My hometown is in Cornwall, Ontario. I used to hate this town, and couldn't wait to get away and find greener pastures. Recently, however, I've come to understand that it has a special place in my heart that can move me deeply in an instant. A story I read today on cbc.ca was one of those moments.Today, at the border a blockade was set up by people from Akwesasne First Nation, shutting the border crossing at Cornwall. The blockade was set up to protest the arming of Customs Officers at the border with 9 mm handguns. As a Christian who has been thinking a lot about peacemaking, this situation appalls me.
First of all, I am always against arming people for the sake of "security". In the end guns will always make things less secure by adding tension to already tense situations.
Secondly, arming guards on land our country has designated as Mohawk Territory feels an awful lot like an armed occupation. If Canada has taken any steps forward in reversing colonialism, this is definitely a step backwards.
Christians need to speak up in situations like these. Below are some articles and a petition. Pray and consider whether you should take action.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/NoGunsForCBSA/index.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2009/06/01/akwesasne-guards-border-guns001.html
http://www.akwesasne.ca/news/PR052909a.html
7 comments:
"Christians need to speak up in situations like these"Really? But I think the border guards should be armed. And I don't think the presence of armed law enforcement officers automatically escalates the tension within any given situation. And I don't think the Mohawk are suffering much under the, ahem, "occupation" and don't believe this has anything whatsoever to do with "colonialism".
So... can I still be Christian?
At first I was confused at the action to close the border, but when I heard the Mohawk peoples explain their point of view it made total sense. Sure, arm the border guards, but not when they're on native land.
yes you can still be a christian. We'll have to disagree there.
Whoops, I mean we'll just have to disagree on this political point. However, I don't believe I said anything that would imply someone was not a Christian because they didn't agree with my stance. You are entitled to your opinion.
Can you still be a Christian if you use a picture from cbc.ca without permission or attribution?
Wait a minute ... are these comments being moderated? It was the beard comment, wasn't it?
Whoops. Yes, the picture was from CBC. I probably should be more careful with that sort of thing.
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