Conrad Wetzel on the need for peacemaking in a time of
war
January 26, 2007
|
My name is Conrad Wetzel, and I am a resident of
Champaign. My comments are about the need for
peacemaking in a time of war. People everywhere are
longing for a better, more humane way of solving
international conflicts than the death and destruction
that follow in the wake of war. As Jesus wept over the
city of Jerusalem, he said, "Oh, that you might learn
the things that make for peace!"
There are many organizations currently working to learn
and apply "the things that make for peace." One such
organization is Christian Peacemaker Teams or CPT. As
expressed in its mission statement, "Christian
Peacemaker Teams offers an organized, nonviolent
alternative to war and other forms of lethal inter-group
conflict. CPT provides organizational support to persons
committed to nonviolent alternatives in situations where
deadly conflict is an immediate reality or is supported
by public policy. Believing that faithfulness to what
Jesus taught calls for more active peacemaking, CPT
works in the development and training of nonviolent
skills for intervention in conflict situations."
CPT was conceived in the mid 1980s by the three historic
peace churches, the Mennonites, the Brethren, and the
Friends, along with other Protestant and Catholic church
groups. They believe that by using the creative energy
of nonviolence together with highly trained
violence-reduction teams, ordinary people could stand in
front of the guns and encourage less violent ways for
change to happen. In Iraq, the example of Christian
Peacemaker Teams has even inspired the formation of
Muslim Peacemaker Teams.
Char and Mike Smith, members of East Bend Mennonite
Church, are experienced CPT workers. Beginning in 2001,
they have volunteered with violence-reduction teams in
several conflict-ridden situations: the naval
test-bombing base in Vieques, Puerto Rico; the Israeli
occupation of Palestinian sites in the West Bank of
Hebron; the rights violation of the First Nations people
of Ontario and South Dakota; and the violent suppression
of the common people of the Opón River area in Colombia.
In a presentation entitled, "Nonviolent Witness in
Violent Places," Mike and Char will be sharing about
their service as volunteers with CPT. The presentation
is free and open to the public and will be held at 7:00
p.m. on Saturday, January 27, at First Mennonite Church,
corner of Springfield and Lincoln Avenues in Urbana. For
more information, please call 217-352-8603. Come January
27 to hear the ways Christian Peacemaker Teams applies
the things that make for peace. The number to call is
217-352-8603. |
|
|
Listen
to the commentary: RealAudio