The US still has over 5,000 nuclear weapons...ready to use

Last weekend I attended a conference in New York at the historic Riverside Church devoted to nuclear disarmament. Almost simultaneously the US for the first time in history announced the number of nuclear weapons it possesses: 5,113 (with thousands more awaiting "decommissioning).

I want to talk about the conference, but first, a word about why we should be concerned that in spite of moves toward disarmament, we still possess over 5,000 nukes. Keep in mind that Russia probably has an equal number, as do as many as 10 other nations...and possibly some terrorist groups.

What would be the result if an atomic bomb the size of the one that was dropped on Hiroshima was exploded in Louisville...on the Clark Memorial Bride, lets say.

The explosion would essentially destroy downtown Louisville and downtown Jeffersonville, taking out businesses, hospitals, government centers and the central police departments in both cities. If the bomb exploded during the week and in business hours, perhaps 25-50,000 people would be killed outright. Thousands more would be sickened and killed downwind by the resulting radioactive fallout.

But what if a one megaton bomb bomb were exploded in the same spot? This is, I believe, an average size for a weapon in the US and Russian arsenals.

The heat and blast effects would completely destroy or badly damage everything in the Metro Louisville area out to the Waterson Expressway. Hundreds of thousands of people would die instantly. The blast would wipe out everything we think of as civilization: nearly all of our schools, hospitals, police and fire stations, government offices, libraries, stores, restaurants. Most of the city would become what I have heard cynically referred to as a highly radioactive "self lighting parking lot" for a century or more. Jeffersonville, New Albany and Clarksville along with all of their citizens, would simply cease to exist.

Now some information about the conference I attended.


The conference was entitled "International Conference for a Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World.'

Over a thousand people attended, and large numbers of attendees came from outside the US: Japan, Australia, Scandinavia and over 200 from France.

The mood was powerful and engaging. There were workshops on a variety of topics that would help participants understand the impact of nuclear weapons, hear about initiatives currently underway to limit and even eliminate all nuclear weapons, and most importantly, discover ways that we as individuals can do something about the nuclear "Sword of Damocles" hanging over our heads.

There were discussions, film presentations, dances and music. The plenary sessions drew hundreds of conference participants and featured noted leaders from the anti-nuclear weapons movement.

The Saturday night plenary featured Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, and Tadatoshi Akiba, the Mayor of Hiroshima (who also heads the Mayors for Peace program).

The Secretary General received a standing ovation when he told the audience that the first item on his agenda the day he took office was nuclear disarmament. He went on to invoke the memory of the famous sermon by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Riverside Church http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/058.html delivered one year (to the day )before he was assassinated. In that speech Dr. King went against the wishes of other leaders in the Civil Rights Movement and announced his fervent opposition to the Viet Nam War.

Mayor Akiba affirmed the efforts of the thousands of Mayors for Peace http://www.mayorsforpeace.org/english/index.html to achieve total nuclear disarmament by the year 2020.

He invoked another sermon delivered by Dr. King.

This second sermon was delivered less than a week before Dr. King died. In that talk http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/kingpapers/article/remaining_awake_through_a_great_revolution/ Dr. King called for nuclear disarmament and stated unequivocally that the choice facing the world today is not between violence and nonviolence, but rather between nonviolence and nonexistence.

The impact of his words brought into focus for me what had touched me most deeply at the conference: the stories of human suffering related by hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) from a variety of different parts of the world.

There were the devastating stories of individuals who had experienced the very real holocaust of flames and radiation that took the lives of nearly a half-million people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and the years that followed.

I heard the tale of a poor Japanese fisherman who barely survived a black rain of nuclear fallout after a hydrogen bomb test on the Bikini atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

On the closing afternoon of the conference I listened to a woman my own age tell the crushing details of what it was like as a child to grow up in Utah, downwind from a site where the US tested atomic weapons in the atmosphere in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. She told of her own withering round of atomic-related illnesses and the premature deaths of close relatives who had eaten, drunk, and breathed the residue left behind by the atomic tests.

Then I read about our "disarmament." And I thought about what would happen in Louisville if we were the victims of an atomic attack. Here's the story. What do you think?

