Our task as Christians the day after the plane attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon is to interpret what this means in world affairs. This is political and economic, with religion in the mix, and discerning the signs of the times is our call. Gary Kohls has written a very perceptive interpretation of what lies behind the attacks (below). Every Church a Peace Church invites all Christians to go deeper than the President's words saying that this was an attack on democracy and freedom. Indeed, viewed as an attack on America, it must be asked whether we are prepared to define the essence of America as capitalism and militarism, for that is what was attacked in the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon. -- John Stoner

Bryan and Thomas, thanks for your cogent message today.

I agree with your sense of urgency for Christian peacemakers to respond appropriately, especially in expectation of the strong (antiChristian) retaliatory military responses that every secular leader will be demanding.

You are also entirely correct in your assessment that this tragedy is miniscule compared to what America's military and economic oppression has perpetrated upon the rest of the world. After all, no matter how one looks at the World Trade Center violence, it was no Nagasaki; it was no Dresden and it was no MyLai! And, as horrible as the event was, comparisons to a "nuclear attack" or a "war zone" only go so far, since there will be no radiation contamination for the next few thousand years, there will be no leukemia epidemic, cancer epidemic or brain radiation trauma after this attack; there is no Agent Orange contamination of New York's water and soil that will last for generations, and there are no refugees uprooted for years, searching in vain for adequate shelter, food, water and safety for their children. The contrast to real war must be raised again and again to the public's consciousness.

But what we Americans are finally seeing, up close, virtually uncensored (except we aren't allowed to see the actual pain and suffering of the war victims) and actually within our own borders, is that war is horrific and not glorious and that people actually suffer terribly in the "videogame" image of war that Americans have been brought up on.

One thing that those of us who are people of faith and who also are committed to Jesus' clear peacemaking call must do, is to speak truth to the powers that be (who are mainly interested in, as you put it, eye for an eye retaliation). And one way to get at the truth is to ask truthful questions. And one of those questions is, beyond the "who did it?" that we will be inundated with for months, is, "why did someone do it, why do we have so many mortal enemies, why are we still viewed as 'Ugly Americans'?"

This attack was not against democracy, which is what the corporate media predictably is repeating over and over again. This attack was clearly against capitalism and the symbols of capitalism and American capitalism's guardian, the Pentagon.

The violence that America's economic oppression is perpetrating against the rest of the world should be obvious to us by now. And today was simply that seemingly honored institution of competitive capitalism, militarism, sport and the cruel school hallways: "payback time."

When those victims of US policy are short, speak another language, have a different skin color, worship God in a different manner and we only see them as TV images and not as living, breathing humans just like us, we tend to not have much real empathy for their suffering at the hands of our military. And therefore we mindlessly (and sometimes gleefully) send our sons and daughters to West Point or basic training with nary a thought of the homicidal violence they may be perpetrating against people who will later want their payback. Nor do we see their becoming killing soldiers as a threat to their spiritual wholeness.

I suppose that there are also a lot of other issues for the church of Jesus Christ in today's events, but it is way past time to ask those hard questions, and maybe it should be up to us lay peacemakers to take the lead and finally get those questions front and center. This job will be politically difficult for our clergy, and I think perhaps they may welcome our leadership. What do you think? Bryan and Thomas, I would be willing to be involved in a local lay-led movement, and ECAPC would be a perfect theological and spiritual base to start from (and so far it is completely a lay-led movement).

Let me know what you think and when and where you think we should meet. I'm going to be in contact with other ECAPC people on this issue as well and I'll keep you informed with what everybody else is thinking.

Other recipients of this message, I would be interested in your response. Here is the issue that ECAPC was designed to deal with. Peace, Gary. 9/11/01

See yesterday's EMERGENCY Newspage for a meditaion on America's Nuclear Terrorism.