[Announce] Fw: Art Laffin's Reflection at D.C. Holy Innocents Faith & Resistance Retrea

[Robert Waldrop]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Art Laffin <artlaffin at hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, Jan 2, 2009

Holy Innocents Faith and Resistance Retreat 
Reflection
By Art Laffin given at St. Stephen's and the 
Incarnation Church,
Washington, DC, December 28, 2008

In light of a new incoming adminstration about to 
take power, the
global economic collapse, the ongoing warmaking of 
our empire and the
global climate crisis, it is good that we are 
gathering at this
critical point in human history. As we commemorate 
today the Massacre
of the Holy Innocents, we are also mindful that 
tomorrow is the
anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre. On Dec. 
29, 1890, more than
250 Indian men, women and children were shot and 
killed  by the U.S.
7th Cavalry at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

In the process of planning this Faith and 
Resistance retreat, members
of Jonah House and Dorothy Day Catholic Worker 
reflected on what we
should address in this retreat. Our reflection 
lead us to raise the
following questions:

Why did Herod deem the Christ-child such a threat 
that he ordered the
slaughter of the innocents in the hope that Jesus 
would be killed?
How is it possible that children are deemed so 
expendable under Herod
and under todat's Herod's?
How does war and empire impact children?
What kind of world do we want to create and leave 
for future
generations? Where is our hope?


-----------------

In my limited time this evening I would like to 
offer some initial
responses to these questions.


*Why did Herod deem the Christ-child such a threat 
that he ordered the
slaughter of the innocents in the hope that Jesus 
would be killed?


Because he was so possessed by his power, Herod 
could not tolerate
anyone who would represent a challenge to his 
authority. Herod was
aware of the predictions of the coming of the long 
promised Messiah.
And the three wise men visited Herod telling him 
about their intention
to visit the newborn king. Herod was so convinced 
that if the
Christ-child really was the Messiah foretold in 
the scriptures that
his reign of power could be jeopardized and 
toppled. Herod did not
want to take any chances. He was willing to do 
whatever was necessary
to eliminate Jesus--so he ordered the massacre of 
all boys in
Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old 
and under.

Imagine for a moment the nightmare that ensued for 
the families of
Bethlehem...the unimaginable horror...I think 
about how Carlos was the
same age as those kids massacred by Herod. I can't 
begin to comprehend
the pain Colleen and I would feel if we were to 
witness the murder of
our son, Carlos, let alone, the massacre of other 
boys his age.


*How is it possible that children are deemed so 
expendable--under
Herod and under todays Herod's?


The rich and the powerful have become so obssessed 
and blinded by
their power and riches, that they, like Herod, 
will do anything
necessary to ensure and maintain their power and 
control. Instead of
worshipping God and obeying God's commands, they 
now worship the idols
of power, greed and violence. They have been 
seduced into believing an
illusion--that their power is sovereign over 
God's. They have
fashioned a political and economic paradigm based 
on domination and
oppression--at the expense of everything else. 
Masses of people--due
to their color and class are thus deemed 
expendible. It really doesn't
matter how many children die from the effects of 
war, or from an
economic system that exploits, oppresses and 
denies the poor the basic
necessities of life.


*How does War and Empire impact children today?

UNESCO Facts about children and war:

Over the last decade alone, armed conflict has 
claimed the lives of
over 2 million children. Another six million have 
been left wounded or
disabled for life. One million have become 
orphans. It is estimated
today that more than 300,000 children have been 
enrolled in militia
groups and armies and been forced to carry a gun. 
Half of those they
kill are other children.

Also here in the US, HUD reports nearly 1 in 4 
people in homeless
shelters in US are children 17 years or younger.


UNICEF Facts About Children Dying From Poverty:
Around the world, some 26,500 children die every 
day.
That is equivalent to:
--1 child dying every 3 seconds
--18 children dying every minute
-- A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring every week
-- Almost 10 million children dying every year
-- Some 60 million children dying between 2000 and 
2006


"The silent killers are poverty, hunger, easily 
preventable diseases
and illnesses, and other related causes. In spite 
of the scale of this
daily/ongoing catastrophe, it rarely manages to 
achieve, much less
sustain, prime-time, headline coverage." UNICEF


These facts are mindblowing to say the least. But 
these statistics
translate into people that many of us have met. 
I've had several
first-hand experiences of how children are 
effected by war. I've
witnessed children starving to death and dying 
from preventable
diseases and the effects of war in El Salvador and 
in Gaza as well as
Iraq.


