Today is veteran's day. My father is a veteran of World War II and he was proud of his service and I am too. My son was a Medic in the Army in the late 80s and I honor his service, but I also honor those who objected to the increased militarism of the United States who has used its power in violent ways in immoral wars such as Viet Nam and Iraq.
The use of violence to solve international disputes has led the world down a dangerous path with the false notion of what Walter Wink calls "redemptive violence."
Most major religions abhor violence and do not teach it whether it be Jesus, Buddha, or modern practitioners of nonviolence such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, Daniel and Phil Berrigan, Muhammed Ali, and my friend, John Honeck, and many others.
I worry about a nation that glorifies its warriors and its military might more than its peacemakers and nonviolent practitioners who continually try to teach us that for human kind there just might be a better way.
To read more about conscientious objection click here.
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