40 Years Ago: June 11th, 1982 the great International Religious Convocation, pronounced their Community Affirmation statement aloud in the largest Cathedral in the U.S., St. John the Divine

We who live in the shadow of the mushroom cloud,

….Today declare our hope in the future,

…. To renew our belief in the sanctity of all life.

We declare we are at peace with all people… .

We need no leader to define for us an enemy,

To tell us what we need security for,

And defense against.

Instead we affirm that our earth’s security rests not in armaments, but

In the justice of adequate housing and food,

In the justice of meaningful education and work,

In the justice of an economic order that gives

everyone access to our earth’s abundance,

In the justice of human relationships nourished by cooperation.

We affirm people over property,

Community over privatism,

Respect for others regardless of sex, race or class.

We choose struggle rather than indifference,

We choose to be friends of the earth and of one another

rather than exploiters,

We choose to be citizens rather than subjects, ….

We chose a nuclear-free future,

And we will settle for nothing less.

We unite ourselves with sisters and brothers the world over

to join together in communities of resistance from the nuclear threat.

We unite ourselves with trust in the Spirit of Life;

Justice and love can overcome the machines of destruction.

Before us today are set life and death.

We choose life, that we and our children may live.

Let it be so.”

By Johan Elbers. Photo of June11th 1982 of procession from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine into Central Park, after the Convocation.