Nonviolence Journals: Read and comment on our blogs!

Christian Peacemaker Teams in Perth

Jarrod McKenna — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:13:09 -0500

In 1984 Ron Sider now famously challenged a gathering of historic Peace church traditions in France with the question: “What would happen if Christians devoted the same discipline and self sacrifice to nonviolent peacemaking that armies devote to war?”

Out of that challenge has emerged Christian Peacemaker Teams,

Litany of Resistance and recent climate camp photos

Jarrod McKenna — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 04:30:29 -0500

I love this and thought I'd share it with you with photos from climate camp...

Litany of Resistance from “Jesus for President” by Shane Claiborne & Chris Haw

Michael Guglielmucci’s Public Fall into Grace & The Christian Cult of Celebrity

Jarrod McKenna — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:13:12 -0500

First posted at Jim Wallis’ “God’s Politics” blog

A Pop-Star Pastor's Public Fall and the Christian Cult of Celebrity (by Jarrod McKenna)

It was only last month that Sydney newspaper The Herald Sun's Faithworks blog carried a post with this paragraph:

Facebook activism: How to... and pros & cons

Jarrod McKenna — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:10:07 -0500

Ah facebook, (aka ‘crackbook’,), that online social networking phenomena that now boasts 80 million users worldwide. Sure some of us resisted for a while but those invites started banking up and we caved (mia culpa). For those of us who are seeking to use it a forum for positive social transformation here’s an intro to facebook activism:

DigiActive intro to Facebook Activism. It includes pros and cons, organising and advice, and case studies (such as "Support the Monks" in support of protests in Burma).

John Dear's A Persistent Peace: One man’s struggle for a Nonviolent World

Jarrod McKenna — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:03:30 -0500

My mate John Dear has just released his new book and I’m heaps excited cause I just received my copy in the post. Much like Lee Camp’s “Mere Discipleship” and Shane Claiborne's “The Irresistible Revolution”, I’m likely to be accused of getting a cut from the book sales cause of the way I hand it out and suggest it like it was going out of fashion. Like Lee and Shane what sets John apart is his integrity and accessibility. I’m thoroughly biased so here’s what others are saying about Nobel Peace Prize Nominee John Dear’s new book that I think everyone should read :) (here's the website: http://loyolapress.org/johndear/John_Dear_SJ-Persistent_Peace.html)

Justice Wears A Blindfold for a Reason, Mr Bush

Kevin Ressler — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:13:43 -0500

Today, a verdict was reached in the war crimes trial of Salim Hamdan. If you don't know, Hamdan was the former driver of Osama Bin Ladin. He was captured in 2001 in Afghanistan. The prosecution says he was part of Bin Ladin's inner circle. The defense said he was a wage worker, low level, and without influence on terrorist attacks. The soldier who was a witness when Hamdan was captured said, during the trial, that he was not sure if this man was the driver of a vehicle carrying missles. Hamdan's plea at the beginning of the trial was not guilty.

Those are just some bare facts. I do not pretend to know the verdict. It is not my concern for the purposes of this article either. My issue is with the White House's deputy press secretary Tony Fratto's comment: "We're pleased that Salim Hamdan received a fair trial. We look forward to other cases moving forward to trial."

Olympics, Prostest & Prayer: looking to China

Jarrod McKenna — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 00:56:56 -0500

Article first posted at Jim Wallis' "God's Politics"

The Olympics, Human Rights, and Holy Mischief (by Jarrod McKenna)

AAANZ mailing 31st Juy

Jarrod McKenna — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:30:59 -0500

             "True evangelical faith cannot lie dormant.
             It clothes the naked.
             It feeds the hungry.
             It comforts the sorrowful.
             It shelters the destitute.
             It serves those that harm it.
             It binds up that which is wounded.
             It has become all things to all people."
                                                          - Menno Simons

Gandhi's framing story critiqued

Jarrod McKenna — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:42:45 -0500

Interesting bit from my mates at Jesus Manifesto (Brandon.D.Rhodes) :

for those interested, here's the list of my writing on Gandhi from last year: "Wednesday's with Gandhi"

During his long resistance to the British empire, Mohandas Gandhi gave the world one of the most widely known quotes of twentieth-century politics: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” If you want a world without war, stop fighting wars. It is, to be highfalutin about it, something of a teleological moral argument: Imagine a world set aright, and stubbornly live that. And from where else is that moral vision projected, according to this sagely adage, but from each of our hearts. We craft and project the image of the moral vision that we then hold ourselves to embody. More on that later.

From TV to Guantánamo

Amber McChesney-Young — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:19:40 -0500

As a media studies major, part of what I studied was the impact media have on our culture and our way of thinking. Despite everything that I've learned, I did not expect to read this in a recent New York Times op-ed by Bob Herbert, describing Jane Mayer's new book, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals:

To get a sense of the heights of madness scaled in this anything-goes atmosphere, consider a brainstorming meeting held by military officials at Guantánamo. Ms. Mayer said the meeting was called to come up with ways to crack through the resistance of detainees.
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