WHY WE MARCHED

The All Souls Peace Task Force hired a bus on October 26 to take members of our church to the anti-war rally that was attended by thousands but hardly mentioned in the media. All Souls members who attended answered the question, "Why did you go?" Some of their responses are offered here.

My wife (Karin Almquist), my son (Solomon Bergquist (5-months old)), and I attended the rally because we both feel the anti-war movement needs as loud a voice as possible. After feeling rather low and dispirited about the Bush Administration's rhetoric and actions over the past year, (and feeling also somewhat lonely in our views), being in a crowd of 100,000 like-minded souls was awfully rejuvenating. I think the memory of the March will help many of the activists keep their energy from flagging in the challenging months ahead.
—Glenn Berger

Anti-war rally marchers (along edges of water) gathering in Washington, DC.

Karen Almquist & Solomon Bergquist marching at the anti-war rally in Washington, DC.

In 1967, I wrote a paper about the history of Indochina and current U.S. policy there. On the last page, I predicted that if the U.S. insisted on a military victory in Vietnam, it would end in disaster. The paper, which I still have, was for my high school history honors seminar. I was 16 years old. I have never understood how at age 16, I knew what the "best and the brightest" in D.C. apparently did not. And now, 35 years later, I still do not understand why people who reach the highest levels of our government seem to lose their common sense along the way. But it's happening again, and again it is terribly important that we stand up and be counted. Thank you, All Souls Peace Task Force, for chartering buses to take us down to D.C. so we could prove to President Bush and the whole world that he is wrong when he says "the American people" are behind him and his plan to plunge us into an unprovoked war that could very well prove to be another Vietnam. One was enough.
—Sue Ackerman

I have been attending All Souls semi-regularly for about five months and been a member for just over a month. I grew up in Lancashire in the North-West of England. In All Souls I have been delighted to find a community of open hearts and open minds to uplift my spirit in what was a new city, which is finding an ever-growing place in my heart. The short answer to why I went on the march is simply that it was the right thing to do. I found the march hopeful because it is a sign that the true voice of the American people is starting to make itself heard, and it is a voice in which I have a deep faith. The lucky bonuses of the trip included the chance to get to know some lovely people, to gain my first experience of Washington, and to have a great time!

The poem below is an "alternative" response, inspired by the same question:

Why I Went to Washington and Why I Found the March Hopeful

(Why I went to Washington)
Because your people and mine share the same history, and the same soul;
because my people have also known rulers who do not listen
and are growing beyond them;
because despair clogs the heart in self-attack
but hope and confidence clear the way;
because we hold this world in trust for our Children.

(Why I went to Washington and found the march hopeful)
Because when America heals its heart the world will be healed;
when the new world re-embraces the old, the old promises will be redeemed;
when the leaders truly lead, the lost children will all be saved—
and we have all been lost,
and we can all choose to lead—
to lead in Truth, simply show the way forward:
your belovèd belovers will join you.

(Why I found the march hopeful)
Because the true heart of America is found in its people,
and it is a joy to witness the numbness fading;
because the stuttering songs we are starting to sing can set the world free;
because truth has opened my heart; because love is the answer.

(Why I went)
Because… who will do it, if we do not?
When will it happen, if not now?
—Neil Burgess

I do not like crowds. I hate long bus rides. And I look forward to sleeping in on Saturday mornings. So why did I get up at 5:00AM on a recent Saturday and spend four hours on a bus just to be part of a crowd in Washington, DC?

To be honest, I wasn't quite sure at the time. I am not a pacifist, nor an apologist for the current Iraqi regime. I believe war is a terrible, but sometimes necessary, evil. I know that Saddam Hussein is a brutal dictator. And yet, I was pretty certain that the US should not attack Iraq. So on October 26th, I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with other Americans representing a wide range of political beliefs who are against President Bush's war. Witnessing the opposition to this war by Americans from all walks of life bolstered my own opposition. I listened to the speakers at the rally, and marched near the White House in protest. I am glad that I did. Because I do not want George W. Bush launching his war against Iraq in my name. And on January 18, 2003, I will return to Washington and do it again. I pray that we are not at war against Iraq at that time.
—James Moloney

I went on the All Souls bus to DC for the No War in Iraq Rally and March because I had to. I had to testify with my body, my heart, and my soul to my gut-deep belief that war is not the way to peace. And I'll go again, wherever, whenever. The other day when I cleaned the dried Mall mud from my March shoes, I left a little in the cracks as a keepsake of that momentous day and our All Souls spirit.
—Peggy Montgomery

Why did I go? Because it's an extension of my ministry and my faith, because I find abhorrent the prospect of a preemptive strike on a country already ravaged by poverty and the fallout of years of warfare for which the U.S. supplied Iraq with ample weaponry to combat a nation then deemed our enemy, because a preemptive strike violates international law, because a war on Iraq would result in thousands, likely hundreds of thousands of deaths, because each person who dies at our hands has inherent worth and dignity however flagrantly we might disagree with the policies of Iraq's head of state, because this is not the way to promote democracy or disarmament, because it is high hypocrisy when we backed off from the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and heavy handed the terms of our participation on the International Criminal Court, because there are so many, so very many, alternatives to defusing the likelihood of Saddam Hussein wreaking havoc on our world, because the immediate and far-reaching consequences are beyond frightening, and because such action violates everything I hold dear. While I realize not everyone shares these sentiments, if I do hold them and do nothing, I face my own culpability in what happens. Even if we turn the heads of our leaders a fraction of a degree, fractions are cumulative. Each one counts. Each of us counts. Each of those whom we deem "them" counts.

Peace,
Jan
—Jan Carlsson-Bull