To the editor,
"If and when we go to war-it may be in the
service of oil, or of the flag,
of money, of power-or any number of worldly
allegiances, but it will
not be in the service of Christ."
- Fr. Richard McSorley, SJ
Today I am mailing a crossed-out 1040 tax form
to the Internal Revenue
Service. The page has my name, Social Security
number, address, and a
black "X" through the rest of the form.
An attached page explains my reasons for doing this.
I cannot in good conscience cooperate with our
federal government, which is
threatening the Iraqi people with death-which
has threatened the world with nuclear war.
Our government is at this time asking us for money
to bomb and blow to
pieces the people of Iraq. Arms, legs, hands,
heads, scattered amid the
rubble of homes and businesses and schools. Babies,
elementary school girls
and boys, fathers, mothers, grandparents. That
is what happens in war,
though the sanitized version we will be shown
by the propagandist CNN
and Fox stations will not show this.
It is clear there is no reason for this war other than oil and power for Bush, Inc.
Our money is going toward death rather than for
education, health care, a
clean environment, jobs-so that white collar
White House criminals can rape
the earth and its inhabitants.
The real threat to peace in the world is the United
States. We have the
weapons of mass destruction. We have threatened
to use them. We make the
word's masses quake in their shoes because of
our destructive power and nature.
There can be no doubt where Christians must stand on this.
The insane idea that those who will do the killing
will do so for Christ or
for democracy must be exposed for the demonic
lie that it is. We will not be
more free after this slaughter. Killing is never
done in the service of Jesus.
Our own military people are being used as fodder
to gather plunder for those
in power, and all they stand to gain is misery
and hardship.
Let there be no mistake where I stand. I do not
stand united with those who will kill,
or with those who will sit in comfortable quarters,
pointing others toward the battlefield.
I cannot stand with you. I stand opposed to you.
In whatever small way possible from
so far away I stand united with those who will
suffer in Iraq when our bombs fall.
These missiles that will tear apart the bodies
and lives of thousands of
Iraqi families will also fatally injure us, for
when we allow others to suffer
for our indecision and greed we also extinguish
our own souls and spirits.
These bombs will be paid for in the next months
in thousands of big and
little post offices around the United States.
We need to stop payment on those bombs.
We need to not kill the Iraqi people.
We also need to recognize the many clever lies
of our own government,
which is actually a much larger threat to our
freedom than is Iraq.
The real issue here is the well-being of the Iraqi
people. It is wholly
evident that the Bush administration cares nothing
for these people, or for us.
This is our country. There is still time to take
it back.
Sincerely,
Mike Palecek
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Contact Mike Palecek at mpalecek@rconnect.com