The Department of War
U.S. President Trump’s renaming (unofficially, since only Congress can officially rename it) of the U.S. Department of Defense to the Department of War – its previous name prior to 1947 – glorifies war as something that’s acceptable. Naturally, we have a negative reaction on those grounds.
Still, that department really was always mainly a department of war, and “defense” was a euphemism that covered over an ugly reality. It was a word used to deceive people into supporting arms buildups as a virtue, rather than as what they really are: preparation for mass killing.
Here’s the question: are people, including legislators, who are willing to throw billions of dollars at “defense” (and then decry how more needs to be spent) going to have the same attitude if the dollars are going to a Department of War? Would the warmongers lose the advantage that they gained from using the euphemism of “defense” in the first place?
If so, this could actually in retrospect be a mark of progress toward ending war. If not, then the positive support for war without euphemisms could cause a lot of damage.
Genocide in Sudan
This article in The New York Times details the outrages currently going on in Sudan:
The arms suppliers are mainly the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Turkey, and Russia. But the article makes the case that other countries can still be more proactive in prevention. Also, the U.S. Trump administration has cut humanitarian aid, a big problem in most countries but especially here.
Resources: Problems at Planned Parenthood
In addition to having added much more material, as explained in this week’s blog post, the Problems at Planned Parenthood website has added PDFs that give a printable version of the problems (or can be used as an email attachment, or posted on another website), mainly in states with the most horrific problems:
Also, the book version for the entire United States will have a second edition coming out soon. It will be half again as long as the first edition – 270+ pages. Anyone who would like more information can contact: info@problemsatplannedparenthood.org.
The Latest on the Blog
Rachel MacNair has been working on documenting problems at Planned Parenthood for some time. Recently she came across a treasure trove of lawsuits, mainly malpractice and labor complaints. She details this in Grievances against Planned Parenthood: Extensive Documentation
Quote of the Week
Vatican Council II
Gaudium et Spes, page 27, December 7, 1965
Whatever is opposed to life itself, such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, or willful self-destruction, whatever violates the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation, torments inflicted on body or mind, attempts to coerce the will itself; whatever insults human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children; as well as disgraceful working conditions, where people are treated as mere instruments of gain rather than as free and responsible persons; all these things and others like them are infamies indeed. They poison human society, and they do more harm to those who practice them than to those who suffer from the injury.