- Drop the Debt not Bombs Follow-up

I am happy to report that our efforts to support Jubilee USA Network and International Debt Cancellation are continuing. Today Michelle and I attended a meeting with Jennifer Tang, Senior Field Representative in the San Francisco office of United States Senator Barbara Boxer. We are hopeful that Senator Boxer will consider being one of the first four co-sponsors of the Senate version of the Jubilee Act (HR 2634). We will keep you posted on this!

What can you do to get “active” in our efforts to impact global poverty through cancellation of odious international debt? Sign up on the Jubilee USA Network at www.jubileeusa.org. Sign up as a supporter, sign up for the blog, find out about the Cancel Debt Fast (act fast because the FAST ends on October 17th). You can find a guide for leading your congregation in becoming a Jubilee congregation (a spiritual leaders best form of grass roots organizing). You can find a plethora of resources to educate and inform yourself on this issue. If you are interested in being part of a small affinity group – a Peace and Economic Justice action/advocacy group, contact me at robynmorrison <at> sbcglobal.net.

Our Lifestyles and their Complicity in Oppression

Ryan points out that simply switching to alternative energy sources to sustain our lifestyles will not solve all the problems our world is racing toward and is already in the thick of, as shown by a UN study covered in the Guardian:

The global rush to switch from oil to energy derived from plants will drive deforestation, push small farmers off the land and lead to serious food shortages and increased poverty unless carefully managed, says the most comprehensive survey yet completed of energy crops.

Thoughts?

Nonviolence has failed. Or has it?

by Matthew Harris-Gloyer

Is Nonviolence THE Way? I ponder this question as I read an article in the most recent UTNE reader. (Read it at www.utne.com)

In the article, Peter Gelderloos writes that nonviolence has utterly failed all throughout history. Even MLK, Gandhi, U.S. peace movement and others have all failed in their attempts to bring about change, says Gelderloos. I must admit that he proffers a convincing argument. He writes that the peace movement distorts the full story concerning the self-proclaimed achievenments of the peace and nonviolence movements. The fact that there were numerous factors leading up to Indian independence, the U.S. Civil Rights in the 50′s and 60′s, and the ending of the Vietnam war in the 70′s are forgotten and distorted by many who advocate nonviolence. Gelderloos is correct that there was a militant wing that helped to force British capitulation to the Indians and the Black Panther Party was gaining in its militancy and the fact of disaster in Vietnam is well documented.

I think that Gelderloos is correct in all of the above and that history is complex. Yet, I also wonder what happens when we forgo all attempts at making change through an alternative method to violence. What happens to our souls when we make that short step to picking up the gun?

And, I also think about how I have the luxury and privilege to even consider such a question. It seems to me that perhaps many who do pick up the gun do not have much of a choice. Isn’t there a Zapatista saying that goes something like, “It is land or death.”? For the Zapatistas of the Mexican Yucatan, their very livelihood and their lives were (and continue to be) threatened by the inauguration of NAFTA brought about by U.S. President Bill Clinton. Thus, on the 1st of Jan 1994, the Zapatistas took by armed force several towns and have been struggling for their life ever since. Who am I to declare that their action was not the best thing to do?

I would like to return to the peace and nonviolence movements to end this short essay. If Gelderloos is correct, that the nonviolence movements have utterly failed, then what is stopping me from picking up a gun? For, if a gun has proven itself to be the better change maker, then what am I waiting for? Perhaps my answer to that question will arise in a forthcoming essay. Until then…