Excerpt from Dick Bernard's Peace & Justice list serve (P&J#1367), dick_bernard@msn.com, April 17, 2007, Minnesota:
...The people at National Rifle Association (NRA), predictably, are probably already out with their mantra that "guns don't kill people, people kill people", and some wise ones are likely already saying that if the personnel in the engineering building had been armed, the carnage would have been less....
It seems ironic now, but Saturday night Pat Keefe of the Nonviolent Peace Force and I journeyed the 100 miles to St. John's University, Collegeville, to speak to students following the Amnesty International film "Arms for the Poor", a film on (according to the brochure announcing the film) "how U.S. weapons makers influence Congress to sell weapons to the developing world and the destabilizing effect these sales have on poor countries. American weapons are exported to almost any nation in the world regardless of the international implications of the sale, with little consideration to the human rights record or the financial status of the country. American arms sales remain at the same level they were at the height of the Cold War."
The moderator wrote us beforehand suggesting that "since the audience may be a little disturbed after watching the film, it may be good to give them ample time to ask questions and process the new issues, and brainstorm ideas for addressing these issues."
We watched the film along with six students, and had a good discussion afterwards.
The film opened with the famous Dwight Eisenhower clip of Jan 17, 1961, where he articulates the danger of the "military-industrial complex".
Leaving the Alcuin library Saturday night, I picked up the brochures left for the students: They came from the following groups: http://www.controlarms.org/;
It seems ironic now, but Saturday night Pat Keefe of the Nonviolent Peace Force and I journeyed the 100 miles to St. John's University, Collegeville, to speak to students following the Amnesty International film "Arms for the Poor", a film on (according to the brochure announcing the film) "how U.S. weapons makers influence Congress to sell weapons to the developing world and the destabilizing effect these sales have on poor countries. American weapons are exported to almost any nation in the world regardless of the international implications of the sale, with little consideration to the human rights record or the financial status of the country. American arms sales remain at the same level they were at the height of the Cold War."
The moderator wrote us beforehand suggesting that "since the audience may be a little disturbed after watching the film, it may be good to give them ample time to ask questions and process the new issues, and brainstorm ideas for addressing these issues."
We watched the film along with six students, and had a good discussion afterwards.
The film opened with the famous Dwight Eisenhower clip of Jan 17, 1961, where he articulates the danger of the "military-industrial complex".
Leaving the Alcuin library Saturday night, I picked up the brochures left for the students: They came from the following groups: http://www.controlarms.org/;
This might be a good day to review some of these websites.
And by the way, in a few days it is the 8th anniversary of the Columbine massacre: I have a little familiarity with that. My then 13-year granddaughter and her family lived (and still live) one mile from Columbine High School. I was there a few short days after the tragedy. I will never forget the long, slow, rain-soaked walk up "Cross Hill" above Columbine, where crosses had been put in place for the victims of the carnage. (There had been crosses in place, also, for the perpetrators, but they had been removed...a story in itself.) NRA was in denial about that tragedy, too...
At a meeting last night, we opened the meeting with a moment of silence for the victims of the violence in Virginia, and for all the victims of violence everywhere..
And by the way, in a few days it is the 8th anniversary of the Columbine massacre: I have a little familiarity with that. My then 13-year granddaughter and her family lived (and still live) one mile from Columbine High School. I was there a few short days after the tragedy. I will never forget the long, slow, rain-soaked walk up "Cross Hill" above Columbine, where crosses had been put in place for the victims of the carnage. (There had been crosses in place, also, for the perpetrators, but they had been removed...a story in itself.) NRA was in denial about that tragedy, too...
At a meeting last night, we opened the meeting with a moment of silence for the victims of the violence in Virginia, and for all the victims of violence everywhere..