Aussiescribbler
Experienced
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2003
- Posts
- 69
Disarming the Enemy
Perhaps at this time of global crisis we can learn something from the words of two men.
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:1-5) (New International Version, 1979)
"We are all murderers and prostitutes— no matter to what culture, society, class, nation one belongs, no matter how normal, moral, or mature, one takes oneself to be. "
Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing ("The Politics of Experience" (1967)
When will we learn that a world leader who refers to three countries as an "axis of evil", for wanting to develop weapons of mass destruction, while his own country is the number one owner, manufacturer and developer of all forms of such weapons, does nothing to make the world a more secure place.
Those who are willing to admit their own short-comings publicly, bring to their quest for peace, justice, democracy or freedom a moral authority which far exceeds that which can rest in a single individual. They align themselves with the spirit of a truth in which we all reside, like it or not.
I'm not recommending unilateral disarmament on the part of the United States. What I am suggesting as a different approach to pursuing the goal of a world in which nobody feels the need for weapons of mass destruction to protect themselves. Self-righteousness on the part of any nation only fuels conflict and clouds rational debate.
I have no doubt that it requires tremendous courage for George W. Bush (together with Tony Blair and John Howard) to stand in such heroic defiance of both world opinion and the words of the prophet whose religion they profess. Admiration for such courage is right and proper, but we shouldn't allow it to blind us to their inability to lead us to a safer world. (It should go without saying that Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong Il are even less effective leaders.)
This is a time for neither condemnation, nor capitulation. Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi never appeased their enemies, nor did they resort to violence, and yet each, in the long run, triumphed over the greatest empire of his time.
Imagine for a moment what might happen if President Bush stood up in front of the United Nations and said, "The United States is the world's major producer of weapons of mass destruction. We have armed brutal tyrants such as Saddam Hussein. And I personally have grown rich from my nation's addiction to fossil fuels at a time when reducing this addiction, due to it's environment impact and the likely economic impact of an approaching world oil shortage, should have been a priority. I have no right to preach to others. And yet I ask humbly, and in the name of humanity, that all nations join with me in the quest for a safer and fairer world. I will not abandon the ability to protect the citizens of my country from aggression. But I will no longer pretend to have a right to tell others what to do. Instead, in this time of trouble, I ask you to seek guidance from anyone who can give you greater understanding of yourselves and thus compassion for others, and I will do likewise."
Far from losing authority by such a pronouncement, I believe that he would go down in history as the greatest political leader who had ever lived.
This is a time for coming clean about ourselves, as individuals and as nations, on the grounds that our enemies can already see through our hypocrisy and it is only by admitting to it ourselves that we can disarm them in the deeper sense of the word.
Perhaps at this time of global crisis we can learn something from the words of two men.
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:1-5) (New International Version, 1979)
"We are all murderers and prostitutes— no matter to what culture, society, class, nation one belongs, no matter how normal, moral, or mature, one takes oneself to be. "
Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing ("The Politics of Experience" (1967)
When will we learn that a world leader who refers to three countries as an "axis of evil", for wanting to develop weapons of mass destruction, while his own country is the number one owner, manufacturer and developer of all forms of such weapons, does nothing to make the world a more secure place.
Those who are willing to admit their own short-comings publicly, bring to their quest for peace, justice, democracy or freedom a moral authority which far exceeds that which can rest in a single individual. They align themselves with the spirit of a truth in which we all reside, like it or not.
I'm not recommending unilateral disarmament on the part of the United States. What I am suggesting as a different approach to pursuing the goal of a world in which nobody feels the need for weapons of mass destruction to protect themselves. Self-righteousness on the part of any nation only fuels conflict and clouds rational debate.
I have no doubt that it requires tremendous courage for George W. Bush (together with Tony Blair and John Howard) to stand in such heroic defiance of both world opinion and the words of the prophet whose religion they profess. Admiration for such courage is right and proper, but we shouldn't allow it to blind us to their inability to lead us to a safer world. (It should go without saying that Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong Il are even less effective leaders.)
This is a time for neither condemnation, nor capitulation. Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi never appeased their enemies, nor did they resort to violence, and yet each, in the long run, triumphed over the greatest empire of his time.
Imagine for a moment what might happen if President Bush stood up in front of the United Nations and said, "The United States is the world's major producer of weapons of mass destruction. We have armed brutal tyrants such as Saddam Hussein. And I personally have grown rich from my nation's addiction to fossil fuels at a time when reducing this addiction, due to it's environment impact and the likely economic impact of an approaching world oil shortage, should have been a priority. I have no right to preach to others. And yet I ask humbly, and in the name of humanity, that all nations join with me in the quest for a safer and fairer world. I will not abandon the ability to protect the citizens of my country from aggression. But I will no longer pretend to have a right to tell others what to do. Instead, in this time of trouble, I ask you to seek guidance from anyone who can give you greater understanding of yourselves and thus compassion for others, and I will do likewise."
Far from losing authority by such a pronouncement, I believe that he would go down in history as the greatest political leader who had ever lived.
This is a time for coming clean about ourselves, as individuals and as nations, on the grounds that our enemies can already see through our hypocrisy and it is only by admitting to it ourselves that we can disarm them in the deeper sense of the word.
David's the name. At your service. * He bows. *
