[This piece was originally published in the Lent 2011 issue of La Amistad, newsletter of the Amistad Catholic Worker.]
by Mark Colville
The Amistad Catholic Worker is holding a weekly vigil at the Federal Building in downtown New Haven, every Tuesday beginning on March 15th, from 4:30-5:30pm. We are joining the efforts of a broad coalition of New Haven-based organizations dedicated to using each day of the month leading up to Tax Day (April 15) to cry out: THESE ENDLESS WARS ARE KILLING US!
Indeed, in addition to the daily atrocities and indiscriminate killing which have become the norm for our nation’s military interventions, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq alone are estimated to cost taxpayers $28.5 billion a month! This money is not even counted in the regular military budget of $1trillion for FY 2011; it is discretionary spending that does not appear on the government’s ledger. For New Haven alone, the cost in terms of allocated dollars lost is $28 million dollars this year. Meanwhile in Wisconsin as well as New Haven and elsewhere, we witness an unrelenting attack on working people and unions; teachers, healthcare workers, firefighters and cops are vilified in public discourse and the media for fighting for a fair wage, pension and health coverage.
What better time than Lent to stand up and say: ENOUGH! Repent! Stop the killing, and stop the robbery! Our Tuesday vigils will place particular emphasis on the immorality of war, including the use of unmanned drones, which have wrought terror and untold bloodshed throughout Afghanistan, Pakistan and Gaza. We urge you to join us, and if you’d like to help with the organizing or make signs or leaflets, please call Mark Colville at (203)415-5896. For a calendar of daily events, go to http://bit.ly/hAOAbU. ~
Amistad Catholic Worker 