US says it has 5,113 nuclear warheads
By ANNE GEARAN, AP National Security Writer Anne Gearan, Ap National Security Writer
Tue May 4, 1:08 am ET

WASHINGTON – The United States has 5,113 nuclear warheads in its stockpile and "several thousand" more retired warheads awaiting the junkpile, the Pentagon said Monday in an unprecedented accounting of a secretive arsenal born in the Cold War and now shrinking rapidly.

The Obama administration disclosed the size of its atomic stockpile going back to 1962 as part of a campaign to get other nuclear nations to be more forthcoming, and to improve its bargaining position against the prospect of a nuclear Iran.

"We think it is in our national security interest to be as transparent as we can be about the nuclear program of the United States," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters at the United Nations, where she addressed a conference on containing the spread of atomic weapons.

The U.S. has previously regarded such details as top secret.

The figure includes both "strategic," or long-range weapons, and those intended for use at shorter range.

The Pentagon said the stockpile of 5,113 as of September 2009 represents a 75 percent reduction since 1989.

A rough count of deployed and reserve warheads has been known for years, so the Pentagon figures do not tell nuclear experts much they don't already know.

Hans Kristensen, director of Nuclear Information Project, Federation of American Scientists in Washington, said his organization had already put the number at around 5,100 by reviewing budget estimates and other documents.

The import of the announcement is the precedent it sets, Kristensen said.

"The important part is that the U.S. is no longer going to keep other countries in the dark," he said.

Clinton said the disclosure of numbers the general public has never seen "builds confidence" that the Obama administration is serious about stopping the spread of atomic weapons and reducing their numbers.

But the administration is not revealing everything.

The Pentagon figure released Monday includes deployed weapons, which are those more or less ready to launch, and reserve weapons. It does not include thousands of warheads that have been disabled or all but dismantled. Those weapons could, in theory, be reconstituted, or their nuclear material repurposed.

Estimates of the total U.S. arsenal range from slightly more than 8,000 to above 9,000, but the Pentagon will not give a precise number.

Whether to reveal the full total, including those thousands of nearly dead warheads, was debated within the Obama administration. Keeping those weapons out of the figure released Monday represented a partial concession to intelligence agency officials and others who argued national security could be harmed by laying the entire nuclear arsenal bare.

A senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the overall total is still classified, did not dispute the rough estimates developed by independent analysts.

Exposure of once-classified totals for U.S. deployed and reserve nuclear weapons is intended to nudge nations such as China, which has revealed little about its nuclear stockpile.

"You can't get anywhere toward disarmament unless you're going to be transparent about how many weapons you have," said Sharon Squassoni, a nuclear policy analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Russia and the United States have previously disclosed the size of their stockpiles of deployed strategic weapons, and France and Britain have released similar information. All have signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which is the subject of the U.N. review that began Monday.

The U.S. revelations are calculated to improve Washington's bargaining power with Iran's allies and friends for the drive to head off what the West charges is a covert Iranian program to build a bomb.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahamadinejad spoke ahead of Clinton at the conference, denouncing U.S. efforts to pressure his regime to abandon its nuclear program.

The U.N. conference will try to close loopholes in the internationally recognized rules against the spread of weapons technology.

Independent analysts estimate the total world stockpile of nuclear warheads at more than 22,000.

The Federation of American Scientists estimates that nearly 8,000 of those warheads are operational, with about 2,000 U.S. and Russian warheads ready for use on short notice.

The United States and Russia burnished their credentials for insisting that other countries forgo atomic weapons by agreeing last month to a new strategic arms reduction treaty.

The New START treaty sets a limit of 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads for each side, down from 2,200 under a 2002 deal. The pact re-establishes anti-cheating procedures that provide the most comprehensive and substantial arms control agreement since the original 1991 START treaty.

