Jeff Larsen
Madison, Wisconsin

Best Defense System is a Sustainable, Just World

Forgive me for describing my personal feelings at a time when all Americans are supposed to be sharing the same collective feelings. I do this not to appear self-absorbed, but to make a point. Perhaps you can empathize.

Four-or five days before Tuesday’s horrific attacks, I woke up in the morning with a sense of melancholy and sadness nothing unusual. There was no tragedy in my life at that time, no overtly imminent threat. As I so often do, I reproached myself for feeling this way. What right do I have to feel unhappy? I have a solid marriage, a healthy 7-month-old daughter. Though I am not rich, I am not greedy or materialistic and have more than enough possessions (I wish I could get rid of some stuff). I would prefer to make a living as a jazz music composer, but my scientific job is comfortable, and in some ways rewarding. I am in good health. Many people in this country and around the world would very quickly trade places with me. How spoiled and ingratious I should feel for being unhappy.

But wait a minute for all in my life that I hold dear, a voice inside of me continually says “Be prepared to suffer.” Paranoia? No, the awareness of being a collaborator in an unsustainable way of life. If I had to put my finger on one word which describes my omnipresent uneasiness, it is this: unsustainability. Our comforts and way of life are built on a castle of sand. Everything we do and enjoy is financed by a growing mountain of economic, material, environmental, and spiritual debt. Our country uses 75% of the world’s resources and demands a larger percentage. We exploit more and more of the environment, the world’s people and our own citizens to get less and less of what little remains. We try to protect ourselves against the increasing anger of the people we exploit by devoting more resources to military and police power, only to find out as we did on September 11th that an anger a person is willing to die for is stronger than the fear of the military or the police. We silence, dismiss, and arrest those who call for changes in our lifestyle, those changes needed to make sure that all people are given an opportunity to enjoy the basic necessities of life and that our fragile environment is protected.

As most on this proclaimed day of prayer, Friday, September 14, will be praying to God for the victims, but then wishing for swift and violent retribution for the attackers, I will be looking in the mirror and asking the God of a sustainable and just world, “what do I need to change or give up to break the cycle of environmental, social, and economic decay?” Tell me and I will do it. What do I need to change or give up to make sure everyone around the world can achieve the basic necessities of life? For people to run their own affairs and enterprises without economic and environmental exploitation from multi-national corporations? For people to save the last wild places, refuges of nature’s innocence which are needed to cleanse our spirits? What do I need to change or give up to protect us from the effects of global warming, deforestation, draining of the aquifers, loss of topsoil, polluting of our air and water, the extinction of our animal and plant diversity? What do I need to change or give up to make sure all races and nationalities have an equal opportunity to use their intellectual and creative potential for the good of the world?

A recent editorial by a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist stated that the worst thing we as a people can do right now is pause, or hesitate, and ask ourselves whether we are even partially responsible for sowing seeds that create conditions of hatred and anger leading to attacks like those on Tuesday.

I would counter by saying that this is the BEST thing we can do. By recognizing where each of us is placed in a link of the chain which perpetuates violence, hatred, and injustice, we can help break the chain and prevent such further attacks.

Mary Lou Spencer
Ann Arbor, Michigan

My sleep is disturbed by disjointed nightmares. I wake to more news that is the same. Surprisingly, I realize that now that we don't have sports to distract us, we need them to give us little, temporary loyalties that don't hurt anyone.

I think I know why they bombed us with our own passenger airplanes. That doesn't make me like or approve. Surely, someone of the generals and journalists and politicians who give us so many aerial views or reports of our own bombs in other places can see that killing and destruction do hurt if you are on the ground receiving them. Maybe that is why most of them do not seem to think about it?

Paul Lehto
Everett, Washington

Give Me Freedom or Give Me Death

Lately we have had many reminders of those before us who have sacrificed their lives for freedom.

Now there are many who want to talk of sacrificing our freedoms, so that there is less chance we might die.

*Somebody* got it backwards.

