My brother, who's a Gulf War vet (82nd Airborne) and therefore takes disrespect for the military personally, said tonight he'd like to know where else the CPT teams work. Are they in Darfur, he'd like to know? Or do they only work for peace where there's a military presence to protect them? Interesting question, thought I, so I went to their website to find out what they do and where. Their mission is to "get in the way" of conflict, inspired by the motto, "What would happen if Christians devoted the same discipline and self-sacrifice to nonviolent peacemaking that armies devote to war?"
I don't think non-violent protest is an adequate moral response to Islamofascism, but it certainly takes guts to go to Iraq or other hots spots and put yourself in harm's way --and, for the record, CPT's official position is they do not wish to be rescued if any of them are kidnapped or held hostage. I'm not willing to simply mock a person who puts his beliefs on the line.But wouldn't you think that a serious commitment to what they call "third-party nonviolent intervention" would be a little more even-handed than this? I just went at random to one of the CPT projects. I chose CPT:UK and went to their "prayer points" --that is, their list of things to pray for:
We pray for our missing friends in Iraq –
for Jim;
for Norman;
for Tom;
for Harmeet.
We pray too for their kidnappers caught up in the trap of violence, and for the thousands of un-named Iraqi detainees whose stories are not known to us, whose faces are less vivid than the four men of Christian Peacemaker Teams.
That's it? That's all you're praying for? How about for the safety of the Iraqi & coalition troops? For the triumph of civilization over chaos? That the Iraqi people's wish to leave peacefully --but free-- might come to fruition? For the conversion of the men of Al-Qaeda? For the comfort of families who have lost family members during the war? For the wisdom of the coalition and Iraqi leaders? For men & women of good will to rise up to lead in Muslim countries? For the souls of the dead? That a culture of life with respect for the equal dignity of each human being would take hold in the Middle East? For a just and lasting peace? I mean: just for starters!
But to return to my brother's question: as of late last year, an "exploratory" CPT team has been sent to Burundi and the Eastern Congo. Other projects are in Palestine, Colombia, Canada & the USA (From the website, I get the impression most CPT teams are working with the homeless in North America; which is laudable, only I'm not aware any militia are out to get the homeless, and theoretically the CPT people "get in the way" of imminent acts of violence). In the U.S. one of their biggest projects is an annual rally outside Ft. Benning calling for the closing of the Army's School of the Americas. Plus they lobby against violent toys.
