Matters of Faith:  Religion, Conflict, and Conflict Resolution

By Bridget Moix (taken from “The Handbook of Conflict Resolution”)

            “A brief survey of the most entrenched, deadly conflicts around the world suggests an urgent need for increased understanding of the role religion plays in human disputes.  From the Middle East to Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka to Sudan, the Balkans to Nigeria, from the poor Acholi region of Northern Uganda to the financial centers of New York City and London, the destructive power of religiously motivated violence has been a stark, horrific reality for people around the world.  Read more…

War Has Almost Ceased to Exist: An Assessment

By John Mueller

“In 1911, the eminent British historian, G.P. Gooch, concluded a book by elegiacally declaring that ‘we can now look forward with something like confidence to the time when war between civilized nations will be considered as antiquated as the duel, and when peacemakers shall be called the children of God.’  And in that year’s edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, Sir Thomas Barclay predicted, in the article on “Peace,” that ‘in no distant future, life among nations’ would be characterized by ‘law, order and peace among men.’“  Read more…

Drones, Accountability and Authorized Use of Military Force

Blogs by Michael Shank

“Armed drones, at first blush, are a boon to America's military toolkit, as President Obama reinforced in his counterterrorism speech [recently]. Drones, in the short run at least, could mean fewer U.S. troops deployed and fewer American lives lost.”  Read entire blog here

More blogs from Michael Shank:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/05/23/drones-obama-michael-shank-editorials-debates/2356555/

http://www.rollcall.com/news/keeping_america_accountable_in_the_war_zone_commentary-226316-1.html

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2013/05/24/congress-must-sunset-the-authorization-for-use-of-military-force

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/09/afghanistan-us-military

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/05/authorization-use-military-force-blank-check

Martin Luther King and Loving Your Enemies

by Peter Slade

Just before Christmas, I read in the Guardian the surprising story of Anita Smith. She is the widow of Ronnie Smith, the American teacher in Benghazi shot down in the street by Islamic militants. The photograph accompanying the article shows an attractive young couple and their child in Austin, Texas: a scene utterly removed from the people and streets of Benghazi. The reason Anita  made headline news around the world is that she claimed in a CNN interview that “I don’t want any revenge --I want them to know that I do love them and I forgive them.” In her interview she explained why Ronnie and his family went to Benghazi, “He wanted to shine the light and the love of Jesus to the Libyan people . . . it was just about the love and forgiveness that we know from God.”

Anita acknowledged that her response to Ronnie's violent murder seemed unlikely: “It may sound crazy,” she told Anderson Cooper, “but it is God’s Spirit putting this inside of me.” The Spirit had led her to write a letter. “I want all of you--all of the people of Libya--to know I am praying for the peace and prosperity of Libya. May Ronnie's blood, shed on Libyan soil, encourage peace and reconciliation between the Libyan people and God.” When Cooper asked Anita how she would explain Ronnie’s death to their son Hosea, she said she will tell him, “There is no greater thing to live your life for than for Jesus.”My initial reaction was one of dismissal: how can her announcement have any grounding in reality? It seemed like a weird and inappropriate response; she is just saying what she thinks she has to say; she is falling back on religious platitudes. Does she even appreciate that these people might try and kill her too? How irrational, how naïve, how foolish.

I confess that my prejudices and presuppositions lay somewhere behind my incredulity.  I am used to hearing such things from Mennonites and Quakers, but it is not what I expect from a white evangelical from a large multi-campus, non-denominational church in Austin, Texas.

Analyzing my reaction, I realized there was more at work than my own prejudices. I realized that for me, the irrationality/naïveté/foolishness of loving your enemies only hit home when someone with enemies actually said they love them. I suspect this is true for others. After all, most of us play with the notion of loving and forgiving enemies far from the context of actually having to deal with enemies. I usually file this commandment away under the category How To Deal With Annoying People not under How to Respond to Someone Who Wants to Kill Me.

This Martin Luther King Day I would like to suggest that we need to revisit the well worn stories of Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement and ask ourselves why we don’t react to them with the same surprise and incredulity.

