The Left/Right Divide: A New Approach
by Rachel MacNair I’ve long had a problem in figuring out what the underlying principle is between distinguishing left-wing and right-wing. I was told during the Reagan years that right-wingers want less government. But so many who identified as right-wing, and were understood that way in the media, wanted more and stronger military, police, FBI,…
“Never Again”: Taking Action against the Nuclear Threat
by John Whitehead The following is adapted from remarks given at the Vigil to End the Nuclear Danger, a peace witness outside the White House co-sponsored by the Consistent Life Network. We are here today to call for an end to the nuclear threat that hangs over humanity. We are here to remember the…
Documentary Review: The Movement and the Madman
by Rachel MacNair In the title, “The Movement and the Madman,” the “movement” is the peace movement trying to stop the American war in Vietnam. To be more precise, it was the Moratorium demonstrations in October and November of 1969. The “madman” is Richard Nixon, and it’s not intended as a mere insult. It’s…
Hiroshima’s Children
by Sarah Terzo On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima. Two hundred forty-seven thousand people, over half the city’s population, were killed. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Contrary to what Americans are often told, the bombings may never have been necessary to…
Movie Review: Oppenheimer
by Rachel MacNair Oppenheimer is a biopic about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father of the atomic bomb.” According to its director’s custom, it has three different threads of stories that weave throughout. One tells the story of his early years and the development of the atomic bomb with care for historic accuracy, and the…
Movie Review: Sound of Freedom
by Rachel MacNair The movie Sound of Freedom is causing quite a stir. It depicts the real-life Tim Ballard, who’s portrayed doing Hollywood-movie style rescues to get children out of the grips of pedophilic sex trafficking. As a drama, it’s well done. This would be the approach that would be taken by a movie…
Abortion Supporters Connect Abortion to War
Compiled by Rachel MacNair. If you know of other good quotations that fit this theme, please send them to CLNeditors@googlegroups.com Dr. Frank Behrend, M.D., abortion doctor tape-recorded speech November 7, 1977 Reference was made to my agreeing that abortion is taking a human life, which it is. However, let us remember that war is…
Imagining a Different Type of Peace Organization
by John Whitehead Effective peace activism is urgently needed in the United States today. (Peace activism is also needed elsewhere in the world, but since I’m an American citizen, I will focus here on the United States.) Tensions between the United States on the one hand and nations such as Russia, China, North Korea,…
Applying Pacifist Insights to Abortion
by Rachel MacNair I’m a Quaker, and Quakers are pacifists. We (officially, the Religious Society of Friends) join Mennonites and the Church of the Brethren as the Historic Peace Churches. Membership in any of these churches puts a person in good shape for getting legal conscientious objector status when drafted for the military. As…
Bigotry against Babies with Down Syndrome: International Experiences
by Sarah Terzo Recently, the CLN Blog published an article about discrimination against people with Down syndrome and how it leads to abortion. The article looked at cases from the United States, but the same thing happens in other countries. Writer Says She Would Have Aborted Her Children If They Had Down Syndrome An author…