BPF Boston: BPF Reflections on the 2006 U.S. Elections and Finding the Way Forward Together

[BPF Boston chapter announcements]

Dear Friends,

Below is an essay on the 2006 Election Results that Alan Senauke 
recently wrote for BPF. You can also find this article on the BPF website:

http://www.bpf.org/html/resources_and_links/statements/06election_essay.html

Blessings, Joan

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Reflections on the 2006 U.S. Elections and Finding the Way Forward Together

December 2006

by Alan Senauke, BPF Senior Advisor

The most powerful lesson we can learn from last month’s mid-term 
elections is that participation in U.S. electoral politics is still 
possible--and that, to some extent, it works. Millions of people of all 
political stripes participated by walking precincts, knocking on doors, 
staffing phone banks, and raising money. Some of this was organized by 
well-financed lobbies and by the major political parties, but much of it 
was grassroots organized and led. We at the Buddhist Peace Fellowship 
believe that it was this grassroots involvement that made the critical 
difference.

After the past five years of reported voting rights violations and 
dubious election results, it is heartening to realize that it is still 
possible for every vote to be counted (we hope), and that every vote 
counts! As Joanna Macy and other Buddhist teachers point out, principles 
of democracy have always been strong in the Buddha’s teachings on 
community. We are grateful to see this upsurge in citizen participation 
and civil dialogue as well as engagement with the issues.

Over the past year, BPF members took part in the electoral system to 
express their concern for all sentient beings. Collectively, their 
efforts helped to raise public awareness about the value of compassion 
and understanding as we address some of the most difficult and divisive 
issues of our time. Some shining examples:

* Amid nearly half a million people, hundreds joined us in Washington, 
D.C., in September 2005 to mindfully walk together as a Buddhist Peace 
Delegation to call for peace in Iraq. More than 300 people (including 12 
from our Buddhist Peace Affinity group) took part in nonviolent direct 
action and were arrested in front of the White House delivering this 
message.

* In Spring of 2006, members of the Portland, Oregon BPF chapter, with 
other Portland activists, met with Rep. Ron Wyden to encourage him to 
endorse legislation that would end the war in Iraq. (see Heidi Enji 
Hoogstra's blog: 
http://adventuresinmultiplicity.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_archive.html)

* In response to a measure on the ballot this fall in Wisconsin, the 
Madison BPF chapter joined with other regional faith and community 
groups and put out its own statement in support of civil rights 
including the right to marry for same-sex couples.

The pivot of change in the November 2006 election was opposition to the 
war in Iraq. On this pivot the U.S. House and Senate swung from 
Republican to Democrat. There are, of course, many other pressing 
issues: political corruption, the environment, stem-cell research, among 
others. But the results of the election seemed to reflect a pervasive 
feeling across America that our military involvement in Iraq is a 
disaster. This feeling is finally crossing over political and 
ideological lines.

Reality is always turning, and not just in one direction. At BPF, we see 
war in Iraq as the driving wheel of greed, hatred, and delusion at this 
point in U.S. history. Greed manifests in the vast profits raked in by 
corporations like Halliburton, Bechtel, and General Dynamics. Hatred is 
expressed in policies that see overwhelming military force and violence 
as the right response to international and intra-national conflict. 
Delusion is the notion that these policies create safety for anyone. 
True security is only possible when we recognize that all beings want 
happiness, health, and a meaningful life just as we do. With these 
“three poisons” leading the way, the U.S. Government has created an 
enduring problem for itself, one that is not easily resolved by 
political parties wedded to corporate interests and American privilege.

The party affiliation of a politician is no guarantee of wise and 
compassionate governance. In many respects, people voted simply in 
opposition to the Bush administration’s foreign policy, in accord with 
their worries, fears, and beliefs. Yet, it is also true that all across 
the political spectrum, people voted according to “kitchen table” moral 
values, rather than “wedge” issues. Jim Wallis of Sojourners, a 
progressive Christian magazine, writes:

"Iraq was considered the “moral issue that most affected your vote” by 
45.8% of voters, almost six times as many voters as abortion, and almost 
five times as many as same-sex marriage. Iraq was the top moral issue 
among Catholics, born-again Christians and frequent church attendees. 
Poverty and economic justice topped the list of “most urgent moral 
problem in American culture.”

