In Consideration of Peace
In Consideration of Peace
by Monica Benderman
Not long ago I had the opportunity to visit Washington DC to present statements at a Congressional Briefing hosted for the purpose of helping people to better understand the definition of Conscientious Objection. Washington is the political capital of our country, and the politics are evident these days. At every opportunity protestors participate in rallies and marches, all making political statements and pushing their organizations’ agendas, vying for the best opportunity to ensnare the greatest public notice for their cause. Perhaps it has always been this way, perhaps my childhood memories are memories I want to have, not the realistic vision I should have. Does it matter? I have to wonder why the vision we have can’t be the vision that is real.
My vision of Washington, the childhood memory, is that this city encompasses, above all others, the true history and heritage of the United States of America. I remember walking along the mall, stopping at the reflecting pool and taking time to “reflect” on the images mirrored in its surface.
I remember reading the inscriptions on the Lincoln Memorial, feeling the presence of proud spirit at the monuments honoring our veterans from the World Wars, Korea, and Viet Nam.
I remember the sense of awe at what these Americans had fought for – they said it was for all of us – but how few of us seem to care.
The Library of Congress houses every book Americans have written.
The Smithsonian honors our accomplishments from the greatest to the smallest – from journeys to the far reaches of space, to the history of the farmers who overcame great hardship, risking everything they had to help build our heartland to provide the sustaining resources the people of this country would need.
Above all, the memory most vivid is the swinging pendulum standing before the first American flag. I remember waiting for the time that the “magical doors” would open giving a momentary glimpse of a treasure from the beginnings of a new country – the doors closing far too quickly. But then maybe there’s more to it than simple preservation of an historic relic; just as a fleeting glimpse of the original Declaration of Independence calls to mind the same thought. Maybe that is all we are shown of this history, because it is really all the time we care to give to this history – to our history – a nation some people still choose to call the “land of the free.”
I sat on a bench at the end of the reflecting pool on my last visit to Washington, and I realized that I wanted our history back. I wanted people to see the National Park I now sat in, those monuments to the sacrifice and courageous efforts of millions of United States citizens, as a place of peace. I wanted the citizens of this country to give respect to what we once were, and to stop and reflect on the laws our founding fathers worked so hard to weave into the framework of the Constitution they believed would keep us free.
The United States of America was founded on the blood, sweat and tears of people who fought for freedom – freedom to live with the rights that all people deserve. This country was not established as an anarchy – those first Americans did not declare their independence from laws or from being governed. The revolutionaries of our War for Independence fought for the right to establish a new country; one governed by laws based on humanity, and the freedoms afforded by respecting the rights of humanity- not the rights of the chosen few.
Sitting at the reflecting pool, listening to the protestors and the speakers, I could not see the country we had been in any of their actions – I could only see the country we had become.
People say our soldiers fought, and continue to fight for our freedom. I say – our soldiers have no choice – our citizens give them no choice. We were once a nation of laws, we have now become a nation that has lost sight of the freedoms our laws had given, and the service of our soldiers and veterans will become an endless sacrifice if our citizens continue to grow more committed to the belief that our world is their world, and our laws only interfere with their individual rights; forgetting that by demanding individual rights, we are also committing ourselves to respecting the rights of others – we should be anyway.
Our founding fathers gave us laws because they knew the weaknesses of human beings. Without laws, there is only chaos. Looking into the reflecting pool, as a myriad of protestors stood shouting for their individual rights, what was mirrored back was not the peace our founding fathers hoped for as they signed their names to the Constitution they so painstakingly prepared, but the chaos they envisioned if their work had not been done.
Eleven months ago, Sgt. Kevin Benderman was sent to military prison, convicted of the charge of Missing Movement or failure to get on a plane. He was never given an order to do so, but the command found a way to avoid following the law – in many cases to completely disregard the law, justifying it by claiming that they never knew the law – and my husband was sent to jail for something he did not do. Through his entire 10 years of service to this country, Kevin was a dedicated soldier, defending our Constitution by obeying commands, fulfilling every duty and serving honorably in Iraq. He defended the Constitution, the document which supported his actions when he legally used military regulation 600-43 to file a Conscientious Objection to his further participation in war; thus exercising his freedom of choice in an even greater spirit of Truth than when he had done so by going to war.
Kevin continues to face retribution for his actions, even as he serves out a sentence for a conviction based on his command’s incompetence and disregard for the law. Inmates at the “corrections facility” where Kevin is confined live in chaos, never knowing when they will be given a Disciplinary Report and “corrective actions.” They are never given a true understanding of the reasons, because the “good order” demanded by law is not maintained when a command believes it can interpret the law at its own whim, bending, re-wording and manipulating rules based on a false sense of power. Kevin adheres to the regulations legally supported by our nation’s Constitution, not the rules as he or his command interpret them. This is not always a popular choice, but it is the law, and for adhering to the law, Kevin is punished by those who have admitted to not even knowing what that law is.
We are a nation of laws, and it is our laws that give us freedom -- NOT our soldiers, nor waging wars in foreign countries where people might threaten us. Our laws were created because people do not have enough respect for freedom, nor enough understanding of freedom to allow freedom for all without our laws.
Our soldiers volunteer to defend our Constitution, our laws – and therefore our freedom. The complete disregard for our laws now evident in the actions of people from every range of the political spectrum is a travesty and disrespectful of the sacrifice made by those who have had the courage to put their lives on the line to defend the laws that keep us all free.
Sgt. Kevin Benderman chose to exercise his moral and ethical choice in a manner that is supported by the laws of our country. He is proud of the principles by which he has chosen to live. He did not choose to run from his conscience, he did not choose to hide it in “safe haven.” He stood proudly for his beliefs. He faced the injustice given to him with his head high – knowing that his actions defended the integrity of the vision our founding fathers had for a country they hoped would be a beacon of freedom – a country built on laws that allow all of us the right to peace.
There was no peaceful memory from my time near the reflecting pool in Washington DC on this last visit. There was sadness brought by the demonstration of disrespect for the history that stood in the shadows of a thousand different people speaking over each other demanding their rights, as they disrupted the memory of millions of Americans who had used the freedoms our Constitution allowed, and as soldiers of war and soldiers of peace, let their conscience lead them in service – their actions, not their words, defending the Laws on which our nation was founded.
Monica Benderman is the wife of Sgt. Kevin Benderman, currently serving a 15-month sentence for Missing Movement, at the RCF, Ft. Lewis, WA – an American soldier and a Conscientious Objector to war and the direction this country is currently heading.
Please visit www.BendermanDefense.org and www.BendermanTimeline.com for more information.
Monica and Kevin may be reached at mdawnb@coastalnow.net
