Tag: Peace Abbey

Lighting Those Candles

Posted on by kathiemm
Minot’s Ledge Lighthouse in a storm. In the public domain. Source: US Coast Guard.

By Kathie MM

Yesterday’s post by Lewis Randa, Director of the Peace Abbey, is a model letter for Donald Trump to consider sending to Chairman of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kim Jung-un.  The post is also a beacon to all of us in these stormy, treacherous times.

In 1932, as newly-elected President Franklin Delano Roosevelt undertook to combat the greatest threat of the times—the Great Depression—he spoke those immortal words, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

Nameless unreasoning fear abounds today, but much of our terror is justified—not because there are hordes of terrorists whom people in power are nevertheless  eager to name, but because of the all-too-real threats to the sustainability of life on earth.

Fear—for example, of fascism, of the National Security Administration, of terrorists, of losing everything—is destructive of hearts and minds, depressing and debilitating, and demoralizing in countless ways.

One common response to de-moralizing fear is to strike out,  to hurt, to punish, to destroy the target of one’s fear.

But  recognize this: Hatred and murderous aggression rarely lead to sustainable fear-reducing outcomes.

On the other hand, making love instead of war may be too passive and self-focused to confront fear and make the world a better place.

So, here’s a better antidote to destructive fear and feelings of helplessness: Engaging in prosocial activism, engaging peace.

Specific prescription: Engage in letter writing campaigns of the sort recommended by Lewis Randa. Send his letter, with or without your own modifications, to Donald Trump.

Or, write your own letter to President Trump, with your own recommendations for avoiding nuclear war, for achieving peace with North Korea, for making the world a safer and more life-sustaining place for coming generations.

And even more promising: Start your own letter writing campaigns or join existing programs that seek positive solutions to problems such as gun violence, sexism and racism, world hunger and poverty, environmental destruction.  Make loving efforts for peace, not war.

For further inspiration, listen to a recording of John Hall’s Power .

You can read the lyrics here.

 

 

 

 

Refusing the Order to March, Part 2

Posted on by kathiemm
“REFUSE THE ORDER TO LAUNCH” demonstration at the Natick Army Base on Sunday, August 27.

 

By Lewis Randa

The protest march from Natick Center to the Natick Army Base last Sunday, August 27, was important for reasons that extend beyond making a public statement against a potential nuclear strike against North Korea.

For our young college intern, Maddie Walters, who worked to organize the action, it was an opportunity, following two horrific years of recovery from a near death accident in high school that left her with a ​serious brain injury, to take a stand both literally and figuratively.

Maddie’s recovery has been miraculous — and her one-mile protest walk from Natick center to the army base was a poignant testimony, not only of her fear of nuclear war but a spirited demonstration of her physical recovery and the resilience of the human body and the human mind.  Maddie’s impact on others is profound; her contribution to peace is enormous.  We wish her well as she enters her freshman year at Lasell College in Newton.

I wish to thank​ the activists who read Peace Chain statements about the horrors of nuclear war, and extend my debt of gratitude to the ​members of the Common Street Spiritual Center and the First Congregational Church, ​without whom ​the action ​would not have ​attracted long-time activists from the area and several individuals who are new at taking such ​actions for peace.

The Natick Board of Selectmen that authorized the march did so trusting that an action organized and led by the Peace Abbey would be nonviolent and peaceful and would be conducted according to agreed-upon standards of conduct on town property.

Mass Peace Action provided the NO WAR banner and many marchers brought homemade signs that personally expressed their concern and outrage.   For those who were part of the demonstration, it was impressive to witness the professional, measured, and thoughtful response from both the Natick Police officers and the Federal police stationed at the Natick Army base.

I am grateful to report that such was the case both at the Natick Jail and at the Framingham District Court.

FYI:  Following my arrest, I declined bail, preferring to spend the night in jail in prayerful reflection while rereading the book “I REFUSE” by J.K. Osborne.   (I first read this powerful memoir of a Vietnam war resister during a fast which led to my discharge from the army as a conscientious objector in 1971.)

Monday morning I was transported to Framingham/Natick District Court where my wife Meg and peace movement attorney Greg Barison awaited my arrival.  The Judge reduced my fine from $510. to $100 and dismissed the case.    In the words of attorney Barison:  “No gesture for non-violence, however small, no stand for peace, however modest, goes for naught.”

Please join us at Noon on October 24th, United Nations Day at the Pacifist Memorial in Sherborn, MA, ​as we honor Retired Major Harold Hering who was discharged from his military career for asking the question:  “Are there checks and balances on the President when ordering a nuclear strike?”

That was in 1973 and Richard Nixon was president.   Decades later, we find ourselves at the gates of the military installation in Natick ​asking the same question.  It’s 2017 this time, and Donald Trump is president.  Some things never change.

Pray as though everything depends on God.  Resist as though God depends on us for everything.

 

Comfort women

Posted on by kathiemm

By guest author Dot Walsh

Comfort women peace rally
Peace rally with “comfort women” and friends at Japanese embassy in Korea. Photo by Andrea LeBlanc; used with permission.

Comfort women were women and girls forced into prostitution by the Japanese government during World War II.  The name “comfort women” was taken from a Japanese word meaning prostitute.

In reality these women were sex slaves for the military. The recruitment was not voluntary but often involved being kidnapped from countries taken over by the Japanese army.

A recent article in the New York Times highlighted a speech given by Mr. Hashimoto, the mayor of Osaka, who maintained that “comfort women” served a useful purpose: “When soldiers are risking their lives by running through storms of bullets, and you want to give these emotionally charged soldiers a rest somewhere, it’s clear that you need a comfort women system.”

In 2007, Andrea LeBlanc and I joined Japanese peacemakers in Korea on a journey modeled after the Peace Abbey’s Stonewalk. The intention of the Japanese was to apologize for the atrocities committed against the Korean people including the tragedy of the “comfort women.”

During the journey we visited a home for the aging “comfort women,” many of whom had never been able to marry or have a normal life because of the stigma of what had happened to them. We were invited to stay overnight and to meet the women who lived there.  On the property is a museum with graphic pictures of the events that brought them to this place. Many of the survivors bear emotional scars that have never healed.

The following day we pulled the stone to the front door of the Japanese embassy where a vigil is held every week. For Andrea and me, it was an honor to be in the company of these women whose gentle spirits and commitment to speaking truth to power was inspiring.

During the occupation as many as 200,000 or more women (estimated numbers) were confined as sex slaves.

Dot Walsh, longtime peace activist