[Chicago] Fwd: [Bpf Chapters] BPF Reflections on the 2006 U.S. Elections and Finding the Way Forward Together

[Jo Marie]

>To: bpfchapters at bpf.org
>From: Maia Duerr <maia at bpf.org>
>Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 12:32:27 -0800
>Dear BPF Chapters and Friends,
>
>Below is an essay on the 2006 Election Results 
>that Alan Senauke recently wrote for BPF. You 
>can also find this article on our website here:
>
><http://www.bpf.org/html/resources_and_links/statements/06election_essay.html>http://www.bpf.org/html/resources_and_links/statements/06election_essay.html 
>
>
>Please share it with your chapters and groups. Thank you!
>
>Maia
>
>**********************
>
>
>Reflections on the 2006 U.S. Elections and Finding the Way Forward Together
>
>December 2006
>
>by Alan Senauke, BPF Senior Advisor
>
>The most powerful lesson we can learn from last 
>month’s mid-term elections is that participation 
>in U.S. electoral politics is still 
>possible--and that, to some extent, it works. 
>Millions of people of all political stripes 
>participated by walking precincts, knocking on 
>doors, staffing phone banks, and raising money. 
>Some of this was organized by well-financed 
>lobbies and by the major political parties, but 
>much of it was grassroots organized and led. We 
>at the Buddhist Peace Fellowship believe that it 
>was this grassroots involvement that made the critical difference.
>
>After the past five years of reported voting 
>rights violations and dubious election results, 
>it is heartening to realize that it is still 
>possible for every vote to be counted (we hope), 
>and that every vote counts! As Joanna Macy and 
>other Buddhist teachers point out, principles of 
>democracy have always been strong in the 
>Buddha’s teachings on community. We are grateful 
>to see this upsurge in citizen participation and 
>civil dialogue as well as engagement with the issues.
>
>Over the past year, BPF members took part in the 
>electoral system to express their concern for 
>all sentient beings. Collectively, their efforts 
>helped to raise public awareness about the value 
>of compassion and understanding as we address 
>some of the most difficult and divisive issues 
>of our time. Some shining examples:
>
>     * Amid nearly half a million people, 
> hundreds joined us in Washington, D.C., in 
> September 2005 to mindfully walk together as a 
> Buddhist Peace Delegation to call for peace in 
> Iraq. More than 300 people (including 12 from 
> our Buddhist Peace Affinity group) took part in 
> nonviolent direct action and were arrested in 
> front of the White House delivering this message.
>
>     * In Spring of 2006, members of the 
> Portland, Oregon BPF chapter, with other 
> Portland activists, met with Rep. Ron Wyden to 
> encourage him to endorse legislation that would 
> end the war in Iraq. (see Heidi Enji Hoogstra's 
> blog: 
> <http://adventuresinmultiplicity.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_archive.html)>http://adventuresinmultiplicity.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_archive.html) 
>
>
>     * In response to a measure on the ballot 
> this fall in Wisconsin, the Madison BPF chapter 
> joined with other regional faith and community 
> groups and put out its own statement in support 
> of civil rights including the right to marry for same-sex couples.
>
>The pivot of change in the November 2006 
>election was opposition to the war in Iraq. On 
>this pivot the U.S. House and Senate swung from 
>Republican to Democrat. There are, of course, 
>many other pressing issues: political 
>corruption, the environment, stem-cell research, 
>among others. But the results of the election 
>seemed to reflect a pervasive feeling across 
>America that our military involvement in Iraq is 
>a disaster. This feeling is finally crossing 
>over political and ideological lines.
>
>Reality is always turning, and not just in one 
>direction. At BPF, we see war in Iraq as the 
>driving wheel of greed, hatred, and delusion at 
>this point in U.S. history. Greed manifests in 
>the vast profits raked in by corporations like 
>Halliburton, Bechtel, and General Dynamics. 
>Hatred is expressed in policies that see 
>overwhelming military force and violence as the 
>right response to international and 
>intra-national conflict. Delusion is the notion 
>that these policies create safety for anyone. 
>True security is only possible when we recognize 
>that all beings want happiness, health, and a 
>meaningful life just as we do. With these “three 
>poisons” leading the way, the U.S. Government 
>has created an enduring problem for itself, one 
>that is not easily resolved by political parties 
>wedded to corporate interests and American privilege.
>
>The party affiliation of a politician is no 
>guarantee of wise and compassionate governance. 