From the Tibetans: "The Eight Verse Attitude Training"

On this Wednesday of the month IPP usually offers a noontime meditation program built around the Christian practice of Lectio Divina. Today will be different. Today (March 10) is the anniversary of the Tibetan uprising...a response by the Tibetans to the military occupation of their country by the Peoples Republic of China. In solidarity with our Tibetan brothers and sisters today we will offer a special meditation featuring two Tibetan monks who reside in Louisville along with Anne Walter who is the President of the the organization that supports the monks and their home monastery in India (see a link below to the web site for the local Tibetan organization).

The way the Tibetan religious community has responded to their difficult relationship with the Chinese may offer a model for us about how we can respond when we feel ourselves hurt or damaged by others. Below you will find "Eight Verses" that you may find helpful in facing your own hurt and anger as people, groups or organizations (or governments for that matter) do things that seem to harm you.

But I want to relate first one small story I heard about the Tibetan suffering. One Tibetan monk had been imprisoned and tortured by the Chinese for decades. When he was finally release he was asked how he felt about what his captors had done to him. After thinking quietly for a few moments, he said, "Well, I think they have made alot of bad Karma for themselves." For those not familiar with the concept, Karma is the moral equivalent of "You will reap what you sow"...except at a cosmological level. The monk in this story did not wish to seek revenge. For him, the actions of his captors would lead them down a path that would be its own punishment...or better yet, corrective. I am sure that the monk's response was informed in no small part by the concepts in "The Eight Verse Attitude Training."

Here are the Eight Verses:

Eight-Verse Attitude-Training
by Langri-tangpa

With determination to achieve the highest aim
For the benefit of all sentient beings,
Which surpasses even the wish-fulfilling gem,
May I hold them dear at all times

Whenever I interact with someone,
May I view myself as the lowest amongst all,
And, from the very depths of my heart,
Respectfully hold others as superior

In all my deeds may I probe into my mind,
And as soon as mental and emotional afflictions arise -
As they endanger myself and others -
May I strongly confront them and avert them

When I see beings of unpleasant character
Oppressed by strong negativity and suffering,
May I hold them dear - for they are rare to find -
As if I have discovered a jewel treasure!

When others, out of jealousy,
Treat me wrong with abuse, slander, and scorn,
May I take upon myself the defeat
And offer to others the victory

When someone whom I have helped,
Or in whom I have placed great hopes,
Mistreats me in extremely hurtful ways
May I regard them as my precious teacher

In brief, may I offer benefit and joy
To all my mothers, both directly and indirectly,
May I quietly take upon myself
All hurts and pains of my mothers

May all this remain undefiled
By the stains of the eight mundane concerns
And may I, recognizing all things as illusion,
Devoid of clinging, be released from bondage

Here is a link to the web page of the Louisville organization that supports the city's resident Tibetan monks and the Drepung Gomang Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in India:

www.drepunggomang.com/

Finally, Some good news about violence in Louisville

Friends, I should probably knock on wood about what I am about to say. There were no homicides in Louisville during the month of February (and so far none in March, though it is still early).

Here is an article about that.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100301/NEWS01/3010328/Louisville+has+murder-free+February

It isn't clear yet why the rate of deadly violence evaporated in our second month, but for whatever reason I hope that trend continues. In fact, I hope that when we get to January 1, 2011, we will be able to celebrate a year in which there were no murders in February, March...and right on through to the end of the year.

That hope may be in vain, but I do hold onto a wish that the rate of homicides in Louisville Metro continues to be low.

This does have interfaith implications. Death (and especially its subcategory of homicide) is no respecter of persons or religions. All of us need to muscle as much information as we can to help people find non-violent ways to resolve their differences.

Some Lessons from the Pentagon Papers

Last Saturday I was running some Valentines Day errands. On the radio was the Bob Edwards Weekend program. Bob's focus for the first hour of his program was Daniel Ellsberg and the documents that came to be known as "The Pentagon Papers" as they The occassion for the interview was the debut of a new documentary film called "The Most Dangerous Man in America."

The program took me back to my college days and the satisfaction I felt when the world was introduced to the Pentagon Papers and learned the facts that folks inside the government already knew: the war was a disaster and essentially unwinable.

My satisfaction was tempered, however by some words from the Edwards interview with Ellsberg that are not included in the film. Those words concern the threats posed by our new national security state.

