[amc] recent visit to Washington DC
- From: "Garland Robertson" <lauralarue@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Austin Mennonite Church" <amc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:07:14 -0500
Members and Friends of Austin Mennonite Church
I pray you are well and inspired by the experiences of Jesus during the final
days of his life in Jerusalem.
I am sending the following pieces of information that have been distributed
which describe my recent visit to DC, so you will know about it before the news
comes from another source. These pieces may or may not be chosen for
publication.
May it go well with you. Sincerely,
Garland Robertson
Local Pastor in DC jail, again
Dr. Garland Robertson, minister of Austin Mennonite Church, member of Christian
Peacemaker Teams, and former military chaplain, was recently released from a
Washington DC jail. Robertson over nighted in the DC jail last March after
being arrested during a prayer vigil in front of the White House. Robertson
returned to the nation?s capitol with thousands of others who gathered there
over the past few weeks to voice concern about the continuing war in Iraq.
On Wednesday, March 19, the anniversary date of the Iraq war, authorities of
the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) department of Homeland Security
detained and handcuffed Robertson and 32 other concerned citizens outside the
Internal Revenue Service?s national headquarters office on Constitution Avenue
while hundreds of their supporters observed. They later turned the prisoners
over to metropolitan police who then moved them to a precinct jail for
processing. Officials had been ordered to prevent anyone from the assembled
community from approaching entrances to the building. This action took place in
response to an appeal for masses of persons to set up a blockade of the IRS
building in order to protest of the way the war has been managed.
When asked why he had joined this action, Robertson replied, "Try to follow me
in this. We are entering the sixth year of a war based on deceit and driven by
lust for control. Statements made by our president and the closest members of
his staff to gain support for initiating and sustaining this war were known to
be false when they were made. This discovery is now public knowledge. Our
congress has failed to hold the president and this staff accountable for this
tragic betrayal of the American people, the unconscionable injustice against
the people of Iraq, and the blatant disregard for concerns raised by almost
every other nation on this planet. The IRS collects monies sent to them that
have been intended for the support of our community, yet much of this money is
used to fund the war. I have tried many ways to reconcile my commitment to
nurture community with my participation in the violence that is destroying it.
I am greatly troubled: What kind of people are we becoming,
that we will not actively resist this abuse of power?"
Confronting the Money Changers in Our World
What comes to your mind whenever you remove a $20 bill from your wallet or
purse? How often do you reflect on the kind and amount of labor you expended in
order to earn this money? Perhaps you exchanged some time in a classroom for
it, or engaged in conversation at someone?s bedside. Maybe you worked in the
field, or repaired some piece of machinery. And likely you invested this energy
with the intention of making the way better for someone else.
The money we earn represents the gratitude of the community for each of our
individual contributions to the well-being of society. "Help your brother?s
boat across and lo, your own has reached the shore"?it is the blessing inherent
in spending ourselves for the sake of others, being considerate of how our
actions impact the circumstances of those with whom we work, those within the
circle of our influence.
The practice of exchanging energy for money may have some connection with the
behaviors which lead Jesus to confront the money changers in the temple during
the last week of his life in Jerusalem. I do know for certain what prompted
this passionate outburst of the Prince of Peace. Maybe Jesus disapproved of the
business of buying and selling that had encroached into the sacred space of the
temple. Maybe he was intent on bringing judgement upon a superstitious
sacrificial system by which people were manipulated into following structured
religious rituals that obscured God?s intention. Maybe he had in mind a more
subtle robbery?taking personal offerings from faithful worshipers and
substituting them with synthetic materials believed to make their worship more
holy, more convenient. I do not know for certain what Jesus was about, yet
something in this act of exchange redefined the function of the temple space,
somehow it destroyed the invitation to pray.
We probably cannot know for certain what distressed Jesus about the practice of
these moneychangers, yet I have no doubt about the intentions of the 32 others
with whom I moved recently. A few days ago, on Wednesday, March 19, we gathered
in Washington DC, to confront the money exchange presently at work in the
national headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service. We confronted what is
obviously at least an equally disruptive practice as that which Jesus
encountered in the temple?the exchange of the money which represents our labor
on behalf of the well-being and nourishment of the community to make it money
that is used to pay for violent behaviors that disturb, distress, injure, and
kill fellow members of the human family in Iraq. We wanted to express our deep
concerns for this exchange. Now perhaps those in the offices of the Internal
Revenue Service will discuss our concerns in their next staff meeting. Maybe
they will thereafter communicate them to supervisors and senio
r managers who in turn will bring them before members of the Ways and Means
Committee and the Armed Services Committees. Yet I do not know for certain this
kind of discussion will actually occur.
Officials of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) department of
Homeland Security had been ordered to prevent any persons from approaching the
entrances of the IRS headquarters building. So those of us who peacefully moved
toward the doorways were detained, cuffed, and made to sit on the sidewalk
outside. Afterward we were arrested by officers of the Metropolitan Police of
DC and taken to a precinct jail facility for processing. The only thing I am
sure of is that we demonstrated our regret for the money exchange that was
transforming our good-intentioned, beneficial contributions representing the
fruit of our labor into instruments of violence.
As I prepared to participate in this action, I reviewed my reasons for being
there. I supposed someone might say to me, "And why are you here?" I thought it
would be a good idea to have a brief, succinct statement that would clearly
communicate my motivation. So I eventually crafted an explanation, hoping it
would go something like this:
Thank you for asking. Try to follow me in this. We are beginning the sixth year
of a war based on deception and driven by lust for control. Statements made by
our president and the closest members of his staff to gain support for
initiating and sustaining this war were known to be false at the time they were
used. This discovery is now public knowledge. Our congress has failed to hold
the president and his staff accountable for this tragic betrayal of the
American people, the unconscionable injustice against the people of Iraq, and
the blatant disregard for the concerns of almost every other nation on this
planet. The IRS collects monies sent to them that have been intended for the
support of our community, yet much of this money is used to fund the war. I
have tried many ways to reconcile my commitment to nurture community with my
participation in the violence that is destroying it. This is another way of
trying to do that.
We did not make whips, we did not plan to overturn desks. We simply wanted to
make a clear statement about our disagreement in the way our money was being
exchanged. I have not resolved my dilemma. What do I do now? Do I continue to
withhold a part of my income tax that might be used to support the war and send
it to an organization that is working to nourish community and promote justice,
and risk legal repercussions that will impact members of my family? Do I do
nothing more, and let the money changers continue make this exchange of my
intentions? This is a troubling issue for me. Yet there is a more sobering
question for reach of us: When I finish my journey on this earth, will I be
comfortable with the way I responded to this particular situation? Will be able
to say, I am glad I was a part of that?
What kind of people are we becoming, that we do not find a way actively to
resist this abuse of power?
31
--- Garland Robertson
--- lauralarue@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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