A town meeting on homeland security, held at St. Louis University last fall, featured Tom Ridge, U.S. Secretary for Homeland Security, the Mayor of St. Louis and four or five other officials responsible for implementing national security measures at the city, county and state levels. The stated purpose of the town meeting was to give citizens a voice about their particular concerns regarding threats of terrorism. It was also a forum for government leaders to make people aware of what is being done by the new cabinet-level department that Tom Ridge heads.

At one point, a woman asked whether Washington was addressing the root causes of terrorism as well as trying to protect U.S. citizens from it. The moderator quickly responded that “prevention” would be the subject of another town meeting. Tom Ridge, having earlier said Americans have “targets on their backs,” responded to the “root causes” question by blaming bad people who were jealous and violent by nature and/or by religious conviction. Immediately, the discussion went back to what kinds of terrorism people feared the most and how to defend against them.

Like several in the audience, I was deeply saddened by this unwillingness to look at ourselves, to discuss how we as a nation might behave differently. Our treatment of other peoples just might have something to do with their resentment of us. Simply taking measures to defend ourselves will never be enough to solve the problem of terrorism as long as we keep offending others. As the greatest power in the world, we have an opportunity to use that power to make the world a better place for all people. Instead, our political and economic foreign policies are such that others perceive us as self-centered and self-interested.

Church leaders, too, are concerned about the Bush administration’s “go-it-alone” attitude in foreign affairs. For example, Pope John Paul II, speaking recently with the Indonesian ambassador to the Vatican, made the following statement:

Despite the contempt for human life that such terrorist attacks [as the August 2003 terrorist attack in Jakarta] represent, our response must never be one of hatred or revenge. Nor are measures that are merely punitive or repressive sufficient. The fight against terrorism must also be conducted at the level of politics and education.

Political mobilization is needed to eliminate the underlying causes of situations of injustice that can drive people to actions of desperation and violence.

Also necessary is a commitment to programs of education that are inspired by and foster respect for human life in all circumstances.
In this way the unity of the human race will prevail, proving more powerful than any contingent division separating individuals, groups and people. And it is precisely in this regard that the great religions of the world have a particularly important role to play.

Interreligious understanding and cooperation will in fact do much to promote a clearer sense of the oneness of all mankind, helping to eradicate the social and cultural causes of terrorism.

I am convinced moreover that Islamic, Christian and Jewish religious leaders must be at the forefront in condemning terrorism and in denying terrorists any form of religious or moral legitimacy.

Dialogue must be promoted as a means of mutual awareness, as an exchange of spiritual patrimonies and as an instrument for peacefully overcoming differences. This is the only way to guarantee the unity, ensure the stability and build the democracy so ardently desired by the great nation that you represent.

The Pope expresses a vision of diverse peoples living together in less destructive ways. Many others express the same dream. If our common interests and shared responsibility for the earth and its inhabitants were at the heart of our foreign relations, would there be such hatred and violence toward the United States? If we all thought of ourselves as related to everyone on earth, and to every being in creation, wouldn’t this more nearly resemble the country and the world our Creator intended it to be?

I found a prayer that helps me have a vision of what to hope for, and I share it with all who long for the goodness of creation to be more fully realized in our own time.

Let There Be Peace
Hagen Hasselbalch

Let there be peace, welfare and righteousness
in every part of the world.
Let confidence and friendship prevail
for the good of east and west
for the good of the needy south
for the good of all humanity.
Let the people inspire their leaders
helping them to seek peace by peaceful means
helping them and urging them
to build a better world
a world with a home for everybody
a world with spiritual freedom
for everybody.
Let those who have the power of money
be motivated by selfless compassion.
Let money become a tool
for the good of humankind.
Let those who have power
deal respectfully with the resources of the planet.
Let them respect and maintain
the purity of the air, water, land and subsoil.
Let them co-operate to restore
the ecological soundness of Mother Earth.
Let trees grow up by the billions
around the world.
Let green life invade the deserts.
Let industry serve humanity
and produce waste that serves nature.
Let technology respect
the holiness of Mother Earth.
Let those who control the mass media
contribute to create mutual understanding
contribute to create optimism and confidence.
Let ordinary people
meet by the millions across the borders.
Let them create a universal network
of love and friendship.
Let billions of human beings
co-operate to create a good future
for their children and grandchildren.
Let us survive
In peace and harmony with Mother Earth.
--from Earth Prayers from Around the World
©1991 Elizabeth Rogers and Elias Amidon
(HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY)