{"id":8776,"date":"2011-05-03T11:54:10","date_gmt":"2011-05-03T20:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/?p=8776"},"modified":"2011-05-03T11:54:10","modified_gmt":"2011-05-03T20:24:10","slug":"grieving-for-our-full-humanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/?p=8776","title":{"rendered":"Grieving for our Full Humanity"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you.” <\/em><\/p>\n

– Friedrich Nietzsche, “Beyond Good and Evil”, Aphorism 146 (1886)<\/p>\n

When the news broke\u00a0 that U.S. special forces have killed Osama bin Laden, U.S. citizens celebrated in the streets as if they had just won a championship sports tournament, complete with cheerleaders and chants of “U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A!”<\/p>\n

Pundits were on television hyping the momentous importance of the event.\u00a0 “Cutting off the head of a snake,” said one tough sounding commentator. But what if the serpent was really a hydra of war and violence that grows back two heads each time one is cut off, feeding off the violence and hatred directed against it?<\/p>\n

It felt strangely anti-climactic, like the crowds and commentators were trying very hard to convince themselves of the goodness and significance of the event to mask a lingering uneasiness, an emptiness they felt.\u00a0\u00a0 Why were the radical Islamist blogs silent? \u00a0 The objective of the wars was met, so why does the war on terror\u00a0 continue?\u00a0 Even Stratfor predicts<\/a> “In spite of the sense of justice and closure the killing of bin Laden brings, however, his death will likely have very little practical impact on the jihadist movement<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Bin Laden’s first win was luring the U.S. into endless wars and occupations in Muslim countries.\u00a0 Now even in death, he scores an ideological win becoming a martyr for his movement.<\/p>\n

It reminded me of a movie where the ‘hero’ kills the ‘villain’ only to discover that this fulfilled the villain’s endgame to lure the hero into committing the murder, thereby becoming the evil that the hero hated most and releasing it on the world.\u00a0 An empty robe, a wisp of smoke and distant laughter.\u00a0 How do you fight ghosts?\u00a0 The day bin Laden’s death was announced, military bases in the Pacific region were put on elevated threatcon Bravo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other, more muted voices have instead called for a time of reflection.\u00a0 Kristen Breitweiser<\/a>, a 9\/11 widow writes that “today is not a day of celebration for me.”<\/p>\n

The jubilation over the killing of bin Laden reminded me of the grisly trophy photos of lynchings with leering faces and tortured black bodies, much like the torture photos<\/a> to emerge from Abu Ghraib prison or the so-called ‘Kill Team’ photos<\/a> of Afghan civilians murdered by U.S. troops<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Acido of Nakem Youth and Hawai’i Peace and Justice posted the following reflection from a Christian perspective. He writes:<\/p>\n

The God that Obama invokes is not the God of Christianity.\u00a0 It is a God made in the image of Imperialism.\u00a0 It hijacked the name Christian and reads the Bible from a perverted lens.\u00a0 This imperial religion\u2019s symbol is not the cross that liberates but the bomb that destroys. Their favorite hymn, the stars spangled banner, sing of bombs bursting in air\u2014it is the only time they are allowed to cry. Its followers not only kill but are already dead.\u00a0\u00a0 This imperial religion is obsessed with security but never peace.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Jeffrey for sharing his prophetic words.<\/p>\n

>><<<\/p>\n

Grieving for our Full Humanity<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n
by Jeff Acido<\/a> on Tuesday, May 3, 2011 at 12:42am<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cOsama is Dead!\u201d read the headlines all over the news outlets shortly after word got out.\u00a0 \u201cThe war on terror is over,\u201d remarked many political pundits.\u00a0 Soon after, the United States president Barrack Hussein Obama addressed the American people and the world: \u201cWe will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to Al Qaeda\u2019s terror: Justice has been done\u201d.\u00a0 The atmosphere seemed to be a college frat party\u2014blow up beach ball thrown around, a cheerleading squad performing a routine one would do in a football game, and shouts of \u201cUSA!, USA!\u201d to celebrate the death of a person as a victory for a whole nation.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As many Americans continued to gather in front of the White House the president ended his speech with these peculiar remarks: \u201cLet us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all\u201d.<\/p>\n

When is life grievable?\u00a0 If we are not capable of grieving for a life lost, whether a victim or perpetrator, then I do not think we are capable of healing from the very act that caused the tragedy; neither can we prevent and bring to attention the roots and causes of the heinous act.\u00a0\u00a0 When we do not grieve life outside of ours we delude ourselves that we are the only ones who see the Truth.\u00a0 And no other truths stand before us.\u00a0 A thirsty soul looking for healing cannot be quenched from a well that only springs forth perverted versions of the truth\u2014one does not heal but drowns and gets drunk in self-righteousness.<\/p>\n