"When Catholics were asked to name the most important value guiding 
their vote, 67% chose “A commitment to the common good—the good of all 
not just the few” while 22% chose “Opposing policies such as legal 
abortion, gay marriage, and embryonic stem cell research.”

The election results speak more to disapproval of the Bush 
Administration’s “war on terror” and pre-emptive actions in Iraq and 
Afghanistan than to approval of the Democratic Party’s position on those 
issues. One month after the election, options in Iraq are as vague as 
ever: send more troops in, bring the troops home, stay the course, cut 
and run. Officials ask if Iraq is in the midst of “sectarian violence” 
or “civil war.” We ask, is there really a distinction for the thousands 
of Iraqi men, women, and children and U.S. soldiers who have suffered so 
greatly these past three years? In October alone, 3,709 Iraqi civilians 
died. November’s toll is even higher. And, by this year’s end, close to 
3,000 U.S. military will have lost their lives in Iraq. While death and 
destruction rolls on, no one wins.

We at the Buddhist Peace Fellowship join the call with thousands of 
other organizations to bring the U.S. troops home, and to open 
multilateral security talks among parties in Iraq, all the other nations 
of the Middle East, and our European allies. These will be difficult 
discussions, and we in the U.S. will rightfully be called upon to be 
extremely generous. But no amount of talk and no amount of aid measures 
up to the costs of the war and the price all sides continue to pay.

Concerns have been raised about an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops. 
Would we be doing more harm than good by pulling out troops? Don’t we 
have an obligation now to stay on and ensure that Iraqis will be safe? 
These are important questions that deserve a thoughtful response.

If the election result reflects any common wisdom, it seems to say that 
the U.S. military presence is not helping the cause of peace. This 
wisdom is echoed by the experiences of many, from Iraqi citizens who 
have voiced a desire for the U.S. occupation to end so that Iraq can 
truly be a sovereign nation, to Buddhist soldiers like Aidan Delgado, 
who served in Iraq. At this summer’s BPF membership gathering, Aidan 
shared with us that from his perspective the U.S. military presence in 
Iraq acts as a lightening rod which draws increasing violence rather 
than quelling it. Our friend Dr. Chandra Muzaffar of the International 
Movement for a Just World (JUST) echoes this sentiment:

"…a survey undertaken by the respected World Public Opinion (WPO) in 
September 2006 shows that 74% of Shiites and 91% of Sunnis want the 
occupiers to leave within a year. Both groups “believe U.S. forces are 
provoking more violence than they are preventing—and that day-to-day 
security would improve if (they) left.”

It’s clear that we are losing a war that should never have happened. If 
we remain, this war will spread. It will come home, if it hasn’t already.

Clearly, the U.S. public has indicated its opinion about the war and its 
desire to turn our nation’s attention to matters beyond the war. We must 
continue to work this out, building on citizen participation in the 2006 
elections. We must remember that we can make a difference. This world of 
ours is one reality that includes everyone. So our deep obligation is to 
listen to the world’s suffering and to offer our best response.

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What We Can Do

Continue to call for peace and withdrawal of U.S. troops:
Join the 2nd Buddhist Peace Delegation on January 27, 2007, at the 
Mandate for Peace March in Washington, D.C. See: 
http://www.bpf.org/html/whats_now/2007/2007_BPD.html

Help to heal the wounds of war, and offer support to returning veterans:
Get involved in the Veterans’ Coming Home Project (a collaboration 
between Deep Streams Zen Institute and Buddhist Peace Fellowship) and 
ask your sangha to join the Welcoming Communities Network. See: 
http://www.bpf.org/html/current_projects/peace_pages/wc_info.html