Anti-war

[Melissa Ruhl]

I have heard many BW members say that we are not an “anti” organization, but an organization that is for peace. What is the purpose of this? I really do not feel that by being “anti-war” we are being militant or anti-peace. I feel that not taking a stance to oppose war ends up hurting us. It is very strange to be involved in an organization that claims to be opposed to war, but has no team to oppose the wars that our own country is involved in. I realize that not all of our members are Americans, but I think there is definitely a global aspect to these wars. In fact, the Bush administration is more about attacking all terrorism than attacking certain nations. Have you all heard about the very recent attacks in Syria? Or the attacks on Pakistani civilians?

This war is spiraling out of control. How many deaths will occur in Iraq from now until we supposedly leave in three years? How many more years will we fight in Afghanistan with Obama’s idea of a surge there? People are dying and I think that not being “anti” war is not a stance we should take. I strongly believe that non-violence is the only solution, but being anti-war is not necessarily being violent. It feels strange that BW was started again because of the so-called War on Terror and yet there is no team opposing this war. Should we organize teams that oppose and work to stop the Iraqi and Afghan wars? Or maybe we should organize a team that is opposed to and working to stop the War on Terror in general? I’m eager to hear your thoughts.

[Sally Suzanne Marie]

Melissa,
Thanks for starting another great discussion.
I see two issues here.
One is, what is the difference between being FOR peace and being ANTI-war. As you are aware, these are not the same thing.
Peace is so much more than the absence of war. It requires us to be thinking in positve ways to actively engage people and build relationships of good will. It is an ongoing process that needs constant attention while maintaining an attitude of goodwill. It requires lots of listening.
Anti war activists and individuals seem to focus on a different kind of enemy (not the terrorists or a particular country or religion). They "fight" against political leaders or "hawks" (and scared "rabbits"--those who truly believe that terrorists are a direct threat to themselves and their families) labeling them as the enemy. They do not use cooperation and communication as tools. Some are frankly violent in their pursuit of "peace". But even when they are not violent they do not understand that peaceful means bring peaceful ends, and that there is no other way to get there.
Second, when a war stops, anti war activists stop working. They don't work on what to do to prevent the next war. Anti-war work is episodic work. Peace work is never ending.
The current wars are terrible. People are dying every day. It is painful to think about, and think about it we do.
Oh my, this is so hard to put down on paper. I don't think I'm explaining myself well.
I'm tired though the night is young.
We are both in Eugene. Let's get together to talk. I would like that if you would.

[Melissa Ruhl]

Thank you for responding, Sally. I hope still others will join in this discussion! ☺ I have taken a while to respond because I wanted to give much thought to my response. One of the events in my life that most profoundly revealed to me that war is obsolete was on campus, but not in the classroom and neither was it in a stereotypical “demonstration.” Twice in my four years flags were assembled on the grasses on campus. Each flag represented six people (white flags for Iraqis and red flags for Americans) who have died in the Iraq War. The flags overwhelmed the campus lawns and even more so the second time. You know how large our campus of 20,000+ students is. It was impossible to walk among the flags and not think of the devastating impact of our war. Sometimes you would see someone who had just broken down on the sidewalk. Even though we tried to forget it in the classroom it consumed our thoughts. While the flags were neither “anti” nor “pro” they spoke directly to the point of the ills of this war and of wars in general.

The stereotypes of anti-war activists and activities you cited, Sally, I have felt in Beyond War in general. I know a lot our members lived through Vietnam. One volunteer I talked to said that when she was a girl she thought of college as that place you go to protest. We do not live in that world. Many lessons were learned from Vietnam and many were not. I think that the physically and verbally violent fights that you referred to do not have to define anti-war. There is absolutely no need for them to define anti-war. Listen to me using the us and them language that we are supposed to overcome… History shows us that struggles for peace are nothing new. I hope that what makes Beyond War new is that we struggle against the conflicts of today, but, importantly, with a view for tomorrow as well. I realize that peace is more complicated than the lack of war. But what does it mean to say we can see a world of no war when our world is ravaged with wars? It feels in a way naïve. In a way naiveté is exactly what we need. We need to throw off what we have been told and reach for hope. However, we need to realize that telling someone that we can be beyond war when someone has just lost a relative in a war or when someone has had their home bombed by a neighboring country, can be uplifting or it can be blind.

