Speaking out in silence...

- Pendle Hill Class of 2005/6 -

Dear friends,

Warm greetings from CK, particularly to Jiae!
Thank you for the e-mail which reminds me again of the faces I met at Pendle Hill.

As the season turns to another Fall here, I recollect this morning of the Autumn days at Pendle Hill and the cool air and silence at the sanctuary I felt in a morning.

Since I left Pendle Hill, I was invited to Union Theological Seminary in Manila, Philippines, Tainan Theological Seminary in Taiwan, and Chinese University of Hong Kong. I spent one semester in each institution. Now I am teaching here in Chinese University of Hong Kong.

I have been a sojourner to my students and friends in Asia, seeing things little bit differently from my own perspective formulated through my past experiences. I saw thousands of suffering Asian people in Asia. I heard from my students about the sad history of western imperial colonization inflicted suffering upon Asian people. Now a new wave of capitalism has hit them again, forcing them into greedy competition. Greedy competition leads us to apathy as imperialists and colonizers did. So we are forced to become small colonizers to other Asians.

I had an opportunity to visit Okinawa two weeks ago. My Quaker friend, Takashi invited me to come to Okinawa. I went there to meet him and to learn Okinawan peace movement against the existence of an American Huge airbase. I never saw that kind of huge airbase. It was a symbol of American Empire, demonstrating its perception of "order" in its expansionism to the end of the world, coercive power, and subjection of others. America is going to build this kind of base in Pyung Taik, Korea!

I am deeply saddened to see the reality of American imperial militarism, even in a beautiful Okinawa, very far east in Asia! America has near 800 bases all around the world. Is America a fighter for freedom, as American Christian fundamentalists proudly believe, against all kinds of terror? America occupied this land before 1945. Militarism is, to me, a simple notion against humanity. It is apparently the successor of Roman Empire in modern era. In Philippines, I saw the American Embassy located in a beautiful seaside, armed with Tanks. But I cannot stop questioning that what they are doing in Philippines when 750 people were killed out of juridical killing during the last year. In Sri Lanka, the situation is worse. In last year, more than 850 families lost their beloved fathers or sons killed brutally out of juridical killing, well designed by hidden hands of domineering people. I do wish you all remember this situation while you pray.

Recently I renamed my "center for Christin social ethics" "Center for Human Rights and Peace in Asia." This is one of my conclusion that I am obliged to do something to work for peace in solidarity with suffering people in Asia. I opened my blog, peaceinasia. blogspot.com for sharing information and thought with my friends and students. Even though there is a clear limitation with my English, my blog is using bilingual: Korean and English. I invite you to visit. There you might notice that I am very much indebted to the spirituality of Pendle Hill. There I learned a radical notion of silence which does not admit any kind of violence. The teachers of Pendle Hill taught me that violence resides in language, system, dogma, ideology and even in our self interests for surviving. I feel always happy whenever I think of each of all, and of every corner of Pendle Hill I used to take a walk during my days at Pendle Hill.

I will not name each of you, but all of you are in my heart!
Wherever you are, stay in the Light!

CK