A Rationale
"They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nations shall learn war no more" (Isaiah 2:4)
A small Perth-based group of Christians from the Historic Peace Churches (members and associates of Anabaptists and Quakers), is intent on making linkages between climate change and militarism.
The world is at a crisis point, but of course, as well as being dangerous, this situation presents opportunities. What the world needs now, as well as a low-carb diet, and "love, sweet love", is co-operation on a scale never before experienced by humans, in order to manage the challenges of climate change.
It is time for the global family to move beyond borders, to work together for the benefit of all. We are being called, we believe, to share the earth's precious resources in an unprecedented way.
There have already been wars over oil, a depleting resource. If we don't manage to keep the global warming within the limit of 2% rise in the next decade, there will be increasing wars over other resources, like water and food.
Military thinkers, often way ahead of poll-driven politicians, are already saying that climate change poses a much greater threat to security than terrorism.
The Vine & Fig Tree Planters plan a symbolic action which we see as an invitation - not a protest - to the military to lay down their weapons. We invite the military to concentrate their efforts on construction rather than destruction. To move from weapons to windmills.
It has already been demonstrated countless times, that when governments call on their militaries to assist with civilian disasters in the form of relief work, morale goes up. People in the military value their role as rescue workers in times of crisis, and the community gives them credit for that. It is not a divisive issue, like war, or preparation for war, both of which rob resources from the needy, and create a great deal of carbon emissions - think of all the embedded energy in tanks and warplanes. Even if war-fighting is not actually happening, the military is currently a hugely negative force if we count the cost of ecological footprints.
Our contention is that the militaries of the world are well placed, with all their material and human resources, to be of inestimable value, in crisis times. Of course, their governments would have to give the orders to lay down their weapons, to allow the transformation of military forces into a potent Earth Defence Force. This point of realisation that such a step is needed could be reached sooner than we anticipate, just as the polar ice caps are melting faster than anticipated.
Our symbolic action is to invite the commanding officer of our nearest military base to join with us in planting a grape vine and a fig tree outside the gates of the establishment, as a nonviolent witness to our earnest desire for peaceful transition to a genuinely co-operative world.
We are not the first to think of planting of life-giving growing organisms to counter the negativity of militarism. We want to do this as a positive, invitational process in the hope that others will take up the call, so that governments will be lobbied, and that they in turn, will give orders for the military to lay down their weapons, and to turn their swords into ploughshares.
This process will take place more than once, at various military establishments. We are not keen to set up an organisation to do this - rather to invite groups of people to prepare prayerfully for such a symbolic action at their nearest military establishment, having engaged in respectful dialogue beforehand with military personnel. Others may choose to research facts and figures, others again may organise lobbying efforts and a media/public education campaign.
We visualise a group of silent worshippers at the site, a small group of planters, and perhaps another small group singing the refrain:
"Everyone 'neath their vine and fig tree, shall live in peace and unafraid
And into ploughshares turn their swords, nations shall learn war no more
Love to your neighbour, and love to the spirit of all life."
This action will be celebratory, short, respectful, spirit-led, nonviolent. Our hope is to plant the seeds of transformation, towards implementation of the biblical injunction to love our neighbours, including our enemies.
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Jo Vallentine - 08 9272 4252 - jovall@iinet.net.au December, 2007.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Design by Andreas Viklund.