Desiring Machine

The Bush war machine and his political cover of Christian fundamentalism is anathema to me and everything I was brought up to believe in. It is beyond absurb that the likes of Bush can cater to a so called “Christian” vote. And it is even more absurb that his “christian” values somehow provide him cover as an honorable man in the face of his rapacious and destructive war policies.

I consider myself a left wing secular humanist, but that does not mean that I am completely ignorant of Christian values. I grew up in the church and spent the first 8 years of my education in a rural Seventh Day Adventist church school. I attribute this upbringing to my strong aversion to war. Looking back I recognize now that my religious upbringing was fairly enlightened compared to the more virulent strains of political movements that pass for Christianity in our culture today, particularly the kind of churches that Bush seems to gather his support from.

The problem is one of crass cynicism and clever political language that has operated to bolster the right wing by collapsing important and significant distinctions in our linguistic landscape. For example the whole appeal to “values and faith” as a purely Republican matter. The left too often feeds right into this loss of meaning around terms like “values” by more often than not accepting the terms of Christianity as defined by the cynical wing of the neocon noise machine. It is instantly assumed that all Christians and the so called “values” vote is de facto a Republican domain. And furthermore, I have heard friends and acquaintances say fairly hostile and derisive comments about people who call themselves Christians, assuming they are all in the pocket of right wing war mongers like Bush, Rumsfeld, and Cheney. However, I think it is a mistake to make this assumption and furthermore it elides important doctrinal differences within Christianity and religious practice in the US and throughout the world. Christianity is more than the Vatican and what you might see on the 700 club. There is a rich tradition of people of faith actively and aggressively opposing war and suffering in the world. There are important alliances that people on the left should make with people on the right, despite differences in matters of faith and culture.

Take for example the following statement from the Seventh Day Adventists on the Iraq War:

Churches should not only be known for spiritual contributions — though these are foundational — but also for their support of quality of life, and in this connection peacemaking is essential. We appeal to Christians and people of good will all around the world to take an active role in making and sustaining peace, thus being part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

This is perhaps one of the most forceful statements I have read with respect to war and peace. How often would you hear our corporate media machine actively call for its viewers to be “part of the solution rather than part of the problem”? That is a fairly unequivocal statement, kind of like “you are with us or against us”. The significance of course is that it does assume that we have an important role in making peace and if we don’t pursue this role then we are not merely spectators but actually part of the problem. Our pro war media would never make this claim lest it shake us from our slumbers and rile us into action for peace.

And I know from personal experience that the Adventists take this matter very seriously. As a child in school I remember hearing many stories of Adventists being drafted into War and choosing to become medics. This was the only viable choice. If the state compelled you to go to war then your only option was to seek out a role where you could save lives and would not have to carry a gun. This was an explicit tenet called for and practiced by church members, even in WWII. As a child I remember this making a big impression on me. I was greatly impressed by the principled argument about actively not participating in killing even in the context of a war that you had to fight in against your will.

The bottom line is that there is no red state blue state divide in this country. If we let the elite media and their political and corporate cronies continue to divide us then we will continue to find ourselves respresented by the most brutal and reprehensible forces in our society.

Peace Now!