http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060311/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/hostage_killed This is getting really depressing.
Just being talked about on the 10 PM news here. No news on the others. Condolences to his family, friends, and all other human beings.
As a fellow Quaker, I talk the talk. Tom walked the walk with his peace witness. I hold Tom and his family in the Light.
Heh, shows just how much the insurgents appreciate the peace activists who are against the war. Now if they can only get a hold of Michael Moore....
Don't be a dumb ********. We've lost a good number of peace activisits. Do something positive. Join Sojourners. http://www.sojo.net/ Or do something negative. Post crap like you just did, and laugh when brave, good people are brutally murdered.
This thread is not meant as place for pro-war types to gloat over the death of a Christian peace activist. I mean, every American life lost in Iraq has been "not exactly the best use of one's life...."
What? You don't like the fact that I point out the irony of someone going over there thinking the insurgents will treat him well because he's a peace activist who is against the war. Maybe it's you who is the dumb ********.
It doesn't matter what he was thinking. He went over there as a peace activist thinking he would be treated well and they still killed him because he was American and Christian. *Isn't it ironic, don't you think?* -Alanis Morissette-
Either you have no understanding of the definition of "irony" or no understanding of the message of Jesus Christ.
Really? He went over there thinking he would be treated well? In a warzone? Really? Word? That's what you think? That's your response? Lemme guess, I bet he was suprised he couldn't get his Soy Latte, too, huh? Or that he was mad that he couldn't marry his gay lover. . . You're gloating over the horrible death of a man who was trying to be a voice of calm and peace? Is there an orienation pamplet you get in the mail when you sign up to be an asshole? I mean, it pisses me off when anti-war protestors use military deaths as a reason to be smug and self-congratulatory. THis is just sick, though.
This isn't about JC and I'm not gloating over the guy's death. How are you guys not suprised at the irony that people go over there as peace activists and the people they think they're fighting for.......KILL THEM!?
With every post you sound more and more like you're gloating. If I were you, I'd quit while I was ahead. This is a thread to honor the guy, not to chuckle over his fate. So either respect the purpose of the thread or ******** off. It's simple, really.
It sounds, Orator, like he clearly understood the dangers. And, yet, his true bravery is shown in this quote from him: "Too many are willing to die for war and too few are willing to die for peace." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/30/AR2005113002134.html Call him naive if you like. Someday, however, you'll realize that there are things/causes/meanings that are more important than cheat codes for the latest PS2 games.
Peace activists tend to be extremely well trained, well traveled, and well versed in the ways of the world. He knew where he was going, who he was going to encountered, and what could possibly happen. Tom certainly did not go into his work in Iraq with his eyes "wide shut," but rather went to Iraq attempt to wage peace. My daughter spent a summer in a rural village in Nicaragua. The trip was organized through Los Amigos (http://www.amigoslink.org/), and their training was outstanding. Safety and culture were at the top of list for training. I also spent a year working at Global Exchange (http://globalexchange.org/), where they have various initiatives to promote peace, including Reality Tours. Global Exchange had very strong relationships with Marl Ruzicka and Margaret Hassan. These people were not only brave and committed, but extremely well trained.
What makes you think they were fighting for the people who killed them??? Please stop being the world's biggest tool. TIA.
The facts are he went there on a mission of peace and protested against US aggression in Iraq, something I support also. And he got killed by the very people he was trying to help. That's something call...irony.
I also support the war in Iraq, but I don't for a second think that murdering religious fanatics are the people Fox and others were 'trying to help.' Being against the US military being in Iraq doesn't necessarily mean you are FOR those fighting the US. I don't see anything peaceful about the jihadists and insurgents--who, by the way, have mostly been slaughtering other Iraqis.
There is probably a continuum of people in Iraq, that could possibly follow this taxanomy: 1. terrorists and terrorists-in-training, working to provoke a civil war 2. insurgents of various stripes working to remove foreign occupiers 3. Joe Six-packi Iraqi sympathetic to the insurgents 4. Joe Six-packi Iraqi sympathetic to the occupiers 5. trained Iraqi police and army regulars, working with the occupiers 6. death squads, working to provoke a civil war As a Christian peaceworker, someone like Tom Fox would believe that he is working to help all 6 groups. In fact, group 1 is pretty much sub-human and willing to kill, torture, detain anyone, in order to move forward their agenda. They are the likely ones that killed Tom, and they are a sliver of minority in Iraq. The vast majority of the Iraqi population is in groups 3 and 4, and certainly deserve all the support they can get from Christian peace making organizations. And there is no irony in Tom's case, any more than any other service personnel in Iraq, in that he knew of the dangers going to Iraq.
We Mourn the Loss of Tom Fox In grief we tremble before God who wraps us with compassion. The death of our beloved colleague and friend pierces us with pain. Tom Fox’s body was found in Baghdad yesterday. Christian Peacemaker Teams extends our deep and heartfelt condolences to the family and community of Tom Fox, with whom we have traveled so closely in these days of crisis. We mourn the loss of Tom Fox who combined a lightness of spirit, a firm opposition to all oppression, and the recognition of God in everyone. We renew our plea for the safe release of Harmeet Sooden, Jim Loney and Norman Kember. Each of our teammates has responded to Jesus’ prophetic call to live out a nonviolent alternative to the cycle of violence and revenge. In response to Tom’s passing, we ask that everyone set aside inclinations to vilify or demonize others, no matter what they have done. In Tom’s own words: "We reject violence to punish anyone. We ask that there be no retaliation on relatives or property. We forgive those who consider us their enemies. We hope that in loving both friends and enemies and by intervening nonviolently to aid those who are systematically oppressed, we can contribute in some small way to transforming this volatile situation.” Even as we grieve the loss of our beloved colleague, we stand in the light of his strong witness to the power of love and the courage of nonviolence. That light reveals the way out of fear and grief and war. Through these days of crisis, Christian Peacemaker Teams has been surrounded and upheld by a great outpouring of compassion: messages of support, acts of mercy, prayers, and public actions offered by the most senior religious councils and by school children, by political leaders and by those organizing for justice and human rights, by friends in distant nations and by strangers near at hand. These words and actions sustain us. While one of our teammates is lost to us, the strength of this outpouring is not lost to God’s movement for just peace among all peoples. At the forefront of that support are strong and courageous actions from Muslim brothers and sisters throughout the world for which we are profoundly grateful. Their graciousness inspires us to continue working for the day when Christians speak up as boldly for the human rights of thousands Iraqis still detained illegally by the United States and United Kingdom. Such an outpouring of action for justice and peace would be a fitting memorial for Tom. Let us all join our voices on behalf of those who continue to suffer under occupation, whose loved ones have been killed or are missing. In so doing, we may hasten the day when both those who are wrongly detained and those who bear arms will return safely to their homes. In such a peace we will find solace for our grief. Despite the tragedy of this day, we remain committed to put into practice these words of Jim Loney: “With the waging of war, we will not comply. With the help of God’s grace, we will struggle for justice. With God’s abiding kindness, we will love even our enemies.” We continue in hope for Jim, Harmeet and Norman’s safe return home safe. Contact: Dr. Doug Pritchard, CPT Co-Director 416-423-5525 (Canada) and Rev. Carol Rose, CPT Co-Director Kryss Chupp, 773-277-0253 (USA)