An Israeli Poet
The following poem by Israeli Aharon Shabtai is translated from the Hebrew by Peter Cole. It appears in his aptly entitled collection from New Directions, J’Accuse. “War” I, too, have declared war: You’ll need to…
Category: The War-making State
I Don’t Expect Obama Will Be Quoting This Any Time Soon
“Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose…
On War Heroes, Pilots, and Civilians (American Values/1)
Imagine reaction in the United States to the following scenario: An ambitious, tough-talking Russian politician is vying for greater political power and influence. Twenty years ago, he served his country as a pilot in the…
The Buddha Smiles in Hell
A Reflection on Claude Anshin Thomas, At Hell’s Gate: A Soldier’s Journey from War to Peace. Shambhala Publications, 2004. In one of the most fascinating pieces I’ve read on the U.S. war in Iraq, the litany-esque,…
The Meaning of Vietnam
This year there has been a lot of reflection and retrospection, 40 years after the pivotal 1968, which included the Tet Offensive, assassinations (King and Kennedy), student uprisings, and protest and police violence outside the…
A Preferential Option for the Iraqi People
Here is the last paragraph of Dahr Jamail’s book, Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq: If the people of the United States had the real story about what their government…
Towards a Post-Civilizational Praxis
For Jim Flynn and Pat Geier A Reflection on John Dominic Crossan God & Empire: Jesus against Rome, Then and Now [2007] In the past few awful, maleficent years of the Bush Administration, a spate of books has appeared…
Israel’s Rampage and Our Complicity by Mark Chmiel & Andrew Wimmer
Recent violent storms have given St. Louisans a taste of the destructive power of Mother Nature. The awesome winds that brought down tree limbs and power lines caused extensive property damage throughout the area and…
The Only Statement That Counts
for Yoshifugi In 1974 at an amazing conference was held at St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York. Christians and Jews gathered to confront the question, “Auschwitz: Beginning of a New Era?” Catholic theologians…
In Gratitude for Howard Zinn
The other night at the Webster University Film Series, I saw the documentary-tribute: Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train. It is an inspirational portrait of a working-class Jewish man who served…