WHAT KEEPS THE PENGUINS MARCHING TOGETHER?
REFLECTIONS ON THE PEACE TASK FORCE OF ALL SOULS

Adapted from a speech delivered to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Briarcliff, Croton and Ossining, October 9, 2005
— by Hanan Watson

The popular, recent film, “March of the Penguins,” powerfully demonstrates how the penguins in Antarctica living in brutal, frigid weather march together for love and survival. The penguins go to extreme lengths to survive, marching more than 70 miles back and forth from the water’s edge to the designated mating location, with the sole purpose of perpetuating themselves through procreation. They risk dying from cold and starvation and some of the young are killed by predators.

As I watched this film, I was struck by the fierce drive for survival as well as the meaninglessness of the penguin’s life, which seems solely driven by survival and self-perpetuation. I was also bemused by the way they all went in lockstep together without ever questioning why.

The drive toward survival and self-perpetuation is not unique to penguins. Human beings have an equally strong drive. Where we can differentiate ourselves is by thinking about what we do. If we commit to self-perpetuation in its narrowest sense, our values may range from selfishness, to racism, to the belief that our survival depends on the destruction of others. A thoughtful person would understand that self-perpetuation cannot be limited to oneself, one’s family, or even to one’s nation. It must be inclusive not only of the entire human race, but also of our entire planet. Under the best scenario, this approach to self-perpetuation would translate into peace, value of human life, respect for human rights, caring for the earth and the entire planet; there is no room for war, strife or hunger; everyone’s survival depends on everyone else’s; and we march together to make this happen. In the worst-case scenario, we think exclusively of our own individual or national survival. This translates into competitiveness, greed, excessive nationalism, exploitation, and a warped sense of patriotism. Taking it to its logical extreme, while desperately trying to perpetuate ourselves, we may unwittingly bring about our self-destruction instead.

The Peace Task Force, today, would more accurately be named the Peace Education Task Force. Our mission is to present programs to the congregation and the public that increase awareness of current events, present analyses that throw a new and different light on these events, and expand our thinking beyond reports presented by the mainstream media. By awakening their passion through education, we believe that individuals are more likely to make choices that uphold principles of justice, diplomacy and human dignity. Leaders and activists may emerge through this process.

The task force was founded in early 2002, in response to the fear-driven environment created by 9/11, to create a safe space for conversation. It has since grown into an educational group that holds events with recognized speakers, attracting 70-250 people per event. We continue to encourage questions and discussion. We collaborate with other groups on many of our events and this helps grow our audience and widens our circle of contacts to attract good speakers. We have a web site and our listserv now includes more than 600 members. A discussion board, open to all who wish to participate, can be accessed through the web site.

One of the major challenges facing progressive activist groups is to affirm in our own behavior the principles we are fighting for—peace, cooperation, democracy and justice. The Peace Task Force aims to live by these values; we are mindful of the need to work together and to respect differences when they arise. We make our decisions by consensus rather than vote so that there are no winners or losers. I encourage everyone to be heard and final decisions are driven by the sentiment of the group and incorporate any reservations that have been expressed. Our biggest challenge is to turn the Peace Task Force into a sustainable organization by identifying individuals who are willing to take on leadership responsibilities.

While we continue to face challenges, we are marching forward together. We have defined our mission and goals. We continue to develop the organization. We celebrate our successes and learn from our failures and, above all, we try to live by the principles we espouse and demand of other people, our national and world leaders.

We continue our march.