When I read the works of Gandhi or MLK Jr. I hear declarations like our own that call for peace and an end to violence. But they said these amazing words amidst conflicts they were trying to resolve. We can begin to change our world in so many ways. Is the flag demonstration not an example of educating us to the evils of war? It is an action against the current war, but it is in no way violent or enemy-creating. If we are going to bring the world beyond war, we must embrace many kinds of non-violent action. I have been compelled to start this forum because of my belief in Beyond War as an organization that can truly change the world and not because of my desire to make Beyond War “anti” in the sense to which you referred. A true grassroots effort to stop this war could be a great sign of peace and for the necessity for no more wars to begin.

[Melissa Ruhl]

Bill Scheurer sent me an email about the flag display on campus. He told me that he had been moved by it as well and wrote this poem. I thought his poem was incredibly moving and should be shared (I got his permission :) ).

iraq body count



a sea

of white

and red



flags

float

like



poppies

blooming

dead



above

the lawn



i go

home



to cut

my nails



which

keep

growing



after these

are gone





exhibit on the

campus lawn

[William L Hallmark]

Hi Melissa. Thanks for your thoughtful inquiry. The rather trite statement that we are not anti-war, but pro-peace is based upon a deeply held belief that resistance breeds resistance and therefore resistance does not lead to a constructive outcome. Instead, to be effective we must seek a positive solution rather than resisting a negative one. Unfortunately, being for peace really doesn't do the job either because it does not tell anyone what to do. So we need to think clearly about what we are for. We are for non-violent solutions to conflict, We are for . . .[you name it]

I know it is difficult to give up resistance, but I have learned over time that practicing resistance destroys my own creativity and the creativity of others. Perhaps the most dramatic personal example occurred for me when I chose to resist the development of another nuclear power plant in Oregon. Because I felt nuclear power was bad, I volunteered my time to fight the siting of two plants in Eastern Oregon. We eventually succeeded in getting PGE to abandon the development. One of the attorneys that worked with me in the siting process later went to work for PGE. One day he told me, "you know, if PGE hadn't been fighting us so hard, I think they would have realized sooner that it did not make sense to build those plants." Unwittingly, in my effort to stop PGE I had caused them to focus on resisting my resistance instead of finding solutions. I should have been focused on solutions to the need for energy -- not stopping nuclear plants. Now thirty years later I can look back and see conservation was and is the answer.

I believe war will not end until we as a people believe there is a better alternative. Beyond War's mission is to enable others to see that alternative. This does not mean we do not grieve when we see war. It does not mean we oppose those who resist. It only means that explicating the new vision of the alternative is so important that as an organization we must focus our energy there.

So now I am wondering, does any of this make sense to you? I don't mean to preach, but only to share. In looking back I see I did climb up on my soap box. But now I am back down. I would love to hear what you think.

[Daniel McKay]

Melissa, you raise a good point and at first I struggled with the very same thing (I am in the beyond war class).

What helped me understand (or at least acquire MY understanding of Pro-Peace vs. Anti-War) was that while being "anti-war", even supporting anti-war measures during periods where no war is no longer being waged, may be a great step towards creating a world of peace- it will never create that world. To create a world beyond war one needs to promote peacefulness, not just peace. Peace some might define as a period without violence, however, this period as Sally noted is periodic. Furthermore, one could imagine a world in which no war is being waged, but only because people are oppressed to the extent where resistance is impossible. This may seem like an unlikely event, but the period of time we are talking about when we hope to move this world beyond war spans nearly 100 years.
The point here is that peace is not peacefulness, we need to promote peacefulness, being anti-war. We need to recognize that the "means are the ends in the making", and while we promote being peaceful, which equates to peacefulness, we are promoting peaceful ends, i.e. a world beyond war (and I would argue beyond violent conflict in general). By following the core practices this organization has established, we are creating an environment where conflicts are solved by peacefully, and in an environment where all conflicts are solved peacefully war does not exist.

[Leonora]

Daniel,
Well said! I especially like your last paragraph about living the core practices creates a culture where conflicts are resolved nonviolently - hence, no war. Very cool.

The personal condition of being in resistance, against, anti, negative, (being preoccupied with an enemy) saps energy that could be directed toward creating solutions. And, equally important as Sally above pointed out, actually increases the energy of one's opposition.... and who needs that?

[Daniel McKay]

Well said, the book I'm reading (one of the books for BW) really stresses the importance of positive spiritual energies- which it argues we need to make any social organization actually work and "spark" a genuine movement.

The book is "The Left Hand Of God" by Michael Lerner, I hope you check out the book review that i'll be working on! I'm conflicted whether or not it is a "Beyond War" book or not in its entirety, but if you havn't read it I think there is certainly a lot of valuable stuff in there!