Ed Mirmak
Irvine CA

Thanks to Heiderose Kober (9/14/01 12:16 AM) for pointing to Michael Lerner's homily. Thanks to Emilie Nichols (9/14/01 6:16 PM) for all the good referrals. From links on the Sojourner's site in her list, I would further recommend:
http://www.ecapc.org/terrorism.asp

The two most important American books of the last half century were Bertram Gross's "Friendly Fascism" and Joseph Heller's "Catch 22". I've read Gross's book twice, understand it only dimly, but know he is saying something very important -- it is already here, and we allow it because we fail to recognize it. Meanwhile, Heller beautifully follows Mel Brooks's advice to fight fascists with the weapon they fear most -- laughter. For a timely example, see the chapter titled "Captain Black", the story of the Great Loyalty Oath Crusade.

The deaths and grave injuries on Tuesday fill us with deep melancholy. But sadder still would be to respond to terrorism by curtailing democracy and fulfilling Gross's prophecies. This would let the terrorists inflict even greater damage than they could have imagined.

Be watchful, and when needed, be vocal. Cherish the Constitution.

To the relevant song lyrics posted, add the Tim Anderson song on "Every Picture Tells a Story":

War time is only the other side of peace time
but if you've ever seen how wars are won
you know what it's like to wish peace time would come
And don't it seem like a long time
seem like a long time, seems like a long, long time

Adrian Rickert
Birmingham, AL

While it is true that our policies in the Middle East, namely our unconditional support for Israel against the Palestinians have caused the US and Americans in general to be despised by many Arabs and Muslims, this cowardly assault on civilians here in America carries with it the condemnation of the entire world. This attack will NOT be tolerated by the US, nor by the majority of the world.

This will be the forum for many changes: Americans will not feel as safe as they once did, and we will face more security restrictions as we travel. However, hopefully it will also be a time where we all pay closer attention to our country's policies, as the Reagan administration gave aid to this monster bin Laden and it seems that he has helped to fully arm a monster that has despised us even when we were arming him.

We must now fully go after the people who attacked our citizens in our own homeland, and any country that harbors men such as these who launched their cowardly attack on Tuesday will be grouped with them and will face our response. This is the right thing to do, as we have been violated in our own country in a most savage and cowardly manner, where our own planes and our civilians aboard were used as guided missiles against our own cities. I have put partisanship aside and stand with our leaders and our American people, seeking justice on all fronts. I want the people and, if necessary, the brutal Taliban government brought to justice for these attacks, and I also want to see Americans paying closer attention to how our aid goes to spread misery in places like the West Bank. There are many dead Palestinian children killed by the Israelis who are just as innocent as our American children killed on Tuesday, and I think we should terminate all military aid to Israel.

I am against all wrongs, no matter where they are carried our, or by whom. America is a strong country, and we will prevail against this despicable act of terrorism carried out in our own homeland.

Judy Loy
Van Buren Arkansas

The current administration has failed the people of this country and should resign immediately.

Christina del Pinzon
Toronto, Canada

What harm we do to others will come back to haunt us two fold, unfortunately it often takes down those innocent among us. Our governments both past and present have caused great harm to others, we as citizens are, more often than not, the innocents. Those are the thoughts that ran through my head as I watched the horror unfold. I was not surprised that such an act was carried out (it seemed eerily like a plot out of a Hollywood movie) but more so at the magnitude of it. No one deserves to die like that...my heart also goes out to my Arab and Muslim friends (being one doesn't mean being the other) for I imagine they fear retaliation and abuse just for being, as our friends and loved ones died just for being. My heart also goes out to all the Americans, Canadians, Australians, Japanese etc.. who lost their lives in this horrendous acts, less we forget that, though this attack took place on American soil it has impacted greatly on many of us from around the world.

God bless the ideals of true freedom, tolerance and acceptance. Lets stop the vicious circle of hate and help the world live as equals. Treat others as we wish to be treated. The world feels your pain.

