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anti-war
June 2007 
When the Anti-War Movement Gets Spiritual
Posted on Jan 29th, 2007
by 
Nichola
Nichola
For three full days now I've been singing to myself, and the song that is staying with me is "Siyahamba," with English lyrics "We are marching, marching; we are marching in the light of God." This was the opening song in the interfaith service we planned to kick off the March on Washington on Saturday, and boy did that choir belt it out, until all 600 or so of us were on our feet singing, clapping, and dancing. That hour and a half early Saturday morning felt to me like a revival. And what we were reviving was our faith that the world can change, that we can build a world that operates on generosity and love.
Here's what I said in my welcome:
"We are here today to pray with our feet, to march in the light of God and in the Buddhafield of compassion, to stand for our fierce commitment to love in the face of violence, to mourn the dead and grieve with the wounded.
But I think we are also here to celebrate. We are here to celebrate the birth of a new consciousness in America, a consciousness that acknowledges that we are all one people, that what grieves you also grieves me, that abundance is more fun when it is shared than when it is hoarded, and that is is open-heartedness and not hatred, generosity and not domination, shared creativity and not shock and awe that will bring lasting peace to the United States and around the world."
I think it is so important to focus more energy on what we are FOR than on what we are AGAINST. So many of the signs I saw in the march, so many of the speeches I heard at the rally, were about how bad the Bush administration is and how much we need to end this war. I have no quarrel with those sentiments, but I also think we have to offer an alternative vision. To me, that vision is a foreign policy of generosity. We will make ourselves safer by expressing our concern for all the peoples of the world and by working with them to build a safer and more loving world for all.
Rabbi Michael Lerner wrote a more thorough report on how this message might permeate the peace movement. You can find it at http://files.tikkun.org/current/article.php?story=20070129014029798
Here's what I said in my welcome:
"We are here today to pray with our feet, to march in the light of God and in the Buddhafield of compassion, to stand for our fierce commitment to love in the face of violence, to mourn the dead and grieve with the wounded.
But I think we are also here to celebrate. We are here to celebrate the birth of a new consciousness in America, a consciousness that acknowledges that we are all one people, that what grieves you also grieves me, that abundance is more fun when it is shared than when it is hoarded, and that is is open-heartedness and not hatred, generosity and not domination, shared creativity and not shock and awe that will bring lasting peace to the United States and around the world."
I think it is so important to focus more energy on what we are FOR than on what we are AGAINST. So many of the signs I saw in the march, so many of the speeches I heard at the rally, were about how bad the Bush administration is and how much we need to end this war. I have no quarrel with those sentiments, but I also think we have to offer an alternative vision. To me, that vision is a foreign policy of generosity. We will make ourselves safer by expressing our concern for all the peoples of the world and by working with them to build a safer and more loving world for all.
Rabbi Michael Lerner wrote a more thorough report on how this message might permeate the peace movement. You can find it at http://files.tikkun.org/current/article.php?story=20070129014029798
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