DRANT #233: SPIRITUAL REGRESSIVES

"Under the influence of politicians, masses of people tend to ascribe the responsibility for wars to those who wield power at any given time. In World War I it was the munitions industrialists; in World War II it was the psychopathic generals who were said to be guilty. This is passing the buck.
The responsibility for wars falls solely upon the shoulders of these same masses of people, for they have all the necessary means to avert war in their own hands. In part by their apathy, in part by their passivity, and in part actively, these same masses of people make possible the catastrophes under which they themselves suffer more than anyone else. To stress this guilt on the part of the masses of people, to hold them solely responsible, means to take them seriously. On the other hand, to commiserate masses of people as victims, means to treat them as small, helpless children. The former is the attitude held by genuine freedom fighters; the latter that attitude held by power-thirsty politicians."
Wilhelm Reich, The Mass Psychology of Fascism
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Rabbi Michael Lerner and his posse of well-intentioned Dupes called, "The Network of Spiritual Progressives," have spent many many thousands of dollars and months of toil on what they promise will be a series of full-page print ads in major newspapers, starting yesterday (Thursday) in The New York Times. (Please access the actual ad here: http://www.tikkun.org/PeaceAd)
Some of the signatories are so shocking that I can only assume they had forgotten their consciences and their history books, or were finally so deeply pessimistic that they were grasping at any straw, even proposals as wrong-headed as those proffered in the ad. We can excuse show bizzers like Jill Clayburgh, Peter Coyote and (!) Martha Stewart, and various Rabbis and Revs-- but
When I expressed shock that Howard Zinn had signed it (I still can't believe it) Rabbi Lerner wrote me that he had done so despite disagreement with "some of the nuances." I revere Zinn more than most men on this earth, I have seen him speak countless times, been at marches, pickets, demos with him.
I have read his books and his speeches, and have sent his People's History to numerous people who needed a true perspective on the real History of our country. I have seen his film, and attended theatrical performances of his work. What could have induced him to sign this ? And what about the amazing Medea Benjamin of Code Pink ?
I was just in jail with a whole group of CPers, at the action in DC to shut down Congress -- and of course she was the brilliant organizer. How could she sign this ? Wait 'til you read it. Then you'll understand my shock and sense of betrayal.

The preface reads:

The war will not end until we, you and I, put an end to it.
The suggestion that we rely on Congress to do our job is an insidious, counter-productive, self-defeating and complicitous repetition of everything that has not worked before. It serves only to prolong the killing -- just the same as the actions of "Congress" so far.
It could not be more clear----"Congress" is not going to end anything. WE must. Begging the conspirators to end the conspiracy is insane, and worse- it robs We The People of our power, and serves only to allow us to blame others, avoiding true self-responsibility.
We must NOT depend on what Congress does or does not do.
The time has come for each one of us, each and every one, to stand up and take personal responsibility for what WE have done. WE can not rely on OTHERS to do it for us. Congress has done nothing, and will do nothing.
Congressional "resolve ?"
"Congress" just proposed that taking Iraq's oil be MANDATORY as part of its new appropriations bill. "Congress" works for the people who are making stupefying profits from this war and all war, and "Congress" has always -- that is to say evrrrrry sinnnnngle tiiiiime in our history- voted FOR War.
The "War" is not ending. It will not end when "our troops are safely home..."
ALL of our troops are NEVER coming home. Tens of thousands of them will always be there, manning the monstrous new PERMANENT US "Embassy" inside the fortified "Green Zone, and tens of thousands of "private contractors" like the barbarous Blackwater Security forces, will remain as well, with no oversight, under no laws, protecting the oil fields and refineries for U.S. big oil.
The problem is NOT "The War in Iraq."
"Ending" this one "war" will do nothing to change the fundamental, historical course of the USA - the employment of coercive force in the pursuit of profit for our global commerce, and the imposition of our world view on all those too weak to resist --- that is to say-- to invade, overthrow, occupy and dominate by ruthless violence, at the cost of millions of lives. This phase of this particular war has been visited upon the Iraqi people since Poppa George, all the way through Clinton's lethal infanticidal bombing and embargos, and of course for the past years of Bush II. For the USA, this is business as usual. It is not an anomaly nor particularly unique.
Note also the absurd mind-reading and imposition of values on "many Americans," as if the authors of this ad know what "they" are thinking and why.
Here's what "they" -- what ALL Americans know- beyond doubt -
WE are killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people, man woman and child, WE are jailing and torturing hundreds of thousands of innocent people, WE are torturing people, WE are poisoning with Depleted Uranium, WE are destroying an ancient civilization, WE are creating a massive barely describable refugee crisis, WE are stealing the resources of another nation.
While "many Americans" ponder what happens next, thousands more are dying.
And as for the hope you may have felt when you read the last sentence, ("new ethical and spiritual vision") -- wait til you see what form that takes.