Drone Strikes and Daggers

By Dr. Craig Hovey

Last month we learned that a US drone strike on suspected Al-Qaida terrorists killed at least 13 people in Yemen who were on their way to a wedding. Many, perhaps all, were innocent.

Let’s talk morality. Too many of our public debates over violence and war are only legal debates, not moral ones. Discussing the second amendment in the gun debate is useful when debating law, but it is beside the moral point. After all, the first amendment legally protects your right to gossip, but doesn’t make it moral. Even though we will disagree on the particulars, let’s acknowledge that many more things are legal than are moral.

And nevermind accusations that the US drone program is illegal. But for now: What makes it immoral?

Remembering Nelson Mandela

By Dan Lehman

Professor of English

Ashland University

The death of Nelson Mandela this week took me back to an evening in 2004 during the tenth anniversary year of South African independence when I first truly understood the significance of Mandela and his impact on history. Like many North Americans, I had followed for several decades the struggle against South Africa’s racist system of apartheid. I had even joined a few anti-apartheid protests during the 1980s and thrilled to the Special AKA’s runaway ska dance hit, “Free Nelson Mandela.” And now, here I was, in South Africa myself for a year of teaching, and I was getting to know a young white Afrikaans English professor in the English department at Stellenbosch University near Cape Town.

We were comparing notes in that way that people do when they first meet one another and see the potential for a deeper professional friendship. Both of us named Daniel, both of us growing up within racist systems some 8,000 miles apart—he in South Africa under Apartheid and I during the 1950s in then-segregationist Virginia. Both of us recalled being trapped by the privilege of our skin color in a system with which we deeply disagreed. Both had worked in our own small ways for its eradication.

Upcoming Events - Fall 2013

Justice in Motion: Responding to Changing Needs with Nicaragua’s Poor

Wednesday, October 30, 2013 7:00 p.m.

Ronk Lecture Hall, Schar College of Education Ashland University

Speakers are Pat and Kathy Floerke, members of the Jubilee Project. 

Kathy and Pat Floerke come to us from the Center for Development in Central America (CDCA), the Nicaraguan project of the non-profit, faith-based organization, the Jubilee House Community (JHC).  Before moving to Nicaragua in 1994, the JHC operated shelters for the homeless and battered women in Statesville, NC.  Working in Nicaragua for the past 19 years, the CDCA seeks to respond to human needs created by poverty in the second poorest nation in the western hemisphere. The CDCA focuses on justice now, working towards freedom from poverty, helping communities become self-sufficient, sustainable, democratic entities, specifically in the areas of

·        sustainable economic development

·        organic agriculture

·        appropriate technology

·        education

·        health care

They say, “The CDCA has been called to work with, and speak on behalf of, the poor in our area of Nicaragua, and to share their lives and stories with folk in the U.S., to bridge the gap between us and our neighbors.”  Tax-deductible donations & proceeds from craft sales go to the operating expenses of the project.

The event is co-sponsored with the Department of Foreign Languages, as part of the College of Arts and Sciences Against Indifference Symposium.

 ____

Slow Money

            Keeping dollars spent by consumers in the local community is a challenge and a goal for the economic well-being of communities such as Ashland.  Two programs in February will focus on local entrepreneurship development and how it benefits the local economy and the community.

“Slow Money” is a term that denotes keeping local money working in the local economy.  These “slow money” programs should be of interest to anyone who wants to support existing local businesses or think about starting a new business.  

The first program will show what has been done in southeastern Ohio with the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks. The second will focus on the possibilities of Ashland Main Street and will feature a panel of Ashland area entrepreneurs.

The first program, “Slow the Money; Invigorate the Economy”  will feature Leslie Shaller, director of programming for the Food Ventures program, a business incubation project of the Athens-area Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACENet). The presentation will be Tuesday, February 19, at 7 p.m. in the Ridenour Room, Dauch College of Business and Economics, on the Ashland University campus.