>In many respects, people voted simply in 
>opposition to the Bush administration’s foreign 
>policy, in accord with their worries, fears, and 
>beliefs. Yet, it is also true that all across 
>the political spectrum, people voted according 
>to “kitchen table” moral values, rather than 
>“wedge” issues. Jim Wallis of Sojourners, a 
>progressive Christian magazine, writes:
>
>"Iraq was considered the “moral issue that most 
>affected your vote” by 45.8% of voters, almost 
>six times as many voters as abortion, and almost 
>five times as many as same-sex marriage. Iraq 
>was the top moral issue among Catholics, 
>born-again Christians and frequent church 
>attendees. Poverty and economic justice topped 
>the list of “most urgent moral problem in American culture.”
>
>"When Catholics were asked to name the most 
>important value guiding their vote, 67% chose “A 
>commitment to the common good—the good of all 
>not just the few” while 22% chose “Opposing 
>policies such as legal abortion, gay marriage, 
>and embryonic stem cell research.”
>
>The election results speak more to disapproval 
>of the Bush Administration’s “war on terror” and 
>pre-emptive actions in Iraq and Afghanistan than 
>to approval of the Democratic Party’s position 
>on those issues. One month after the election, 
>options in Iraq are as vague as ever: send more 
>troops in, bring the troops home, stay the 
>course, cut and run. Officials ask if Iraq is in 
>the midst of “sectarian violence” or “civil 
>war.” We ask, is there really a distinction for 
>the thousands of Iraqi men, women, and children 
>and U.S. soldiers who have suffered so greatly 
>these past three years? In October alone, 3,709 
>Iraqi civilians died. November’s toll is even 
>higher. And, by this year’s end, close to 3,000 
>U.S. military will have lost their lives in 
>Iraq. While death and destruction rolls on, no one wins.
>
>We at the Buddhist Peace Fellowship join the 
>call with thousands of other organizations to 
>bring the U.S. troops home, and to open 
>multilateral security talks among parties in 
>Iraq, all the other nations of the Middle East, 
>and our European allies. These will be difficult 
>discussions, and we in the U.S. will rightfully 
>be called upon to be extremely generous. But no 
>amount of talk and no amount of aid measures up 
>to the costs of the war and the price all sides continue to pay.
>
>Concerns have been raised about an immediate 
>withdrawal of U.S. troops. Would we be doing 
>more harm than good by pulling out troops? Don’t 
>we have an obligation now to stay on and ensure 
>that Iraqis will be safe? These are important 
>questions that deserve a thoughtful response.
>
>If the election result reflects any common 
>wisdom, it seems to say that the U.S. military 
>presence is not helping the cause of peace. This 
>wisdom is echoed by the experiences of many, 
>from Iraqi citizens who have voiced a desire for 
>the U.S. occupation to end so that Iraq can 
>truly be a sovereign nation, to Buddhist 
>soldiers like Aidan Delgado, who served in Iraq. 
>At this summer’s BPF membership gathering, Aidan 
>shared with us that from his perspective the 
>U.S. military presence in Iraq acts as a 
>lightening rod which draws increasing violence 
>rather than quelling it. Our friend Dr. Chandra 
>Muzaffar of the International Movement for a 
>Just World (JUST) echoes this sentiment:
>
>     "
a survey undertaken by the respected 
> World Public Opinion (WPO) in September 2006 
> shows that 74% of Shiites and 91% of Sunnis 
> want the occupiers to leave within a year. Both 
> groups “believe U.S. forces are provoking more 
> violence than they are preventing—and that 
> day-to-day security would improve if (they) left.”
>
>It’s clear that we are losing a war that should 
>never have happened. If we remain, this war will 
>spread. It will come home, if it hasn’t already.
>
>Clearly, the U.S. public has indicated its 
>opinion about the war and its desire to turn our 
>nation’s attention to matters beyond the war. We 
>must continue to work this out, building on 
>citizen participation in the 2006 elections. We 
>must remember that we can make a difference. 
>This world of ours is one reality that includes 
>everyone. So our deep obligation is to listen to 
>the world’s suffering and to offer our best response.
>
>*************************
>What We Can Do
>
>Continue to call for peace and withdrawal of U.S. troops:
>Join the 2nd Buddhist Peace Delegation on 
>January 27, 2007, at the Mandate for Peace March 
>in Washington, D.C. See: 
><http://www.bpf.org/html/whats_now/2007/2007_BPD.html>http://www.bpf.org/html/whats_now/2007/2007_BPD.html 
>
>
>Help to heal the wounds of war, and offer support to returning veterans:
>Get involved in the Veterans’ Coming Home 
>Project (a collaboration between Deep Streams 
>Zen Institute and Buddhist Peace Fellowship) and 
>ask your sangha to join the Welcoming 
>Communities Network. See: 
><http://www.bpf.org/html/current_projects/peace_pages/wc_info.html>http://www.bpf.org/html/current_projects/peace_pages/wc_info.html 
>
>
>
>
>
><br>
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