Peace and Freedom
The fact that a site is listed here does not necessarily mean that I agree with what is presented in it or that it represents an official position of the Uniting Church in Australia unless it is an official UCA site.
It is a biblical truth that peace is more than just the absence of war, but it is self-evidently true that when there is war, peace is not happening. I contine to be alarmed (as do many, many other people around the world) by what I hear and see in the media about the attitude of the US, UK and Australian political leaders about waging war on Iraq. I believe that people of good will need to stand up and be counted in their opposition to violence as a solution to conflict
This page contains links to websites that provide information and ideas for action. In any sort of activism, individual letters and emails have more influence on politicians than petitions, but anything you can do helps. Prayer vigils and marches not only show politicians how you feel, they also encourage others by letting them know that they're not the only people who think the way they do. As time permits, I will also put links up to information that appears elsewhere on the net
Women in Black Armidale
There is a local Women in Black group in Armidale. You can join the monthly vigils from 10.30 am to 11.00 am on the last Saturday of the month outside the courthouse in the Beardy Street Mall. Wearing black is not essential, but, well, better if you can manage it. WiB Armidale are also involved in other activities from time to time. Email Judy for further information.
A word about order
I began by adding new links at the bottom of the on the web section of this page, but have realised that this will make the site somewhat cumbersome to navigate. Until there are too many links to sit comfortably on the one page, I have separated the links into two sections - websites and articles. In each section, I have put the most recently added things first, so if this is your first visit to the site, you might like to begin at the bottom of the articles list if chronology bothers you. When you return, you can start at the top.
On the Web
Websites
Coalition of Women for Peace - This mindblowing site from Israel provides information about a range of activities that women in Israel and Palestine do to promote peace. It includes information about Women in Black and Machsom Watch" - two activities where groups of women standing silently have had significant effects on events in Israel and Palestine.
Peace in a Time of War - A comprehensive resource for congregations put together by the Youth and Children's Ministry Unit of the Uniting Church Synod of Queensland. 34 pages, .pdf format.
Waging Peace.Org - website of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
The Christian Education and Congregational Mission Unit of the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania offers a wide range of peace-related resources including instructions for making a peace tree, peace doves, and peace flags and music for peace
Pat Humphries and Sandy Opatow have written a beautiful, simple two part song called Peace, Salaam, Shalom. You can download both the words and the MP3 file free of charge from Pat's website. I found that the somewhat complex instructions on the sheet musice became very clear once I'd heard the MP3.
Various resources for worship in a time of war can be found at on the web:
- http://www.elca.org/dcm/worship/peace/ - the website for six US Christian denominations working together.
- http://www.nccbuscc.org/sdwp/peace/index.htm - US conference of Catholic Bishops
- http://www.mcc.org/resources/ - Mennonite Central Committee
Sydnye Peace and Justice Coalition home page - Provides resources and the text of a number of speeches from various rallies.
Decade to Overcome Violence - The World Council of Churches' current 'decade' project is the Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV). It began in 2001, but is proving to be very apt. This site is set up by the Australian National Council of Churches DOV project and gives access to a number of resources through the 'files' link. You can also subscribe to an email list and if you don't mind becoming a member of YahooGroups, you can have access to other activities as well.
The Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy - Legal opinions that a pre-emptive strike on Iraq would be illegal.
National Council of Churches of Christ in the US - statements and material about the delegation that they sent to Iraq
Friends Committee on National Legislation - includes an email list that provides subscribers with lots of useful material.
These sites are important as they show that being anti-war does not mean being anti-American - in fact, the Australian churches are being supportive of the position of American churches.
World Council of Churches Behind the News Bulletin 24 - Behind the News from April 2003. Also look at Behind the News 20: Visions for peace - Voices of faith, which focuses on threatened military action against Iraq - you can read it on-line or download it as either a Word file or a .pdf file - a huge range of resources
Electronic Intifada - a site devoted to the Israel-Palestine conflict, written from a Palestinian perspective
Iraq Journal - an excellent source of information about what is happening on the ground in Iraq
NoWar South Australia - Provides a wide range of resources, as well as information about peace things in South Australai
Medical Association for the Prevention of War - Australia - Heaps of information about war - much more than Iraq - plus more petitions you can sign
Moveon.org - A site from the US that started up in response to the events of September 11, 2001 and contains a whole lot of information about peace and the so called 'war against terrorism'
VicPeace - Provides information in the form of fact sheets and a list of actions that you can take
Articles
A number of newspaper websites only make articles available for a short time. Unfortunately, I don't have time to check all the links on this page every day. Please let me know if a link no longer works.
Can love save the world? - theologian Walter Wink talks about non-violence - and the rest of the site is worth looking at, too!
The press must focus on humanity in war coverage - an article from the 28 March Jakarta Post which provides excerpts from an interview with the Chair of the Indonesian Press Council about the quality of press coverage of the war.
"Time for War? What does the Bible say? - an article and Bible study by Andrew Cameron, lecturer in ethics at Moore Theological College on behalf of the Social Issues Executive of the Anglican Archdiocese of Sydney.
Make Peace - an article in the Sydney Morning Herald of 22 February which contains links to a number of other sites on the web.
Deadly Legacy - Cluster Bomblets and Unexploded Ordnance in Iraq - another offering from the Justice and International Mission Unit of the Uniting Church, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania
Living by the Sword - War on Iraq - an information and action sheet prepared by the Justice and International Mission Unit of the Uniting Church, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania. Because it was prepared in 2003, before the invasion of Iraq, some of it is irrelevant, but there is also much general information about just war theory etc, so I have left it here.
I'm losing patience with my neighbours, Mr Bush - I couldn't resist this opinion piece in the Sudnay 26 January edition of The Observer, written by former Monty Python actor, Terry Jones, but it may not be everyone's idea of funny.
Focus on Iraq: Powell's UN speech dissected - An Electronic Intifada article which does an in depth analysis of Colin Powell's speech to the UN on 5 February.
Church leaders united against war in Iraq - A World Council of Churches press release giving nine reasons why European church leaders are against war in Iraq - it was released on 5 February, so may be some way down the list when you search for it. The release from the following day "Church leaders tell Schroeder: war not a legitimate way to solve conflict" is also of interest
Iraq crisis: churches to discuss common response - A World Council of Churches press release about an intiative of churches in Europe and the US - you'll have to follow the link with this title - it was released on 3 February, so may be some way down the list when you search for it
Questions we should ask ourselves - An opinion piece by Australian social researcher Hugh Mackay on how we might understand the concept of 'just war' - printed in the 1 February edition of the Sydney Morning Herald
The UN - A Safeguard on Military Action? - An opinion piece written by Dr Mark Zirnsak of the Justice and World Mission Unit of the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, suggesting that the UN might not be the safeguard we suppose it to be
War Works? - Notes by Dr Mark Zirnsak, Justice and World Mission Unit of the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, for an elective at last year's Synod meeting. It outlines the stances of pacifists and the proponents of Just War Theory and gives facts and figures about a wide range of war/peace related issues. Mark did not design this for publication and I have only edited it to the extent that I removed the small group exercises and notes about the audio-visual segments used in the workshop, so it is not a polished document, but provides a large amount of useful information. It is here with his permission