In 1998 when I went to Iraq with the 11th Voices 
in the Widerness
delegation to bring medicine and medical supplies 
to help the children
dying as a result of the US-UN led economic 
sanctions, I met Zahra Ali
in a Baghadad hospital pediatric ward. She was 
seven months old and
emaciated beyond belief. She was dying from 
nutritional marasmus--a
severe form of malnutrition. She lay listless on a 
bed, her eyes
piercing my heart with an indescribable anguish. 
The doctors said
there was nothing they could do for her and that 
she didn't have long
to live. Zahra's mother was sitting by her bedside 
traumatized and
crying. She asked us why does the US government 
hate the Iraqi people
so much? We could only reply that we are doing 
everything we can to
end the sanctions and the war. The several of us 
who were present
observing this nightmare unfolding, did what we 
could to try to offer
some consolation to Zahra's mother. Several 
doctors then pleaded with
us to make sure to tell the American people what 
we witnessed.


I am forever haunted by Zahra and the other Iraqi 
children I've met in
Iraq's hospital wards.


Due to its desire to control the oil of the 
Persian Gulf, and dominate
the Middle East region,  the US, over the last 18 
years, has committed
genocide against the Iraqi people. The #'s of 
deaths from US-led
sanctions, bombings and occupation are staggering:


Prior to the March 2003 invasion, estimates ranged 
from 1-2 million
Iraqi's, half of whom are children, died as a 
result of US bombings
and US-UN lead economic sanctions.


Since March 2003, Opinion Research Business, a 
prestigious British
polling agency, estimated that as of September 
2007,1.2 million Iraqis
have been killed violently since the US-led 
invasion. Also between 4-5
million Iraqis have been displaced.



Let us also consider:
*the sanctions caused Iraqi children to experience 
stunted growth,
therefore they will never reach their full human 
potential.
*countless children have died premature deaths and 
many more have been
born deformed due to the US use of depleted 
uranium weapons.
*the psychological damage and trauma caused by the 
war is permanent
for every Iraqi.


We've wounded a whole generation and caused 
deep-seeded hatred and
resentment that will last for generations.


Let us also not forget the carnage and death that 
the US has wreaked
on Afghanistan.


The US War in Afghanistan (2001-present), has 
resulted in the deaths
of thousands of Afghan civilians directly from 
insurgent and foreign
military action, as well as the deaths of possibly 
tens of thousands
of Afghan civilians indirectly as a consequence of 
displacement,
starvation, disease, exposure, lack of medical 
treatment, crime and
lawlessness resulting from the war.


The deaths resulting from US military occupation 
of Afghanistan are
hard to determine, but based on information 
available from several
internet sources the number of direct war 
casualties exceed 20,000. US
airstrikes in in Afghanistan have increased 
dramatically in the last
several years. On August 22, 2008, US air strikes 
killed 90 civilians.
Afhgan investigators found that 90 civilians were 
killed in the
village of Azizabad in the Shindand district of 
Herat province, about
60 of them were children or teenagers and 15 were 
woman. A survivor of
the air strike said that he lost 11 family members 
in the bombing.


We are now painfully aware that President-elect 
Obama wants to
increase US military forces in Afghanistan and 
make it the #1 front in
the so called war against terrorism.


US air strikes are also increasing in Pakistan. In 
one of these US
airstrikes on Oct. 31, 27 people were killed. 
Imagine for a moment a
child you know being killed during such an 
air-strike!!!


We are also mindful of other threats that we and 
our children face as
a consequence of Empire and warmaking.


The global climate crisis and ecological 
destruction that presently
exists is a direct consequence of our misuse and 
exploitation of the
earth's resources and our addiction to materialism 
and a consumeristic
life-style. The economic collapse we are 
experiencing is part of a
larger systemic failure that is rooted in an 
insatiable lust for
greed, and the squandering of the public treasury 
by the powerful to
maintain corporate power and finance the empire's 
weaponry and
warmaking ventures.


