Tag: history

War and Peace

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.” – Jesus (Matthew 5:9)

“Cursed are the warmongers, for they will be called the children of Apollyon.” – (the implied antithesis of Jesus’s statement)

On Friday, #47 signed an Executive Order (his 200th such order to date), renaming the “Department of Defense” the “Department of War” because it sounds tougher. He then turned over the microphone to his re-named Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth. 

After making an odd (and questionable) historical observation that under the name “Department of War” the military had never lost a war, and that under the name “Department of Defense” the military had never decisively won a war, Hegseth said,  “This name change is not just about ‘renaming;’ it’s about ‘restoring’. Words matter. It’s…restoring the ‘warrior ethos’; restoring victory and clarity as an end state; restoring intentionality to the use of force, so…the War Department is gonna fight decisively, not endless conflicts. It’s gonna fight to win, not not to lose. We are gonna go on offense, not just on defense. Maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct. We’re gonna raise up warriors, not just defenders. So, this War Department, Mr. President, just like America, is back.” He finished by adding, “America First.”

Within hours, the Department of Defense website was rebranded, “war.gov.”

Let’s go back 80 years to September 2, 1945.  World War II officially ended, but the world was in shambles. Upwards of 85 million people—3% of the global population–had been killed directly during the war or had died of disease and starvation, cities had been completely destroyed, six million Jews, gay people, people with disabilities, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Romani people had been gassed and incinerated in Nazi concentration camps, two nuclear bombs had been dropped (by the U.S.). It was the deadliest military conflict in human history. 

Coming out of the devastation there was a global cry for peace.  On October 25, 1945, the United Nations was officially established with a mission “to maintain international peace and security, promote friendly relations among nations, and foster cooperation on economic, social, and humanitarian issues.”  

President Harry Truman, stood before Congress on September 6,1945–just days after the war had ended–and proposed the creation of a unified department of national defense to address concerns about military preparedness that arose following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 1, 1941. Congress passed the National Security Act two years later which created the National Military Establishment—which combined the Department of the Army and Department of the Navy, the Marine Corps and the newly formed Air Force. President Harry Truman signed the act into law on July 26, 1947.  In 1949, the NME was renamed the “Department of Defense.” Its stated mission was to “provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation’s security.”

Eighty years ago, our war-weary nation focused on preventing future wars, promoting international peace and cooperation, and pursuing diplomacy.  But it didn’t take long for us to return to war again and again.  And now we seem focused solely on American military supremacy through “maximum lethality.” without concern for “tepid legality.”

Earlier this week, the newly named War Department authorized the attack of a Venezuelan boat in international waters that was allegedly filled with drugs and manned by the Tren de Aragua cartel.. No one bothered to inform members of the Armed Service Committee of Congress of to the attack as is required by the War Powers Act,, and there was no evidence that the boat was delivering drugs to the US.  We’ll never know. The boat—and the eleven men aboard—were obliterated. “Maximum lethality, not tepid legality.”

Maybe we’ve always been a nation of warmongers who ignore accepted boundaries and bend the rules of engagement, but this open embrace of thuggery and this promotion of the “warrior ethos” feels different. Maybe it’s because the people promoting it—like Pete Hegseth—claim to be followers of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Maybe it’s because anyone that questions the administration’s pre-occupation with war and domination is considered “weak” and “woke” and is deemed “the enemy.”  Jesus wouldn’t survive this administration. 

God isn’t going to bless warmongers. The blessing is reserved for the peacemakers—those who “seek peace and pursue it.”   Right now, it feels like we are being led by the children of Apollyon—the Destroyer.  And we know what their end will ultimately be.

So, I’m going to go the mountain of the Lord to learn the ways of peace—where swords will be turned into plowshares, spears into pruning hooks and where nations will no longer pursue war. Let’s go there together. 

(S)heroes of the Faith

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

If you’ve never heard of Rev. Pauli Murray and their story of faith-rooted activism, you’re not alone.

