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| November 2005 |
| Contents Words of inspiration Words of Inspiration We have been blessed beyond our ability to appreciate our blessings. . . . "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren," the Master said, "ye have done it unto me." We are living in perilous times. Brethren and sisters, set your houses in order. Gather your families around you, have your prayers, ask the blessing upon your food, give of your substance to those who are in need. David O. McKay Source: Conference Report, April 1949 Recent and Upcoming Events
Recent Events The last couple of months have been a busy time for members of Los Angeles MESJ. As we read in last month's newsletter, Sue Cannon spent part of September providing services as a nurse at a clinic for Hurricane Katrina refugees in Houston. The chapter as a whole has pledged to assist an interfaith coalition that supports an unionization campaign in a nursing home company whose owners are LDS. And the chapter joined an estimated 15-20 thousand people who marched for peace on September 24. (Check the photo gallery for pictures of Sue Cannon marching next to actor Martin Sheen.) In other news, there is word that a MESJ group is coming together in the Boston area! We'll pass on more details as we receive them.
Jump to the Calendar to see upcoming activities by local chapters. Salt Lake MESJ is planning to participate in a peace vigil on November 17. Las Vegas MESJ will attend a concert of Handel's Messiah on November 28 Information about upcoming international observances can be found in the Holiday Resources section of our website. In the United States, Thanksgiving falls on November 24. Check out MESJ's Thanksgiving-themed family home evening ideas and electronic greeting cards (thumbnails below).
The Other November Holiday by John-Charles Duffy, Media Director
Because Thanksgiving falls in November, my first impulse is to write a Thanksgiving-themed editorial this month. But another holiday falls in November, one that easily gets overlooked (partly, perhaps, because it hasn't lent itself to commercialization). That holiday is Veterans Day--Remembrance Day in countries of the British commonwealth--which until World War II was known as Armistice Day. Armistice Day was created to commemorate the end of World War I. At the time, of course, it wasn't called World War I. It was the Great War--optimistically, the war to end all wars. That optimism seems hopelessly naive in retrospect. But it reflects the progressivism of the day, the feeling that organized social action was making universal peace and justice a reality. This was the era of the "Social Gospel," when many Christians sought to build up the kingdom of God on earth by attacking social problems like slums and exploitative labor conditions. The notion that war could be abolished wasn't just a "flower child's" dream. Government leaders and other people in positions of power and influence regarded it as a feasible goal. Church leaders of the day shared this optimism. In 1942, even while Latter-day Saints in the United States were being mobilized to fight for their country in World War II, the First Presidency issued a statement declaring that "the Church is and must be against war. . . . It cannot regard war as a righteous means of settling international disputes; these should and could be settled--the nations agreeing--by peaceful negotiation and adjustment" (Messages of the First Presidency 6:158). Sixty years later, Elder Russel M. Nelson expressed a similar conviction in General Conference: "Because of the long history of hostility upon the earth, many feel that peace is beyond hope. I disagree. Peace is possible. . . . Resolution of present political problems will require much patience and negotiation. The process would be enhanced greatly if pursued prayerfully" (Ensign, Nov. 2002, 39). The Church's public relations department later clarified that Elder Nelson's remarks were not intended as a comment on the "rumors of war" then building over Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction. (Other churches had been taking public positions on the question of how the U.S. government should respond.) But the principle--the vision--that Elder Nelson articulated is clear enough, whatever disagreements there might be about how to apply that principle or achieve that vision. War is not inevitable. "Peace is possible." Spencer W. Kimball once said that Americans are a warlike people. Mormon peaceniks quote that statement to death (myself among them). But we keep quoting it because we believe it's true. Good may come out of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. That Saddam Hussein is out of power is unquestionably a good thing, though the power vacuum left behind has been a disaster. If Iraqis can make democracy work--a big "if" at this point--that will also be a good thing. But I, for one, am still convinced that pre-emptive war is an immoral political doctrine. I worry that the invasion will have negative ramifications elsewhere in the region. And most importantly, I see the Iraq war as one more example of a troubling American tendency to get what we want by sending in troops. This month's newsletter includes a report from Will Vanwagenen in Baghdad--his last, actually. He forwards the testimony of a woman in Fallujah about U.S. soldiers bursting into her home and shooting several family members during the counterinsurgency a year ago. I debated running this in the newsletter. How do I know the account's reliable? Would running this be one-sided? If the point of running this account in the newsletter is to show that war is hell--don't we already know that? Maybe. But I think we need to be reminded of that. We need to be reminded of the things that matter most: that's why we take the sacrament once a week. We need to be reminded that behind