BY THOMAS DICKINSON, for WAMM
In 1918 in the 11th month, on the 11th day at the 11th hour, the armistice for the “War to end all wars” was signed in Compiègne, France. Commemorated as “Armistice Day” in most countries, the name and focus were shifted in the U.S. in 1954 to “Veterans Day.”
Tackling Torture at the Top (T3), a committee of Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), offers its second annual Armistice Day forums with guests Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson (Ret.) and Reverend Chris Antal, in two events on Armistice Day Eve, Nov. 10.
This year’s themes are “Does our increased militarization cause abuses of power both abroad and at home?” and “Is counterterrorism counterproductive?” Mass surveillance, indefinite detention, immorality of war, torture and drone bombings will be discussed. Events are free and open to the public. Co-sponsors are the First Unitarian Society (FUS) of Minneapolis and Veterans for Peace Chapter 27. In addition to the forums, Rev. Antal will lead “An Interfaith Service of Lamentation and Hope” at the First Unitarian Society, and Veterans for Peace will hold a coffee with Col. Wilkerson before their traditional Armistice Day bell-ringing.
Schedule:
Nov. 10
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Room 100 E, Giddens Learning Center (1536 Hewitt Ave.) at Hamline University, St Paul. Professor David Schultz will moderate a panel with Col. Wilkerson and Rev. Antal.
6 to 7 p.m. First Unitarian Society (FUS), 900 Mt. Curve, Mpls. (parking at the Walker Art Center). Reverend Antal will lead An Interfaith Service of Lamentation and Hope. Refreshments follow.
7:30 to 8:30 p.m., FUS, Col. Wilkerson joins Rev. Antal for a forum on this year’s themes.
Nov. 11
10 to 11:30 a.m., 4200 Cedar Ave. S., Mpls. Informal Coffee with Col. Wilkerson offered by Veterans for Peace, Chapter 27, followed by their traditional Armistice Day bell ringing at 11.
Lawrence Wilkerson is a retired United States Army soldier and former chief of staff to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell. Wilkerson is an adjunct professor at the College of William & Mary where he teaches courses on U.S. national security. He also instructs a senior seminar in the Honors Department at the George Washington University entitled “National Security Decision Making.” He is a regular contributor on The Real News (therealnews.com).
Reverend Chris Antal was chaplain with the U.S. Army in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and later in the U.S. Army Reserve. While in Afghanistan, he delivered a sermon that said, “We have sanitized killing and condoned extrajudicial assassinations … war made easy without due process, protecting ourselves from the human cost of war.” He nearly lost his job. This past April in an open letter to President Obama, he resigned his commission over the use of drones, continued American nuclear proliferation and our government’s claims of “extraconstitutional authority and impunity to international law.” He is minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Rock Tavern, N.Y.
CONTACT: T3:
Thomas Dickinson, 612-822-9520;
Coleen Rowley, 952-952-393-0914;
FUS – Rev. Kelli Clement, 612-889-3654;
Church, 612-377-6608
