That Pentecost Moment (When Talk Becomes Priceless)

Today is Pentecost. It's the day when we remember the moment in the life of the first Christians when they realized, "We're not alone anymore. Everybody is talking about this!"

Today, Guantanamo is what people are talking about in Chicago; and it's the hunger strikers who have made that happen.

A growing number of people have taken up the demand that the detainees in Guantanamo be released, and Guantanamo shut down. But does it occur to us that the hunger strikers want us to do more than just agitate for their release?

I think the brave men in Guantanamo -- men who are currently being tortured by being strapped down, having tubes rammed up their noses and down into their stomachs, being force fed, and being held immobile for hours -- recognize that no matter what the U.S. government does to them, they still have power. They are using their power to wake us up and ask hard questions.

ROOT CAUSES

What the hunger strike -- and the refusal of anyone in the U.S. government to make an effort to rectify the Guantanamo situation -- raises a scary question: is it possible that, from the perspective of the people who run our country, Guantanamo has to continue exist? In fact, is it possible that the more horrific Guantanamo is, the more it fits in with their plan? What possible reason might they have for this?

I've come to my own conclusions about why this might be true. But I think everyone needs to think about this for themselves. And I think this is what the hunger strikers want us to think about.

POWER = THE ABILITY TO ACT

More broadly, the Guantanamo hunger strikers are teaching us a lesson about power.

As deprived of power as they may appear to be, they have still found a way to take action, and to resist. When Lisa Fithian did some workshops at Occupy Chicago last spring, she reminded us that the first step in becoming an activist is to understand that we do have power, because power is nothing more than the ability to take some kind of action. When we seek for the reason that the U.S. government is able to terrorize us, we must start by recognizing that the first reason is that we let it.

No matter how limited our ability to bring about the immediate release of the Guantanamo detainees, the important thing is to recognize that we do have the ability to take action.

(A lesson not without relevance to Pentecost. At St. Luke's Lutheran Church of Logan Square, we have an expression: "Apostles act.")

TALK IS PRICELESS

It's a cliche that "talk is cheap," but the reality is that talk is priceless -- particularly these days, particularly when the talk is about the way in which the U.S. government is using things like Guantanamo to terrorize it's own population.

Make no mistake: the powers that be have know that they have cowed most of the public into being afraid to talk about Guantanamo, and that suits them just fine. Our power to act starts with talking widely -- beyond just our usual circles -- about the way in which we're being scared ... and why a government would possibly want to scare its own people.

I participated in a conversation called "Starving for Justice" last week at the Chicago Cultural Center -- it was a roundtable of people who had never met each other before, all of whom gathered to talk about Guantanamo. I learned that it's not easy to talk to new people about a difficult issue -- certainly a lot more difficult than talking with people with whom I know I already agree. But we need to get back into talking with people who don't 100% agree with us, and to listen to them just as much as we expect them to listen to us. If we're lucky, we can have some breakthroughs about the deeper meaning of things like Guantanamo. And even if we don't get to the ultimate heart of the matter -- in fact, even if we don't do much more than break the ice -- we've still made progress against the conspiracy of silence.

Celebrate Pentecost.

Honor the Guantanamo hunger strikers.

Act.


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We all wish to be judged by our good intentions. But the way people know us is through our actions. So ... what do people in the Muslim world know about us here in the United States?

(See They'll Know Us By Our Actions)

I believe Easter is God's gift to humanity of victory over death, hopelessness and frailty, and I believe that God is alive and in our midst. The witness of the Guantanamo lawyers has confirmed me in those beliefs.

(See Easter Victory: The Guantanamo Lawyers )

What would Christians think if someone proposed carving out a slice of their Sunday services to worship the God of Entombment? Wouldn't they think that was absurd? After all, if Christianity is anything, isn't it the religion of "UN-entombment"?

(See When is Christianity Going Back to Being the Religion of "UN-entombment"?)

Occupy State and Jackson

Federal Plaza in Chicago has always been a place for public protest and public discourse. Last year, the Occupy movement reclaimed State and Jackson and the plaza at Michigan and Congress as places that citizens can come together and talk about what needs to change.

The hunger strike that is now in its 101st day at Guantanamo has precipitated a new occupation -- gatherings at State and Jackson where people publicize the continued abuses of the U.S. government, and determine ways to organize for change.

Chicago protests as Guantanamo hunger strike passes Day 100.

Yesterday, a rally and march in the Loop publicized the 100th day of the hunger strike. It was one of dozens of solidarity protests occurring around the country and around the world.

Protests will continue at State and Jackson every Friday at 4:30 p.m.

