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War talk dominates
media, classroom and dinner table discussion as we engage
in the most controversial military policy
in forty years. Regardless of political affiliations or service
history, all Americans are being
challenged to make informed and critical moral and political
decisions about war-making and peace-making policies and obligations.
Peace and War in the Heartland (PWH) produces free
public events that promote personal
engagement with the complex intellectual issues and moral
terrain of war and peace-making.
War is conducted by and waged
against human beings, so the conversation needs to move beyond
numbers of troops and calendar dates to engage with universal
human values. We believe that a broader and deeper
public conversation about the moral landscape of war and peace-making
is crucial and way past due.
PWH focuses on involving and
enabling this generation's youths' participation
in the public discussion. PWH is an extraordinarily
timely campus-based peace-and-war education project
that articulates key, critical moral and constitutional issues
facing America’s draft age youth, 18-25.
PWH uses an original and highly
imaginative approach to telling a complete and comprehensive
story of how present moral, political and cultural
conditions and challenges are rooted in the choices made by
previous generations. Since every individual makes moral decisions
using different information - some decisions may be grounded
in historical analysis. Or influenced by political interpretation.
Or compelled by religious beliefs - a series of campus-based
free public events employ various communication
modalities (lectures, small group discussions, panels, etc.)
to address eight decision influence sources:
history, politics, law, religion, science and the experience
or fact of being young, a woman or a veteran.
PWH's special target is draft
age youth, 18-25, though all events are open to the general
public. To create and promote an intergenerational
dialogue and discussion, PWH creatively links its
events to a theatrical re-enactment of a mock
Draft Lottery and a theatrical
play linking past events with current affairs,
namely, “Peace Crimes: the Minnesot 8 vs. the
war.”
PWH's public events take place
within the "Human Village."
You enter the Human Village through a pledge:
To be non-judgmental. To be respectful. To listen and respond
calmly, though with passion, to those who walk a different
path. In the Human Village those experienced
with war-making and peace-making decisions make themselves
accessible and available to the young men and women who seek
their experiences and truths. This includes scholars, activists,
veterans, military personnel, chaplains, draft resisters,
etc.
For
many, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are happening "over
there," and are being waged by a very small
segment of volunteer soldiers who bear an extraordinary burden.
Though 9/11 brought terrorist activities into the heart of
America, PWH will "bring the war home"
by enacting what the Selective Service System states it can
put into operation at the click of a mouse, namely, a
At various campuses, In
The Heart of the Beast Puppet
and Mask Theatre will make today's "virtual
draft" real to draft age youths. The Lottery results
indicate who will be drafted within the next several years.
"Draftees" will receive a "Greetings"
packet with a Report to Induction letter, a 1-A draft card,
and a To Do list, that includes making a will. Then, the "draftee"
will receive a "What happened to you in the war"
true story written by Veterans about themselves
and other veterans. This will range from nothing happened,
to you got wounded, to you died in friendly fire, and so on.
The objective is to move young
men and women to ask, "If the real Lottery were activated
today, what would I do?" Train to kill and risk being
killed? Resist and go to prison? Accept exile to a foreign
country, never to return to America?
During the week of
February 19, 2008 start by attending a PWH event
at the U of M or Augsburg College or later at Macalester College
or the UM's "Great Conversation" program or attend
at home or at the office or from anywhere ... online
at your computer.
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