However, their story is in danger of being completely erased by the National Park Service in compliance with this administration’s order to end all references to DEI.

Learn about Rev Murray in this article published by Sojourners. https://sojo.net/articles/news/trump-administration-erases-page-honoring-trailblazing-priest-lawyer-and-activist

Why Mahmoud Khalil Matters

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Rev. Martin Neimöller, a German Lutheran Pastor who, along with Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, formed the Confessional Church in opposition to Adolf Hitler’s attempts to place the Lutheran Church under Nazi control, is probably best known for his poem, “First They Came…” Written in 1946 after the war had concluded, Neimöller painfully confessed that he (and the German Lutheran Church) failed to speak up in opposition to Hilter and the rise of the Third Reich, and did little to stop the atrocities perpetrated against those groups that the Nazi’s targeted as their enemies,

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

Versions of the poem can be found etched in the walls of Holocaust memorials and museums from Washington, D.C. to Skokie, IL. The poem has taken on new relevance as various ethnic groups have been targeted by Executive Orders, ICE arrests and travel bans.

Last Sunday, Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student at Columbia University in New York and a legal resident of the United States, was arrested by ICE and was taken to a detention center in Louisiana. What as his crime? He was an out-spoken advocate for Palestinian rights during the Gaza protests at Columbia last spring. To date, he has not been charged with a crime. He will go before an immigration judge on March 27. His fate is uncertain.

Another Palestinian, Leqaa Kordia, was arrested in Newark, NJ last night, for overstaying her student visa. She had been arrested during the protests at Colombia last April.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, announced that the Trump administration will revoke student visas in the coming days for activists who have taken part in campus demonstrations in support of Palestinian rights.

First, they came for the Palestinians, but I did not speak out because I was not a Palestinian.

The ‘Real’ Dr. King

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Today, most Americans will enjoy a day off from school and work—not because of the frigid temperatures and not because of the Inauguration, but because the nation will honor America’s greatest advocate of civil and human rights—the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Today, we will share his quotes on social media, lift up his “dream” and maybe even sing freedom songs. Today, we love Dr. King. 

But let’s be clear.  When King was alive, he was a thorn in America’s side and was condemned and vilified for his vision of America. In 1967, King was named “the most hated man in America” because of his condemnation of the evils of racism, materialism and militarism.  

“The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and racism. The problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power.” – Dr. King to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) board. March 30, 1967.  

Throughout his public ministry, King articulated a vision of the Beloved Community in which everyone,“regardless of their race, sex, religion, or creed, is equally valued and has the opportunity to thrive.”  In 1968, he and his trusted advisor, Bayard Rustin, developed a “Freedom Budget” and a plan to eliminate poverty that became known as the Economic Bill of Rights, demanding full employment, a guaranteed annual income and affordable housing.

King’s vision was truly radical—akin to Jesus’s announcement good news for the poor and the upside-down kingdom of heaven. King’s vision was diverse and inclusive—like the radical diversity and inclusion of Jesus’s followers—women as well as men, eunuchs, Samaritans and Gentiles as well as Jews.  And like Jesus’s message, King’s message was too radical for most people—even most Christians—and the response was an assassin’s bullet.  We killed the prophet.

But now, we love Dr. King.  We have erected monuments and statues, named highways and schools and bridges after him and set aside a holiday in his honor, but let’s be honest….we have failed to honor his vision.  It was too radical for Americans in 1967. It is still too radical.  We lift up the “dream”, but, as a nation, we continue to perpetrate the nightmare of racism, materialism and militarism.  We declare that “all people are created equal”; that we are the “land of the free”; that we are “one nation under God;” but we cast our ballots for a leader who promises great privilege for a few and vilifies anyone who protests as “threats to America’s greatness.” Today exposes our hypocrisy.  

Before Rev. King was killed on April 4, 1968, he had prepared his sermon for the following Sunday. It was entitled, “Why America May Go to Hell.”  We are well on our way. 

Link HERE to read the sermon King never preached.