Pacifism and Non-violent alternatives to war
(This event is now finished. You can view the video here (1hr 18min))
After 20 years of war in Afghanistan, the Taliban is back in control. Trillions of dollars and millions of lives over 20 years have achieved nothing.
This week has seen the Australian government sign up to a nuclear submarine fleet to counter a supposed threat from China. The cancelled submarines were to cost $90 billion, and the cost of the new contract is unknown.
Is there an alternative? Is it possible to avoid violent conflicts and solve international issues non-violently, or is that just a naive fantasy?
Join John McKinnon at 7.30pm in conversation with our guests Mark and Mary Hurst, Pastoral Workers for the Anabaptist Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ). Both are ordained Mennonite Ministers with Masters degrees in Peace Studies and Christian Formation and retired Mennonite mission workers. They have been leading workshops and teaching in church institutions for the past forty years in the area of conflict transformation, conflict in the church and peacebuilding as well as serving as pastors to eight congregations in three countries. Prior to congregational ministry they worked with university students through Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship in the USA and various prison ministries in the USA, Canada, and Australia.
As pastors in a peace church tradition who also have family associations with the US military, Mark and Mary are in a unique position to discuss the complex issues of war, violence and pacifism.
Was Jesus a pacifist? Is pacifism the same as non-violence? How do we answer the classic “What would you do to protect your family if Hitler’s soldiers were at the door?” Mark and Mary will give a presentation and John will take questions from the floor and lead the conversation from there until 9pm.
We’ll be using Zoom for this interactive meeting, so please register here.
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