By Jane Stoever
Peter Lumsdaine in a presentation at Community Christian Church covered ways to turn the clock back from midnight, and a few other challenges.
PeaceWorks lined up, on Ann Suellentrop’s recommendation, speaker Peter Lumsdaine of Washington State Physicians for Social Responsibility, speaking in KC Fri., July 6th. His topic was regarding the great crisis (the crisis of 2018, multifaceted, and renewing noble efforts). Even though, for now, peace has broken out with North Korea, our administration’s trump cards are saber-rattling, nuclear threats, and war games. “Turning the Clock Back from Midnight: How We Can Address the Crisis of 2018 and Renew Eco/Justice/Peace Work for the 21st Century” was a very informative presentation.The subject of Lumsdaine’s talk refers to The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday Clock that on Jan. 25 was turned to 2 minutes to midnight, as close as it’s ever been. The subtitle’s “Crisis of 2018” conveys the destruction involved in our war-mongering, our nuclear weapon regeneration, and our rule-by-threat-and-tweet policies. The subtitle’s “Eco/Justice/Peace Work” challenge us to hope and action.
Lumsdaine linked environmental, economic justice, peace, and nuclear concerns with intensified organizing strategies challenging the dangerous escalation of US policy toward Iran, and with implications of rapidly emerging 21st-century technologies. Lumsdaine, who is on a speaking tour including has stopped in North Carolina, Tennessee, New Mexico, and Arizona, he formerly worked with the Resource Center for Nonviolence, with Global Exchange, and with the Silicon Valley Interfaith Peace Coalition. A member of Washington State’s Physicians for Social Responsibility,
Lumsdaine’s research has taken him to the “inner security zones” of Vandenberg Air Force Base, Cape Canaveral ‘Cape Kennedy’, and the US prison system, as well as to Pine Ridge, SD; Standing Rock, ND; Hiroshima; Nagasaki; Korea; Guatemala; the Philippines; Mexico; and occupied Iraq.
Feature Photo by Jane Stoever
Videography and Editing by Mark A. Semet
