Bodies, Bodies, Bodies

Have you ever heard this military cadence?

'Throw another hand grenade,
look at what a mess I made,
Cuz all I ever want to see,
are bodies, bodies, bodies.'

It's to the tune of 'put another nickel in the nickelodeon,' which some of us know better as the theme to the Looney Tunes.

I learned this song from my dean and preaching professor in our first class together this past week; it had haunted him since he had first heard it in 1991, sung by a group of soldiers out running not far from our seminary. This was at the time the first real news of the horrors of our actions in Iraq was coming to light--how not-smart our weaponry really was, and how many civilians were dying due to the destruction of infrastructure and the sanctions.

The song and its terrible lyrics haven't been too far from my mind since. It hasn't been too far from the minds of my classmates either--I've been hearing them hum it in the hallways, and seeing them startle at realizing what they're doing. Catchy song; lyrics that capture some very uncomfortable truths. [More troubling cadences are catalogued on this blog]:

http://thegreenautomobile.blogspot.com/2006/07/hadji-girl_04.html

While the dean was preaching about this song and its impact; I was there in the room three feet away and also on the other side of the world--back in Baghdad, picturing the Iraqi bodies, bodies, bodies that I saw during my human rights work there. Thinking also how hard a time we US citizens have in admitting that our soldiers do kill, that they do commit human rights abuses. How is it that we simply cannot connect what we've done to the Iraqi people, with the atrocities that are happening there now?

You could say I'm a firm believer in contextual education. I am headed to DC in a few more weeks with a number of classmates from the six seminaries in our neighborhood of Hyde Park in Chicago. We are joining the Christian Peace Witness to Stop the War in Iraq, March 16th at the National Cathedral and at the White House overnight. We are also preparing ourselves individually and as a group for nonviolent civil disobedience. I am glad seminary students are ready to mobilize on this issue. You are welcome to join us: www.christianpeacewitness.org.

We can be co-creators in a new world and new global relationships. In the meantime, let us not forget to write new songs.