The July 2011 issue of Latitude 38Golden Rule Project. The had a letter from Fredy Champagne, Coordinator, the Veterans for Peace, Golden Rule was built in 1958 as a "peace boat" by four Quaker activists who sailed her to the Marshall Islands in an attempt to stop the nuclear weapons testing. The Northern California Veterans for Peace chapter is hoping to have her restored in time for the 2013 America's Cup in San Francisco. Afterward, depending on funding, the plan is to sail Golden Rule around to the East Coast and Midwest (via the Mississippi, Great Lakes and canals) to visit local chapters of Veterans for Peace and tour in general.
The restoration project is a tribute to the memory of Albert S. Bigelow, captain, Orion W. Sherwood, William R. Huntington, and George Willoughby the crew of Golden Rule. Of course the Northern California chapter of Veterans for Peace are interested in support, working volunteers and net-working for the completion of this project.
How are you using your boats? Our individual actions may not be as dramatic, but how we choose to live each of our days - especially on the water - does make an impact and a statement. Do we choose to use up resources from other parts of the planet, or ones that are more local? How are our energy requirements and uses?
These four Quakers' faith shaped how they engaged the world. And they didn't stop with just thoughts and ideas, but put their faith into action. And their actions inspired others, changing the course of history. How are you acting on your faith?
But their [the crew of the Golden Rule] example proved contagious. An American anthropologist, Earle Reynolds, his wife Barbara, and their two children attended the final trial in Honolulu, and concluded not only that the U.S. government was lying about the dangers of radioactive fallout, but lacked the constitutional authority to explode nuclear weapons in the Pacific. As a result, determined to complete the voyage of the Golden Rule, they set sail for Eniwetok aboard their own ship, the Phoenix. On July 1, Reynolds went on the radio to announce that they had entered the U.S. nuclear testing zone. Soon thereafter he was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to a two-year prison term.
These events, which received considerable publicity, triggered a surge of activism. Picket lines sprang up around federal buildings and AEC offices all across the United States. In San Francisco, 432 residents -- proclaiming that they were guilty of "conspiring" with crew members -- petitioned the U.S. attorney to take legal action against them. Reynolds, out on bail before a higher court ruled in his favor (and, implicitly, in favor of the crew of the Golden Rule), gave a large number of talks on radio and television, as well as to college, high school, and church audiences, on the dangers of nuclear testing. {from: http://www.vfpgoldenruleproject.org/preserving-the-golden-rule.htm; Dr. Wittner is Professor of History at the State University of New York/Albany. His latest book is Confronting the Bomb: A Short History of the World Nuclear Disarmament Movement (Stanford University Press).}
Here is more history about the events surrounding Golden Rule.
Fair winds,
Joel
No comments:
Post a Comment