marines, these Monks are the ones who deserve an oorah!

Legalized Reincarnation?

China enacts legal regulations on the reincarnation of Buddhists. As this MSNBC article points out, beyond the absurdity of the proposition lies one more attempt by the Chinese government to undermine any sort of non-governmental religious movement, especially one which emphasizes liberation from all worldly powers. This isn’t the first time they’ve tried to control the reincarnation of a high Tibetan religious leader; the Panchen Lama has recieved such treatment already.

(Cross-posted to Chymical Wedding.)

~ NG