Handcuffed, my arms pulled forcibly behind my back, I am being arrested and searched by military police at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
I am practicing love. Admittedly, it is a perplexing love.
It is about 1:30 a.m. on Feb. 25. We are protesting a Minute Man 3, ICBM missile launch, an illegal first-strike nuclear weapons system.
The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Article 6, requires us to rid ourselves of nuclear weapons. First-strike nuclear weapons only ensure retaliation on a massive level. First-strike nuclear weapons cannot prevent a retaliatory second strike.
Three hundred nuclear detonations in close proximity insure a massive global extinction by nuclear famine with the interruption of the flow of sunlight by dust in the atmosphere. Formerly this was termed nuclear winter, now thought of as nuclear famine.
Fifteen of us, including Daniel Ellsberg, Father Louie Vitale and Cindy Sheehan, cross the line to uphold our law, which requires citizens to bring attention to illegal actions and war crimes conducted by the government. We are united in the belief that life is sacred and weapons for planetary genocide are morally and legally wrong.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki — the anniversaries of mass destruction that we mark this week — testify to this fact.
Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesus Christ all were practitioners of love. Each understood that it was sometimes necessary to be the willing recipient of rather than the author of harsh punitive measures. Their willingness to accept the penalty did in fact create a space for love and understanding through vulnerability. and overcoming fear. The risks were high. Ultimately each gave his life.
We, too, hope that our action, arrest and forthcoming trial on Oct. 17 will allow our brothers and sisters to understand and create a positive dynamic for change. Our core belief is that the power of civil resistance lies in its truth and love and will create a pathway to understanding. This in turn will lead to change, and a transformed nuclear weapons policy.
The key to our civil resistance lies in compassion. It is empathy, and a no-nonsense effort to correct another's behavior along with one's own. Believe me, I am not coming from a high and holy place. I served four years in the Marine Corps. I know what is like to be "conditioned" and what is like to believe that peace can be won by killing. The learning curve to nonviolence is a slow and trying process, filled with fear and doubt.
Each action has its unexpected moments of vulnerability. There isn't anything pleasant about being forcibly handcuffed and treated as a criminal for upholding the law. It can in fact feel humiliating. Some arrests are civil and respectful. This one was edgy. I very much needed to reassure my captor that he wasn't in danger.
Unfortunately, our culture is powerfully addicted to weapons and violence. The soaring outbursts of dangerous and reckless behavior such as the launch of a Minute Man 3 aren't even noticed by most folks while each of the three annual test missile launches conservatively costs $21 million. We spend $63 million annually testing a weapons system that can only ensure planetary genocide.
At 3 a.m, the Minute Man 3 is launched into a fog shrouded sky. It will reach the Marshall Islands in about 30 minutes traveling 4,200 miles. It maximum speed is approximately 15,000 mph and maximum range about 6,000 miles. It can carry and direct multiple nuclear war heads. The United States has 450 of these missiles in its arsenal.
Our silent and complicit acceptance of nuclear weapons desperately needs to be examined. Planetary extinction is very real and very possible. Nuclear arms reduction and eventual elimination are critical.
Please support this work. If you can risk nuclear war, you can risk nuclear disarmament.
John Amidon is a member of Veterans For Peace and co-director of the Kateri Tekakwitha Peace Conference (www.kateripeaceconference.org), which will be held Aug. 17-18 in Fonda, Fulton County.