>From a friend. Seemed to belong here.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Halim Dunsky" <ha...@bigmindmedia.com> To: "Distribution" <ha...@bigmindmedia.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 8:47 PM Subject: 9/11 > Friends - > > At this terrible time, we have the choice to respond in a backlash to > pain -- or in ways that reflect, support, and encourage the best in > ourselves and each other. Let us make of this day of tragedy an > opportunity to see more clearly and understand more fully the varying life > conditions and ways of thinking that prevail across the world and in our > own backyard. Let us use this developing understanding to promote the > evolution of global systems that will serve the health of all. > > Here are selections from among the mail I have received today. Agree or > disagree, but please think about these observations and questions. > > Halim > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > Doug Carmichael: > > The Mayor of New York says "this was an unprovoked act against innocent > men > women and children.." > > I write to use all means available to simply say, there is no cause > without > a cause. The creation of terrorism must be understood and dealt with at > the > root of what creates people whose lives are pained enough to make this > kind > of move. Everything is provoked. We must understand the deeper picture of > human reality. > > Dr. Douglass Carmichael > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > Mark Gerzon: > > 9/11: AN EMERGENCY CALL > > "After something like this, there will be a desire to strike back. What > will > be hard for us, given our national psyche, is that we cannot. We don't > know > who, or where, to strike." > -- General Norman Schwartzkopf > > How do we respond to this emergency call? Even our most renowned general > recognizes that we cannot strike back. We must find something to do with > our > anger - and our fear. > > We that many voices will call for increased military spending, massive new > investments in intelligence-gathering, and the creation of a domestic > security state. So it is important that of us whose work involves > alternatives to violence have an important challenge ahead of us. We must > find a way, an EFFECTIVE way, to make clear that a vital part of our > response must be to understand the sources of the rage against the > superpower > we call home and to respond with wisdom. In addition to whatever military > and > security measures are taken, we absolutely must reflect on why we have > become > a target. > > In my view, there are three primary sources of rage. The first is because > much of the Muslim world believes that the United States is the enemy of > Islam. There are religious, geopolitical, and cultural reasons for this > hatred, all of which are intensified by the targeted assassination of > Palestinian leaders. But we can no longer afford to pretend that this > hatred > results 100% from the ideological fanaticism of militant followers of > Islam. > > The second source is the widespread view of the United States as a symbol > of > wealth and power, and hence the enemy of the poor and powerless. To what > degree this is true is obviously debatable, but what is beyond doubt is > that > the perception runs deep and wide throughout much of the world, > particularly > in the South. Yes, we are still a symbol of freedom and democracy - but we > cannot afford to let this historic role camouflage the fact that we are > also > profoundly hated as a symbol of superpower arrogance and privilege. > > The third source of rage is more diffuse, but it relates directly to the > growing protests against the World Bank, IMF and WTO. As symbolized by a > series of actions in which we are the Lone Ranger (Kyoto accords, Durban > racism conference, etc), we are rapidly isolating ourselves from the world > around us. While on the one hand we are the most "international" global > nation on earth, we are on the other hand the most isolationist. Like the > World Bank, IMF and WTO, which we played a pivotal role in creating, we > are > seen as orchestrating a world that suits our national interest, regardless > of > the consequences on other nations. This view is increasingly common in > Europe, which is culturally closest to us. If that view can take hold > there, > just imagine how much more strongly it can grip other parts of the world, > such as the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. > > Rage, of course, is no excuse for mass murder. What the terrorists did in > New > York, Washington and Pennsylvania is itself an outrage. But now we, as a > people, have to choose. Just like the Serbs and Croats in the Balkans, the > H > utus and Tutsies in Rwanda, and Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri Lanka, the > Indians and Pakistanis in Kashmir, and the Protestants and Catholics in > Ireland, WE HAVE TO CHOOSE WHAT KIND OF NATION WE WANT TO BE. > > Do we intensify the cycle of retaliation and revenge - or do we open > ourselves to the heart of the hatred? > > If, as the Dalai Lama has said, we have moved from a century of war to a > century of dialogue, then our choice is clear. On a scale never before > imaginable, we must know our enemy - not forgive them; not excuse them; > and > not appease them - but KNOW them. We must know them in our hearts and > respond to them with a wisdom that passeth all understanding. > > Mark Gerzon > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > Halim Dunsky: > > To Mark Gerzon's comments I would add a challenge to further our knowing > of ourselves: we must take up the painful question, How are the horrific > acts perpetrated today similar to acts -- fast and slow -- perpetrated > within recent memory and every day by the United States, other nations > with similar blindnesses, and transnational corporations? Can we come to > acknowledge our share of culpability in fostering the conditions that have > nurtured the rage and determination we saw today? > > Meeting the heart of the enemy means being willing to see ourselves. New > wisdom in response to a new understanding will demand that we change our > lives -- not in order to seek greater security, but to stand down from the > ongoing provocations for which we have been responsible. > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > Vicki Robin: > > As I watched the World Trade Towers collapse this morning and as the shock > works its way through my body, I am aware that people