A weekly reflection paper

I am struck this week by the themes explored in Howard Thurman’s discussion of segregation in “The Luminous Darkness” and the Network of Spiritual Progressives’ (NSP) recent proposal on how to end the war in Iraq. The NSP is appealing to citizens to help fund publication of a full-page ad in daily newspapers and on television that puts forth an ethical and moral plan to end the war.

Framing the argument in spiritual terms, NSP advocates that President Bush go to the United Nations and repent. They ask him to explain that U.S. intelligence was flawed and to seek forgiveness on behalf of himself and the American people for the suffering and deaths of innocent people and for the destruction in Iraq. It asks that he acknowledge that the entire society has mistakenly adhered to the view that safety and security can be achieved through domination or control of others, and that a better plan for safety and security is to treat others with generosity, care, and genuine concern for their well being.

When I read the ad, I shook my head and thought, “there is no way that President Bush is going to do that.” While the premise that the remedy for wrongdoing begins with repentance has integrity, and according to Thurman, “there is real spiritual growth in admitting that one’s life is not blameless...” I did not for a moment believe that the plan was realistic.

But as I struggled over the idea that the plan was flawed because those in power would not willingly change their “evil” ways, I was struck by how my lack of hope was contributing to maintaining the institution of violence in our country. I realized that by dismissing any hope or change in relation to power, I was providing “the stability of the order [which] rests on its total acceptance.” By believing that change is not possible, I was rendering myself “within a framework which accepted and did not challenge the pattern.” And even while I was not agreeing with the rightness of this preemptive and immoral war, my refusal to see moral and ethical steps to correct the wrong mirrored much of Thurman’s writing about the “good white people” who supported segregation through their inaction or inability to see beyond the institution.

For me, the “evil” of segregation and the “evil” of perpetuating a violent society, while not equal, seem interrelated and originating at the same root. Power and the maintenance of that absolute power is guaranteeing behavior that is “inhumane and throws wide the door for a complete range of socially irresponsible behavior.”

Not only do we bear witness to this socially irresponsible behavior, we pay for it. By our silence and lack of action we acknowledge that it is conducted in our names, under the guise of a society to which we pledge our allegiance to. Through this action and inaction, I am left with the inexcusable thought that we are all culpable in perpetuating life-destructive activities. We are far from “the image of the citizen who is acting as one who maintains in himself a sense of responsibility for the fate of his country,” that Thurman paints as “making one capable of large and imperative demands.” And it seems intuitively obvious that this deep conflict is sapping our collective energy so that we are less able to effect change.

Thurman writes, “In order to overcome the ravages of segregation, the overt sufferers must carry on an energy-consuming inner struggle which undermines their effectiveness in practically every aspect of their lives…. It is impossible even to hazard the loss to American life that has resulted from the waste in energy and creativity in the desperate necessity to find a way to survive against such overwhelming odds.”

The NSP ad goes on to say that if President Bush is not able or willing to go to the U.N., then Congress should pass a resolution rejecting the strategy of domination and embracing one of generosity and asking the world’s people to forgive our society for its destructive path. It concludes with asking that the Arab states replace the British and American forces with Arab forces, and it calls for a global Marshall Plan, which will facilitate rebuilding and healing. (The ad can be viewed at http://www.tikkun.org/iraqpeace)

Perhaps giving money for the publication and the putting forth of this plan is unproductive because the powers that be may not have the moral compass to lead our country in a different direction. But it is equally important to recognize that as individuals we cannot allow our own moral and ethical compass to be limited by the political and religious agenda of another.

Thurman writes “any person who questions the grounds of the society, who raises a primary question of human values, is in truth a disturber of the peace and a troublemaker.”

Our times call on us to be those troublemakers.