Meg Lorio
Boulder, Colorado

Dear Friends,

Please don't forget what great light you shine on all you meet. It is your nature. It is your gift. Your life is perfect. You aren't missing anything. You have great work to continue touching so many people with respect and love in the midst of all the fear. The fear is not yours it has only felt like yours as part of the preparation.

We must look to our God, trust His guidance, play our best music, walk in nature, breathe the air we are given and gently smile to our neighbors. This is not hiding from reality. This is understanding the reality of Love. You are prepared in every breath you have already taken. So don't worry my friend. All of us are given this work and we are brave to do it.

With Love, Meg

Emilie F. Nichols
Littleton, Colorado

Where are the peacemakers? I've heard from every military spokesperson, intelligence expert, building designer... Below is a beginning list. Please consider seeing if you can get it on your radio station or tv station. Or if you want, use it to join up with those who do not want to go to war, or do not want to see anymore innocents killed.

American Friends Service Committee
1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102-1479 215-241-7000 afscinfo@afsc.org http://www.afsc.org
note: look at “were we work” for offices around the US

Friends Committee on National Legislation
245 Second St., NE, Washington, DC 20002-5795 202-547-6000 fcnl@fcnl.org http://www.fcnl.org

Friends Journal
1216 Arch St., 2A, Philadelphia, PA 19107-2835 215-563-8629 info@friendsjournal.org http://www.friendsjournal.org

Mennonite Central Committee
21 S. 12th St., P.O. Box 500, Akron, PA 17501 717-859-1151 or 888-563-4676 mailbox@mcc.org http://www.mcc.org

Pax Christi USA
532 W. 8th St., Erie, PA 16502 814-453-4955 info@paxchristiusa.org http://www.paxchristiusa.org

Sojourners Magazine
2401 15th St., NW, Washington, DC 20009 202-328-8842 http://www.sojo.net
excellent listing of statements, organizations, churches at http://www.sojo.net/special/index.cfm/action/home.html

The Center for Teaching Peace
4501 Van Ness St., NW, Washington, DC 20016 202-537-1372
Colman McCarthy (pacifist, teacher, former columnist at The Washington Post)

The Fellowship of Reconciliation
P.O. Box 271, Nyack, NY 10960 845-358-4601 for@forusa.org http://www.forusa.org

Tikkun Magazine (To mend, repair and transform the world)
2107 Van Ness Ave., Suite 302, San Francisco, CA 94109 415-575-1200 magazine@tikkun.org http://www.tikkun.org

Veterans for Peace
733 15th St., NW, Suite 928, Washington, DC 20005 202-347-6780 vfp@igc.org http://www.veteransforpeace.org

Voices in the Wilderness
1460 W. Carmen Ave., Chicago, IL 60640 773-784-8065 kkelly@igc.apc.org http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw/

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
1213 Race St., Philadelphia, PA 19107-1691 215-563-7110 wilpf@wilpf.org http://www.wilpf.org

Todd Roberts
Salt Lake City, Utah

In the movie "Star Wars" we all cheered when they blew up the Death Star. Well, folks, someone blew up another "Death Star" this week. Now ask yourself, who is the Empire in this situation, and why does a Rebellion exist and why would it consider the WTC/Pentagon their "Death Star"? US foreign policy must change now.

Asherah Hanko
Ontario, Canada

To all the Earth's Children, Come together for Peace.

Think, Review our Lives and the Greatest of All the Sins!

"Do Unto Others as You Want Others to Do Unto You"

Love and Peace

Joe Dieffenbacher

Thanks. Bless you for this site. After reading the words of so many I wondered what I could add. I remembered a book I had recently purchased - Simply Living, The Spirit of the Indigenous People - randomly flipped it open and as fate would have it, found these two quotes:

"Please try to fathom our great desire to survive in a way somewhat different than yours." -Yup'Ik Elder, Village of Nightmute, Alaska, and,

"You must realize our mode of thought is not your mode. Westerners often ignore this truth. We have survived a long time in a world where survival is very difficult, and we learned how to do it. When the blizzard lashes out at us, only a fool tries to face it and struggle with its power. But only a fool abandons himself to it and lets it blow him where it will. The wise man leans against it and lets it push him slowly, slowly, so he can pick his path and find his way to safety." Simeon Danielov, Yakut in Siberia.