After Ellsberg released the Papers to the New York Times and a handful of other major US newspapers, the Nixon administration went after him with the aim of blackmailing him with the threat of revealing secrets that might be obtained by breaking into the office of Ellsber's psychiatrist (and via other dirty tricks).

The break in and the other smear efforts were of course illegal...at least at the time. When they came to light, criminal charges against Ellsberg were dropped.

But the interesting thing I learned only by listening to the interview was that the illegal actions taken agains Ellsberg nearly 40 years ago would be perfectly legal today after the passage of laws aimed at protecting us from terrorists.
Here's a link to the Edwards interview: http://www.bobedwardsradio.com/bob-edwards-weekend/

Take a listen...then go see the film. Decide for yourself what freedom means today. Think about whether it's time for a new version of "The Pentagon Papers."

Heres a brief description of the film from the imdb web site:

"The Most Dangerous Man in America" is the story of what happens when a former Pentagon insider, armed only with his conscience, steadfast determination, and a file cabinet full of classified documents, decides to challenge an "Imperial" Presidency-answerable to neither Congress, the press, nor the people-in order to help end the Vietnam War. In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg shook America to its foundations when he smuggled a top-secret Pentagon study to the New York Times that showed how five Presidents consistently lied to the American people about the Vietnam War that was killing millions and tearing America apart. President Nixon's National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger called Ellsberg "the most dangerous man in America," who "had to be stopped at all costs." But Ellsberg wasn't stopped. Facing 115 years in prison on espionage and conspiracy charges, he fought back. Ensuing events surrounding the so-called Pentagon Papers led directly to Watergate and the downfall of President Nixon, and hastened the end of the Vietnam War. Ellsberg's relentless telling of truth to power, which exposed the secret deeds of an "Imperial Presidency," inspired Americans of all walks of life to forever question the previously-unchallenged pronouncements of its leaders. "The Most Dangerous Man in America" tells the inside story, for the first time on film, of this pivotal event that changed history and transformed our nation's political discourse. It is told largely by the players of that dramatic episode-Ellsberg, his colleagues, family and critics; Pentagon Papers authors and government officials; Vietnam veterans and anti-war activists; Watergate principals, attorneys and the journalists who both covered the story and were an integral part of it; and finally-through White House audiotapes-President Nixon and his inner circle of advisors.

Here's a link to the web site for the documentary:

http://www.mostdangerousman.org/

A Brief Introduction to Buddhism

My organization is currently embarked on a year-long exploration of world religions with monthly presentations about selected religions. For February, we are exploring Buddhism. Here is the text of a document that I prepared and distributed as a brief introduction to this great religion (or philosophy.

What if God Was One of Us?
Part 2: An Introduction to Buddhism

Part of a unique year-long series of programs
Introducing the public to the world's great religions
Sponsored by: Unity Church of Louisville, Interfaith Paths to Peace
and the Rainbow Spiritual Education Center

An Overview of Buddhism:

Buddhism was born in Nepal in the fifth Century BCE, when the historical Siddhartha Gautama achieved enlightenment and became a Buddha, or “awakened one.”
Although Buddhism is often referred to as a religion, some people see it as less a religion and more a philosophy of living. Many Buddhists either do not have the concept of a Western-style “creator God” or practice a non-theistic style of spirituality. Many Buddhists also do not believe in an individual eternal soul.

At the heart of Buddhism and its practices are two key goals. One is the elimination of suffering for all sentient beings. The second is the cessation of the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth (Samsara) leading to Nirvana, the supreme state of being freed from suffering and individual existence.

According to some sources, there are two major branches in Buddhism: The Theravadan and the Mahayana. The Theravadan is the oldest of the Buddhist traditions and preserves the Pali Canon (original Buddhist canon). Mahayana Buddhism (the Great Vehicle) arose in the first Century CE and emphasizes the value of compassion and holds that all beings can achieve Buddhahood. The Mahayana tradition includes Zen Buddhism and the Nichiren (and Soka Gakkai) practices. A number of scholars see Tibetan Buddhism as a third major branch because of its distinctive beliefs and practices.

