tvc.dsj.org | April 16, 2019
COMMENTARY
11
NATO Military Alliance Incompatible with Gospel Nonviolence
By Tony Magliano
Internationally syndicated social jus-
tice and peace columnist
[email protected]
As foreign ministers of the 29 member nations
of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization),
gathered in Washington, D.C. on April 3-4 to com-
memorate the 70th anniversary of the founding of
this largest military alliance in the world, nonviolent
peace activists across the U.S. and from around the
world also gathered in Washington to proclaim: “No
to NATO – Yes to Peace.”
Fo r s i x d ay s a nt i -wa r p r o p o n e nt s p a r -
ticipated in justice and peace workshops, ral-
lies, an anti-NATO conference, an end to war
concert and a disarmament counter summit
(see: https://worldbeyondwar.org/notonato).
The kickoff event was a 20 block peace march
starting at Lafayette Square (across the street from
the White House). Along with members of the Doro-
thy Day Catholic Worker Washington, D.C. commu-
nity, I helped carry a banner saying “No to NATO,
No to Nukes” (see video: https://bit.ly/2WLIeCi).
But what’s so wrong about NATO? A lot!
According to David Swanson, director of World
Beyond War – a global nonviolent movement to
end war and establish a just and sustainable peace
(see: https://worldbeyondwar.org) – NATO members
place more value on Russia as an enemy. Anonymous
U.S. military officials describe the current cold war
as driven by massive profits from weapons sales
(see: http://davidswanson.org/united-states-wants-
war-with-russia). NATO now accounts for about
three-quarters of military spending and weapons
dealing on the globe.
After the breakup of the Soviet Union and War-
saw Pact, NATO promised Russia that it would ab-
solutely not expand eastward. Breaking its promise,
NATO added the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungry,
Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia, Es-
tonia, Slovenia, Albania and Croatia.
“...as Christians, we must not to
be swayed by the violent ways of
the world, but rather by the ways
that build up the Kingdom of God
– love, justice and peace.”
While it is important to note that Russia is also
immorally making massive profits from arms sales
and is also very militarized, nonetheless, if we are
honest, it is understandable that Russia sees NATO
– now on its very border – as a dangerous threat.
And with both the U.S. and Russia having hun-
dreds of nuclear weapons aimed at each other, and on
hair-trigger/launch on warning alert, we are playing
an extremely dangerous game of Russian roulette.
To counter all this madness, level-headed, kind-
hearted citizens should urge government leaders
to appropriate much less money for NATO related
operations with the pressing goal of completely dis-
solving the military alliance – just as the Warsaw
Pact was dissolved. And to transfer these massive
military dollars toward insuring that all human
beings receive their basic God-given rights of life,
nutritious food, clean water, improved sanitation,
comprehensive health care, quality education, decent
housing and a livable wage earned in a safe working
environment.
Not only would this conversion provide all people
with the necessary means to live, and to live with
dignity, but unlike military violence which destroys,
insuring universal human rights would also foster
lasting world peace.
And most importantly as Christians, we must
not to be swayed by the violent ways of the world,
but rather by the ways that build up the Kingdom
of God – love, justice and peace.
Let’s not forget the stern warning of the nonvio-
lent Jesus: “All who take the sword will perish by
the sword.”
During his 1979 visit to the Irish people who
were suffering from the violence of the “Troubles,”
St. Pope John Paul II prophetically declared “that
violence is evil, that violence is unacceptable as a
solution to problems, that violence is unworthy of
man. Violence is a lie, for it goes against the truth
of our faith, the truth of our humanity. Violence
destroys what it claims to defend: the dignity, the
life, the freedom of human beings.”