GOOD MORNING AND WELCOME!

WE ARE MEMBERS OF EITHER PROJECT PLOUGHSHARES OR THE SOCIAL JUSTICE COMITTEE OF THE UNITARIAN CHURCH OF EDMONTON AND WE ARE MEETING HERE, IN THIS LOVELY PLACE, WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE DEVONIAN GARDEN. " PROJECT PLOUGHSHARES" DOES NOT DERIVE ITS NAME FROM FARMING, BUT FROM THE BIBICAL QUOTE," THEY SHALL BEAT THEIR SWORDS INTO PLOUGHSHARES "--AND STUDY WAR NO MORE. FOR MANY YEARS PROJECT PLOUGHSHARES HAS HELD AN EVENT TO REMEMBER AUGUST 6TH AND 9TH, THE DATES IN 1945 WHEN THE FIRST NUCLEAR BOMBS WERE DROPPED ON HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI, JAPAN. THIS YEAR, IN THIS BEAUTIFUL JAPANESE GARDEN, WE WANT TO REMIND OURSELVES, ONCE AGAIN ,OF THE HORROR OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND PAY TRIBUTE TO THOSE IN OUR WORLD WHO HAVE WORKED SO HARD OVER THE PAST 65 YEARS TO ENSURE THAT SUCH HORROR SHOULD NEVER AGAIN BE RELEASED. ON THE WORLD. I HAVE THE AGE ADVANTAGE OF REMEMBERING WHEN THOSE FIRST BOMBS WERE DROPPED AND ALL OF THE YEARS SINCE THEN.

I BEGIN WITH A POEM BY TOGE SANKICHI: HIBAKUSHA (AN A-BOMB SURVIVOR). (READ POEM)

THE WHOLE WORLD WAS HORRIFIED AND ALL WHO READ THE STORIES WERE CONVINCED THAT SUCH A THING SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. YET-- INTERNATIONAL DISPUTES AND WARS CONTINUED TO HAPPEN.

THE COLD WAR DEVELOPED BETWEEN THE U.S. AND RUSSIA--AT THAT TIME THEY WERE THE ONLY TWO NATIONS THAT HAD NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY AND BUILT UP NUCLEAR ARSENALS. THE WORLD WAS HOSTAGE TO WHATEVER THEIR LEADERS DECIDED AND THANKFULLY, THE IRON CUTAIN SOFTENED AND NUCLEAR WAR --WHETHER STARTED INTENTIONALLY, OR BY ACCIDENT, WAS AVOIDED. THIS YEAR, 2010, STILL FINDS US UNDER THE NUCLEAR SHADOW. HOWEVER, I'D LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT SOME POSITIVE THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED OVER THE ENSUING YEARS.

--THE UNITED NATIONS, FLAWED THOUGH IT MAY BE, STILL PROVIDES A FORUM FOR DISCUSSION OF WORLD ISSUES.

--IN 1963, THE" LIMITED TEST BAN TREATY" SIGNED BY THE USA, USSR, AND GREAT BRITAIN--WHICH ENDED ATMOSPHERIC, OUTER SPACE AND UNDERWATER TESTING OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS WAS SIGNED AND HAS NEVER BEEN BROKEN.

--IN 1968 THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY BANDED TOGETHER TO SIGN "THE NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY". THIS TREATY HAS NOT BEEN AS SUCCESSFULL, AS RECENT EVENTS HAVE TAUGHT US. HOWEVER, IT HAS PROVIDED A BEGINNING THAT MIGHT BE BUILT ON.

--IN THE 1970S THE GRASS ROOTS ANTI-NUCLEAR MOVEMENT BEGAN TO BUILD WORLDWIDE. FOR EXAMPLE, PHYSICIANS, REALIZING THE FUTILITY OF ANY ATTEMPTS TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ASSISTANCE IN THE FACE OF THE ENORMOUS DESTRUCTION THAT WOULD RESULT FOM A NUCLEAR EXPLOSION WERE AMONG THE FIRST TO STATE PUBLICLY THAT THE ONLY POSSIBLE STRATEGY WAS TO WORK FOR PREVENTION.

AT AN INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CONVENTION IN 1981 THE INTERNATIONAL PHYSICIANS FOR THE PREVENTION OF NUCLEAR WAR (lPPNW) WAS FOUNDED AND CO- PRESIDENTS FROM THE US AND USSR WERE ELECTED. IN 19851PPNW WAS AWARDED THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. MANY OTHER PROFESSIONS FORMED THEIR OWN PEACE GROUPS, AS DID CHURCHES AND A WHOLE VARIETY OF GRASS ROOTS ORGANIZATIONS. MANY OF THESE GROUPS CONTINUE TO BE ACTIVE UNTIL THE PRESENT. THERE ARE OUTSTANDING EXAMPLES OF SELFLESS LIFELONG DEDICATION SUCH AS OUR OWN SEN. DOUGLAS ROCHE ,FORMER CANADIAN AMBASSADOR FOR DISARMAMENT,WHO IS INTERNATIONALL Y RECOGNIZED. JUST LAST MONTH HE WAS NAMED AN HONOURARY CITIZEN OF THE CITY OF HIROSHIMA. DOUG IS A MEMBER OF THE MIDDLE POWERS INITIATIVE DEVOTED TO BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN GOVERNMENTS, AND LIKE ORGANIZATIONS. AND HE IS A STRONG SUPPORTER OF 'MAYORS FOR PEACE', SOME 4000 STRONG, OF WHICH OUR MAYOR MANDEL IS A MEMBER. HE WOULD LIKED TO HAVE JOINED US TODAY BUT HE'S DEEP INTO WRITING YET ANOTHER BOOK.

THESE ARE JUST A FEW MILESTONES IN CONTINUING ENDEAVORS THE ELIMINATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND THE PURSUIT OF WORLD PEACE THAT CONTINUE TO INSPIRE THOSE OF US WHO ARE DEVOTED TO THESE CAUSES.

THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE!

Website created and maintained by Calypso Communications & Consulting. Please direct any questions, comments, or technical problems to the Webmaster.