Estimates of the world population of Buddhists vary between 250 million and over one billion. Some sources put the international Buddhist population at about 350 million. The US Buddhist population is estimated at slightly more than one million. Although Buddhists are present in many countries around the world, they are highly concentrated in the Asian subcontinent (Tibet, Pakistan, and India), as well as East and Southeast Asia. There are now over 1,000 Buddhists in Louisville and Southern Indiana

A Few Words about Buddhism in Louisville. Louisville’s Buddhist population is served by spiritual communities and/or organizations including Zen, Tibetan, Soka Gakkai (Nichiren), Vietnamese, and Sri Lankan Buddhist traditions. For further information about The Venerable Nanda and his Bodhiraja Foundation (an organization for world peace, community welfare and volunteer work) please e-mail embilipitiye@yahoo.com. For information about Soka Gakkai International please visit http://www.sgi-usa.org/ , and for local information call the SGI-USA KY Buddhist Center at 454-6100. For information about Tibetan Buddhism and the Drepung Gomang Institute, please visit http://drepunggomang.com. For information about the Louisville-area Vietnamese Buddhist community visit www.sanghalou.org. For information about Zen teaching or meditation with Richard Sisto please contact Bellarmine Continuing Education or e-mail: tatduende2@yahoo.com.

Some Key Concepts in Buddhism Among the key concepts in Buddhism are The Three Jewels, The Four Noble Truths, The Noble Eightfold Path, The Five Precepts, and the ideas of Karma and Rebirth. Karma is the notion that our conscious actions have obvious positive or negative consequences which are not punished but rather lead us to places that will help or hinder our spiritual progress not only in this lifetime but in subsequent lives. For Buddhists, the notion of Rebirth does not mean reincarnation in the way many Westerners conceive of it (as an immortal soul being reborn in a different body). In Buddhism, there is no “me” (or ego) to be reborn.

Buddhists are said to take refuge in “The Three Jewels”: The Buddha (a figure to be revered and listened to), the Dharma (the body of teachings and practices about how to live), and the Sangha (the community of practitioners). As noted above, the problem of suffering is central to Buddhism.

The Four Noble Truths articulated by the Buddha are:


1. To live is to suffer.
2. Attachment is the cause of suffering.
3. Suffering can be brought to an end.
4. There is a particular path that leads to the end of suffering.

The Noble Eightfold Path offers a model for how we can end our suffering by:


1. Right View. Recognizing the truth of the Buddha’s teachings.
2. Right Resolve. People can and must change in order to end their suffering.
3. Right Speech. Recognizing and speaking the truth without distortion from ego and without embroidering it with our own interests.
4. Right Action. Striving to do no harm to other sentient beings.
5. Right Livelihood. Ruling out work that harms or takes advantage of others or that in other ways hampers our spiritual progress.
6. Right Effort. Learning to control our negative thoughts and encouraging and instilling positive thinking, especially loving-kindness, empathy and compassion.
7. Right Mindfulness. Being fully present to what is happening around us, being attentive.
8. Right Concentration. Using meditation techniques to calm our minds and be able to concentrate on a single object, subject, or theme.


The Five Precepts are not laws or vows made to God or another person; they are promises Buddhists make to themselves to help them diminish their attachment to harmful practices. The Five Precepts include:


1. To Refrain from Harming Living Beings.
2. To Refrain from Stealing.
3. To Refrain from Sexual Immorality.
4. To Refrain from Lying.
5. To Refrain from Intoxicants.


Buddhist Scriptures and Sources for Further Information. The number of key Buddhist texts is too large to include here, but worthy of mention in a limited space are The Pali Canon (The Buddha’s sayings compiled in the 1st century CE in Sri Lanka); The Dhammapada (a key gathering of the Buddha’s sayings in verse); Numerous Sanskrit Sutras, and The Tibetan Book of the Dead. A good introductory book is The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, by Thich Nhat Hanh. For more information about Buddhism and Buddhist texts please visit www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism3.htm.