Many people have been working for a very long time to end the atrocities at Guantanamo -- some of them were speakers at the rally yesterday. For many of these people, the failure of the U.S. government to close Guantanamo, free the dozens of men they've already declared blameless, and make reparations is mystifying. At times, it feels like there is nothing more we can do.

What have the hunger strikers taught us? First, that the atrocities of the U.S. government just don't stop. Second, that everyone -- even those most oppressed -- has means at their disposal to resist.

So . . . see you at State and Jackson. The U.S. government can be counted on to continue supplying the atrocities. It's up to us to bring the noise.


Related posts

Can there be any doubt that Obama and his administration, who think it is their right to wage war in secret, kill anyone they want to, and destroy whole societies, took their cues from Kissinger and Nixon and their "Imperial (and criminal) Presidency"?

(See No Statute of Limitations for War Crimes (Henry Kissinger in Chicago))

Some of us wear orange jumpsuit and black hoods, while others talk with people on the street. As each day passes the more urgent the situation for the men still remaining becomes. The only way to ensure the health and safety of these men and end the Hunger Strike is that the 86 cleared for release be released and the rest be charged and given a fair trial. It is on us to keep the hunger strike and the humanity of these men in the public eye.

(See Chicago Coalition to Shut Down Guantanamo: "Weekly Vigils to Shut Down Guantanamo" )



Chicago was the site of major protests against U.S. detention practices in Guantanamo, as well as in Bagram, other prisons throughout Afghanistan, and elsewhere in the world, on and around January 11, 2012. We called for an end to indefinite detention, unfair trials, and torture.

(See Chicago Protests Guantanamo Detention)

Climate: China's Response to the West

I'm interested in the question: how are we going to solve the climate problem if China doesn't immediately change course and move toward a carbon-free economy? And how can we possibly expect China to see the value of a carbon-free economy if the United States doesn't move first to become carbon-free, and to do a lot of explaining about how it came to set the wrong example for so long for the rest of the world?

Much of my college studies were devoted to China, and much of my China studies were devoted to the issue of China's response to the West. In fact, it is nearly impossible to understand the dilemma we face today without confronting the position in which we placed China and Japan (and other countries) in the preceding several hundred years. At the risk of oversimplifying, I think it's fair to say that we threatened them and beat them up, and sent a very clear message: figure out how to be like us -- or better yet, even more like us than us -- if you don't wish to be wiped out.

During the 1980s and 1990s, when I was traveling frequently to China, I was one of the thousands of Westerners who was dazzled by how rapidly China was developing, and by how successfully they were using technology to "leapfrog" the West. For instance, during that period they accomplished a high-degree of national integration by rapidly expanding air routes and purchasing Western aircraft. Later, they skipped the nuisance of ubiquitous land lines and rapidly set up a nationwide cellphone system.

At the same time, I saw signs that China might be able to resist doing certain things "the American way." I saw superhighways being built, and shuddered to think how many cars China's drivers might fill those highways with. I also saw the Chinese enthusiasm for consumer goods, and couldn't resist thinking that it is a great thing to succeed at making consumer goods but another to succumb to building your own society itself around the worship of those goods.

And therein lies the rub: it's a little hard for people from "don't-fence-me-in" America, a land which has defined its own freedom in terms of the automobile and the lure of the open road, to suggest to China that it should stick with public transit and bicycles. (It's particularly striking when you lay the map of China over the map of the United States, and see how similar the geography of the two countries is.)

In other words, we have a "me-not-you-ism" problem: we expect to be able to say that one thing is good for me, but you should live by other standards. And at the same time, people in China are inclined to respond: "In fact, I'll worry about me; don't confuse me and you."

Another thing I saw during my travels was giganticism, of the sort epitomized by the mammoth Three Gorges Project. So much of our climate crisis has to do with the tendency to do everything we do big Big BIG! This tendency to do things up big can be breathtaking, and inspiring, but it also entails enormous risks and maybe it's time that we all agreed to see how we might curtail our temptations toward grandeur.

I think that in order to understand the challenge that China and the U.S. face together, we need to talk about such things as: innovation, investment, and trade politics (for example, in such things as solar panels); our respective resource curses; our common "good earth" roots; our even greater paired fates as two "waterworlds"; and ultimately the fact that China and the U.S., are, in fact "oneworld," certainly in terms of the air that surrounds us.

Most of all, we need to confront the fact that, as things stand now, neither the U.S. nor China has an ethics that is powerful enough to cope with a species that is hurtling toward self-destruction. THAT is what our shared dialog should be about.

MORE: #chinaEARTHusa - Radical Change? or Planetocide?


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"Although we know the end from the very beginning," says Walker, "the story is no less compelling to watch." A man, gloriously alone (except for his own reflection) on an ice-covered lake; the soothing pastel colors of the distant sky; and what seems surely to be a circle he is digging around himself with a pick-axe. A perfect parable for our headlong rush toward climate crisis?

