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Friday, November 9, 2012

A Letter to the White House



The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington, D.C. 20500
November 9, 2012
Dear Mr. President,

Congratulations to you and Vice-President Biden on your recent re-election.  I was pleased to cast my vote for you in this, and the previous election. I believe in the vision of America that you have described – where we, together, all of us, make this country strong.

I pray for you and your staff as you face the challenges and difficulties of the office to which the American people have elected you.  I pray also for your family; that they would be a source of comfort and peace for you, and that you would continue to be a loving husband and father to them.

But, Mr. President, I am also writing to plead with you to live up to the ideals valued in the Nobel Peace Prize that you have been awarded. 

Mr. President, the strength of our nation is not to be found in our military, but in the strength of our values.  The biblical psalmist says that “some trust in chariots and horses” (Psalm 20:7) – in the armored vehicles of war in the ancient world, but this trust is misplaced.  The anointed leader, the psalmist says, puts his trust in the name of the Lord God. 

We do not make the world a safer place with unending wars.  We cannot end terrorism with remote controlled attack drones.  We cannot afford the ever increasing militarism of the United States.  We cannot continue to spend billions on weapons of war, while ignoring the poor among us.  To quote President Eisenhower, “This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.”

One of the reasons that I voted for you in 2008 was that you opposed the war in Iraq.  And I have watched as you have brought to an end our involvement there.  I anticipate that you will continue to work towards a conclusion to our involvement in Afghanistan as well.  But I would urge you to do more to halt the rampant militarism of the United States.  Cut back the amount of military spending – every gun, and tank, and attack drone that is made is a theft from hungry children and struggling families.

Prove to us, and to the world, that you are a supporter of peace.

Thank you.
Sincerely,
Jeff Carter







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