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Valentine's Day, brutality breaks our hearts
By mickielynn on 2009-02-12 18:30:06
"Mother, mother,
There's too many of you crying.
Brother, brother, brother,
There's far too many of you dying.
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some loving here today.
Father, father, father,
We don't need to escalate.
War is not the answer..."
[We've got to negotiate. ]
What does Valentine's Day mean to you? Is it the commercially created holiday that urges you to go out and spend money
on once a year tokens of affection? Is your focus on erotic love or on an important loving relationship that's more complex
than any one feeling or activity? Is it a time when you appreciate your friends, family and co-workers?
Do you honor the holiday created by playwright Eve Ensler called V-Day, a day to remind us to end violence and rape
against women? This year she's touring several US cities to highlight rape and mutilation as a weapon of war in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and the healing opportunities provided to these women.
Or is it a time when you think of the suffering of the people of the entire world as Marvin Gaye did in the song above? Saint
Valentine historically ministered to prisoners and expressed another kind of love: agape. It's also described in 1 Corinthians
13.
If you view people with this kind of love how do you feel about all of the innocents who are losing their lives as our
government tries over and over to bring about peace through purely military means?
We could take Afghanistan as a good example of where a change from a purely military approach is being urged by most
current military and diplomatic leaders. Its complex problems and tribal/territorial divisions will need to be dealt with
through diplomacy and by meeting basic human needs if a lasting peace is to be achieved.
If the military is going to be a part of the solution then it needs to behave as a provider of safety and security akin to law
enforcement protocols. Dropping bombs on populated areas only increases potential and actual violence. It costs many
human lives and creates new enemies.
It's difficult to negotiate with people when you've already judged them as unable to listen, learn and change. The constant
repetition of words such as "terrorists," "jihadists," and even "Taliban" and "Al Qaeda" coupled with specific stories and
ideas is caculated to strike fear into our hearts. Hearts and minds that need to be open, practical and creative. Fear and hate
don't leave space for listening, structured negotiations, or real change.
We need to sit down and talk with everyone, including the Taliban, the war lords and most especially representatives of the
Afghan people, including the women who have suffered so much during 30 years of war and abandonment.
As Laura Love sings:
"...Put a little love in your heart. And the world will be a better place..."
It's not an impractical dream to negotiate and do the hard work of bringing about change and a lasting peace. It just takes a
change of plan and the will and energy to keep on listening and setting goals. Are human lives and well being worth that
commitment?
