- An Open Letter on Stealing from Soldiers

12 May 2008

An Open Letter to PSR Students, Faculty, Staff, and Other Community Members;

Last week, we, the members of Seminarians to End War (SEW), began to collect the items for our final care package for our “adopted” soldier serving in Iraq, from the donation box in the Holbrook lobby. To our deep disappointment, we found that items we ourselves had placed in the box were no longer there. That is, some member(s) of the PSR community had stolen these items from the donation box.

This theft calls for community-wide repentance.

A systemic analysis of this theft reveals that the Holbrook Lobby may be more like the Oval Office than most of us would like. Perhaps PSR is willing to continue the Bush Administration’s pattern of irresponsibility and its eagerness to deny US soldiers the human comforts that would seem to be deserved by anyone suffering the inhumane treatment of the US military.

Unlike during wars of our parents’ and grandparents’ generation, today’s US Americans have not been asked to sacrifice to help the “war effort” in Iraq. John McCain, George W. Bush, and other Republicans “hawks” who initiated this war have blocked the latest G.I. Bill, which would provide veterans with adequate care and provide soldiers with adequate safety equipment. This care would be too generous, they argue. Taking the past week’s events here at PSR as an example of citizen opinion, they might be correct. Some of us seem unwilling to sacrifice even a candy bar – which we did not even buy – for others.

Perhaps we have not made clear enough that these care packages are not part of the war effort, but instead part of our peace effort. We see how the war’s effects do not take place only abroad on the front lines of battle. The repercussions of war resound for decades in the lives of all who experience it. Currently, hundreds of veterans attempt suicide every month; this is part of the travesty of war that those who wage it would rather we did not know. As faith leaders who work for peace, we choose to know this – and to act to ameliorate this sin. By supporting the mental and spiritual health of one soldier, we are helping end part of the war being waged on the battlefront of his very soul.

This was theft not only from our friend in service in Iraq. It was also theft from all the members of the PSR community who have been donating what they can afford.

We have another chance to rectify the damage of this theft. We have postponed sending out our final care package, in order to gather more candy, snacks, and other items. If you took any items from the donation box, we invite you to donate at least as much as you took. If you did not take the items, but would like to contribute toward the care package, we invite you to join us in supporting “our” service person and we thank you for taking part in this peace effort. Please place your donations in the box by Friday, May 16th.

May we all confess our complicity in the many layers of war’s sin.

Blessings of peace and healing,
the members of Seminarians to End War, Sow Peace (SEW Peace)