We face the blizzard now each one of us. I pray we move slowly, slowly. I pray we show ourselves to be wise. I pray we speak out to our leaders. I pray we don't participate in their calls for vengeance. I pray for understanding, justice and peace.

Susan Masten

I implore President Bush and Congress from taking any action that would harm any other civilians in the world. Many of us have been singing and praying since the Bob Dylan first sung "How many deaths will it take till we know that too many people have died?". Well, too many people have died here in the US and overseas!

Tuesday, I got a minute glimpse of how God must feel every day watching immense human suffering and death caused by the will and power (and from the pain and suffering) of human beings. I got a glimpse of how others across our globe feel each and every day. My children got a glimpse of how so many children suffer and fear for their families, not knowing if a trip to work or to shop will bring them back alive.

This has to stop! We know that violence begets violence. Killing the people of Afghanistan or any other country will not bring our families and friends back...but maybe clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, protecting the unprotected, recognizing that "collateral damage" means the destruction of human life, as sacred as our own will keep others from loosing their lives. I pray for the strength of the President and Congress to do the right thing and protect all the peoples of the world - not just the ones who we like or whose governments do what we want. Only then will the US prevail. Or to paraphrase the song, "Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with us."

Let us recognize the sin in all of us, and repent before the Almighty God, the God of Abraham and Issac, Ruth and Sarah, Mohammed and Gandhi and all the prophets. Let us repent now, for our idolatry of wealth, power and military force is a sin against all humanity and a sin against our God. Let us seek a world in which security is gained through disarmament, international cooperation, and social justice not through escalation and retaliation.

Let's pray for peace and act to achieve justice for all. May God bless the entire Earth and all its creatures not just those in America!

Michael Hawkins
Boulder, CO

Thank you for offering this forum. While I feel fortunate to be born and raised an American who currently lives in the Rocky Mountain region, where I camp and take in the awesome beauty of a still-pristine land; and while I am heartsick over the sudden and horrific death that rained down on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania... most of my thoughts are concentrated on the "what comes next" aspect of this drama.

Sadly, I see only more horrific death, mutilation and otherwise gratuitous violence, which will engender more hatred and violence against our government and people. Until the core issues that led to this tragic moment are addressed and given a true chance at resolution -- and by core issues I am referring mainly to the oppressive foreign policy paradigm of a corporate-driven elitist agenda, which marginalizes and disempowers the vast majority of humanity -- I really see no hope for Planet Earth and its living inhabitants. The optimist in me views this as a turning point, where Americans will wake up from their consumerist slumber, change their priorities in such as way as to include the rest of the globe in a rise to prosperity and equality, and save the world before it's too late. The pragmatist in me, however, suspects that any resistance to the "manufactured consent" of an angry nation crying for retribution is an exercise in futility.

I hope optimism wins out, and the coming violence of a military response does not spiral into mutual and total destruction.

Martha Glessing
Inverness California

My mantra for this time is:

Cool Rain --- Root Causes --- Comprehensive-balanced Peace.

Mantras come from the Indian tradition. They are composed of words or syllables that are the seeds of wisdom of a greater understanding of meaning that can continually unfold and, in this case, heal the situation at hand. They are simple, to the point and can be easily carried in the mind.

Daniel Solomon
Poughkeepsie, NY

None of us are "jumping up and down with joy on the corpses of the world trade center," as one outraged contributor to the Common Dreams forum put it -- but I can understand the impulse that led them to write such a thing. Many (though by no means all) of the posts to this forum really do come off sounding as if "I told you so" and even worse, "when you get down to it, not that I'm condoning violence, but . . . serves them right" lurked between the lines.

