Below is a letter recently submitted by Conscience Canada board member Eric Unger to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dear Mr Harper, Mr Flaherty, and Mr Bruinooge,<\/p>\n
As the violent and tragic events unfold in Syria, I am reminded again of the
\nresults of instructing men in the ways of killing.\u00a0 Can we learn anything
\nfrom these events?\u00a0 It is quite possible, and even logical, to expect that
\nsome day, unless we carefully consider and learn from them today, such
\nhorrific events will take place within our own borders.\u00a0 As military experts
\nprovide overseas instruction and guidance in how to interrogate, torture,
\nand kill fellow human beings, only the blind cannot see that the results of
\nour labours may someday return to haunt us, perhaps repaying us many times
\nover.\u00a0 And who will take the responsibility for such short-sightedness?<\/p>\n
For this reason, I ask you to read the attached note.\u00a0 This is a personal
\nplea, but others hold similar points of view.\u00a0 It is the hope of Conscience
\nCanada that you, now occupying a majority government would quickly enact
\ninto law a PEACE TAX FUND so that those of us who are opposed to the concept
\nthat stronger armies bring a swifter peace may designate, for the sake of
\nour consciences, our hard-earned tax dollars toward more peaceful
\nenterprises.<\/p>\n
I apologize for the length of the attachment, but that may serve to
\ndemonstrate the sincerity of my plea.\u00a0 It is within your power to enact such
\na bill, now!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
My Earnest Plea for a Peace Tax Fund<\/strong> I am among those who believe that one purpose of living a long life is to be My perception of war as a sensible means of human interaction can be summed <\/p>\n Can anything be more stupid than that a man has the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of a river and his ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have not quarreled with him?<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I fully understand that there are those whose hopes and aspirations are I ask you to consider the following seven quotes, from among dozens, taken <\/p>\n <\/p>\n If my soldiers would really think, not one of them would remain in the<\/em> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The more I study the history of the world, the more I am convinced of the<\/em> \u2013Napoleon Bonaparte <\/p>\n My first wish is to see this plague on mankind [war] banished from the<\/em> \u2013 George Washington <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I confess without shame that I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all<\/em> \u2013 General W. T. Sherman <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The object of military training is to win battles . . . . . bayonet<\/em> \u2013\u201cManual of Military Training,\u201d by Colonel James A. Moss, U.S.A., and Major <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And those that killed and maimed these boys of ours, and whom our boys<\/em> \u2013 Editorial article, <\/p>\n <\/p>\n An army exists to kill men, when ordered, in the nation\u2019s quarrel,<\/em> \u2013 An army officer, Christian Century, March 11, 1926<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With which of these voices would you disagree?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I do not wish to be among those who cannot hear the past voices of wisdom, Since you are now in a majority government, it would be an easy thing to Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. It is appreciated.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sincerely,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Eric Unger <\/p>\n PS: An additional quote from a former president of the United States, D.D. <\/p>\n I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, as only one can who has<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Below is a letter recently submitted by Conscience Canada board member Eric Unger to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance: Dear Mr Harper, Mr Flaherty, and Mr Bruinooge, As the violent and tragic events unfold in Syria, I am reminded again of the results of instructing men in the ways of killing.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-promote-peace"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.consciencecanada.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.consciencecanada.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.consciencecanada.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.consciencecanada.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.consciencecanada.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=596"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/test.consciencecanada.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":719,"href":"https:\/\/test.consciencecanada.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596\/revisions\/719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.consciencecanada.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.consciencecanada.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.consciencecanada.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nIn many African cultures, where the wisdom of the aged is still held in high
\nesteem, there are three groups of people: the living (with whom we interact
\nin the course of our work and play), the living dead (with whom we once
\ninteracted, but who have recently \u2013 within our lifetimes \u2013 passed away and
\nremain fresh in our memories), and the dead dead (with whom we have never
\ninteracted, but whose pilgrimage on earth has been recorded). Each group
\npasses on its wisdom to succeeding generations, often through proverbs.<\/p>\n
\nable to pass along to the next generation any wisdom learned in the present
\none. I believe we would do well to listen to those whose speak from
\nexperience. Why should Canadians, and the Canadian government deliberately
\nchoose to ignore the wisdom learned by the forefathers?<\/p>\n
\nup in a quote from Blaise Pascal, who was not only a very logical thinker,
\nbut also a person of deep faith:<\/p>\n
\nclosely connected to conquest and battle, and who hold other points of view.
\nBut I submit my plea on behalf of those who believe as I do, that war is NOT
\nthe solution to international disputes.<\/p>\n
\nfrom \u201cSymposium on War\u201d compiled by John Horsch and published by Mennonite
\nPeace Problems Committee in 1927. Those speaking are the dead dead, pleading
\nfrom the grave that we would exercise wisdom in order to prevent the
\nimmeasurable suffering that war brings on soldier and civilian, nation and
\nplanet, alike.<\/p>\n
\nranks.<\/em>
\n\u2013Frederick the Great
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
\ninability of brute force to create anything durable.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
\nearth and, although it is against the profession of arms and would clip the<\/em>
\nwings of some young soldiers soaring after glory, to see the whole world at<\/em>
\npeace and the inhabitants striving who could contribute most to the<\/em>
\nhappiness of mankind.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
\nmoonshine. It is only those who have neither heard a shot nor heard the<\/em>
\nshrieks and groans of the wounded, who cry aloud for more blood, more<\/em>
\nvengeance, more desolation . . . War is hell.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
\nfighting is only possible because red-blooded men naturally possess the<\/em>
\nfighting instinct. This inherent desire to fight and kill must be carefully<\/em>
\nwatched for and encouraged by the instructor.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nJohn W. Lang, U.S.A.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
\nwere so carefully trained to harm and destroy, scarcely knew what it was all<\/em>
\nabout, never knew each other and had no personal grudge of any kind \u2013 just a<\/em>
\nwild, organized orgy of murder and venom in the name of \u201cpatriotism,\u201d in the<\/em>
\ncause of \u201cglorious war\u201d, and all of us so blithely, smugly, sacrilegiously<\/em>
\nsure the Lord, the Prince of Peace, was on our side.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nLos Angeles Times, July 30, 1922
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
\nirrespective of its justice. It should train its men to a single end. If we<\/em>
\nobject to any of our citizens thus specializing on murderous and unchristian<\/em>
\nactivities, we should abolish the army. If we want an army, we should<\/em>
\nrecognize it for what it is. We should not tell lies about its being a<\/em>
\nschool of citizenship or manual training.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nand I choose to object to organized conflict. Since the government accepts
\nmy position as a conscientious objector to war, it would be reasonable for
\nit to understand that neither do I wish my taxes to support war.<\/p>\n
\ntake just a brief moment to introduce and enact a bill to establish a Peace
\nTax fund for others who, like me, would prefer that our hard-earned tax
\ndollars be put to peaceful purposes.<\/p>\n
\nMember of Conscience Canada<\/p>\n
\nEisenhower, who intimately understood what war is all about, and shares his
\nwisdom from the grave:<\/p>\n
\nseen its brutality, its stupidity.<\/em><\/p>\n