 |
Sept. 28, 2006
|
 |
Protesters’ words, actions speak for peace |
|
Three Catholics for Peace members arrested in Milwaukee |
|
|
|
MILWAUKEE — When area Catholics chose to make a public stand for peace and against the war in Iraq, they knew arrests and chastisements were possible. On Sept. 21, three members of Catholics for Peace and Justice were arrested after blocking a downtown Milwaukee intersection.
The protesters, Dominican Sr. Virgine Lawinger, Dianne Henke, and Mark Peters, were cited for disorderly conduct for blocking the intersection of North Third Street and West Wisconsin Avenue. The three, and a fourth woman who was also arrested, Margot Fuchs, also belong to Peace Action Wisconsin.
Part of the National Declaration of Peace Campaign, the protest was part of a weeklong series designed to bring public awareness to the ramifications of war and to expedite the conclusion of the war in Iraq.
Sr. Lawinger said that violence never overcomes violence, and that the only antidote is love, while paraphrasing a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Look to Jesus, Gandhi, Parks, Mandela, Chavez — all the great social movements of our times have been accomplished through nonviolent resistance,” she said. “We must do likewise. I have participated in this kind of resistance since civil rights days.”
As a Racine Dominican Sr. Lawinger said she is pledged to be “committed to truth; compelled to justice.”
“Once you seek the truth, you can’t turn back; action must follow,” she said. “I find it challenging to pray for peace because it seems to be God’s plan that the peace we pray for comes through loving human effort. Sometimes that may call for willingness to be arrested or suffer other inconveniences. These disruptions are nothing compared to the suffering the U.S. ‘Shock and Awe’ war has inflicted on the 14 million children of Iraq who yearn for peace,” she said.
Sr. Lawinger wishes the media would focus on the millions of people across our country who have done everything they could to end the war.
“This includes prayer, vigils, letters, demonstrations, voting, congressional phone calls and visits,” she said. “That takes real love. The media, Congress and the president have done their best to ignore it all.”
Sr. Lawinger has been with other members of Peace Action Wisconsin in Washington D.C. this week for further action to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Joining her is Henke, a member of Gesu Parish, and a familiar voice in her ongoing efforts with Peace Action Wisconsin. Henke’s first anti-war efforts began on the eve of the war in Iraq.
“I decided that I needed to do something personally to take a stand against the war,” she said. “Although our efforts were not enough to stop the war, I decided that I needed to do some public witnessing and be willing to suffer arrest. Nine of us were arrested that freezing March day; it was my first time being arrested and now three years later I was arrested while participating in the International Day of Peace.”
Henke credits her mother with giving her the sense of praying for peace and in learning to immerse herself in the warmth and love of Jesus.
“My mom used to suggest that I stop by the church on my way to swimming lessons when I was just 9 or 10,” she said. “I remember it like it was yesterday — the sense of the cool church on a hot summer day, with the aroma of incense in the air and the glow of the candles all around the sanctuary. I had such a presence and feeling of a loving God and that has been with me all these years,” she said.
Her belief in a loving God is what motivates Henke to continue in her efforts to end the war.
“Life is so precious and keeping that in the forefront has been very good as a solid foundation for allowing me to have ways to know about God,” she said. “What I am doing is part of a long term effort to be a people that want everyone to be able to live in a humane way. I am just one of a little flow of people through the ages who have taken a stand on behalf of others who are suffering.”
Although the piercing snorts and clip-clop of the hooves of the horses belonging to the Milwaukee Police Department were within inches of the four who blocked the intersection, Henke remembers closing her eyes and centering herself on her goal so as not to become frightened.
“The police were very professional, and they treated us well. They had really good control of the horses,” she said. “But in the back of my mind, I was wondering if we were going to get hurt — and because I was concentrating so much, I didn’t even notice anyone from the public, cars, buses or people going by.”
Henke continued her efforts with Sr. Lawinger and other members of Peace Action Wisconsin last Saturday at a rally and march at Pere Marquette Park.
“What started all of this and our trip to Washington D.C was a Declaration of Peace initiated by the faith community looking for a comprehensive and concrete plan to get out
of Iraq and we’ve been working on this for months,” she said.
The Declaration of Peace promotes a non-violent plan for the immediate withdrawal of US troops — and to engage in peaceful actions in Washington D.C., and at Congressional offices and other sites throughout the nation from September 21-28.
“We are trying to get our legislators on the streets,” Henke said, “Sen. Kohl hasn’t taken any leadership like he should and isn’t using all of his abilities on this issue, so that is why we are doing this.”
As with Sr. Lawinger and Henke, archdiocesan parish consultant Mark Peters became involved with peace efforts long before the Sept. 21 protest and was part of a gradual process of discernment.
“My faith tells me that killing hundreds of thousands of people for any cause is wrong,” he said. “And that it’s not enough to passively disagree with such immoral policies, but to actively resist them, even at some cost to myself.”
In spite of the arrest, Peters, a member of Peace Action for 25 years, considered the experience positive in a variety of ways.
“There was a feeling of freedom in resisting the system that tells us we can’t protest such immorality, and in going wherever that leads,” he said. “Although in this case, I knew the price would be fairly tiny. Despite that, I was surprised by the professionalism and humanity shown by the police who treated us with great gentleness and respect. As it turned out, we were out within an hour of being arrested.”
While the efforts of supporters for the Declaration of Peace have not succeeded in putting an immediate end to the war, Peters acknowledges that many members of the community have increased their commitment because of their efforts.
“Even though, as my brother said to me, ‘So what now, is the war going to end?’ I still felt that it was worth it and a good thing to do,” he said. “The impact was not on Sen. Kohl or the Bush administration, but on myself and those who were there, both pro-war, anti-war and the police.”
For Peters, Henke and Sr. Lawinger, their efforts to speak out against the war will continue until the United States withdraws its troops from Iraq.
“We will continue to speak out and act against this immoral, illegal and unjust war until our elected officials choose to listen to the majority of this country who say, ‘Enough,’” Peters said. “As a follower of Jesus, I cannot justify the deaths of hundreds of thousands, including, by the way, pregnant women and their unborn children, for what any human tells me is a ‘just cause.’ When the results of just such policies result in the chaos we see in Iraq, I can justify it even less.” |
|
|
|