Candle Light Vigil: Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Remembering Sandy Hook School

Candle Light Vigil: Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Remembering Sandy Hook School 

When: Monday January 17, 2013 at 7 p.m.

Where: The upper level of Jack and Deb Miller Chapel on the Ashland University Campus.

A candlelight vigil against violence honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and remembering those who were lost in the Sandy Hook School, Newtown, Connecticut tragedy will be held in the upper level of the Jack and Deb Miller Chapel on the Ashland University campus Monday, January 21, at 7 p.m.  The campus and the community are encouraged to attend.  The event is free and open to the public.

During the vigil the names of those lost at Sandy Hook will be read aloud with each name followed by silence to express solidarity with those directly affected by this tragedy.

The vigil has been initiated and organized by the Ashland Center for Nonviolence, which has an organizational vision of “seek[ing] a world in which human conflict at all levels can be resolved without resorting to violence and in which social justice can be realized.”   

“it seems fitting to honor the memory of King’s work by remembering some of the people whose lives have been lost to violence,” said  John Stratton, Executive Director of the Ashland Center for Nonviolence.  “This is a not a political statement,” he noted, “but a time to reflect on what is lost to the community, when lives are taken senselessly.”  

The public is welcome and encouraged to attend this one-hour vigil.

A Nation in Debt: How Can We Pay the Bills?

Don't Miss out! 

The FINAL event in the Fall 2012 Symposium: The Cost of War is next week!

A Nation in Debt: How Can We Pay the Bills?

A National Issues Forum

Thurs., Oct. 4th —7pm

Ridenour Room

Dauch College of Business & Economics

Ashland University

A short video, researched and developed by National Issues Forum, will explain three possible solutions to the national debt. Louise Fleming, Executive Director of the Center for Civic Life at Ashland University, will moderate a discussion on the benefits and trade-offs of each solution. Judy White, Center for Civic Life at Ashland University member, will record comments which will be available online and will be sent to Ashland’s legislators.  Come prepared to participate!

National Issues Forums (NIF) is a network of civic, educational, and other organizations, and individuals, whose common interest is to promote public deliberation in America. It has grown to include thousands of civic clubs, religious organizations, libraries, schools, and many other groups that meet to discuss critical public issues. Forum participants range from teenagers to retirees, prison inmates to community leaders, and literacy students to university students.

NIF does not advocate specific solutions or points of view but provides citizens the opportunity to consider a broad range of choices, weigh the pros and cons of those choices, and meet with each other in a public dialogue to identify the concerns they hold in common.  This particular forum will focus upon the national debt.

A full issues book is available for download at the NIF Store on the website of the National Issues Forum.  The price is $1.99.  At the meeting, there will be a handout of the issue in brief.

Did you miss speaker

John Mueller

on Sept. 18th?

Fear NOT!

You can view the entire presentation immediately by clicking on the link below:    

http://mediasite.ashland.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=60503a7dfd26439db202f959f36b57cd1d

Professor of Political Science at The Ohio State University, John Mueller, discussed his view of war as a phase. He also spoke about the current ongoing fear of terrorism in our country and what it has caused. Don't miss out!! Watch now! 

The Fall 2012 Symposium Continues

The Ashland Center for Nonviolence at Ashland University

presents:

Speaker 2 in the ACN Fall Symposium: The Cost of War...

Code RED: The Cost of FEAR
John Mueller
Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012
7pm--Ronk Lecture Hall
Schar College of Education at AU
*NO cost; free to all*

John Mueller, professor of political science at The Ohio State University, argues that acts of terrorism are designed to encourage over-reaction in terms of psychological responses and use of resources; that is what the terrorists hope will happen. He examines these reactions and over-reactions as well as ways to politically lessen these fears that terrorism inspires.

Check out Mueller on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart for a sneak preview:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-october-31-2006/john-mueller



Did you miss speaker Paul K. Chappell?

Don't worry! View his presentation through the ACN at the link below:

http://mediasite.ashland.edu/mediasite/SilverlightPlayer/Default.aspx?peid=c278090ce9bf4cb292841305454f429f1d

Also coming soon, part 3 of ACN Fall Symposium: The Cost of War...