Let recall the Pentagon axiom: "The US must use 
whatever force is
necessary, including nuclear weapons, to control 
and protect its
interests, especially oil and other vital 
resources, and to prevent
the emergence of another rival superpower like the 
former Soviet
Union.... (Pentagon quote from 1994-1999 Defense 
Guidance).


And the US must militarize and dominate space if 
it is to control
earth. Nuclear weapons are still the centerpiece 
of our empire's
warmaking apparatus. This is evidenced by a 
first-strike, first-use
nuclear posture and "Complex 2030."  The U.S. 
Department of Energy
(DOE) is currently working on a major new 
initiative, Complex 2030,
which entails upgrading the entire U.S. nuclear 
weapons complex while
designing and producing a series of new nuclear 
warheads. These new
weapons, produced through the Reliable Replacement 
Warhead (RRW)
program, would ultimately replace the entire U.S. 
nuclear arsenal.
Under Complex 2030, the U.S. nuclear weapons 
laboratories would return
to the Cold War cycle of nuclear weapon design, 
development, and
production. This initiative would risk a return to 
underground nuclear
testing and would undercut U.S. efforts to limit 
the development of
new nuclear weapons by other countries.


And then there is StratCom. Tapped in the 
aftermath of 9/11 to wage
the Bush/Cheney Administration's "War on Terror," 
StratCom today has a
mission array that stretches from directing a 
dreaded air- and
sea-based attack on Iran to the outright 
domination of space by the
Pentagon. StratCom is still performing its 
historic role as the
command center of the U.S.'s nuclear arsenal. But 
under the White
House's "Doctrine of Preemption," the Omaha 
headquarters is now
authorized to offensively attack any place on the 
planet within one
hour—with either conventional or nuclear weapons— 
if a threat to
America's national interests is simply suspected.


Recently, I came across an alarming news story 
regarding the future
threats that we face, titled: "The National 
Intelligence Council
Report: Sun Setting on The American Century," 
(November 21, 2008 by
Times Online/UK  by Tim Reid). What follows are 
excerpts of this
report.


The next two decades will see a world living with 
the daily threat of
nuclear war, environmental catastrophe and the 
decline of America as
the dominant global power, according to a 
frighteningly bleak
assessment by the US intelligence community.


"The world of the near future will be subject to 
an increased
likelihood of conflict over resources, including 
food and water, and
will be haunted by the persistence of rogue states 
and terrorist
groups with greater access to nuclear weapons," 
said the report by the
National Intelligence Council, a body of analysts 
from across the US
intelligence community. The analysts said that the 
report had been
prepared in time for Barack Obama's entry into the 
Oval office on
January 20, where he will be faced with some of 
the greatest
challenges of any newly elected US president.


"The likelihood that nuclear weapons will be used 
will increase with
expanded access to technology and a widening range 
of options for
limited strikes," the 121-page assessment said. 
The analysts draw
attention to an already escalating nuclear arms 
race in the Middle
East and anticipate that a growing number of rogue 
states will be
prepared to share their destructive technology 
with terror groups.
"Over the next 15-20 years reactions to the 
decisions Iran makes about
its nuclear programme could cause a number of 
regional states to
intensify these efforts and consider actively 
pursuing nuclear
weapons," the report Global Trends 2025 said. 
"This will add a new and
more dangerous dimension to what is likely to be 
increasing
competition for influence within the region," it 
said. The spread of
nuclear capabilities will raise questions about 
the ability of weak
states to safeguard them, it added. "If the number 
of nuclear-capable
states increases, so will the number of countries 
potentially willing
to provide nuclear assistance to other countries 
or to terrorists."


The report said that global warming will aggravate 
the scarcity of
water, food and energy resources. Citing a British 
study, it said that
climate change could force up to 200 million 
people to migrate to more
temperate zones. "Widening gaps in birth rates and 
wealth-to-poverty
ratios, and the impact of climate change, could 
further exacerbate
tensions," it said.

