Calkoon
3rd June 2003, 08:03 AM
Published on Thursday, May 29, 2003 by the National Catholic Reporter
<b>Is There Anything Left That Matters? </b>
<i>by Joan Chittister, OSB </i>
This is what I don't understand: All of a sudden nothing seems to matter.
First, they said they <b>wanted Bin Laden "dead or alive." </b> But they didn't get him. So now they tell us that <font color="red">it doesn't matter. Our mission is greater than one man. <!--color-->[/color]
Then they said they <b>wanted Saddam Hussein, "dead or alive." </b> He's apparently alive but we haven't got him yet, either. However, President Bush told reporters recently, " <font color="red"> It doesn't matter. Our mission is greater than one man." <!--color-->[/color]
Finally, they told us that we were <b>invading Iraq to destroy their weapons of mass destruction</b> . Now they say those weapons probably don't exist. Maybe never existed. Apparently <font color="red"> that doesn't matter either. <!--color-->[/color]
Except that it does matter.
I know we're not supposed to say that. I know it's called "unpatriotic."
But it's also called honesty. And dishonesty matters.
<b>It matters that the infrastructure of a foreign nation that couldn't defend itself against us has been destroyed </b> on the grounds that it was a military threat to the world.
<b>It matters that it was destroyed by us under a new doctrine of "pre-emptive war" </b> when there was apparently nothing worth pre-empting.
<b>It surely matters to the families here whose sons went to war </b> to make the world safe fro
m weapons of mass destruction and will never come home.
<b>It matters to families in the United States whose life support programs were ended</b> , whose medical insurance ran out, whose food stamps were cut off, whose day care programs were eliminated so we could spend the money on sending an army to do what did not need to be done.
<b>It matters to the Iraqi girl whose face was burned by a lamp </b> that toppled over as a result of a U.S. bombing run.
<b>It matters to Ali, the Iraqi boy who lost his family - and both his arms - in a U.S. air attack. </b>
<<snip
If Bill Clinton's definition of "is" matters, surely this matters. <b>If a president's sex life matters, surely a president's use of global force against some of the weakest people in the world matters.</b> If a president's word in a court of law about a private indiscretion matters, surely a president's word to the community of nations and the security of millions of people matters.
And if not, why not? If not, surely there is something as wrong with us as citizens, as thinkers, as Christians as there must be with some facet of the government. If wars that the public says are wrong yesterday - as over 70% of U.S. citizens did before the attack on Iraq - suddenly become "right" the minute the first bombs drop, what kind of national morality is that?
<<snip
What may count most, however, is that we may well be the ones Proverbs warns when it reminds us: "Kings take pleasure in honest lips; they value the one who speaks the truth." The point is clear: If the people speak and the king doesn't listen, there is something wrong with the king. <b>If the king acts precipitously and the people say nothing, something is wrong with the people</b> .
It may be time for us to realize that in a country that prides itself on being democratic, we are our government. And the rest of the world is figuring that out very quickly.
From where I stand, that matters.
Cont. here........ <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0529-10.htm" target="_blank">http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0529-10.htm</a>
<b>Is There Anything Left That Matters? </b>
<i>by Joan Chittister, OSB </i>
This is what I don't understand: All of a sudden nothing seems to matter.
First, they said they <b>wanted Bin Laden "dead or alive." </b> But they didn't get him. So now they tell us that <font color="red">it doesn't matter. Our mission is greater than one man. <!--color-->[/color]
Then they said they <b>wanted Saddam Hussein, "dead or alive." </b> He's apparently alive but we haven't got him yet, either. However, President Bush told reporters recently, " <font color="red"> It doesn't matter. Our mission is greater than one man." <!--color-->[/color]
Finally, they told us that we were <b>invading Iraq to destroy their weapons of mass destruction</b> . Now they say those weapons probably don't exist. Maybe never existed. Apparently <font color="red"> that doesn't matter either. <!--color-->[/color]
Except that it does matter.
I know we're not supposed to say that. I know it's called "unpatriotic."
But it's also called honesty. And dishonesty matters.
<b>It matters that the infrastructure of a foreign nation that couldn't defend itself against us has been destroyed </b> on the grounds that it was a military threat to the world.
<b>It matters that it was destroyed by us under a new doctrine of "pre-emptive war" </b> when there was apparently nothing worth pre-empting.
<b>It surely matters to the families here whose sons went to war </b> to make the world safe fro
m weapons of mass destruction and will never come home.
<b>It matters to families in the United States whose life support programs were ended</b> , whose medical insurance ran out, whose food stamps were cut off, whose day care programs were eliminated so we could spend the money on sending an army to do what did not need to be done.
<b>It matters to the Iraqi girl whose face was burned by a lamp </b> that toppled over as a result of a U.S. bombing run.
<b>It matters to Ali, the Iraqi boy who lost his family - and both his arms - in a U.S. air attack. </b>
<<snip
If Bill Clinton's definition of "is" matters, surely this matters. <b>If a president's sex life matters, surely a president's use of global force against some of the weakest people in the world matters.</b> If a president's word in a court of law about a private indiscretion matters, surely a president's word to the community of nations and the security of millions of people matters.
And if not, why not? If not, surely there is something as wrong with us as citizens, as thinkers, as Christians as there must be with some facet of the government. If wars that the public says are wrong yesterday - as over 70% of U.S. citizens did before the attack on Iraq - suddenly become "right" the minute the first bombs drop, what kind of national morality is that?
<<snip
What may count most, however, is that we may well be the ones Proverbs warns when it reminds us: "Kings take pleasure in honest lips; they value the one who speaks the truth." The point is clear: If the people speak and the king doesn't listen, there is something wrong with the king. <b>If the king acts precipitously and the people say nothing, something is wrong with the people</b> .
It may be time for us to realize that in a country that prides itself on being democratic, we are our government. And the rest of the world is figuring that out very quickly.
From where I stand, that matters.
Cont. here........ <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0529-10.htm" target="_blank">http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0529-10.htm</a>