August 2005 marks the 60th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Urged on by the Hibakusha – the survivors of the first nuclear attacks – the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have called for “A Year of Remembrance and Action for a Nuclear Weapons Free World.”
To honor this call, Pax Christi USA and the Nevada Desert Experience have joined together to sponsor “Many Stories, One Vision for a Nuclear Free World,” a national conference and public witness at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and the Nevada Test Site, from August 4-7, 2005.
As we mark this anniversary, we come together to not only remember the victims of the world’s first nuclear attacks, but to challenge the dangerous moves made by the Bush administration toward new nuclear weapons production and testing. We invite you to join in this important and timely gathering of peacemakers from across a broad spectrum of interfaith, ecumenical and secular activists committed to stopping renewed nuclear weapons testing, and challenge directly the global U.S. militarism that today drives our nation's policies.
Featured speakers at the conference include Janet Chisholm, Coordinator of Nonviolence Training at the Fellowship of Reconciliation; Dave Robinson, Executive Director of Pax Christi USA; Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Director of The Shalom Center; Bishop Steven Charleston, Native American Episcopal Bishop and Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School; Frida Berrigan, Senior Research Associate at the World Policy Institute; and Fr. John Dear, S.J., a Jesuit priest and author of more than 20 books on peace and justice.
Workshop presentations during the conference will be led by representatives from Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Citizen Alert, the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, and Western States Legal Foundation, among others. Topics covered will include “International Law and the Military,” “Nuclear Weapons and the Environment: National and Global Impacts,” “Nuclear Weapons and the University,” “Indigenous Life and Lands Poisoned by Nuclear Weapons,” and many more.
Together, during this weekend when we remember the massive devastation wrought by the first nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we join with millions of people throughout the world to call for an end to nuclear war and nuclear proliferation, and to shed light on the dangerous full scope of U.S. nuclear weapons policy today. For more information on the “Many Stories, One Vision for a Nuclear Free World” conference and witness, including a downloadable registration form, please visit www.paxchristiusa.org. You can also contact Pax Christi USA by phone at 814-453-4955, ext. 221 to request more information.