"The international system will be almost 
unrecognisable by 2025, owing
to the rise of emerging powers, a globalising 
economy, a transfer of
wealth from West to East, and the growing 
influence of nonstate
actors. Although the United States is likely to 
remain the single most
powerful actor, the United States' relative 
strength - even in the
military realm - will decline and US leverage will 
become more
strained."


Global power will be multipolar with the rise of 
India and China, and
the Korean peninsula will be unified in some form. 
Turning to the
current financial situation, the analysts say that 
the financial
crisis on Wall Street is the beginning of a global 
economic
rebalancing.


The US dollar's role as the major world currency 
will weaken to the
point where it becomes a "first among equals".

"Strategic rivalries are most likely to revolve 
around trade,
investments and technological innovation, but we 
cannot rule out a
19th-century-like scenario of arms races, 
territorial expansion and
military rivalries." The report, based on a global 
survey of experts
and trends, was more pessimistic about America's 
global status than
previous outlooks prepared every four years. It 
said that outcomes
will depend in part on the actions of political 
leaders. "The next 20
years of transition to a new system are fraught 
with risks," it said.


What kind of world do we want to create and leave 
for future
generations? Where is our hope?
As we consider the threats before us, our hearts 
deeply resonate with
the following insight and warning:
" Who will be blown up, shot, and tortured 
tomorrow? Which family will
lose its child next?" (Lily Hamourtziadou, 
September, 7, 2008 -- From
her article "The Week in Iraq--Legacies of Pain")


We are heartbroken as more and more inncocents 
continue to suffer and
die. Just yesterday we heard the news of the 
deadly US supported
Israeli air-strikes in Gaza which killed over 300 
Palestinians and
injured countless more. In this Holy Season, we 
turn to Jesus, our
hope and our life. And we turn to the inspiring 
holy cloud of
witnesses who have gone before us and who now 
intercede on our behalf.
In response to a culture that deems children 
expendable we hear Jesus
say: "Let the children come to me." And so we must 
do likewise. In
response to our culture where vengeance, 
retribution, violence and
killing are the norm, Jesus says: "love one 
another, "love your
enemies," "be merciful" and "forgive and you will 
be forgiven." And so
we must do likewise. In response to a society that 
has
institutionalized war, oppression and poverty, 
Jesus says: "the reign
of God is at hand...reform your lives...proclaim 
liberty to the
captives...let the oppressed go free...be 
peacemakers." And so we must
do likewise.


Dear Friends, we believe that communities of faith 
committed to
sharing, simplicity, and doing the works of mercy 
and nonviolent
resistance, working in solidarity with the 
oppressed and marginalized,
is the best way we can help transform our society 
and world and bring
about the Beloved Community. Just as slavery was 
abolished, apatheid
ended, and the Berlin Wall fell, so, too, can 
empire and war be
abolished. But as we know well from history, such 
change requires
extraordinary patience and conviction, steadfast 
courage, and the
willingness to sacrifice and to even give our 
lives. There is great
cause for hope today because all over the world 
there are people
working to birth new social, political and 
economic paradigms that are
rooted in economic and social justice, an 
unequivocal respect for
human rights, safeguarding the environment, 
redistributing the wealth,
and nonviolent conflict resolution. If the human 
family is to survive,
it is up to people of faith and conscience to be 
the change we want to
see in the world. As Peter Maurin stated, "if we 
want to make the
future different we have to make the present 
different." Thus we take
to heart Jesus' proclamation that the kingdom of 
God is at hand, right
here, right now, and that we must act in 
faithfulness to daily
proclaim the Gospel with our lives.

During this retreat we hope that each of us can 
shed light on the
questions I have outlined and have offered some 
intitial responses to.
And we pray that the nonviolent actions we engage 
in, including
tomorrow at the Pentagon and at the embassies, as 
well as Tuesday at
O'Bama's campaign headquarters, will be yet 
another step to help bring
to fruition God's reign of justice and peace.


In closing, let us be filled with these words of 
hope taken from the
Advent and Christmas scriptures.
"Do not be afraid."
"Nothing will be impossible for God."
"The Word  became flesh and made His dwelling 
among us."
"The light shines in the darkness and the darkness 
has not overcome it."