The Pittsburgh peacemaker

My friend (I’ll call him Zach) gets deployed to Iraq today. Only he’s not in any branch of the military. This young Pittsburgh native is a non-paid participant with Christian Peacemaker Teams.

CPT is an organization that is dedicated to being in dangerous situations and documenting what goes on. It has been noted that human rights abuses take place less often when a third party is watching. Their motto is simply this: “Getting in the Way.”

Initiated by Mennonites, Brethren, and Quakers—but with broad ecumenical participation—CPT’s ministry of biblically based peacemaking emphasizes creative public observation, nonviolent direct action, and protection of human rights.

They are sort of a non-partisan referee. Instead of a whistle, however, they have a clipboard to write down what happens. They don’t call fouls, they simply send their reports back to CPT for the world to read.

I’m impressed with them for a number of reasons:

1. They do not proselytize. Although their motives are faith-driven, they are not on a religious mission, but a humanitarian one.
2. They only go places when asked. They don’t force themselves into conflicts.
3. On their Website, they pose the question: What would happen if Christians devoted the same discipline and self-sacrifice to nonviolent peacemaking that armies devote to war?

CPT began as part of a challenge that Ron Sider gave to a Mennonite conference in France in 1984. He said,

“Now is the time to risk everything for our belief that Jesus is the way to peace. If we still believe it, now is the time to live what we have spoken….

“We must be prepared to die by the thousands. Those who believed in peace through the sword have not hesitated to die. Proudly, courageously, they gave their lives. Again and again, they sacrificed bright futures to the tragic illusion that one more righteous crusade would bring peace in their time, and they laid down their lives by the millions.

“Unless we…are ready to start to die by the thousands in dramatic vigorous new exploits for peace and justice, we should sadly confess that we never really meant what we said, and we dare never whisper another word about pacifism to our sisters and brothers in those desperate lands filled with injustice. Unless we are ready to die developing new nonviolent attempts to reduce conflict, we should confess that we never really meant that the cross was an alternative to the sword.”

So, Zach leaves today for the Kurdish regions of Iraq and Turkey where he will spend four months documenting conditions at Kurdish refugee camps. Then, in May, he will spend two months in Palestine where he will basically be walking kids to school who have been threatened and harassed by Israeli settlers. Again, Zach is not taking sides, except for the side of nonviolence. He returns to Pittsburgh in mid-July.

Is it dangerous work? Well, just being there is danger enough. But some members of CPT have been kidnapped by those who would prefer that they not witness and document. If there were no danger, there would be no need to “get in the way.” So, yes, it is dangerous for a young man in his mid-20s. But Zach has no wife or children, and he’s firm in the conviction that even if the worst would occur, there is no other cause for which he would rather give his life (including raising a family or working in a cubicle somewhere).

Whether or not you agree with his cause, you have to admire the courage of convictions that says, “I’m not just going to talk a good game. I’m going to do something about it. I’m going to live my convictions. I’m going to risk my life for the cause of peace and nonviolence in the world.”

Obviously this is something you can do when you don’t have family, career, mortgage payments, and insurance premiums. It’s not for everybody. It’s not for most. But it is for Zach. As we met yesterday for a farewell beer (probably his last for some time), I gave him a check for the support he was still in the process of raising, we talked about what he’d be doing and what might come afterward, and I urged him to journal feverishly about the people, foods, customs, and events he would be experiencing. I also told him to keep his head down. He appreciated the sentiment, but then he wouldn’t be “getting in the way.”

If you want to follow our Pittsburgh Peacekeeper over the next six months, I’ll be linking to his blog on my sidebar. In the meantime, I will be praying that he has an amazing mission and that we will be meeting for another beer in late July.