Posted by Agent J on September 19, 2003 at 01:42:36:
National Catholic Reporter
The Independent Newsweekly
Joan Chittister: From Where I Stand
Web address: NCRonline.org
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May 27, 2003 Vol. 1, No. 9
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Is there anything left that matters?
"The spirit we have, not the work we do, is what makes us important to the
people around us."
By Joan Chittister,OSB
This is what I don't understand: All of a sudden nothing seems to matter.
First, they said they wanted Bin Laden "dead or alive." But they didn't get
him. So now they tell us that it doesn't matter. Our mission is greater than
one man.
Then they said they wanted Saddam Hussein, "dead or alive." He's apparently
alive but we haven't got him yet, either. However, President Bush told
reporters recently, "It doesn't matter. Our mission is greater than one
man."
Finally, they told us that we were invading Iraq to destroy their weapons of
mass destruction. Now they say those weapons probably don't exist. Maybe
never existed. Apparently that doesn't matter either.
Except that it does matter.
I know we're not supposed to say that. I know it's called "unpatriotic." But
it's also called honesty. And dishonesty matters.
It matters that the infrastructure of a foreign nation that couldn't defend
itself against us has been destroyed on the grounds that it was a military
threat to the world.
It matters that it was destroyed by us under a new doctrine of "pre-emptive
war" when there was apparently nothing worth pre-empting.
It surely matters to the families here whose sons went to war to make the
world safe from weapons of mass destruction and will never come home.
It matters to families in the United States whose life support programs were
ended, whose medical insurance ran out, whose food stamps were cut off,
whose day care programs were eliminated so we could spend the money on
sending an army to do what did not need to be done.
It matters to the Iraqi girl whose face was burned by a lamp that toppled
over as a result of a U.S. bombing run.
It matters to Ali, the Iraqi boy who lost his family - and both his arms -
in a U.S. air attack.
It matters to the people in Baghdad whose water supply is now fetid, whose
electricity is gone, whose streets are unsafe, whose 158 government
ministries' buildings and all their records have been destroyed, whose
cultural heritage and social system has been looted and whose cities teem
with anti-American protests.
It matters that the people we say we "liberated" do not feel liberated in
the midst of the lawlessness, destruction and wholesale social suffering
that so-called liberation created.
It matters to the United Nations whose integrity was impugned, whose
authority was denied, whose inspection teams are even now still being
overlooked in the process of technical evaluation and disarmament.
It matters to the reputation of the United States in the eyes of the world,
both now and for decades to come, perhaps.
And surely it matters to the integrity of this nation whether or not its
intelligence gathering agencies have any real intelligence or not before we
launch a military armada on its say-so.
And it should matter whether or not our government is either incompetent and
didn't know what they were doing or were dishonest and refused to say.
The unspoken truth is that either as a people we were misled, or we were
lied to, about the real reason for this war. Either we made a huge - and
unforgivable - mistake, an arrogant or ignorant mistake, or we are
swaggering around the world like a blind giant, flailing in all directions
while the rest of the world watches in horror or in ridicule.
If Bill Clinton's definition of "is" matters, surely this matters. If a
president's sex life matters, surely a president's use of global force
against some of the weakest people in the world matters. If a president's
word in a court of law about a private indiscretion matters, surely a
president's word to the community of nations and the security of millions of
people matters.
And if not, why not? If not, surely there is something as wrong with us as
citizens, as thinkers, as Christians as there must be with some facet of the
government. If wars that the public says are wrong yesterday - as over 70%
of U.S. citizens did before the attack on Iraq - suddenly become "right" the
minute the first bombs drop, what kind of national morality is that?
Of what are we really capable as a nation if the considered judgment of
politicians and people around the world means nothing to us as a people?
What is the depth of the American soul if we can allow destruction to be
done in our name and the name of "liberation" and never even demand an
accounting of its costs, both personal and public, when it is over?
We like to take comfort in the notion that people make a distinction between
our government and ourselves. We like to say that the people of the world
love Americans, they simply mistrust our government. But excoriating a
distant and anonymous "government" for wreaking rubble on a nation in
pretense of good requires very little of either character or intelligence.
What may count most, however, is that we may well be the ones Proverbs warns
when it reminds us: "Kings take pleasure in honest lips; they value the one
who speaks the truth." The point is clear: If the people speak and the king
doesn't listen, there is something wrong with the king. If the king acts
precipitously and the people say nothing, something is wrong with the
people.
It may be time for us to realize that in a country that prides itself on
being democratic, we are our government. And the rest of the world is
figuring that out very quickly.
>From where I stand, that matters.
A Benedictine Sister of Erie, Sister Joan is a best-selling author and
well-known international lecturer. She is founder and executive director of
Benetvision: A Resource and Research Center for Contemporary Spirituality,
and past president of the Conference of American Benedictine Prioresses and
the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Sister Joan has been
recognized by universities and national organizations for her work for
justice, peace and equality for women in the Church and society. She is an
active member of the International Peace Council.
Comments or questions about this column may be sent to:
fwis@nationalcatholicreporter.org
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