What I was really worrying about was The War, and so, the other night, I re-read a classic anti-war drama, "Lysistrata," Aristophanes' ancient Greek comedy wherein the women of Athens and Sparta – which are at war – are persuaded to refuse sexual contact with their husbands until the two cities make peace.
Granted, 410 B.C. is a long time ago, but the predicament has a remarkably contemporary feel:
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LYSISTRATA: ... All the long time the war has lasted, we have endured in modest silence all you men did; you never allowed us to open our lips. We were far from satisfied, for we knew how things were going; often in our homes we would hear you discussing, upside down and inside out, some important turn of affairs. Then with sad hearts, but smiling lips, we would ask you: Well, in today's Assembly did they vote peace? But, "Mind your own business!" the husband would growl, "Hold your tongue, please!" And we would say no more.
LYSISTRATA: Well, for my part, I would say no more. But presently I would come to know you had arrived at some fresh decision more fatally foolish than ever. "Ah! My dear man," I would say, "what madness next!" But he would only look at me askance and say: "Just weave your web, please; else your cheeks will smart for hours. War is men's business!"
CHORUS: We desire, ... to speak ill of no man; but on the contrary to say much good of everyone, and to do the like. We have had enough of misfortunes and calamities.
This brings to mind Amber Amundson's heartrending – yes, that's the right word for it – letter to President Bush last Nov. 24, and his apparent refusal to meet with her. She's the widow of Craig Amundson, a Pentagon employee killed in the Sept. 11 attacks, and she's gained international attention for her outspoken opposition to the war in Afghanistan and U.S. plans for its further expansion.
"I am a 28-year-old single mother of two small children," she wrote. "The reason I am a single mother is because my husband was murdered on Sept. 11, while working under your direction. My husband, Craig Scott Amundson, was an active duty multimedia illustrator for your deputy chief of staff of Personnel Command, who was also killed. I am not doing well. I am hurt that the U.S. is moving forward in such a violent manner. I do not hold you responsible for my husband's death, but I do believe you have a responsibility to listen to me and please hear my pain. I do not like unnecessary death. I do not want anyone to use my husband's death to perpetuate violence.
"So, Mr. President, when you say that vengeance is needed so that the victims of 9-11 do not die in vain, could you please exclude Craig Scott Amundson from your list of victims used to justify further attacks? I do not want my children to grow up thinking that the reason so many people died following the Sept. 11 attack was because of their father's death. I want to show them a world where we love and not hate, where we forgive and not seek out vengeance.
"Please Mr. Bush, help me honor my husband. He drove to the Pentagon with a Visualize World Peace bumper sticker on his car every morning. He raised our children to understand humanity and not fight to get what you want. When we buried my husband, an American flag was laid over his casket. My children believe the American flag represents their dad. Please let that representation be one of love, peace and forgiveness. I am begging you, for the sake of humanity and my children, to stop killing. Please find a nonviolent way to bring justice to the world."
Now, Amber Amundson's concerns are more urgent than ever. She and her late husband's brother Ryan Amundson are keynote speakers at the Wage Peace gathering at Swarthmore Friends Meeting on the Swarthmore College campus, Saturday, March 2, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., "a campus/ community gathering to educate, activate, and organize."
"Our nation suffered a staggering loss of life and freedom on Sept. 11," write the event's organizers, Swarthmore Community Service Director Pat James, Delco anti-war leader Terry Rumsey, and student activist Roxanne Yaghoubi. "The terrorist attack was a massive crime against humanity. Our government has responded by waging a war in Afghanistan, intervening in a civil war in the Philippines, threatening a world-wide war on multiple fronts, militarizing the economy, and curtailing civil liberties. This is a time of crisis."
Panel presentations: "U.S. and the Islamic World" – Ann Lesch, professor of political science, Villanova University; "Impact of War on Civil Liberties" – Paul Hetznecker, Philadelphia civil rights attorney; "Peaceful Victories and New Directions" – George Lakey, executive director, Training for Change; "From Seattle to 9-11 and Beyond," Martin Wiley, youth activist.
Workshops: "The Draft and Conscientious Objection," "Building a Multi-Racial/Class Movement," and "Economic Justice and Peace Movements."
If you can, join them for this day of "teaching, learning, sharing, strategizing, and singing for peace." Or organize your own regional teach-in.
Wage Peace's organizers conclude: "We believe we must wage peace if we are going to forge authentic freedom, justice and security in the 21st century. We must build a movement that stands up against violence and offers intelligent, viable nonviolent alternatives to counter-terrorism. We are waging a struggle for the future of our nation and our earth."