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Monday, Week Ten

I always have enjoyed Rick Steves' travel insights, but, in his latest book, Travel as a Political Act , he shares some other insights that I appreciate as well:

Many Americans consider the emblems of the Bush years—Iraq War, Guantanamo, the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, world isolation, domestic surveillance, loss of civil liberties, and so on—a reasonable price to pay because we avoided another terrorist attack. Much of the rest of the world saw these as an overreaction to a tragic situation. The wave of sympathy that poured into America after 9/11 could have lifted the whole world to an unprecedented new unity. Instead, our leaders manipulated our national grief to justify acts that have alienated us from many of our allies and swollen the ranks of our enemies.

Some might brush off questionable American policies by saying, “Well, that was just our government.” We are our government. We cannot rest on the notion of the “innocent civilian.” Morally, when it comes to a free and powerful nation like ours, I believe there are no innocent civilians. If I pay taxes, I am a combatant. Every bullet that flies and every bomb that drops has my name on it. It could be a good bomb or a good bullet. Sometimes military action is necessary. But right or wrong, I take moral responsibility for it. That's simply honest, responsible citizenship.

I don't think there is any such thing as a “good bomb” or a “good bullet,” but I do believe we all need to take responsibility.

Blessings,

Michael Piazza
President, Hope for Peace & Justice

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