Mourning death of children
by USA drones

Some of us were planning to do some nonviolent actions around the resistance to drones, unmanned aircraft. Drones have been around for a while as spy plans but in the last few years have gained popularity as a way to kill persons in Afghanistan, Pakistan and now Libya.

I have known about killer drones for awhile but only recently dong some research for our actions I have become aware of how they are being used with increasing frequency and deadly force.

Drones often kill children and other innocent people since the operator in the USA just does as he or she is told and deploys missiles from the drones on unsuspecting houses and gathering places in countries far away.

A ‘killer done’ is the technology counterpart to soldiers being taught ‘reflexive killing’, killing without conscience that many have resisted being taught in universities like the Jesuit Catholic university in Milwaukee, Marquette University.

It is no wonder that with this type of mentality, drones and ‘reflexive killing’ that when Marquette University was recently caught breaking State and Federal laws regarding reporting alleged sexual assaults on campus they were not charged with breaking the law. The DA gave the reason for not prosecuting Marquette because they cooperated with authorities after they were caught. If I run a stop sign and get caught do you think I will get away with no ticket because I cooperate with authorities and promise not to do it again?

There seems to be two classes of human beings and businesses. One is like Marquette, the people on Wall Street or the major strip mining companies in West Virginia who can break the law and get away with it. There are citizens with the same immunity, especially rich white persons in the USA. The other class is like the poor and weak countries of the world and many of their citizens. The deaths of Pakistani youth by drones seem not to matter as much as the murder of a child from a wealthy family in the USA.
Gandhi, Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton and Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence have taught us, as Jesus did, that all human beings are equal and have the same dignity and lives should be respected. But the example of Marquette University and the sexual assault charges, the major strip mining companies, the barons of Wall street and the military use of ‘killer drones’ teach us we are not all brothers and sisters equal in our humanity.

I contend we all, especially youth, learn more from example, than we are said. The rise of ‘killer drones’ and our silence in the face of this warfare is another sign that we really believe that all persons are not equal in terms of human dignity. If they were how could we kill children with drones?

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