A Nation in Debt: How Can We Pay the Bills?

A National Issues Forum

Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012

7pm--Ridenour Room

Dauch College of Business and Economics at AU

*NO cost; free to all*

A short video, researched and developed by National Issues Forum, will explain three possible solutions to the national debt. Louise Fleming, Executive Director of the Center for Civic Life at Ashland University, will moderate a discussion on the benefits and trade-offs of each solution. National Issues Forums (NIF) is a network of civic, educational, and other organizations, and individuals, whose common interest is to promote public deliberation in America. NIF provides citizens the opportunity to consider a broad range of choices.

     Speaker Paul K. Chappell, 2002 West Point graduate and seven-year army veteran, will be here on Thursday, September 6th at 7pm in the Hawkins-Concord Student Center Auditorium at Ashland University! He is the author of Will War Ever End?: A Soldier’s
Vision of Peace for the 21st Century, The End of War: How Waging Peace Can Save
Humanity, Our Planet, and Our Future, and Peaceful Revolution: How We Can Create the
Future Needed for Humanity’s Survival (publication date: Feb 2012).

“Captain Paul K. Chappell has given us a
crucial look at war and peace from the unique
perspective of a soldier, and his new ideas
show us why world peace is both necessary
and possible in the 21st century." -Archbishop
Desmond Tutu

ACN 2012 Fall Programs!

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6TH – Speaker Paul K. Chappell - War is NOT Inevitable, 7:00pm, Hawkins-Conard Student Center-Ashland University


Paul K. Chappell graduated from West Point in 2002. He served in the army for seven years, was deployed to Baghdad in 2006, and left active duty in November 2009 as a Captain. He is the author of Will War Ever End?: A Soldier’s Vision of Peace for the 21st Century, The End of War: How Waging Peace Can Save Humanity, Our Planet, and Our Future, and Peaceful Revolution: How We Can Create the Future Needed for Humanity’s Survival (publication date: Feb 2012). He lives in Santa Barbara, California, where he is serving as the Peace Leadership Director for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (www.wagingpeace.org). He is working on his fourth book, The Art of Waging Peace: A Strategic Approach to Improving Our Lives and the World.

“Captain Paul K. Chappell has given us a crucial look at war and peace from the unique perspective of a soldier, and his new ideas show us why world peace is both necessary and possible in the 21st century." -Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Paul will also be doing presentations in Columbus, Wooster, Cleveland and Mansfield on September 7, 8, &9. Please contact ACN for details – acn@ashland.edu



TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH – Speaker John Mueller – Code RED: The Cost of Fear, 7:00pm, Ronk Lecture Hall in the Schar College of Education-Ashland University

John Mueller holds the Woody Hayes Chair of National Security Studies, Mershon Center, and is professor of Political Science, at Ohio State University where he teaches courses in international relations.

He is currently working on terrorism and particularly on the reactions (or over-reactions) it often inspires. His recent book, Atomic Obsession: Nuclear Alarmism from Hiroshima to Al Qaeda (Oxford University Press, 2010), suggests that atomic terrorism is highly unlikely and that efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation frequently have damaging results. He has also written Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them (Free Press, 2006). The New York Times called the book "important" and "accurate, timely, and necessary." His book, Terrorism, Security, and Money: Balancing the Risks, Benefits, and Costs of Homeland Security, written in collaboration with engineer and risk analyst Mark Stewart, applies cost-benefit analysis to issues of homeland security and was published in early September 2011 by Oxford University Press.



THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4TH – A National Issues Forum – A Nation in Debt: How Can We Pay the Bills?, 7:00pm, Hawkins-Conard Student Center Auditorium-Ashland University

A short video researched and developed by National Issues Forum, will explain three possible solutions to the national debt. Louise Fleming, Executive Director of the Center for Civic Life at Ashland University, will moderate a discussion on the benefits and trade-offs of each solution. Judy White, Center for Civic Life at Ashland University member, will record comments which will be available online and will be sent to Ashland’s legislators. Come prepared to participate!

