Progressive Wednesday

Clergyman Charlie: “When Will They Ever Learn?”

March 5th, 2008 by Charles Lamb

The other night on PBS I enjoyed watching a 90 minute special about Pete Seeger.  Maybe you saw it too.

Some of you will remember Pete Seeger as a great folk singer and war protester.  He wrote or modified or sang such songs as “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” and “If I Had a Hammer” and “We Shall Overcome Someday.”

Pete is still alive, but 88 years old now and still as active as he can be.  He never drank or smoked.  He once resigned from The Weavers because they accepted an advertisement from a tobacco company.

He sang everywhere, to support the civil rights movement, to protest the Vietnam War, and to demand an end of pollution in the Hudson River.

He was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee and questioned about his patriotism and attitude toward communism.  He refused to answer.  He didn’t think it was American for him to be subjected to that; he was free to think what he pleased in this country.  His career suffered, and he was black-listed as a communist sympathizer, but he stood up for what he believed.

As I watched the show, I thought how much we need another Pete Seeger today.

We were told, at the time of the Viet Nam war, that if Viet Nam fell, then Thailand would fall, and one by one other nations would fall to communism like a row of dominoes.  We were told that North Vietnamese ships fired on one of our vessels in the Gulf of  Tonkin.  Now we know that even though the whole Vietnamese nation is united and communist, it is our trading partner.  And it has been admitted that the incident in the Gulf of Tonkin never happened.  The fears that we were fed were untrue and never happened.

When I think of how many people died for a war that accomplished nothing, it fills me with anguish.  Of course I admire the heroism of our troops who fought bravely, but they were led into a war we should never have fought.  If you have ever been to the Memorial for that war in Washington D.C., and seen the wall with tens of thousands of names on it, you were moved to the depth of your being.  I’m sure of that.

Now, in my opinion, we are in an even worse situation today in Iraq.  They never had weapons of mass destruction.  Saddam’s supporters have said he wouldn’t admit that because of fear that Iran would invade again, as they did in the past.  Again, I want to be clear that I admire the heroism of our brave soldiers who go there at our government’s orders.  But, as Pete Seeger used to sing, “When will they ever learn?  When will they ever learn?”

When I hear how many of our troops have died, I want to add how many people overall have died.  Many people in Iraq have died too, most of whom were never terrorists.  They are God’s children too.

When people say “Support the troops,” I want to say “Support efforts for peace and an end to war.”

And when people say, “God bless the U.S.A., I want to remind us that “He’s got the whole world in his hands.”  And may God bless us every one.

When I was serving my first church in Oklahoma, a man in the congregation used to ask me when the churches were ever going to speak up against war?  That question still preys on my mind.  At least there was a strong anti-war movement during the Viet Nam conflict.  There isn’t much protest today.

I never thought I would see the day when our government allowed, and even defended, torture!  I think we should act out of who we are, what our principles are, not react against what someone else has done.

Can you imagine Jesus saying “Persecute your enemies, water board those who hate you…”?

We are followers of the Prince of Peace.  He said that those who take the sword will perish by the sword.  He called upon his followers not to be peace hopers, or peace wishers, but peace makers.  Are we answering that call?

Some of you who read this may not agree with me, but I would feel unfaithful to my calling as a minister if I didn’t speak out and say these things.  In my judgment, it is time for followers of Christ to say “No!” to war.

Picture credit goes here.