Faith Based Activist Visits

Faith-Based Activist Visits Alpena
Tom Cordaro, sponsored by the Alpena Coalition for Peace, visited Alpena Michigan this past weekend. Tom has worked for thirty years as a professional speaker, writer, organizer, and national leader in the faith-based peace and justice movement. He is currently the Justice & Outreach Minister at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Naperville Illinois. Tom is the author of “Be Not Afraid, An Alternative To The War on Terror”, published by Pax Christi USA. Tom’s talk to those of us assembled in Alpena was based on this recent book.
I am always glad to hear a faith based speaker advocating for change. Even before his talk, Tom was asked about the church being “missing in action” for the cause of peace in recent times. There were other peace activists attending the talk and their experience was similar to mine as we tried to rally local churches in the Peace movement, and were shut down. Tom said the spirit of Vatican II needs to be rekindled. Many of the Bishops now are John Paul appointees and are “managers”. One of the ways they manage the Church is through conflict avoidance. This was my experience as I tried to elicit some minimal cooperation from my local churches in the early days of the Iraq war. Catholic, Protestant, and otherwise, they unanimously didn’t want to upset their conservative members and go against the then current war fever.
Tom started off telling the group that our response to 9/11 was fear based .The attack helped develop a “them or us” mentality. When people fear enough, war becomes an okay concept and some people are willing to give up their rights. President Bush certainly fed into this fear. Unlike FDR, who tried to lead us away from fear, it seemed as if Bush tried to lead us into fear. The war on terror becomes perpetual war, with a corresponding surrender of liberty and a support for immoral state sponsored activities such as torture.
From “Be Not Afraid”, Tom tells us, “How is it possible that so many U.S. citizens would come to accept things like torture (under any circumstances); secret prisons; spying on citizens without reasonable cause or court order; holding any person (citizen or not) without charges and without due process of law; and giving the government broad powers to violate its citizen’s privacy ? The answer: fear. The attacks of9-11 were meant to terrorize us so profoundly that we would lose our sense of security and well being. In that sense, the terrorists succeeded beyond their wildest imaginations.” After Bin Laden’s attacks, we were then re-terrorized endlessly, with “The War on Terror”.
These are wise words from Mr. Cordaro. With Bush’s help, Osama Bin Laden accomplished victories beyond his wildest dreams and hopes. Tom said a victory for a terrorist is getting us to over react and our overreaction then confirms the accusations of the terrorists. Our “War on Terror” came to validate Al Queda’s claims.
Tom came to tiny Alpena to offer us Northern Michigan residents an alternative to the war on terror. The dominant current narrative is one of “peace as enforced order”. Tom tells us in his book that “Peace as enforced order is based on the conviction that peace is the absence of open conflict. It is structured around strategies of reducing conflict by maintaining a degree of certainty in human interactions (whether economic, political, or social). The need for control, rudimentary to this vision, dictates that we all understand our places within the social and economic order. Making sure that we stay in our places requires social, political, and even religious mechanism of control, including the use of police and military force if necessary”. Tom says scarcity is the fundamental principle guiding the strategic thinking of those who seek “peace as enforced order”. The good things of the earth are in limited supply and we must compete for them. There will be losers and winners, and of course we want to be winners. This is and has been our current worldview for some time (and I disappointed to say this world view hasn’t changed much with Obama and the Democratic majority).
Tom offers us two quotes from giants in human evolution in the last century, Gandhi and John F. Kennedy. First Kennedy in 1963:
“What kind of peace do I mean and what kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by America weapons of war. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, and the kind that enables men and nations to grow, and to hope, and build a better life for their children. Not merely a peace for Americans but peace for all men and women. Not merely peace in our time, but peace in all times.”
And from Mahatma Gandhi, “The earth has enough to meet every one’s need but not enough for everyone’s greed”.
These quotes exemplify what Cordaro puts forth as the alternative to “peace as enforced order”, and that is“peace as an enterprise of justice”.
For those of us in the Christian tradition, Tom offers this quote from Isaiah “Justice will bring about Peace”. Instead of the fear and scarcity based “peace as enforced order”,” peace as an enterprise of justice” is based on the principle of abundance. Tom tells us “the principle of abundance holds that the goods of this earth are necessary to support lives that are fully human and fully alive are bountiful. For people of faith, the principle of abundance is rooted in the belief that God created the world as exceedingly fruitful and that the providence of God assures that if we are faithful to God’s call to righteousness and justice, all of our needs will be met (Matthew 6:25-34)
As a faith based activist, Tom wants to re-vision the narrative for the building blocks that make for peace. Instead of armed military and police enforced peace that preserves the status quo, all fear based, Tom seeks a new narrative. Toms’ new narrative tells us to eradicate poverty, protect the environment, dismantle racism, and eradicate militarism. This will be Peace through justice.
It was certainly great to see a faith based activist of Tom Cordaro’s stature in small Alpena Michigan. He was inspiring and his book “Be Not Afraid, An Alternative to The War on Terror” is at the top of my reading list.