National Issues Forums (NIF) is a network of civic, educational, and other organizations, and individuals, whose common interest is to promote public deliberation in America. It has grown to include thousands of civic clubs, religious organizations, libraries, schools, and many other groups that meet to discuss critical public issues. Forum participants range from teenagers to retirees, prison inmates to community leaders, and literacy students to university students.

NIF does not advocate specific solutions or points of view but provides citizens the opportunity to consider a broad range of choices, weigh the pros and cons of those choices, and meet with each other in a public dialogue to identify the concerns they hold in common. This particular forum will focus upon the national debt.

A full issues book is available for download at the NIF Store on the website of the National Issues Forum. The price is $1.99. At the meeting, there will be a handout of the issue in brief.

This program is co-sponsored by the Center for Civic Life at Ashland University.

Farmer’s Market to Showcase Local Food Producers

Ashland, OH- A Farmer’s market and information fair will be held on March 27^th, from 7-9pm in the Hawkins-Conard Student Center Auditorium and surrounding areas.  The film ‘Good Food’ will also be presented twice during this event at start times of 7:15pm and 8:15pm.  This program is sponsored by the Ashland Center for Nonviolence at Ashland University and is free and open to the public.  

Participants of this program include Local Roots Ashland, a unique type of market, first established in Wooster, OH in 2009. An affiliate market to Local Roots Wooster, they will provide a year-round outlet where shoppers can conveniently browse a variety of products from local producers.  When asked, Louise Fleming, an Ashland resident stated that “Local Roots is a wonderful asset in the Ashland Community!  I am so excited to have locally grown foods and local products, including meats and cheeses, available all year round.  Joining the cooperative is a chance for people to make an investment in the community where they live.”

Other vendors include Ann’s Raspberry Farm & Specialty Crops (raspberries & other theme-related items), Buehler’s Fresh Foods, Goldberry Roasting Company (coffee), Honey Haven Farms, LLC. (potted herbs & flowers, honey bears, and hot pepper butter), Martha’s Farm, Maple Syrup Vendor, Samaritan Hospital Nutritionist, Trinity Farms and Amish baked goods.

“We realize it is very early in the season to host a farmer’s market; however, we are excited to invest in our community and provide this opportunity to members of the Ashland community”, said Dottie Collura, Assistant Director of ACN, “We’re expecting a great turnout”.

The video Good Food visits the producers, farmers’ markets, distributors, markets, restaurants and public officials who are working together to develop a more sustainable food system for all.  Described by author Frances Moore Lappe as “a film to awaken our taste buds and our courage,” Good Food explores the local foods and farming system in the Pacific Northwest.  With the resurgence of a local food economy in this area, the film explores how this has occurred and highlights specific stories of individuals who are affecting this change.

Good Food was created by Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin, and has received very positive reviews from film critics and other local food economy experts.  It offers the opportunity for individuals to see the success that locals foods can provide for a community, so that other areas can implement similar local food strategies themselves.

The farmer’s market and information fair will take place before, during and after the screening and will consist of several tables with local and neighboring produce, in addition to information regarding healthy food options and sustainable living.  It also will take place in the Hawkins-Conard Student Center, in areas surrounding the auditorium.  

This program is the final one in ACN’s annual symposium on “Creating a Caring Community” which focused their efforts on local foods and building community. Previous events included March 13^th’s “Food, Farms, and Community” and February 14^th’s “The Emerging Local Food Economy and What It Means for Ashland.”

The Ashland Center for Nonviolence, located on the campus of Ashland University, is committed to exploring and promoting alternatives to violence in ourselves, our families, our communities, and our world.  The center is committed to finding choices when there seem to be none, as well as answering the seemingly unanswerable question, “What else can we do?”  For more information about this event, or to learn more about the Ashland Center for Nonviolence, please call 419-289-5313 or visit us online at www.ashland.edu/acn.  ###