Earlier this week, Hamid Karzai confirmed that the United States will build nine new military bases in Afghanistan, including a strategic base at the border with Iran, with White House spokesman Jay Carney assuring us that these nine new bases will not be permanent. Their role will mainly be to strengthen and train the Afghan… read more
Metta Blog
Reimagining the Boston lockdown: from SWAT team to peace teams
By Michael Nagler and Stephanie Van Hook Originally posted at Waging Nonviolence on May 11, 2013 The aftermath of the bombing of the Boston marathon last month. (Flickr/Rebecca Hildreth) In all the confusion and outrage about the bombings at the Boston Marathon there has been little comment about the lockdown that followed — what does… read more
The Philippine Peace Agreement: Let’s Maintain Diligence
By S. Francesca Po, Metta Center Strategic Advisory Council member. She is currently a doctoral student of Theology and Religious Studies at King’s College London, where she is teaching modules on Buddhism. Edited and originally posted at Open Democracy on May 1, 2013. Last year, the Philippine government struck a historic peace deal with the Islamist rebels. But… read more
Download the four sessions of the Roadmap Course
We recently hosted a four-week telecourse on nonviolence, activism and the Roadmap. You can download the four sessions by topic below: the first session on Nonviolence with Michael Nagler, please click this link and the download will begin the second session on Roadmap, please click this link and the download will begin. the third session on the New Story, please… read more
Women and Combat
by Michael Nagler, originally posted on Feb. 4, in Tikkun Daily. Alongside horrifying pictures from the New York Times showing very young boys being trained to fire assault rifles (“Selling a New Generation on Guns”) comes the news, welcome in some quarters, that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ordered the military to admit women to full combat… read more
Feminist Spiritual Politics: Getting Personal About Gun Control
The personal is the political, has always struck me as incomplete. It was Teilhard de Chardin who first said “we are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” The ‘personal is the political’ assumes an incomplete worldview, a cosmology of separation where the individual is forced to turn… read more
Memorial for a Martyr
When I was studying ancient Greek history many (many) years ago, it dawned on me that a nation rises and falls on the way that it treats its outstanding people, who are often its most important critics. By this standard, and by many others, the vital signs of America are not encouraging. According to an… read more
Heeding the Warnings
Eknath Easwaran, the wisest man I had the privilege of knowing in my life, once said, “There is no nation, no matter how powerful, that cannot be destroyed by hate.” The latest tragedy – and I sincerely hope it will still be the latest when you read this – has been unparalleled in its violence. … read more
In response to the Newtown massacre: a spiritual practice
We have not used this blog heretofore to recommend a spiritual practice, but felt called upon to offer something to the many who have come to this site or otherwise contacted us. In the days to come, as we process our grief, there will inevitably be a current of fear that deters us perhaps from… read more
From Misogyny to Murder: A Feminist Perspective on the Connecticut Shootings
By Stephanie Van Hook (syndicated through PeaceVoice) *** When reading about the murders in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday, one point in particular stood out to me as a woman: Adam Lanza killed his mother. This point reveals something essential about the nature of all violence and gives a clue as to why these horrific events take… read more