June 22, 2007 Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet No to All Violence at home & abroad
NO TO ALL VIOLENCE
At Home & Abroad!
This past week has seen a great outpouring of grief and concern over the tragic death of 14- year-old Tyran Vesperas-Saniatan who was killed June 11th in Ainaloa on Hawaii Island. Our hearts go out with compassion to the families involved.
According to police, Tyran tried to break up a fight between his parents and was fatally stabbed in the neck by his father, Tyrone Vesperas, with a military- issued combat knife. Police say Tyran's mother, Cheryl –Lyn Vesperas was stabbed in the stomach but was able to escape. Her unborn child, who was nearly at full term, did not survive. Tyrone Vesperas was a full-time National Guard staff sergeant who returned from deployment in the Iraq war in 2006.
All of the facts and circumstances of this tragedy have yet to be revealed but this much we know. There is too much violence in our homes, our communities, our nation, and our world. And it's often the innocents that pay the ultimate price.
We are all in need of healing. Our families, communities, nation, and world are in need of healing. This tragic violent event should remind us of that. We need a principled about-face from violence at all levels. We need a major shift in priorities at all levels. Instead of continuing to spend more and more money on weapons and war, we need money spent on family counseling, and counseling and proper medical care for returning vets. As many as one-quarter of all soldiers and Marines returning from Iraq are psychologically wounded, according to a recent American Psychological Association report. By this spring, the number of vets from Afghanistan and Iraq who had sought help for post-traumatic stress would fill four Army divisions, some 45,000 in all, an Army study found. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061707Z.shtml
The U.S. is a nation armed to the teeth. There are nearly as many handguns in the U.S. as people. Total proposed U.S. military spending for 2008 is larger than military spending by all of the other nations in the world combined. In short, the U.S. national purpose is weapons and war. No wonder domestic violence is so rampant. It is a tragic reflection of the violence we export.
A basic principle of non-violence is that everything is interrelated. The means we use must be in line with the end sought. If we want a peaceful and just world, we need to use peaceful and just means toward that end. Bombs will never bring peace abroad, nor will combat knives solve domestic disputes. Deep in our hearts we all know that. And so we will tragically see more and more domestic violence at home until we stop waging wars of aggression abroad. Violence will continue to be our domestic, national, and international purpose until we demonstrate through example the will to disarm and embrace non-violence as a way of life.
Stop the War! Stop all the Wars!
1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties. 4. Oppose all discrimination: anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, etc.
5. Seek peace through justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
Contact: Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB `Ola`a (Kurtistown),
Hawai`i 96760. Phone (808) 966-7622. Email ja@interpac.net http://www.malu-aina.org
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