A one-year, one-inch protest

Since December 2004, they’ve taken out a one-inch ad in The Leader listing the total number of soldiers and civilians killed in the war in Iraq. Though they stand in staunch opposition to the war, they’re not the kind of protestors you’d see marching, carrying signs, or proudly showing off their new plastic handcuffs.

They’re Presbyterians.

The 12 churchgoers – representing only themselves and not their church – know each other through a Sunday night spirituality study group that has been meeting about five years. Last year, their group encountered a problem: They’d be discussing something, and somehow the war would edge its way into the conversation. They were frustrated that the invasion of Iraq had happened, but they felt powerless.

During their weekly meeting they study and discuss books by leaders of different religions. One book was by a Franciscan priest named Father Richard Rohr, a man who advocates a combination of contemplation and right action.

http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?SectionID=36&SubSectionID=55&ArticleID=13980