Mimi and I returned from Colombia a little over a week ago. What an adventure! Through the logistics of traveling on someone else’s time and with a large group, we managed to form new relationships, put human faces on known facts, and step out of our comfort zones and into the complicity our country’s violent [...]
Tomorrow Emily Kephart and I are heading to Colombia as part of Shalom House’s participation in a learning delegation led by Witness for Peace. Back in the fall, the U.S. government signed an agreement with the Colombia government for the Pentagon to lease 7 military bases in Colombia. After 10 years of funding Plan Colombia [...]
Circle of Hope and Shalom House invite you to a free documentary screening:
Soldiers of Conscience
June 10, 2010 – 7:00 pm
at 1125 S Broad St., Circle of Hope public meeting space.
Free Admission – Discussion to Follow
Soldiers of conscience is a dramatic window on the dilemma of individual U.S. soldiers in the current Iraq [...]
MLK: A Call to Conscience will air on Wed. at 8 pm EST on the “Tavis Smiley Reports” program on PBS.
As President Obama made a visit to Afganistan yesterday and recommitted to the U.S. military’s presence there, this special presentation is getting ready to be aired on PBS, which will look at Dr. Martin Luther [...]
from the Conscience in War website:
Current requirements for Conscientious Objector status require opposition to “war in any form.” This requirement denies freedom of conscience to any service member who believes that some wars may be morally justified while others are not. Service members who oppose a particular war, such as [...]
The first Shalom House book club started yesterday. The book we’re reading? “The New American Militarism: How Americans are Seduced by War,” by Andrew Bacevich.
Something caught my attention from Emily’s previous blog post. She writes, “I think most of us can agree that war is not a desirable thing. There are always casualties, there are [...]
There was something about the Army Experience Center that was strangely familiar. It reminded me of church youth group growing up. Only with LOTS of electronic equipment. In high school, the youth groups I attended had couches, music, games, and engaging youth leaders. The Army Experience was just like it! The staff were friendly and cool, inviting kids (and [...]
Thoughts from Mikey J.
The Army Experience Center is all wrong.
First, the presence of video games and children running around really upset me and made me realize what the Army is willing to do to continue to feed it’s machine.
Secondly, while working under the guise of “experience what it’s really like” the Experience center is just as subversive and manipulative [...]
Jane Clinton, the Shalom House Guidance Team leader, shares her thoughts about being at the Experience Center on Saturday.
The Army Experience Center made me feel a bit overwhelmed for the teenagers who will experience it. It’s sexy! It’s modern! It’s cool! Friendly, smooth, tough guys (mostly, but some women too) are there to make you [...]