I was sickened and shamed by the news that some Americans have carried out small-scale, local acts of "retribution" against innocent people, by the references, already, to "those people" and their crazed, murderous ways -- but I was not surprised. This, though, this has me shocked, that whatever the (doubtless achingly sympathetic) intent behind such messages, there would be even the appearance of such moral shortsightedness and callousness. Now is not a time conducive to clear thinking, as shown by both kinds of forum responses. And _of course_ it is necessary to understand the history and motivations behind this horror, in order to respond correctly both now and for the future -- a necessity which is not likely to be addressed by the mainstream news adequately, or at all. I just would like to say two things:

At this point the chance that this was a homegrown horror seem vanishingly small. However, when that still remained a possibility, I read posts which (responsibly) reminded us not to jump to conclusions (a la the imaginary swarthy men of Oklahoma City) while castigating the U.S. for the international oppression which brought about this nightmare. This is both illogical and morally untruthful, and generally unbecoming.

It is important to understand what lies behind such hideous acts. For example, Faisal Bodi pointed out (as one can read in the "Terrorism Through Lens ..." article on this site) that "inside America, the trade center, the Pentagon, Camp David and Capitol Hill are all seen as symbols of global U.S. power and prestige, of the triumph of democracy. Outside, in the Muslim world, they are popularly regarded as symbols of terror and oppression." It is these sorts of insights that should be on the tv alongside reports of cheering Palestinians. We must offer, through all available channels, every piece of evidence, every argument suggesting that such evil doesn't just fall from the sky like a meteorite in a Discovery Channel dinosaur special. This seems the only alternative to incomprehension or worse, an all-too simplified understanding, dangerously prone to be rallied behind ill-planned or downright immoral reactions.

And yet, we must not forget: it's not about symbols. I live in Poughkeepsie, some 70-odd miles up the Hudson from New York, an area where many people ride a Metro-North train down to jobs in the city every weekday. The children who went to school these last few days just not knowing what happened to their mother or father, the downstairs neighbors whose son is a NYC firefighter (thankfully, they just heard from him yesterday) -- they're not frantic over symbols. It was not symbols who died. It was not symbols who were killed. We must keep this in the front of our thoughts and responses.

Most of us who visit Common Dreams have in our hearts a heavy burden of atrocities and injustices, more even then the vicious world gives us as our birthright. This is a necessary thing, but I think sometimes it might be too heavy to safely carry, day after day, without causing a kind of damage, however subtle. One of the things about terrorism, we are finding out all too clearly, is how it spreads out to poison the every-day -- one very minor example: the boxcutter I use everyday at my job in a bookstore is now simply un-usable. Ideology, I think, no matter how noble an ideology, can have a very similar character.

Pragmatically, any messages sent out with even the hint of such a tone, like one letter I saw recently in the local newspaper, is worse than useless in terms of anything besides preaching to the converted, probably helping only to turn people way from consideration into blind patriotism.

Personally, we must ask ourselves -- what does this makes us? What kind of people are we being?

Charlie Levin
Chicago, Illinois

I wrote this as an open letter to my representatives in Congress. However, it also serves as a plea to my fellow Americans.

Thank you. Best regards and wishing peace and wellness to us all.

An Urge for Restraint

Dear ______________,

I understand the urge to show unity and solidarity in this time of crisis. However, I urge you to find this an opportunity for consideration and moral courage - not for the easy answers, but to dare to engage and voice the more complex thoughts.

A war on terrorism as described in the media leads me to fear how this would be enacted. Our own Revolutionary War utilized tactics that were then considered an abomination to all civility, an unprecedented breach of conduct, much as these terrorist actions have been described by us today. Humility and deep consideration is called for as we figure out how to proceed and what kind of society we want to live in and inflict on the rest of the world.

Secondly, regarding our immediate response, we know that these actions, however heinous, do not appear in a vacuum. We trained Bin Laden. We have a history with the Taliban. We have supported and trained and provided weapons to countless rebel groups in the name of our immediate goals, and consistently we have abandoned them after setting them up. Repeatedly we act for short term goals without the kind of consideration for the "innocent" people involved and impacted by our decisions that we want people to have for us.

