February 2017 Philadelphia Chapter of Pax Christi U.S.A.
‘The future is not a result of choices among alternate paths offered by the present, but something that is created – created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but something we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity making them changes both the maker and the destination.’ A journey must be envisioned before it can be undertaken … CPF Newsletter July 2000
Con f ron t in g t h e ‘War’ Syst em , CPF Newsletter 1996
… Human history is largely defined by that [war] system, where disputes are settled through violent struggle in which one party to a conflict disarms the other through brute force. Immense physical and spiritual destruction is always the result. With each generation new weapons have made war more savage and extended the area of devastation until, in this century, with weapons that already exist, there is the real possibility that humanity could bring about its own destruction.
Looking to the future, the prospect is for more of the same. The relentless quest for security through more powerful weapons continues. But it is a spiritually empty quest. Although the circumstances and timing for their use cannot be predicted, there should be little doubt that, whatever weapons are created, eventually they will be used. That is the historical pattern of the war system.
It’s not that anyone welcomes war, but most people see no alternative; it is as if we are fated to continue this treacherous pattern until…when? Suggestions that war has been made obsolete by weapons, and that non-military methods must be developed to replace it, are dismissed as naïve, utopian idealism.
That’s surprising, in a society which boasts of its strong religious orientation. … The impetus for religious bodies to withdraw their support for the war system is rooted in their … belief in the supreme dignity and worth of every person, all joined in the sacred reality of Human Family. The scope of that embrace is total, universal. Thus, every war is a civil war.
Tom ends the article with these words: We feel connected to this network of believers, inspired by them. And in an important sense, they need us too. It is always a time for renew commitment, not discouragement… we can make a contribution to a world without war in our own way, right where we are. TOR
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