(See How Do You Say "Suicide Narcissus" in Chinese?)

The United States may set the standard for human desire -- for the mindless pursuit of the bright and shiny object -- but, heaven knows, China is not to be outdone.

(See China and USA - Like a Moth to the Flame)

Just like a family that has extra rooms in its house which inevitably become filled with stuff, the U.S. has thousands of bases -- here, there, and everywhere -- that inevitably create the "need" to spend.

(See What Will "Strategic" Mean in Our Children's Lifetime?)

Does Obama Think We're Stupid?

On April 30, the headlines suggested that Barack Obama was going to do something about Guantanamo.

Sheesh, someone should close that place. Those guys could die or something!

His exact words were:

“It’s not sustainable . . . . The notion that we’re going to keep 100 individuals in no man’s land in perpetuity [makes no sense] . . . . . All of us should reflect on why exactly are we doing this? Why are we doing this?”

Does Obama think we're stupid? Does he think we don't remember that he gave us that line already, a long time ago? Does he think we still have any illusions that he really cares about justice, or intends to deliver on the promises he lets drop?

A crisis is unfolding in Guantanamo Bay, and it is shining an even harsher light than ever on the total inability of the government we currently have to stop a travesty and take a turn toward justice. (And, not incidentally, it the glare of that light is especially harsh as it shines on the inability of all of us in the peace and justice to stop a travesty and take a turn toward justice.)

This is why we need alternatives to "business as usual."


Related posts

Even if the current Obama administration approach of releases were to succeed in bringing about the release of everyone at Guantanamo, it would not have begun to address the wrong that has been committed.

(See US to its Humans Rights Violations Victims: "Shut up and take what you're given!" )







What he wished he could have said: "And you know what's even sadder? Congress won't work with me! So if we learn one thing from the Guantanamo hunger strikers, it's that Congress should do a better job of working with me!"

(See Obama's speech on al Qaeda, drones, Guantanamo Bay: You heard it here first! )





In Hong Kong, people are starting to say: "No more con games!"

(See HK: No More Con Games )

They'll Know Us By Our Actions

We all wish to be judged by our good intentions. But the way people know us is through our actions.

So ... what do people in the Muslim world know about us here in the United States?

On Easter Eve this year I listened to soaring preaching about the Christian idea of a world in which no one is consigned to doom, no one is blotted out, no one is without hope:

He says to her immediately, take this sign to everyone else. “Tell them: I am the resurrection and the life so that even though you die, you will live. I am the sign placed over this world a limit and an end to its suffering. A sign that hope is not to be abandoned.”

This is the sign that stands against and triumphs over the gates of hell, which the Holy Spirit cries into our hearts, each by name. This is the sign that occurred in the saving ark, in the deliverance of the Israelites through the Red Sea, in the saving presence within the fiery furnace. This is the sign to which Mary Magdalene was the first witness along with the apostles, the sign to which the church has given testimony to throughout the centuries by its proclamation and its action, by the blood of its martyrs and the works of its saints, by the confessions its has spoken and the hymns it has sung, through its art and writings, through its scriptures and acts of charity, by the immersion of ever new generations in the waters of baptism and the offering of our Lord’s presence in the wine and bread. Throughout our history the Holy Spirit has not ceased to cry until its voice has grown hoarse with this message: Christ is risen!

(Full sermon at: The Messenger)

Contrast these words with the situation of the 100 men on hunger strike at Guantanamo. They have used the only means left to them to call out for attention to the world: "Hope? You speak of hope? There is no hope left to us."

Lest anyone forget, these are people who have been held without charge for eleven years ... many/most of whom have been cleared for release ... but for whom, in fact, NO ONE in the United States (or anywhere else) can point to any possible outcome other than that they will die there.

How will the Muslim word know us? They'll know us by Guantanamo.


Related posts

Make no mistake: the powers that be have know that they have cowed most of the public into being afraid to talk about Guantanamo, and that suits them just fine. Our power to act starts with talking widely -- beyond just our usual circles -- about the way in which we're being scared ... and why a government would possibly want to scare its own people.

(See Pentecost, Guantanamo, and the Moment When Talk Becomes Priceless)


MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- Angle Computer (NASDAQ: AGL) today announced the launch of their new iPhobe offering.

The iPhobe is a humanoid robot that spouts anti-Islamic rhetoric and encourages fear and hatred in an unprecedented variety of ways.


(See Like your iPhone? You'll LOVE the new iPhobe!)



