Juliana Howard , St. Joseph
I was pleased to read the article on Mary Bruno’s poster to support Ukraine in the April 15 issue. Mary is not only a talented local artist, but also generous and civic-minded. She is an asset to our city. Using the words from the Ukrainian Anthem was a brilliant idea. However, I wish the poster did not depict a strong arm about to toss a Molotov cocktail. It made me squirm.
Here are some quotes that support a nonviolent stance to the war:
…what we need is not escalation of conflict with more weapons, more sanctions, more hatred….Instead of that, we need comprehensive peace talks.
Ukrainian peace activists
We become what we hate. The very act of hating something draws it to us…. Unaware of what is happening, we turn into the very thing we oppose.
Walter wink
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy… The choice before us is no longer violence or non-violence. It’s non-violence or non-existence.
Martin Luther King
We can stand in solidarity with the Ukrainians and still consider methods of nonviolent civil defense that have not been adequately supported by the international community and the churches. One helpful source is www.peace-ed-campaign.org.
Peace.