Selected Buddhist Practices. There are a host of spiritual practices available to Buddhists in the many different traditions. Among these are a variety of different styles of meditation (including sitting and walking, and a number associated with ritualistic actions). Chanting is also central to a number of traditions, and plays a key role in the spiritual practices of the Soka Gakkais who chant “Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo” (the title of the Lotus Sutra). Some other practices include weekly spiritual gatherings, ritual theatrical presentations, the creation of Sand Mandalas, the use of prayer flags and prayer wheels, creation of Zen gardens, fasting, study of Buddhist texts, Zen koans, and even spiritual debate.


For Further Information about World Religions: A few good sources of information about world religions for those interested in further inter-religious exploration are: the book The World Religions by Huston Smith and a two-volume work entitled, How to Be A Perfect Stranger. A good, general web site about world religions is www.religioustolerance.org. For further information about the sponsoring groups please visit

www.paths2peace.org,

www.unityoflouisville.org

,
www.paths2peace.org">, www.rainbowspiritualeducationcenter.org

Guest blog: A Homily on Compassion by Doanld Vish

Last Sunday the President of Interfaith Paths to Peace delivered a stirring homily on the topic of compassion. His words were part of an interfaith service at the conclusion of the national convention in Louisville of The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP). The service was designed by IPP and was co-hosted by IPP and the NCADP.

We thought we would share Don's eloquence with you. Here is the text of his homily:

Compassion

How Do We Enlarge the Great Circle of Compassion?

A Homily Prepared for Delivery
January 17, 2010
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty Annual Meeting
Louisville, KY

By: Donald Vish

***



Thank you for staying for this part of the program--the homily. All the religions of the world agree on one thing for sure: there’s no thief worse than a bad sermon. So special thanks to each of you for your trust and your faith in remaining in this room.

When I was first asked to preach a homily on compassion I said "No. I am willing to preach to the choir but I'm not willing to preach to the pope. What can I possibly say about compassion to an audience that's got Sister Helen and my patron saint Bud Welsh in it? The only thing Sister Helen is going to like about me is that I don't talk with an accent." So, "No way" I said.

Have any of you every tried to tell Fr. Pat "No." (Patrick Delahanty is the chair of the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and a lobbyist for the Catholic Conference). Well try it and you'll learn why he is such a successful lobbyist in Frankfort.

So, here I am. 

My invitation to speak so to speak included specific instructions to answer the question:



How Do We Enlarge the Great Circle of Compassion?



I’m going to answer that question. I’m just not going to answer it very quickly. I wouldn’t be a very good preacher if I got to the point too soon.



The Golden Rule: (Say it. You know the words): do unto others as you would have others do unto you.



That’s a good rule of good sense. It’s valuable as a cornerstone of justice. It’s a solid metric for fairness. It’s true in the same way it’s true to say: whoever smiles will always have a reason to smile.



But the Golden Rule is not an expression of compassion.



First, it affirms otherness, thee and me that leads to thine and mine. Secondly, it is ever so slightly animated with self-interest expressing in Elizabethan language what the 3-card Monte dealer says more plainly about the arc of justice: what goes around comes around.



Plato’s dictum comes closer to compassion: be kind, everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.



Plato’s sermon is built on empathy not compassion. Empathy is based on perception, understanding. Empathy is neither sympathy nor pity each of which relates to the adverse impact someone else’s suffering has on us! 

Sympathy means ‘fellow feeling’ and requires a certain degree of equality. Pity, on the other hand, regards its object as weak and hence as inferior.

 We have place in Kentucky we call down home. Everybody knows where it is. Down home they like to say pity don't cost nothing 'cause pity ain't worth nothing.

Compassion is the selfless disposition to relieve human suffering. It soars above empathy and sympathy and pity. Compassion is the noblest trait of human nature. Dante would call it caritas, pure love with no expectation of a quid pro quo.



Make no mistake: many good works are built on the Golden Rule, on empathy, on sympathy, on pity and on lesser motives like fame and glory and vanity and self-interest. They all count. But compassion is in a class by itself.

