March
31, 2003
Madison
Clergy and Laity Engage in Nonviolent Civil Disobedience
To Oppose War and offer Prayers for Peace
Pastors
and Supporters Block Entrance to Senator Kohl’s
Office;
Send Peace Message to Legislators
At noon on Tuesday April first, over a dozen Madison-area
clergy and laity will block the entrance to Senator Kohl’s office and
risk arrest. Organizer
Reverend Charles Wolfe stated, “We come to Senator Kohl’s office to
plead with our legislators, for the sake of our nation’s soul, to stop
this immoral war. This war has
already cost too many lives, and more will be lost before it is over.”
As part of a continuing wave of international citizen opposition to the
war, a dozen or more clergy and lay people, including Pastor Kurt Anderson and
Pastor Diane Shaw of First Congregational Church, Pastor Charles Wolfe of Plymouth
Congregational United Church of Christ and
Lutheran Pastor Mary Kay Baum will risk
arrest in front of Senator Kohl’s office on Tuesday, April 1st
at noon. The nonviolent civil disobedient action
will begin with prayer and song before the pastors and supporters sit on the
sidewalk in front of Kohl’s office.
Each of the participants has been trained in civil disobedience and has
pledged to act nonviolently in the spirit of Jesus, Gandhi and Martin Luther
King, Jr. You too may participate in the action as long as
you have attended a civil disobedience training prior to the event. All
peaceful people are invited otherwise to come and witness or support the
action.
This weekend twelve Madisonians were arrested
at the main gate of Truax Field as hundreds of
thousands of people demonstrated around the world to call for an end to the US
aggression against Iraq. In the past twelve days, 53 peace
advocates have been arrested at Truax Field in
demonstrations planned through the local chapter of the Iraq Pledge of
Resistance. The
Pastor’s April First Sit-In is also coordinated through the Madison
chapter of the Iraq Pledge of Resistance.
Recent coverage of the growing movement of non-violent opposition to
the war is featured in The New York Times 3/29/03, The Associated Press 3/29/03 and The Boston Globe 3/30/03.
NATIONAL CONTEXT
The Madison
action is part of Iraq Pledge of Resistance, a coalition of over 55 groups
across the U.S.
who are carrying out non-violent civil disobedience to protest the war. The Iraq Pledge of Resistance is
sponsored by over a dozen major U.S.
peace groups. For more information
see: www.peacepledge.org/resist