KATHY Kelly (Centrepoint, CL 23/10/11) puts a human face to those so conveniently dismissed by the propaganda machines as “collateral damage or an unfortunate error”.
The face is that of a child sleeping peacefully, a mother on a visit to market, a brother running to help a wounded friend, a father mourning his family, a youngster in a swimming pool.
The face of our brother and sister, our mother and father: the faces of humanity. Each of us is personally diminished by the death of another human being.
So, The Catholic Leader posits that “the vast majority of the populace might find your ways of protest too radical”.
Planting maize on the lid of an atomic missile bunker seems rather more wholesome than radical! That was Kathy’s protest.
On the other hand, the punishment for trespass – a year in maximum security – might be regarded as a tad unconscionable.
Shouldn’t The Leader rather write to its readers “What kind of protest is needed to lift your conscience to a level which demands an end to the slaughter of innocents?”
Or maybe, “Why do the Christian Churches in Australia speak so quietly about the violent deaths of so many of our neighbours?” and “Which of Christ’s teachings encourage American Churches to support the American War Industry so strongly?”
FRANK BURROWS
North Sydney, NSW