those casualty figures we hear on the news, and behind all the talk about "stability" and "security" and "counterinsurgency," there are individual tragedies and horrors. I think Americans are a warlike people because war has become relatively cheap for us. We don't lose thousands in a day anymore. We have better technology than the people we go to war against. We have the upper hand. And most of us aren't confronted with the horrors involved. We're not going to see the blood and guts on the evening news. We don't even see caskets, for heaven's sake. I'd like to think that if Americans were more conscious of those things, we would be a lot more cautious about going to war--and a lot more committed to finding other solutions to conflict. This is what I'll be thinking about come November 11. The tradition for this day is to observe a minute of silence at 11:00, when the armistice that ended World War I came into effect--the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. During that minute, I'll be praying for peace and a less warlike America. Check out our peace-themed electronic greeting cards:
A New Social Justice Website -- in Afrikaans
MWV - Mormone vir Waarheid en Versoening means "Mormons for Truth and Reconciliation," a new social justice web site in the Afrikaans language. Afrikaans is a 16th-century offspring of the Dutch language, spoken widely throughout the Republic of South Africa and neighboring Namibia. Robert Poort took the initiative to launch this new site using the web space of the Dutch-language website MVG - Mormonen voor Vrede en Gerechtigheid. Besides the fact that Dutch and Afrikaans are first cousins in a cultural and linguistic sense, it is no coincidence that Robert took this step. The family of Robert and his Tongan-born spouse Telekaki is multicultural and multiracial. Their son-in-law is African-American, which makes their twin-grandsons AfroPolyCasian! Little surprise that the Poorts feel closely related to the post-apartheid process of "Truth and Reconciliation" in South Africa. Robert grew up in his native Netherlands amidst constant media attention to the tensions in South Africa. His extended family still lives in the historic town of Culemborg, which is the birthplace of Jan van Riebeeck, the founder of South Africa. It was in Culemborg this summer, during a family visit, that Robert was passing by the familiar "Jan van Riebeeck-House" and thought of creating a social justice web site in Afrikaans. Former president Nelson Mandela voiced the sentiments of the Poort family
in a recent speech in Afrikaans: "Finaal bevry is van die kettings
van rassisme en apartheid." In English, this translates into The new web site features articles in Afrikaans, Dutch, and English. Some of its content includes:
During the three decades after his resignation, Naudé's vocal support for racial reconciliation and equal rights led to upheavals in the Dutch Reformed Church as well as police surveillance of his private life. He became an underground supporter of the anti-apartheid resistance and helped to move its members in and out of the country. Naudé was also the only Afrikaner member of the ANC delegation during the negotiations in the early 1990s with the National Party government, which led to the transition to democracy. The "Byers Naudé" page is a tribute to religious integrity on issues of social justice, and the following phrases of that tribute are of consequence to us as Latter-day Saints as well: "Byers Naudé, 'n profeet in sy eie land, het van die Waarheid getuig en gedemonstreer dat die Waarheid 'n mens inderdaad vrymaak!" ("Byers Naudé, a prophet in his own country, has witnessed of the truth and has demonstrated that it is indeed the truth that sets people free!") You can reach the new MWV website from the International page on the MESJ website. Letter from Baghdad by Will Vanwagenen
Editor's note: In past issues of the newsletter, we've printed reports by Will Vanwagenen, a Latter-day Saint who has been in Iraq doing human rights work with the organization Christian Peacemaker Teams. Will has now left Iraq. The last email he sent included this testimony from a woman he spoke with in Fallujah. It describes events that occured one year ago, during the U.S. counter-insurgency offensive. For more information about the Fallujah offensive, Wikipedia has a handy summary. On the 12th of November, five members of our family were here at the house, as well as some guests. Our father recommended we stay in the house, he said they [Americans] would not hurt us. It was me and my two sisters and one brother and my father. On Tuesday morning we were eating Fitur [breakfast], when my father told us that tanks were everywhere outside. We didn’t believe him at first. Father said, “We are a family, they won’t hurt us.” . . . Then I watched as the Americans entered our house. They pushed open the door. They shot my father from outside the house. I took my brother out of the room, as the soldiers shot one of our guests. I hid myself and my brother in the kitchen. I was scared and called for help. The American soldiers said to come out and get on our knees. The soldiers grabbed me and pushed me to the ground. I was lying next to my brother. The soldiers searched. I heard them smash the windshield of our car, they were laughing. After the soldiers went away I saw that my sister had been shot in the head [and died instantly], and my other sister had been shot in the arm and leg. My younger brother began hitting himself as he saw this scene. I told my brother that this is God’s will. I began to cry. My sister shot in the arm and leg was dying, so we helped her say the Shuhada ["There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God," which should be said three times immediately before one dies]. I went to my father. My brother said that maybe he is not dead. “No, I think he is dead,” I said. We went to hide ourselves under the bed. We were scared the Americans would return. My sister who was shot in the leg and arm was not yet dead. She was unconscious. I returned to her. I was crawling to her because of snipers outside. I saw a lot of blood coming out of her. I thought she was finally dead. I went back to the bedroom. Then I heard my sister calling loudly to God. I said, “Hold on, maybe someone will save you, but keep quiet, they [American soldiers] will come for us.” I went back to the bedroom. I went back to my sister at 11:30 am. I thought she was fainting, but she was dying. My brother was fasting, but I told him to eat. I heard voices that they were coming again, so we hid our money and papers in a bag and took it to our neighbors with a note to take it to their relatives. Then we went back home and hid under the bed. [All of the above happened on Tuesday.]