NETWORK OF SPIRITUAL PROGRESSIVES UPDATE
Nichola Torbett
The NSP has set out to transform all our institutions, policies, and social practices so that they encourage rather than undermine our ability to treat every human being as an embodiment of the sacred (as having “inherent worth and dignity,” in secular terms) and our ability to respond to the universe with awe, wonder, and radical amazement.
We figure that will take us until at least next Tuesday. But seriously, where does one start on a task that large?
According to a group of local NSP leaders, including Kim Carlyle, Pat Allen, Joanna Garritano, and Shannon Thomas, the way to effect that sort of massive change is to work on three levels simultaneously: the political, the cultural, and the personal. This framework provides a clear way for me to explain some of what we’re up to as a movement.
Political Transformation: An Ethical Way to End the Occupation of Iraq
One of our primary focuses this year is on raising consciousness in such a way that we end the occupation of Iraq and prevent war in Iran, Pakistan, and elsewhere. We offer a unique strategy for doing that, one that is desperately needed in the antiwar and peace movements.
On a recent strategy call with antiwar leaders, Representatives Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) and Jim Moran (D-VA) made it clear that Congress is unlikely to defund the occupation at this point; they simply don’t have the votes to defeat the appropriations bills.
In order to get those votes, the American people need to step outside their private spheres and let Congress know that we will not condone needless suffering in our names.
The first task in getting people to take that step is to make it clear that an American presence in the region is fueling suffering for the Iraqi people as well as our soldiers. Bolstered by the Petraeus report, many Americans still believe we are doing more good than harm in Iraq. What we need to make clear is that our unilateral presence in the region not only fuels violence against anyone who appears to be aligned with us as an occupying force, but also prohibits the creation of a multilateral, international intervention that might actually be able to bring about a resolution to the conflict. That’s painful news. Americans don’t want to believe that their country could be in the wrong. Accepting the reality of what has been done in our names in Iraq requires humility, maturity, and repentance. When one realizes one has done something wrong, the mature response is to apologize and do everything one can to make the situation right.
On an individual level, that repentance means applying unrelenting pressure to Congress to demonstrate repentance on our behalf. National repentance involves relinquishing rights to ongoing military bases in Iraq and exclusive rights to oil and contracts. It also means paying reparations and helping to fund reconstruction. These are the prerequisites for involvement of an international, multilaterial peace force in Iraq. [more]