Category: Peacemaking
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Light in this Present Darkness-Reposted
I am reposting “Light in this Present Darkness,” which I posted three years ago. It is just as relevant today, as mass shootings continue. In the midst of winter darkness, people of various spiritual traditions are preparing to celebrate the return of the light. For me, this year’s Christmas pageant was especially poignant, as the…
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Hiroshima Day
I can’t let this Hiroshima Day go by without memorializing the people killed at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and acknowledging the shadow that atomic (and now hydrogen) bombs have cast and continue to cast over our nation and world. I plan to stand with others down on the Broad Street Bridge in Nevada City this evening,…
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Goodkill… Or Not
Memorial Day seems a fitting time to review the movie “Goodkill,” now playing at the Magic Theater in Nevada City. The movie, based on actual events, portrays a morally-conflicted and psychologically-tormented operator of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or “drones”), played by Ethan Hawke. Even though the plot includes some obvious Hollywood enhancements, it presents some…
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From Beale to Baltimore: No Justice, No Peace
On Tuesday sixteen of us were arrested as we demonstrated against drone warfare at Beale Air Force Base, where pilots at computer stations guide Global Hawk Drones in identifying targets for Predator and Reaper “killer drones.” Advanced robotic long distance killing machines are not only cruel, unethical, and illegal; they are a waste of the…
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Videos of Ash Wednesday at Beale
On Wednesday, February 18, we held an Ash Wednesday service at the front gates of Beale Air Force Base. Beale is home of the Global Hawk surveillance drone, which identifies targets for “killer drones” like the Predator and Reaper. I led the service, together with The Rev. Elizabeth Griswold, pastor of Parkside Community Church (United…
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Kathy Kelly—Serving Time
My friend Kathy Kelly is now behind bars, in prison in Lexington, Kentucky. Kathy, an internationally recognized peace activist, is serving a three-month prison term for crossing the line onto Whiteman Air Force Base property. She and Georgia Walker were attempting to deliver a loaf of bread and a letter to the base commander, asking…
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The Gospel of Peace
Each year during the holidays I listen to Handel’s Messiah, which contains the glorious soprano aria that includes the words, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace.” I say “Amen.” In this time of increasing violence and injustice against people and the planet, we need to hear again the…