. We hid in the house three days. On Friday, soldiers starting raiding houses in the neighborhood again. There was no power. The Americans came to our house again and looked in the bedroom. They lifted the bed and saw us, and then dropped the bed and began shooting around the room. Shrapnel hit my hand and injured it. I was praying, saying the Shuhada, thinking I would die. I was thinking, “It would be better to die here than to be taken away.” The soldiers called on the radio that there was a mother and a baby. A soldier picked me up by my shoulders and legs and put me down in the hallway. I asked him, “Where is my brother?” He said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” A translator came and asked who was here. I said, “They killed my family.” I told the translator my story. The paramedics came to see the wounds. They picked me up and I was still holding some money in my sleeve. They put me on the street and said a car would come. I saw a man who had been crushed lying near me. I began to cry. They took me to a hospital. The doctor wanted to measure my blood pressure, and found money in my sleeve. A soldier took the money while laughing. The translator told me not to be afraid. She [the translator] told me she would lodge a complaint about the money. A woman doctor came to look at my leg. She said not to be afraid. They wanted to take me to Abu Ghraib. I was afraid. I told the doctor what happened to me. The doctor gave me a piece of paper and told me to give this to any high ranking officer. I saw an American and gave it to him. He read it and gave it back to me. He told me not to be afraid. An Iraqi ambulance then took me to the Jordanian Hospital [in Fallujah]. From there I sent letters to my family about where I was. Then ambulances took me to Baghdad. I never saw my brother again alive. He was killed and we buried him in the garden. Later we moved his body to the cemetery. Remember in Your Prayers...
Peace and democracy in Iraq: On October 15, 10 million Iraqis voted on their country's proposed constitution. Though there have been inevitable allegations of election fraud, the results indicate that almost 80% of voters accepted the constitution. Opposition from the Sunni minority, though not strong enough to veto the constitution, continues to raise concerns about the future of the democractic process in Iraq. Campaigning is now underway for national assembly elections to be held in December. Public participation is said to be enthusiastic. Around the same time as the October election, the U.S. death toll in Iraq passed 2,000. Between 26,000 and 30,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed since the beginning of the invasion. Give thanks that Iraq has moved closer to a constitutional democracy. Pray for peaceful elections and a stable, honest, inclusive government. Pray for the safety of Iraqi civilians and a speedy return for American and other foreign troops.
Pray for survivors of the earthquake and for those working to provide relief. Pray that governments will give more generously to the relief effort. Consider phoning or emailing your Congressional representatives to let them know that you support additional U.S. aid, or donate yourself through the Church's Emergency Response Fund or through an organization such as UNICEF.
Give thanks for Rosa Parks's example of courage and for the courage of all those who pushed forward the civil rights movement. Pray that racial and economic equality can be fully realized in the United States and elsewhere in the world. Check out this MESJ greeting card that pays tribute to Rosa Parks:
Sunday School Notebook
Another passage for study in this lesson, D&C 104:13-18, contains a stark warning that "if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of the gospel, unto the poor and needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell." Apparently, our response to poverty is high on God's list of concerns. As individuals, of course, Latter-day Saints impart of their substance for the care of the poor by paying fast offerings and by donating their money and time in other ways. D&C 44:6 is striking because it calls us not only to share with the poor but to "visit" them. How is our response to poverty different when "the poor" are not just the anonymous recipients of fast offering funds or canned goods but people whom we have come to know personally? D&C 104:16 teaches us that the Lord's "own way" to provide for his people is "that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low." If economic equality is ever to become a reality, many of us are going to have to give up things we've come to take for granted. We often hear of a "consumer culture." What would it take to create among the world's relatively wealthier people a widespread culture, not of consumption, but of simpler living?
Call for Submissions
Send submissions to the editor at jcduffy@hotmail.com. Please put Anxiously Engaged in the subject line.
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