#322 Nonviolence, Nukes, Ancient Greece - August 5, 2016

Campaign Nonviolence: September 18-25 Over 250 actions to promote the understanding and practice of nonviolence are planned for the annual Campaign Nonviolence Week. We’re endorsers of the campaign. We’d love to see more actions added to the list, especially ones that include the issue connections. For example, a local march from an abortion clinic to a military site and then to an execution site could make a powerful statement. Or showing up to your already-established event to speak or leaflet on the consistent life ethic, so that more people find out about it in a positive setting. Consistent life ethic messages of nonviolence can do wonders at a particular site where injustice occurs, whether at a Black Lives Matters rally, an abortion clinic, or an army base. Witnessing to the connection of violence serves to connect diverse political and ideological persuasions, creating vulnerability and changing hearts. This in itself is a principle of nonviolence. Please let us know at weekly@consistent-life.org if you’re planning something or would like help in planning something along these lines.

August 6 and 9, 1945: Nuclear Weapons Used Against Populations The anniversaries of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki come this week. Campaign Nonviolence and some of our member groups are sponsoring an Apology Petition to the people of those cities. Since it’s to be delivered on the anniversary of the first bombing, August 6 (tomorrow), those who wish to sign it need to do so today (August 5). For a list of quotations connecting nuclear weapons and abortion, see this Quaker pro-life web page. If you know of other good quotations not there that should be included, please send those to weekly@consistent-life.org.

Yet More Coverage Roll Call, a prominent publication about the US Congress, had a photo of the Life Matters Journal Team, four young women who were outside at both the Democrat and Republican conventions, with some very fair coverage of the viewpoint of Democrats for Life.

Consistent-Life Voting: The Importance of Referendums Each referendum on the ballot is essentially single-issue voting, and a narrow part of the issue at that. Yet they generally offer more clear-cut choices and greater simplicity on principles than candidates do. When they pass, progress happens, For US elections in November, we’ll be highlighting some that are clearly linked to our six issues. Yet stopping all violence is broader than the issues listed in our Mission Statement. For example, environmental issues, or referendums designed to stop cruelty to animals, or gun violence. Except for the drug war, war-related issues aren’t generally on the ballot, but peace-promoting measures might be. Racism and poverty can play a role in some referendum proposals. Though candidates tend to get more attention, those local referendums (many put on the ballot by hard-working and passionate citizens) may deserve special attention from us as voters. This also applies, of course, to other elections besides the US one in November. Our readers from other countries are encouraged to send in any news about actions in their own locales to share with the consistent-life community (weekly@consistent-life.org).

Latest CL Blog: Roots in Greece Mary Krane Derr, in her quest for deep historical roots for pro-life feminism and the consistent life ethic, offers ancient Greek sources for a nonviolent ethic and related them to how they’re applied today – Pythagoras, the Hippocratic oath, and the reasoning of Harold Blackmun in Roe v. Wade.

Quotation of the Week Julianne Wiley Consistently Opposing Killing, Praeger, 2008, p. 106 Chapter 12, Activists Reminisce: An Oral History of Prolifers for Survival In observation of the August 6 & 9 anniversaries of the nuclear bombing of cities To me nuclear weapons and abortion were perfect bookends, symmetrical images of each other. They both involved a frank commitment to targeting innocent targets, and they both depended on the calculated willingness to destroy them deliberately.