Dear all, so wonderful to see so many people calling for a new way of dealing with the horrors of terrorism. I thought you may find this helpful. love, Carolyn "Civilization is the intelligent management of human emotions" Jim Rohn ----- Original Message ----- From: Gwen Benjamin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, 19 September 2001 12:44 PM Subject: Fwd: A Call for Moral Creativity Mary Hunt is known to many in Australia. This excellent "Call for Moral Creativity" appeared on the Water list. Gwen Benjamin >From: "Mary E. Hunt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: A Call for Moral Creativity >Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 16:46:50 -0400 >X-Mailer: Microsoft Internet Mail 4.70.1155 >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >A Call for Moral Creativity >Mary E. Hunt >Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER) >Silver Spring, Maryland >September 18, 2001 > > > New horrors require new moral creativity. The tragic events of > September >11, 2001, challenge people of good will, especially religious people, to >find new ways of handling conflict and dealing with difference. >Fortunately, feminist and other progressive thinkers have been working >along these lines for some time so we do not start from scratch. > > Moral creativity requires the deepest resources of our various > religious >traditions and the most profound human insights we can muster. It is a >process that prioritizes careful listening over reactive speech. It may >not be enough to stem the tide of harsh words and plans for retribution. >But it is a step away from the dynamics that spawned this catastrophe. When >we engage in it together, it is a step toward peace. > > The first moral duty we have is to those whose lives have been > lost, whose >bodies have been damaged. We search, rescue, bury and mourn. Their loved >ones and the rest of us in the human family live with the pain of their >deaths, the futility of their suffering. We vow not vengeance, but an end >to such evil as the most appropriate way to honor their memory. > > Then the hard work continues as we discern morally appropriate > steps to >bring about a new peace. No one pretends this is easy. Anyone who has a >simple answer is mistaken. But it is as essential and patriotic a task as >digging through rubble or donating blood. It is an investment in the >market of love and ideas, not the market of money and profit. > > This ethical analysis cannot be carried on in the old, inadequate > language >of "just war" and "collateral damage." It requires new categories like >"global concern" and "life is precious" if it is to be useful. Otherwise, >we act as if nuclear, biological, chemical and other weapons were not >capable of destroying all of us and the earth we inhabit. This is a new >moment for which old words are outmoded. Let them go that out of the >silence might come insight. > > The danger of responding to terrorism with military might, harming >innocent people even if it would eradicate terrorism, is simply too great. >The potential to unleash even more violence around the world is enormous. >Such violence will sanction, however implicitly, the many forms of >militarism and hatred that help to create the conditions for the >unspeakable acts in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. This will be a >deadly failure of the moral imagination. > > Moral creativity is needed to produce responses that will stop the >terrorists without falling prey to their logic. This is the task to which >we need to set our hearts and minds. Let all people of good will, >especially religious people, exercise our moral imagination to create >sustainable, feasible alternatives to saber rattling and war. If we can >send people into space and create the Internet, surely we can pool our >intelligence of many sorts and find a solution. It will be not be easy or >obvious, but it can be done. > > Now is the time to ask critical questions of our countries and of >ourselves. It is time to learn about religions and nations that, until >now, have simply been words to us. For example, Islam no more teaches its >adherents to strive toward martyrdom by killing people than does >Christianity or Judaism. It is time for a frank assessment of our place as >a rich, over-consuming nation in a world where so many have so little to >lose. Only then can we begin to consider what strategies might get to the >roots of the problem. Peace requires a certain humility. > > Ordinary U.S. citizens can engage in this process in very > practical ways >by rethinking our own reactions even as we grieve and tremble. Peace and >patriotism are intertwined. We can start with the common symbols people >rely on during this crisis. Each time we sing the National Anthem, or "God >Bless America," let us add a song for peace, such as "Let there be Peace on >Earth," to remind ourselves that we are citizens of the world, not simply >U.S. citizens. It will remind us that our goal is global well being, not >just safety on our shores. Each time we display our flag let us couple it >with a symbol of peace-a flower, a dove, another sign of peace. This will >show that while we love our country, we love it because it is part of a >global community committed to peace, not because it is bigger or better. > > Such seemingly small gestures are preliminary exercises in moral >creativity, moving beyond the accepted categories, reaching for more and >broader inclusion. From small efforts can come large results. Then this >terrible chapter in world history will be what our children and their >children call the time when a new justice and a new peace were born. Let >us be midwives. > > > > > > > > >Mary E. Hunt, Ph.D. >Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER) >8035 13th Street, Suites 1,3,5 >Silver Spring, Maryland 20910 USA >301 589-2509 >301 589-3150 fax >[EMAIL PROTECTED] -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
