Today we are taking action against the war of our society. So we will be creating a roadblock at the army depot in rockhampton in the position of prostration.
The position of prostration (The cross) we are taking today is one of humility and repentance. We are doing this to ask God for repentance for our role as part of this society. Our role in which our lives and taxes pay for the military equipment and the means to make and create war. This equipment and resources of human lives are used for the purposes of war, which have killed innocent families. E.G Afghanistan, Ameriacn, Iraq, Pakistan families.
We come as a representation of our Australian society to repent for our sins in this.
We come today as concerned Australians asking that we the people of this country and our government take a stand to abandon war as a means of creating peace. We come in the non-violence of christ and his spirit which dwels within and amoungst us.
Amen
Thankyou,
Philip Yew Mob:0414321451 - We will have photos available.
MEDIA RELEASE: Martin Luther King House of Christian Nonviolence at War Games, July 2009. – Exercise Talisman Sabre, Rockhampton 2009.
Christian Peace Activists are gathering through July in Yeppoon to conduct purposeful, prayerful interventionary action against the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Yeppoon is the site of Exercise Talisman Sabre involving 25,000 US and Australian Troops practicing their ‘interoperability’ or ability to act as a single seemless military force. "The US is at war, Australia is at war and civilians are dying as a result of our joint military operations throughout the Middle East," said nonviolence practitioner Margaret Pestorius.
In a loose coalition, Christian nonviolence practitioners have set up the Martin Luther King House of Christian Nonviolence as a nonviolence operations/training centre and residence. "We intend to be a resource for those who are interested in deepening their experience of nonviolent community and action." "We are from many church traditions - the Catholic, Uniting Church, Salvation Army, Baptist and others."
Though somewhat diverse in orientation, the activists come from the traditions of modern Christian nonviolence theorists and activists: Martin Luther King, the Berrigan brothers, Dorothy Day, John Dear and Ched Myers. Moreover we are acting in solidarity with the many ploughshares activists who live out the prophesy "they shall Beat their swords into ploughshares, their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift a hand agains nation and we shall study war no more". [isaiah 2:4]
The MLK House can serve as a place where nonviolent affinity groups can be supported in preparing for and carrying through a wide range of anti-militarism actions. During the excercises, some groups will choose to go into the live-firing range of the exercise area to frustrate the war games through nonviolent presence and witness. Air Commodore Meier, a top official in the Defence establishment, when giving evidence to the Senate Committee on Defence, Trade and Foreign Relations 4th June 2009, stated that the Talisman Sabre Exercises would be suspended if a civilian was known to be in the live fire area.
The nonviolence movements against war have a long history of building the peace movement through the explicit resistance to war. Toward the end of his life, Dr Martin Luther King was a staunch opponent of war – including the Vietnam War. He said: "When a country spends more on military defencethan on programs of social uplift it is approaching spiritual death" [speech to Riverside Church 1967 – You Tube]
Nonviolence practitioners have faced lengthy court cases and prison sentences with soldiers, marines and sailors amongst those playing the most significant roles. [see couragetoresist.org] Activists will provide information on GI Rights to US service personnel visting the Rockhamption area during July. Thousands of US GI’s have resisted the wars in Middle East in various ways since 2003. [www.couragetoresist.org] Members of Christians Against All Terrorism who conducted a citizens inspection Pine Gap in 2005 will also attend.
Christian nonviolence practioners will play various roles in Yeppoon. Some will join and support the gathering of peace activists at the Peace Convergence from the 9th –12th July. Nonviolence training will be conducted. Others will conduct separate autonomous activities drawing from a broad rand of nonviolence tactics chosen to build the peace movement in Australia. These will include street theatre, prayer vigils, prayer services that interrupt or block and nonviolent interruption of activities.
Contact Margaret Pestorius 0403214422
See current media:
http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/story/2009/07/01/notorious-proteste...
Associated media sites
Brisbane Catholic Worker Blog: [Ciaron O’Reilly]http://talismansabre.wordpress.com