Magnificat by Betsy Shank

Christian students every year march down to Fort Benning to protest and attempt to close what once was called and still is the School of the Americas (SOA). The SOA (in 2001 renamed the “Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation”) is a military training program for soldiers in Latin American. They are taught the Army Values that have made the US Army so powerful and feared. When it was discovered that the military trained at this school were responsible for for the torture and deaths of so many innocent and good civilians in Latin America, people in the USA started to march on SOA to close it. What once was a handful of persons is now over 20,000 strong. Jesuit high school and university students form a strong contingent of those who march yearly to close SOA.

In a striking paradox, it is these same Jesuit high schools and universities in the US that are the base military schools for training soldiers in the Army in the same values, techniques and leadership that are taught at SOA in Georgia. College students in the Milwaukee Metro area come from nine local colleges and universities to be trained how to be an Army “warrior” at the Jesuit university of Marquette. They come from all over the greater Milwaukee Metro area and from Milwaukee, Racine, Waukesha and Ozaukee Counties to train with the same Army manual as soldiers from Latin America train from at SOA. We could call Marquette the School of Army, SOA.

The very same students, staff and Jesuits who march on SOA at Fort Benning fear to protest, object and march on the SOA at Marquette. Why, when the war is at home, do we fail to see it? Yes, the Military/University Complex is powerful. It tolerates students and staff from MU going to Georgia to march against the SOA in Georgia but will not tolerate dialog about the School of the Army at their own Jesuit University.

Can a weak and lowly nonviolent worm bring down this mighty Military/University Complex? I believe so, for once hypocrisy is exposed through words and nonviolent actions, it starts to fade away. We all have some hypocrisy in us but when it exposed we are humbled. When hypocrisy is, worms rule. Worms are too small and helpless to be hypocrites.

Time: 11:30pm, Office Temp.: 62, Sunroom Temp.: 56 Outside Temp.: 7, KWH: 1228

Comments

(:commentboxchrono:)