When General Agamemnon was ready to launch 1000 ships to invade Troy, he had two problems: the first one is so typical of blood vengeance—no one knew how to get to Troy. They attacked the wrong country.

Blood vengeance is always ready to act before its ready to act. Vengeance never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. It is ever and always aimless and misdirected even though its arc is predictable and certain: it comes around then goes around. 



Like Macbeth’s vaulting ambition, vengeance o’erleaps itself and then falls on itself.



Agamemnon’s second problem was the lack of wind. The ships could not sail. The man had 1000 sai boats and no wind. So he made a bargain with the gods—he sacrificed his daughter for a favorable breeze. Then the ships sailed for Troy and war began.

Agamemnon’s murder of his daughter ensured that he would return home from war to more war. 

Under the law of blood vengeance, his daughter’s mother was obligated to murder him—and she did; and under the law of blood vengeance her son was obligated to murder her—and he did; and under the law of blood vengeance, her daughter was obligated to murder her brother…and so it goes.



The arc of vengeance is as sure and as certain as the laws of mathematics: a series ending where it begins, and repeating itself. 

Those words are the dictionary definition of a circle—as well as a complete treatise on blood vengeance.

Like a pebble dropped into a pond, vengeance sends out ripple after ripple each extending its sphere until it runs out of space or spends itself.

Vengeance is a circle.

 A circle delineates, it defines and separates the inside from the outside. The circle is closed. Any segment of a circle is a curved line.



In architecture, a curved line is pretty but it’s weak. Leonardo reflected on the weakness of curved lines and made an astounding observation: two curved lines when propped up against each other form an arch: one of the strongest formations in architecture. So an arch is a strength created by two weaknesses.



Here’s the answer to the question—enlarge the circle of compassion by never closing it.



Keep the circle open. Reach out, join hands with one another in a tangible display of unity, solidarity and connectedness; but let those on each end extend an open hand to the world at-large as an invitation to others to join hands.



Let the circle of compassion be like Leonardo’s arch, a strength comprised of many weaknesses.

The cascading emotional damage resulting from homicides.

When a violent act occurs, the emotional devastation that results cascades out in all directions, like lava froma volcano, devastating everything in its path, harming not only the victim's family, but also the family of the perpatrator.

I have just been touched by such a cascade myself, though indirectly.

Because of a new initiative that Interfaith Paths to Peace plans to undertake with a local church, we plan to monitor and ritually mourn each homicide that happens in the Louisville metro area this year. On Sunday I learned that, sadly, Louisville's first homicide of 2010 had happened on on New Years Day. The victim was a woman in her twenties who was allegedly stabbed to death by her former boyfriend , a man who also happens to be the father of her infant child. The perpatrator also stabbed and critically wounded a man who happened to be with the young woman at the time of the crime.

Yesterday, I learned that the homicide victim is the niece of a friend of mine. When I heard that, I felt an extra twinge of pain and grief that this unnecessary violence had also emotionally wounded people that I hold dear.

As we consider the emotional cost of the violence in our community, we need to remember that the pain resulting from any violent act spreads in ever-increaing circles. Damaged forever are the friends and relatives of the victim. Also ruined are the family and friends of the troubled man who supposedly comitted this horrific crime. As I write, I am sure that phones are ringing and emails arriving in inboxes telling everyone who knew the victim and the perpatrator about the crime. More and more people over the days to come will share the sorrow.

There is little that we can do to ease this pain. There is, however work that we should all engage in to eliminate violence in our community and in our homes. I was reminded just this morning that even though the crime rate in Louisville has decreased over the last year, the rate of domestic violence has either remained the same or increased.

There are two groups in our city that are working diligently to help school age young people and the adults who work with them gain the skills that will enable them to solve serious differences with other people nonviolently. These are the Peace Education Program (http://www.peaceeducationprogram.org/ ) led by Eileen Blanton, and the SPAVA Program (http://www.spava.us/ ) pioneered by Dr. Timir Banerjee. Check out their web sites and learn what they do.

I just wish we could find a way to get the same information about non-violent conflict resolution to adults who seem to think that the best way to express their anger is with their fists, or with guns or with knives or with...