I believe when Jesus broke the bread and poured the wine and said "Remember me this way," he was much more interested in encouraging us to keep having conversations -- conversations that really matter -- with others . . . and finding ways to be in relationship with our neighbors  . . . all the while reminding us "never underestimate the power of food"  . . .

(See Get Outside Your Comfort Zone and Have A Conversation Today (Welcome to the Ministry))

#Art #Poetry and More During #AprilDays #Protest - #aprildayseverywhere

It took a haiku to make me believe in the power of Twitter again.

We're at the beginning of an important antiwar campaign - the April Days of Action Against Drones. Part of that campaign is getting the word out on Twitter, using the #AprilDays and #nodrones hashtags.

I've been very focused on the dozens of protests that have been scheduled at the facilities of drone manufacturers, research facilities, and bases. We've been using Twitter to encourage turnout.

In the last week, three things have encouraged me to remember that protest can include a lot more.

Creative Resistance: A Chicago production of The Predator by Jack Gilroy

The first was a production of the play (reader's theater) called The Predator. This is important because people everywhere can download the script and share it with their communities -- whether or not they are able to join a street protest. The Predator is a great way to educate people about the issues surrounding drones.

#aprildayseverywhere

The second was the Drones Quilt project. Each square of the quilt is made by an ordinary member of the public, who writes their name and then the name of a victim on a square of fabric. The quilt will be finished by the 1st May and, on the 6th, will be taken on a pilgrimage for peace, calling for an end to the use of armed drones.

Creative Resistance: The Drones Quilt Project

People everywhere -- no matter where they are -- can take the time to make a square and add it to the quilt.

#aprildayseverywhere

The third -- and this was the big Aha! moment -- was @DroneHaiku.

Creative Resistance: @DroneHaiku on Twitter

@DroneHaiku reminded me of all the creative ways that we have used social media like Twitter in the past year to built widespread, robust, multi-dimensional protest. Efforts like #AfghanistanTuesday. And #Natoin5. And #NoIranWar.

With @DroneHaiku, all you need is 17 syllables and a Twitter account.

#aprildayseverywhere

No matter where people are, no matter what their gifts are, they can be part of the April Days of Action Against Drones.

What are YOU prepared to do?


Related posts

Eventually, in large part due to Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, the United States was converted from a country in which a small number of people thought slavery needed to be ended into a country determined to act to end slavery. This literary work took the movement wide, and it took it deep.

Why is a novel an important tool for creative resistance?


(See Creative Resistance 101: Uncle Tom's Cabin )

Grounded raises tough questions. I was hoping that the play would challenge the idea that killing people with drones is good. It's a reflection of the seriousness of this work that that is just one of the issues it raises; others include our society's willingness to destroy the people who we employ to "serve" ("serve our country," serve us in general), our culture's worship of violence / use of force, and the consequences of pervasive surveillance.

(See "Everything Is Witnessed": Searching for "the Guilty" in GROUNDED )

I'm marveling at the adjacency of a piece of public art -- one with a very clear message about the risk of human ambition and self-absorption and heedlessness -- to the center of political power in the city of Chicago.

(See NUCLEAR WEAPONS: Who will bring us down to earth? )

Time for Ceasefire? Barack Obama and Speaking About Violence

The headlines say, "Obama returns home to speak about Chicago's gun violence".

I'd be much happier if the headlines said, "Chicago to speak about Obama's drone violence"!

There are some people, at least, who see a very clear connection between violence on the streets of cities like Chicago and violence carried out by the U.S. military, the CIA, and other U.S. government agencies around the world.

About a year ago, we did a screening at the church I attend of the film "The Interrupters" -- about the people from the organization Ceasefire who work in the community to help convince young people that violence is not the way to resolve grievances. We were fortunate to have some of the actual Ceasefire "violence interrupters" join us for discussion after the film.

During the discussion, one of the Ceasefire workers -- a person who spends his days working with young people on the streets of Chicago -- said, "I hate to open a can of worms here but . . . how do you imagine we are ever going to convince young people that violence isn't the answer, when they see war after war waged by the U.S. government?"

How indeed? It's time for those of us in Chicago who oppose violence to start speaking openly about the fountainhead of violence in our society.  And it's time for members of the establishment -- right up to and including Barack Obama -- to quit shedding their crocodile tears about violence on the streets of our cities and start reversing the legacy of permawar and vengeance that has come to define the U.S. posture in the world. As the New York Times indicated in an article yesterday about the Obama administration policy of drone assassinations, things have gone from bad to worse under Obama: "By emphasizing drone strikes, Mr. Obama need not bother with the tricky issues of detention and interrogation because terrorists tracked down on his watch are generally incinerated from the sky, not captured and questioned."

Maybe it's time for a big-time violence prevention intervention.

Maybe Chicago should sit Obama down for a talk about his addiction to violence.