everywhere will be > grappling with what this means. I encourage all of you to join me in > being aware in these next days and weeks of this meaning making activity, > knowing that how we understand this event governs how we will respond. > > If people recoil into fear, vengeance and scapegoating we are in for very > dark times. Our conversations right now make a big difference in whether > we as people, as a nation can grieve, search our souls, stay connected to > all that is good in us. If not, if we as people and as a nation seek to > relieve our pain through blame, then many, many people here who have > challenged the status quo will be hurt and the conviction that we must > live in a police state will not be far away. > > Please join me in compassionate conversation with as many people as > possible - not instructing others in how to respond but in listening and > feeling together and discovering what our responses might be. May we use > the power of our words and our inquiry into the soul of "the other" to > heal. May we flood our streets with love rather than fear. > > Thank you for listening. > > blessings > Vicki Robin > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > Tom Atlee: > > Dear Friends, > > "What should we do?" Elliot was calling from work, having just heard > about > this morning's attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. We are > housemates in a 9-person collective house into which I moved a month ago. > > My partner Karen, my daughter Jennifer, Adin (another housemate) and I had > been talking about the crisis for over an hour. We wondered about > Elliot's > question. One thing we could do was write to you -- my list of 800 people > -- who have so many important connections into the world. But what should > we say? > > We thought of sharing a lesson we'd all agreed on: "We can't be secure > when we are doing so many things that lead people to hate us." We > wondered > about saying more. We looked at the role of greed, and then at how greed > was just one form of power-hunger, and how power-hunger derives from > insecurity which, in turn, arises from disconnection from other people and > life. People don't exploit, neglect or terrorize things they love and > vibrantly relate to. > > But, one of us said, there's more than individual motivations at work > here. The systems we live in and use -- the social, economic, political, > and other systems -- support greed, power-hunger, insecurity and > alienation > in thousands of subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Someone else commented > that > the systemic and the individual dynamics feed back into each other. > Another person suggested there are many positive initiatives that could > change both the system and the individual behaviors. I suggested evidence > that -- right now -- the world has the resources and know-how to create a > just and sustainable world that works for all, but they just aren't being > used for that. > > As we explored all this, we noticed that our individual contributions were > painting an ever-fuller, richer picture of what was going on and how to > understand it. We decided that this situation has so many facets that > high-quality reflection and dialogue -- thoughtful exploration among > diverse perspectives, such as we were doing -- may be the ONLY way to > comprehend and creatively address incidents as profoundly important as > these. In the absence of dialogue and reflection, we oversimply. All of > us do. We blame an enemy -- perhaps terrorists or "the system" -- or we > focus on one small part of the web of causation -- perhaps "greed" or > "revenge" or something else that we particularly understand. > > But the signficance of this realization reaches beyond today's attack on > the World Trade Center and the Pentagon: This horrible incident is but > one > in an ongoing chain of incidents of profound social significance. Each > one > is an opportuntiy to think, to feel and to talk -- to deepen and learn -- > so that we can act more effectively and wisely, both individually and > collectively. We saw that hope lies in the kind of "learning together" > that generates engaged wisdom -- rather than in the kind of reactivity > that > supports our weakest and worst responses. > > This isn't the first crisis to hit our society. And it definitely won't > be > the last. We all know that crises like this can evoke the worst --or the > best -- in ordinary folks, in leaders, and in whole societies. What can > we > do to help the best, the wisest and most useful responses emerge? > > Usually in crisis most people watch the news and wait like spectators to > see what various leaders and governments will do, as if the drama were a > football game. Meanwhile, those leaders and governments are caught up in > dynamics which -- to say the least -- do not enhance their wisdom. More > often than not, their actions -- and our spectatorism -- lead us all into > even worse problems. > > To change that, we need widespread, healthy conversations that generate > deeper insight and the kind of creative engagement that makes a difference > in the world. Ultimately, we need to make such conversations part of the > structure of our culture -- especially of our political and governmental > systems (see www.co-intelligence.org/CIPol_Index.html and > www.democracyinnovations.org). > > But today we can find people we trust and care about, and gather in > circles, speaking and listening from our hearts. We can listen well to > those who disagree with us, and ask questions that deepen shared > understanding. And, for the long haul, we can advocate the > "infrastructure > of dialogue" that our democracy so sorely needs -- places we can go for > high quality public conversation, publicly available facilitators and > technology, and diverse citizen councils who explore important issues with > high quality dialogue in full public view, whose findings and > recommendations have a real impact on public policy and public activity. > > We find ourselves in a moment of great danger. It contains seeds of great > opportunity. Let us each do what we can to promote healthy dialogue that > motivates wise action at all levels of our society. That one change would > change everything else: With each successive crisis, we would find > ourselves moving away from ultimate Disaster towards a world that works > for > all, a world that is actually a joy to live in. > > Coheartedly, > Tom > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
