the birth of violence is traced back to our hearts

Good day to all of you!

It has been the busiest week of our training so far, so please forgive me for the lack of communication and disregard for our blog! We have been doing writing workshops in our lectures this week which has been a nice change of pace. On Monday we watched the documentary "War Dance". I HIGHLY recommend all of you rent it...blockbuster usually carries it, and I am almost sure that netflix would also have it! It is a great story which shows the truth behind war and the people it leaves behind. 

This week has been very cool on a few different levels. We have made a pretty strong connection with my Aunt Sue and Uncle Steve back in Michigan and they have made a strong commitment to helping Jeanette and I raise awareness and support back home while we are abroad. Already through this, a old friend of Steve's has pledged 1,000 dollars to our mission and she wants to spread the word and inform people of the needs of those we seek to liberate! AMEN!!! This is a direct answer to our prayers! It has invigorated us beyond anything we could have expected! (Also, we would like to shout out to all of the others who are supporting us, you are just as vital to this cause, and you know we love you!)

Anyways! We aren't really sure how all of the finances are looking for the rest of our money we need for tickets or for our stay in Panama, but with amazing things happening as they are, we have no qualms or doubts! God is good! 

So on that note....and I do not know how to segway (sp?) into the next topic.....

so here it is!

WAR and DISPLACED REFUGEES

Since I believe most of the followers of this blog are American, I can pretty safely assume we have all experienced war. It is nothing new to us, it is in the headlines every day....and it is on the news so often that it bores us by now. This week, I was challenged to think differently about war. I was challenged to NOT understand it. The fact is, we feel like we have it sort of....thought out and understood in our theology and mind. We hear of casualties of war and we do not think twice. You flip past the History Channel and in between the 3 hour long segments of WWII footage, they offer you a box set of both World Wars on DVD, complete with a commemorative coin if you buy it within ten minutes! We have grown numb to it. We don't understand it. We are just used to it. There is a difference.

I believe I can speak past party lines here. I know and appreciate that many of you who read this are diverse in areas that range from politics to religion. I love that. Argue with me if you don't agree....Wayne, that means you! I appreciate that! But anyways, here goes. 

Whether we are democrats or republicans, communist or capitalist, atheist or protestant, american or iraqi, pro-war or pacifist, old or young, rich or poor, male or female, and whatever other opposite spirits we have reading this, one fact remains: war destroys lives. Not just the lives of those who are fighting it...but the lives of those who are caught in the middle. 

Children. Women. Grandparents. Mothers. Sisters. Brothers. Slaughtered. Displaced. Tortured.

Philippine-American War (1899-1913): 250,000 to 600,000 civilian casualties

WWII: up to 35 to 47 MILLION civilian casualties; 130,000 killed from the nukes alone

Vietnam War (1959-1975): 2 million civilian casualties

Afghan War (2008 only): 2,118 civilian deaths

Iraq (in May of 2003): the civilian death toll was estimated to be as high as 10,000 already, making it the deadliest campaign for non combatants since Vietnam.

The point of this isn't to be anti-American, but it's definitely not pro-American either. Our nation has a history of bloodshed and violence. From the time we set foot and conquered the land, until the very second that you read this...we have a very prominent history of violence. 

Violence does not just affect those who fight, or those who are ordering the strikes. In fact, the contrary is being proven day after day. In almost every war listed above, the civilian deaths FAR outweigh the military deaths. In the case of Vietnam, by almost 2 times, in the case of WWII, by MILLIONS. War affects the helpless. It destroys lives and families. For what? For conquest of land? Expansion of borders? Gaining of textiles? Do those things merit the inherit slaughter of innocent lives?

I am beginning to understand that for me to be a proponent for peace, I have to examine my own life. I have to get the violence out of my own heart before I can preach peace for the sake of the marginalized and war torn. There are over 26 MILLION internally displaced person's due to war in their homeland (refugees in their own country). In 2008, there were over 11.4 million refugees taking shelter in another country than their own. 

I don't know all of the answers. I don't know most of them. But I think it is time we get the violence out of our own hearts. We stop blaming others for our own violence. As adults, we teach children not to hit. We teach them to treat others the way they want to be treated. And then we teach them about the inhumane and ridiculously barbaric things we do to each other on a repetitive basis. If history has a theme, it is violence. 

It's time we choose a theme for ourselves. One we can pass down to our children and our grandchildren. Maybe we have to examine our own actions and see if we are causing our own downfall. Maybe we just need to listen to others. Maybe we need to change our own ways and imagine new ways to interact with opposing cultures. I just think that if war was the answer, we would be somewhere better by now, but we aren't. It isn't the answer for the Ugandan rebels and the nationals, it is not the answer for the jihadist muslims, it's not the answer for the over privileged westerners and it's not the answer for me and my family. 

So we search for the answer. And if I die before I see the end of it, at least I tried.

As a endnote. The facts used in this blog were taken from various sites of credible source. (as credible as credible is now a days that is) the point is not the exact numbers, the point is the fact that death and destruction go with war...

I am also not trying to say that war does not in many cases use justification by fighting for an oppressed and marginalized people. I am not here to debate just war theory or the farce of preemptive defensive war tactics. I am here to promote a totally different but not new way of living. Whether you believe Jesus Christ to be God or not, you can not realistically or historically deny his existence. I mean, the whole calendar and date is based on his life. I propose that you just read his biographies. It won't hurt, I promise! You may see a man you can resonate with more than any church-goer you have met so far!