President Obama attributed the death of Osama as an American \u2018value\u2019 and that this act brought out \u2018justice\u2019.\u00a0 These remarks give me reason on why Americans continue to live with racism, economic exploitation, and all the other \u2018isms\u2019 we see in the world as reality\u2014something that ought to happen.\u00a0 As long as Americans view justice as devoid of the ability to grieve and make this in turn a value, American transgressions will not only be tolerated but also glorified\u2014these in turn gets translated into foreign and domestic policies.\u00a0 American foreign policies only see others as foreign bodies or \u2018just another\u2019 body.\u00a0 Domestic policies are increasingly being treated like foreign policies\u2014if they are colored, queer, speak another language, poor, woman, indigenous, and do not look like the white-middle class-man they aspire to be then they too must be \u2018foreign\u2019\u2014therefore treated like a \u2018foreign body\u2019\u2014therefore a \u2018nobody\u2019\u2014therefore has no right to live.<\/p>\n

President Obama does not claim sole credit for this act of \u2018justice\u2019 he admits in the end that the act of killing is not his act alone but done under the empowerment of \u2018one nation\u2019 that holds (economic) wealth and (military) power, who believes in (American) liberty and guided by (Christian) God.<\/p>\n

I want to say to all my brothers and sisters who are in the struggle against oppression at home and abroad that President Obama and those who are happily parading the streets of Osama\u2019s death do not represent all Americans, nor certainly represent all Christians.<\/p>\n

There is Kristen Breitweiser<\/a>, an American widow, whose husband was killed in the morning of September 11, humbly says:\u00a0 \u201cForgive me, but I don’t want to watch uncorked champagne spill onto hallowed ground where thousands were murdered in cold blood.\u201d\u00a0 No apology should be asked when speaking the truth.\u00a0 Yet, Kristin asks for one, knowing that the truth might hurt\u2014it is a symptom of someone grieving and aware of the fact that the truth is not always palatable\u2014but always healing.<\/p>\n

She does not agree with the President and the One Nation when she says, \u201cI don’t want to see any ugly blood stained sheets as proof of death or justice\u2026And it breaks my heart to witness young Americans cheer any death — even the death of a horrible, evil, murderous person — like it is some raucous tailgate party on a college campus\u201d.\u00a0 As her phone rings and the media calls her to echo the shouts of American jingoism she says: \u201cI have to be honest, today is not a day of celebration for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the same manner as our sister Kristen Breitweiser, I too am sorry.\u00a0 I do not readily identify myself as an \u201cAmerican\u201d despite holding an American passport but I am always ready to say that I am a Christian.\u00a0 But not the same as the Christianity that Obama and those happily waving the American flag in front of the White House embody.<\/p>\n

The God that Obama invokes is not the God of Christianity.\u00a0 It is a God made in the image of Imperialism.\u00a0 It hijacked the name Christian and reads the Bible from a perverted lens.\u00a0 This imperial religion\u2019s symbol is not the cross that liberates but the bomb that destroys. Their favorite hymn, the stars spangled banner, sing of bombs bursting in air\u2014it is the only time they are allowed to cry. Its followers not only kill but are already dead.\u00a0\u00a0 This imperial religion is obsessed with security but never peace.<\/p>\n

This is Imperial Christianity and we have seen this God at its best (or worst).\u00a0 It already dropped its bombs in Nagasaki, Hiroshima, and the Pacific Islands. It put Japanese\/Americans in concentration camps; occupies Hawaii and the Philippines.\u00a0 It lynched Blacks, Filipinos and other colored peoples in the US.\u00a0 And now is slowly turning once loving communities against each other via its church\u2014The military.<\/p>\n

The Christianity that holds the cross as a symbol of liberation affirms life at all costs.\u00a0 It lives on hope and practices peace.\u00a0 Sister Soelle reminds us that it is \u2018the religion of slaves\u2019\u2014a religion that summons a god that can always be seen in times of despair and desolation\u2014a god that allows for a moment of grieving\u2014for the other, the foreign, and ourselves.\u00a0 It is a god that sees and hears only through our own eyes and ears.\u00a0 In desperate and delicate times this god requires us to pray and pray with our feet.<\/p>\n

We cannot be silent when our future ancestors, the children of today and tomorrow, ask us: \u201cwhat did you do when people were suffering in the Philippines, Hawaii, and Middle East?\u201d or \u201cHow did you treat the homeless at the park?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 To be silent in the face of war and people suffering is to imbibe our youth and propel into the future the testimony that it is acceptable to see a life or an object be treated with disrespect simply because they are powerless.<\/p>\n

We must not let ourselves stray away from the genealogy of hope, love and struggle. We owe it to those terrorized into silence, petrified into permanent grieving, and the ancestors that have fought tirelessly to always affirm life.<\/p>\n

Affirm Life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jeffrey Acido<\/p>\n

Honolulu, Hawaii<\/p>\n

5\/3\/11<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you.” – Friedrich Nietzsche, “Beyond Good and Evil”, Aphorism 146 (1886) When the news broke\u00a0 that U.S. special forces have killed Osama bin Laden, U.S. … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Grieving for our Full Humanity”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2409],"class_list":["post-8776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-movements-resistance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8776"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8776"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8778,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8776\/revisions\/8778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}