The headline is:

AN ETHICAL WAY TO END THE WAR IN IRAQ
Generosity Beats Domination as a Strategy for Homeland Security

So tell me Rabbi, is there an UNethical way to end the War in Iraq ?
What, the A bomb ?
Ending the War IS the only ethical act, and prolonging it in any way is un-ethical.
Now catch the phrase "Homeland Security."
Is that what this is about ? US feeling safe ?
Proliferating this Goebbelsdigook spreads the worst propaganda and fear-mongering.
It is exactly, precisely, wrong.
Then it says- Let's do the generous thing here- as a "strategy" to make us feel safe.
As any Ethicnician will tell ya- you don't do things to get things.
Ask any Taoist, Buddha, Hillel, Allah, even JC.
But not, apparently, The Network of Spiritual Progressives.
They propose doing good stuff so we get "security."
Fie.

Now on to article #1:

A lot of it is good-hearted, and at least declares that We did it, and we need to beg forgiveness, and make reparations.
Alas, it is put in religious terms, as if we need the Bible to tell us right from wrong.
As if we have no way to take responsibility for that decision every moment of our lives.
Here is the last part:

Can you STAND it ? We are supposed have others to do what WE need to do.
We urge "Congress" to do our job, yet again. More off the hookism.
WE must take responsibility, WE must confront our guilt, and repent, and make amends.
This means WE must sacrifice our own comfort and the luxuries of daily life, and make reparation.
Deliverance from wrong doing requires #1 Take responsibility #2 Repent #3 Repair that which can be repaired
#4 Do everything possible to make amends.
Note to the Bible quoters: Sacrifice is also a biblical requirement for repentance and cleansing.
Forget the President, Congress and the UN. WE must do this, not THEM.
It is We The People who must humble ourselves- US --
each and every single one of us, one at a time.
Waiting for politicians to do this, handing it to them, is a total waste of time, and everyone knows it.
Forget Congress. Forget putting it on OTHERS.
Every one of US must confess, repent, make reparations and to make amends- we must all give up the idea of force and coercion as a means.
We each must resolve, and act on that resolution, and work tirelessly -- to build our lives, and a nation and a world where force and coercion are abjured and eliminated.
We each must take individual responsibility and commit to true generosity and selfless reparation.
This means sacrifice.
As Paul Rieckoff says- the American People have had no war.
We have experienced no loss, had no pain, have had to sacrifice nothing.
It is the troops and their families who have felt this war.
And of course, it is the Iraqis and Afghanis and the countless hundreds of thousands of victims -
The only road to "salvation" is to take individual responsibility to stop our history of endless domination and war- now and forever.

Now- here it gets much worse.
So far its been philosophical.
Now it gets to plans of action.

II. REPLACE U.S. AND BRITISH FORCES IN IRAQ WITH AN INTERNATIONAL PEACE FORCE ACCEPTABLE TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE.

