Volume 25, Number 1    April 2003

 

Fear for national security? What's really at risk is U.S. economic lifestyle

by Barbara A. Pott

Nearly 500 peace-justice leaders and social service staff were on Capitol Hill Feb. 9-12 for the annual Social Ministry Gathering sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and several allied agencies. Issues of welfare reform, tax policy and global poverty were on the agenda. But the impending war on Iraq cast a shadow over everything.

War on Iraq is justified by the Bush administration in terms of national security. In a symposium for the national association of diocesan social action directors, moral theologian Fr. Bryan Massingale of St. Francis Seminary, Milwaukee, presented an analysis, "From Homeland to Biblical Security." He juxtaposed two visions of security: one defined by the U.S. government and one rooted in the Jewish and Christian scriptures.

Working from two government documents on security, Massingale pointed out the pervasive fear-mongering that occurs throughout: "Over and over, we hear a constant drumbeat of 'threat,' 'attack,' 'enemies,' and 'vulnerability' Our enemies, we constantly are warned, seek to exploit our freedoms to cause unthinkable harm." He then examined the documents more deeply to reveal that what's really at risk is the American economic lifestyle. Security is founded in the belief that free trade is a moral principle, and the American way of life is understood as freedom to engage in economic exchange. This is what our military machine is set out to protect and defend. "Indeed, our national security strategy makes clear the connection between military might and consumerism in ways that we seldom articulate. American national security policy is a concrete example of what some have called a worldview of military consumerism." In short, what we are fighting for through military might is our freedom to buy and sell.

Massingale then gave a vision of security found in scripture. The Scriptures insist that "if there is to be well-being, it will not be just for isolated, insulated individuals; it is, rather, security and prosperity granted to the whole community - young and old, rich and poor, powerful and dependent. Always we are all in it together."

We are left with a challenge: We all fear. We all want a comfortable way of life. In the end, for most of us in the U.S., it's our insistence on maintaining our lifestyles that keeps injustices operational, thus inhibiting the very security we seek. In this interior division, we are nevertheless called to righteousness. "Our broken world and hurting nation need what we have to offer No matter what other doubts we may have, we offer the certainty that security does not come from open markets and military might, but from the promotion of basic human rights for all."

Barb Pott, a leader of CTA Michigan, works for the Diocese of Lansing, Mich., as parish outreach coordinatior for Catholic social services of Washtenaw County. Massingale's talk is printed in the Feb. 20, 2003 edition of Origins. www.originsonline.com