CALLING ALL TRUE PATRIOTS …

Well, well, well — it looks like America’s “leaders” have finally agreed on something … NOT on healthcare for the uninsured ill, mind you; and NOT on education for their inner-city youth, or on halting Monsanto’s continued assault on American food crops, or on making animal cruelty laws consistent & potent, or on extending equal rights to homosexuals & immigrants, or on how to deal with the ever-more-catastrophic shifts in our climate, or on measures to repair their cities’ crumbling infrastructures, or on finding a way to feed the 30 million Americans who cannot afford a decent meal, or on finding housing for America’s 630,000 homeless citizens, or on giving financial relief to the 42.2 million people currently living below that country’s poverty line.

Nope … today, instead of agreeing on any of those truly important and worthy issues, the “leaders” of the United States of America found a way to make all of those problems more than a bit worse.

Today, the “leaders” of America agreed to go to war.

How deliciously ironic it is that, some 42 years after a young naval lieutenant named John Kerry passionately pleaded with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to stop the Vietnam War, an older & “wiser” (see, “corrupted”) John Kerry today sat at that same table –- and passionately advocated military action against Syria.

“But don’t worry”, they say to all of us who reasonably believe that this limited military action will turn into something prolonged and despicable (as though even a short war initiated to fill the already overflowing pockets of America’s wealthiest is anything short of disgusting). “Don’t worry”, they say, “because this war will be limited to 60 days and it forbids combat troops on the ground.”

Right … Sure … Uh-huh … That sounds awfully familiar. I’m not buying it, and neither should you. This administration has shown you its true colors too long for you to be fooled like this again.

And besides, even if it does turn out to be true, since when have any of our “limited military engagements” ever effectuated any of our goals without destroying their target countries, leaving them even more unstable than before, and killing tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of innocent civilians in the process?

That’s right … Never!

Even though 57 of America’s 100 Senators have yet to make up their mind on this issue (what?!?!), I certainly have … I have decided that war is wrong — especially this war. I have decided to see through the American government’s charades, feints & deceptions to call out this act for what it is:

*For a nation that promotes itself as the bringer of justice, it is hypocrisy of the grandest order …

*For a government that sells itself as righteous & caring towards the world’s downtrodden, it is blasphemy …

*For a government that trumpets itself as the champion of freedom & democracy, it is now the harbinger of despotism & tyranny.

So please heed not the silky words of your smooth-tongued President and his cronies. Please listen not to the “military experts” who tell you what is “really happening” in Syria.

The Truth is — you are being lied to once again. For the brash cause of lining American defense contractors’ pockets with cash and lining Obama’s pockets with power, you are being played for fools.

And yet you are NOT fools … and you are NOT going to fall for it again. You see, I have faith in humanity’s awakening, and I have faith that tyranny’s time has passed. In the history of humanity, war has never succeeded … War has always led to more war in the past, and war now will certainly lead to more war in the future. War simply is no longer a viable option, and therefore war MUST BE OPPOSED!

And yet how do we do so effectively? Peace-fully, of course … Peace-fully & courageously.

Privately, we can resist this evil by being the change we wish to have seen. We must counteract the government’s mandate of selfish taking by making our lives a clarion call of selfless giving — actively bonding with our neighbors; serving the downtrodden amongst us; forgiving our enemies; donating our time & money to charities; and being kind to strangers.

Secondly, to counter the government’s oppression of American troops — forcing them to go to go into yet another unjust conflict to commit eve more acts of terrible violence (often against the confused & more often against the innocent), we must reach out to all the military families in our communities. We must openly offer them & theirs a safe haven if they choose to courageously refuse to aid this wicked administration — if they have the courage to be true patriots as conscientious objectors to this unjust invasion.

And finally, we must have the courage to publicly come together and be a Presence for Peace. We need not shout, and yet we MUST become visible — We must become visible in front of every courthouse … We must become visible in front of every military base … We must become visible in front of every governmental bureau & capitol building all across the United State of America.

We need not yell in anger — which will only encourage the wicked to defend their misguided ways, and yet we MUST make our voices heard with our presence. The time of waiting for our “leaders” to lead us to Peace has long since past …

The time for us to DEMAND PEACE has arrived.

Amen … Let it be so.

(inspired by A Peaceful Planet)

“If we are serious about Peace, then we must work for it as ardently, as seriously, as continuously, as carefully, and as bravely as we have ever prepared for war.” ~ Wendell Berry