Now do you see why I was so amazed that Zinn and Medea B signed this ?
The Iraqis don't want ANY FOREIGNERS in Iraq -- no police force, no peacekeepers, no soldiers.
There must be NO FORCES in Iraq. NONE. The UN "peacekeepers" have committed unspeakable crimes in Haiti, East Timor, and many other places where they have been deployed, where their presence has been disastrous, violently misogynistic, and murderous.
We must NOT buy into the idea that what is needed is more coercion. What is needed is unstinting generosity, giving, and sacrifice by each one of us.
We can all go, and re build Iraq, and Palestine, and Afghanistan -- and not wait for others, especially governmental institutions, to do it for us.
Let us all, each of us, contribute as we can and as we MUST - but -- in the Rabbi's terms- even The Torah requires sacrifice- our actions must constitute sacrifice if they are to begin to cleanse us. Its gotta HURT, and not be easy.
We must go and re build homes and hospitals and schools, and make it safe for all to return. Again, as The Torah says- we must act individually, not as a society.
Doctors and accountants and cooks and roadbuilders and electricians must go.
Babysitters and therapists and teachers.
If we leave it to the USA and Congress and UN, we will have another disaster.
Sending armed Saudis or Danes or Martians into Iraq is guaranteed to bring more chaos and killing.
Everyone needs to GET OUT, except those acting from individual conscience, who represent NO government, only individuals personally trying to make amends, and personally make reparation. To GIVE. One person at a time.
This proposal to send in troops is not merely misguided, it is destructive and evil in the worst possible ways. Shame on them.

And now- the final idiocy.

This proposes to use the vilest villains, the ones who caused this and virtually all such wars, who create them and profit by them-- to use these bastards to go into Iraq and develop a "new Marshall Plan." And once again, aid is being suggested as a way to get something back- "homeland security." Wrong wrong wrong.

Even the use of the term Marshall Plan is disgusting. The MP was one of the myriad projects concocted by the WW2 winners, like the World Bank, The Security Council, and Israel, to impose and insure hegemony over the world and its most crucial resources. Like the WB, The Marshall Plan was a devious giant step forward for Globalization and Capitalism, and came with enormous strings attached.

Reparations, making Amends, plans for Justice for the Victims-- of course. But using this as another means to spread Capitalism and Globalism in the world, and to put it in the hands of the very worst perpetrators of the war ? If this isn't innocent idiocy, then it's the foulest form of complicity. Howard ? Medea ? How could you sign this?

Americans must embrace making personal amends and reparation, not cause the Western Nations (white people) to build ANOTHER western style capitalist globalized little USA in Iraq. And we must -- we MUST keep the filthy bloody hands of American Business and Corporations OFF it.

As far as the "Abrahamic" religions, and their generosity -
we are seeing quite enough of their largesse in Gaza right now, but thanks anyway- I'll pass.

Giving as a % of GDP ? Have the money handled by our government and not by all of us individually ? Wrong again. We cannot have others do it.
Given the new Oil Law now just being forced on and passed in Iraq, and "Congress" insisting on it being part of any stoppage of funding, and given the clear truth that the USA, American corporations and "contractors, and numerous Iraqi traitors have embezzled billions, the truest and most direct way to re build is to have individuals do it. Small companies, shop owners, construction workers, union members, musicians. It is also the only way to engender trust in the Iraqis.
Tens of thousands of real people, individuals, each acting from personal conscience. No governmental involvement. No reward expected.
This is the only way the Iraqis will even begin to trust it.
The US Government, and their corporate capitalist bosses can NOT be involved if there is to be trust, and can NOT be involved if the values and goals are truly to be altruistic and ecumenical.
Only people.
WE - each one of us, if we are to find redemption, cannot depend on nor expect anyone other than ourselves to do this for us, and must have no expectation for reward.

Rabbi Lerner, and his fellow dupes, have proposed actions that can serve only to prolong the very root causes of war, violence, and domination.

They have proposed a religious and utilitarian base for giving-- giving to receive.

They have proposed sending in Troops to re-invade and re-occupy Iraq.

They have proposed Globalizing and Capitalizing Iraq using the worst and most evil practices and people among us.

And for this they should be condemned.

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For your information: I sent my objections to Rabbi Lerner, and we had a dialog about them.

He basically said it was "too late" to make any changes.

That was two MONTHS ago.

You can write to him and tell him what you think of his ideas and his ad.

RabbiLerner@tikkun.org