* Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Most people in the United States will agree in theory to Article 3. Yet day to day living in some of the poorest areas of any large city would give lie to such agreement, as protections for these rights is limited at best. Police protection, and even fire protection, are often less available and less prompt than in more wealthy parts of the city. In metropolitan areas, if one is African-American, Latino, or Native American, just driving through a high-end suburb could result in a traffic stop and search, with the implicit threat of being beaten or worse. And, in war zones, no one's rights to life, liberty or security of person are protected.
Bill Moyers Journal, the PBS television show, devoted last night's edition to "The Good Soldier." I was able to watch the last half of the program in which four men from different wars, World War II, the Viet Nam War, and the current Gulf War, talked about their experiences of war. They revealed its aftermath in their lives upon returning home, and the years of recovery needed after they participated in killing. They discussed their current commitment to end wars. It touched my heart to see men confess what they had done, and then talk about what the effects of their experiences and actions in war were on their own lives. It was the killing of innocents and the deaths of friends that haunted them. Feeling himself turn into an "animal," as one man named it, required years of therapy and self-inquiry, plus a public commitment against war, before he could live more easily with himself. I was encouraged by their articulation of the many reasons to stop the current U.S. wars and avoid warfare in the future.
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