c. 2003 Religion News Service
(Rose Marie Berger is a poet, Roman Catholic peace activist and editor at Sojourners magazine. She can be reached at rberger(at)sojo.net)
(UNDATED) In a December BBC interview, Burmese pro-democracy and spiritual leader Aung San Suu Kyi dared everyone to do a simple thing: Do not support injustice.
“If you know that a thing is wrong, if you know that a thing is unjust,” challenged Suu Kyi, “do not go along with it simply because you are afraid or simply because you think this it is what those in authority would wish you to do. Do not say something is good if it is not good. Do not say something is just if it is not just.”
Now is the time for good Americans to rise up in defense of their country.
Now is the time to refuse to say that something is just if it is not just.
This is not the Weller’s typing test. This is my nonviolent “call to arms.” At every level of our national life I challenge my fellow Americans to refuse cooperation with the Bush administration’s unjust war on Iraq and to resist the dismantling of our democracy as represented by the USA Patriot Act, the Office of Homeland Security, and the Information Awareness Office.
In January 2001, Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the Senate with these words, “The ideological isms have all died away _ fascism, Nazism, communism _ leaving only the dregs of abused and misused power lying in their wake. In this refuse, dictators remain.”
I posit that George W. Bush is sinking _ intentionally or not _ into this refuse. It is up to us to drag him out.
What lifelines shall we throw to a floundering democracy? Here is a smattering of suggestions. Find out whom the governor of your state has appointed as representative for Homeland Security and hound that person mercilessly until they restore democratic rights in your community. Refuse to register for the Selective Service. If you currently serve in the military, talk to your chaplain about conscientious objection to a morally unjust war with Iraq. If you are a judge, refuse to indict those who nonviolently break a minor law in order to uphold a greater law. If you are a lawyer, offer pro bono services to anyone targeted by these unjust laws.
If you are a banker, refuse to comply with the Homeland Security rules that require you to turn over individuals’ banking records to the government. If you are a librarian, protect the privacy of your patrons.
When the Immigration and Naturalization Service in your community requires that all males, ages 16 and older, from selected countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, so far) present themselves to be fingerprinted and photographed, have everyone _ from every religious, ethnic, or national group _ show up. Let no one be singled out.
Work with your city council to enact legislation banning implementation of the USA Patriot Act in your community. More than 25 U.S. cities are quietly staging a revolt in this way _ including Savannah, Ga., Flagstaff, Ariz., Boulder, Colo., and Ann Arbor, Mich.
If you are a church, open your doors as a sanctuary to immigrants who are threatened by INS measures; promote conscientious objection among your congregants; teach about the history of war tax resistance to unjust governments. During a service, have everyone take out his or her paper money and write across the top in bright red marker: “This money supports peace with Iraq.”
Terrorists have determined that Americans _ any Americans _ are “military targets,” thus breaking down any previous distinctions between civilian and military targets. And President Bush has drafted all of us into his “war on terrorism.” Every citizen is now considered a foot soldier for the Office of Homeland Security.
There are rules that govern the conduct of soldiers. One, according to the U.S. Catholic bishops, is that we are “morally bound to resist orders that command genocide.” The war with Iraq is genocide. We are morally bound to resist any orders or acts promoting such a war. Are tanks and war materiel being transported on the train tracks through your town? Block the tracks. Is the airbase near you preparing planes for combat? Tie metallic helium balloons on the fence around the base to jam radar devices.
The key to resistance is “subsidiarity”: The most elegant solution is the one closest to the problem. This is what pacifism looks like.
As Gandhi said, noncooperation means refusal both to help the sinner in his sin and refusing to accept any gift from him until he has repented. Noncooperation is enacted against systems, not people. It hates the sin, not the sinner. It promotes respect for the one who promotes injustice until he can regain respect for himself.
Now is the time for all good citizens to come to the aid of their country. This is not a test. This is the real thing. In the BBC interview, Suu Kyi was asked how she survived making so many sacrifices for her country. She responded, “I never made sacrifices. I made choices.”
DEA END BERGER
