Community Affirmation:
We who live in the shadow of the mushroom cloud and the dangers of bullets on our streets today declare our hope in the future.
From the diversity of our religious traditions,
We have come to renew our belief in the holiness of the earth and the sanctity of all life.
We declare we are at peace with all people of good will.
We need no leader to define us an enemy
Nor tell us we need weapons for security.
Instead, we affirm that our earth’s security rests not in armaments, but
In the justice of adequate housing and food,
In the justice of meaningful education and work,
In the justice of an economic order that gives everyone access to our earth’s abundance,
In the justice of human relationships nourished by cooperation,
In the justice of safe, clean and renewable energy, instead of the perils of nuclear power.
We affirm people over poverty, community over privatism,
Respect for others regardless of sex, race or class.
We choose struggle rather than indifference,
We choose to be friends of the earth and of one another rather than exploiters,
We choose to be citizens rather than subjects,
We choose to be peacemakers rather than peacekeepers,
We choose a weapons free future,
And we will settle for nothing less.
We unite ourselves with sisters and brothers the world over,
To join together in communities of resistance to the threat of weapons.
We unite ourselves with trust in the Spirit of Life.
Justice and Love can overcome the machines of destruction.
Before us today are set life and death. We choose life
That our children may live.
Let it be so.
Send a check to the Lambaréné Hospital, founded in Gabon by Albert Schweitzer in 1913, and the only functional hospital there to this day. If you want to remember someone, remember someone who loved life and did something about it.
