Excerpt from a recent conversation between a local columnist and a random student somewhere in the BMC:

-“What are you doing again?”

-“We are shooting priests.”

-“You’re shooting priests? Would it be dangerous to ask why?”

Sounds pretty ridiculous, doesn’t it? I mean, this is more ridiculous than those billboards showing Lassie and some of her friends smoking Camels. But the conversation still stands. Yes, on Nov. 16, some fellow students and I are going to act like we are shooting priests. THIS IS NOT A FORM OF PROTEST. WE DEFINITELY WOULD TEND TO SIDE WITH THE PRO-PRIEST MOVEMENT (if there were one). In fact we think that it is horrible to shoot priests and are working indirectly to stop it.

The important part of the above excerpt is the sentence where our unidentified student asks why we are shooting priests. The reason is partially explained when our eyes are opened to the knowledge that such a conversation might not seem so ridiculous in some other places in the world, and that disturbs us, just as it might disturb you-if you happen to be fond of any priests. OK, let me see if I can rummage around and bring this all to a point, which I am sure you are eagerly anticipating.

Besides the questions about why we are going to “act” like we are killing priests, people who have read my thoughts about the School of the Americas (SOA) have begun to ask questions. The most important question by far has been, “Why are you making such a big deal out of this? Even after its defeat there will still be poverty and war in Central and South America. So what is the point?”

It is this question I would like to address here. Though, before I start out, I would like to point out that all the views here are mine, and no, I don’t watch the X-Files. Also, I believe that all of my points can be backed up by looking at our relations with the countries below us with a sociological and political viewpoint.

What is the purpose of the SOA? To train the armies of the countries in Central and South America. Why would we want to do that? That answer is simple, playing such a role in the military development of these countries allows us to have some influence over the most powerful force in these regions. At the time of the SOA’s founding, we sought that control to help guard our back door against communism. By having a hand in the forces that would either lead a communist revolution, or be called upon to stop one, we would have direct influence in keeping the free-market economies in these countries running. I don’t really disagree with all this, and there is some indication that it worked.

But what is our motivation now? For that we must look at what our interests are in the southern regions. Economically these countries play an incredibly underestimated role. They do labor. That’s the key. Except they do it for a very cheap price, because, hey, they have no money, they’ll take anything. See, all this is very profitable.

So what are the two biggest enemies of this system? Social unrest and unionization. In order to prevent against such actions taking place, it is important to have a strong military. The military will often stop or start coups, and they are the most used form of oppression. It is difficult to try to say that the United States can throw a coup in Central America whenever they want, but some facts do make arguing against such ability difficult.

After John Kennedy increased the budget and purpose of the school in the 1960s, nine governments were overthrown in fewer than 10 years. One of the SOA’s nicknames is actually School of Coups (and no, that is not the word coupe that would be defined as a family sedan or a sports car).

Now I hear you asking, “OK Paul, but how do the priests fit in?” Can anyone tell me what the priests were doing down there? The same thing they are doing here and in Kansas City and in Denver and Wheeling and Baltimore. and the list goes on. They were educating. But here in the United States, education is seen as a good thing. It allows you to be competitive in the market and to make a positive change in the world. Yet down there, it is seen as a threat to the government.

The education of the people leads to demands for more fair treatment, improved living conditions and worst of all for American corporations, a demand for fair wages and improved living conditions. Both of those final components lead to a loss of profit.

You might say that you can’t imagine the military being so obviously against the basic rights of the citizens, especially in the areas of wages and education, but there is no hiding the fact that it is almost common knowledge in Mexico that if you are suspected of being a unionist, you will be killed in a matter of days.

So those priests died for trying to provide the basic human necessity of education and betterment of oneself to a people who have become the faceless work horses of the modern global economy. Those priests died following the Jesuit mission of serving the faith that serves justice. Those priests died for doing something that is so common here in America. And on Nov. 16 we will re-enact the horror of a system that kills innocent men and women.

So yes, my brothers and sisters, the SOA may seem to be a minor battle in the war against oppression and poverty, but it is more than the SOA.

Those who stand up and use their free voices to demand an end to this institution send a message to the international economy that it is not all right to use the poor for profit. They are sending a message that it is not American to watch these people die with nothing simply for the gain of corporations from the U.S., and Europe.

In the end, when the School of the Americas does close, we will have knocked out a huge piece of the cycle that has kept CEOs millionaires, and has kept nearly three-fourth of the world impoverished, living in conditions that are unimaginable for us.

If we truly believe that we are people who respect life, then we must defend life. And that is what we will be doing throughout the month of November. If you would like more information about the activities surrounding the School or the Americas, please find the events schedule in next week’s paper. If you want more information on the protest of the SOA at the gates of Ft. Benning in Georgia, contact Harry O’Rourke at x 5039.