If the only way we can appropriately respond to these heinous acts and avenge the sad and horrible deaths of so many innocent people is to return the favor and retaliate militarily (as opposed to legally) against any people or places possibly involved -- how are we different from Belfast? Where is our high and mighty horse from which we advise others who face death and destruction and fear?

I urge you to be a voice for moderation, for consideration, for reflection. I urge you to use this as an opportunity for increased communication and understanding.

I do not feel reassured by a unified government behind acts that continue the cycle of violence. We have inflicted violence in the past. And now we have experienced it in our world.

Let us celebrate our response and the outpouring of support and courage of the rescue workers, of the people pouring out to give blood.

Please represent the people in the U.S. who, like me, grieve deeply for the tragedy but feel it of the utmost importance to not succumb to anger.

With greatest respect,

Joe Crachiola
Detroit, Michigan

More random thoughts in the wake of Tuesday.... I write these words with no particular knowledge or expertise in politics or history or foreign policy. I am not an expert in anything. I just write from the heart. Take it for what it's worth.

I am becoming afraid.

I'm not afraid of terrorists.

I am afraid for the future of my children.
I am afraid that the United States of America no longer exists, at least not as it did prior to the attack on New York and Washington.
I am afraid that we will be all too willing to sacrifice our freedom in order create a sense of security.
I am afraid that my ability to freely travel will be greatly inhibited.
I am afraid that a sense of paranoia will overtake this country like nothing we have ever seen.
I am afraid that we will be more suspicious than ever before of anyone who speaks with an accent, especially an accent that sounds Middle Eastern.
I am afraid that we will not trust anyone who doesn't look like an"American". (whatever that means)
I am afraid that mainstream Americans will become even more intolerant of ideas and philosophies that are deemed even remotely "un-American".

Even now I'm uncomfortable when I speak with acquaintances and co-workers about my left leaning politics. Do I dare suggest in public that I embrace some beliefs which might be deemed "socialistic"?

More than anything, I believe this country needs to look inward. We need to seriously examine ourselves and ask what we did to arrive at this point in history. What policies and actions have we undertaken on the world stage that would cause another group of people to harbor so much hatred toward us? The events of this week were not created in a vacuum.

And now I am afraid.

Alice Clark
Bellingham, WA

It is 12:50am, Friday Sept.14th. I sit hear not wanting to sleep and my main reason is that I want to sit quietly in this calmness before what I fear inevitably will happen begins. War.

In these minutes my stomach is not yet in a knot, although my heart is definitely feeling broken. There are no images of bombings on t.v. as yet. There are no wailing mothers. No chanting angry emboldened crowds of Islamic men. No young men from here dead and in a bag home.

Its safe and almost sane now - 3 days later. Between that horror and the one I fear is on the way bringing the despair and anxiety I know it will. This time now feels very precious and I simply can't waste it on sleep.

Michele Winter
Germany

I've been watching from Germany how people in the United States have absolutely no intellectual framework for understanding recent events (or any other event, for that matter). The second they turn to the bombings, they are utterly lacking in the ability to understand it historically.

I had some nuts ask me today if I supported the airliner bombings, presumably on the basis of my having warned about the dangers of letting the media dehistoricize the bombings by pretending that they came out of nowhere. This stuff is incredible. It's to do the unthinkable thing of asking me if I actually support the unthinkable. (Yes, I supported the airliner bombings -- just as I support the destruction of the planet Earth by super aliens from Outer Space.)

It's like the kind of madness we keep seeing among the New Humanitarians. The NHs claim to be in favor of the right of "humanitarian" intervention (i.e., warmaking in the name humanitarianism) in cases where human rights atrocities are exceptionally egregious. And yet they never call on any "coalition of the willing" to bomb the United States based on its decades of egregious conduct abroad. Thank goodness they don't, but they are congenitally incapable of understanding the sheer hypocrisy of the principle to which they allegedly adhere.

Heiderose Kober
Efland, NC

Please read Rabbi Michael Lerner's "A World Out of Touch With Itself". It has helped me work with this deep sadness that has been my companion ever since Tuesday.

http://www.tikkun.org/index.cfm/action/current/article/52.html