On May 20th and 21st, Chicago will play host to the NATO Summit. We are the first US city outside of Washington to do so. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to showcase our city. It is also a big chance for us to make our voices heard; to shine an international spotlight on our issues.
Our school system faces a budget shortfall. The unemployment rate continues to fall, but it is still above the “painfully high” national average. We watch in amazement as the economy is blamed for our troubles while our country continues to spend millions of dollars on a war somewhere else. Is it any wonder that protesters are planning to march on the Summit’s opening day?
Protest organizers are calling for
- “Jobs, Healthcare, Education, Pensions, Housing and the Environment, Not War!”
- “No to NATO/G-8 Warmakers!”
- “No to War and Austerity!”
…in other words, Justice.
“The people who live there need to see that their kids get schooling, that there is health care, and that the police provide security rather than shaking down the population themselves.”
Isn’t that what we all need? Funny thing. This statement is not from the protest organizers. It is from an Speech by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the University of Chicago almost two years ago. And he was talking about Afghanistan.
Jesus asked, “Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3, NRSV) Why do we funnel resources away from our problems in order to “fix” others’?
President Obama has pledged to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, and the war has been declining in popularity among US adults. We are beginning to see the error in our ways, but protests like these are still important. We need to refocus our country’s attention inward, and remind ourselves and our leaders that we cannot afford to turn a blind eye on what is going on at home.
“You hypocrite, first take the log our of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck our of your neighbor’s eye.” (Matthew 7:5, NRSV) Or perhaps we will find that we have more logs of our own.
Can you see which way is onward?
Theo-logical Tijuana 