86-C (3)                                  Resolution on Nuclear Arms Reduction

WHEREAS in five former resolutions, LSM-USA has taken a stand against nuclear arms buildup, and has condemned the nuclear arms race, and

WHEREAS we have committed ourselves to a non-violent fight for peace, and

WHEREAS we have also watched the arms race spiral even faster, until we are now faced with the most destructive force ever seen on this planet – one that includes over fifty thousand nuclear weapons – and

WHEREAS both the United States, Soviet Union, and other nuclear armed nations have the capability of destroying the earth many times over, and

WHEREAS the arms race asks an intolerable price in human and natural resources, 2 and

WHEREAS nuclear weapons are so abominable that their very existence threatens to destroy the world as we know it today, and

WHERAS “we are called to recognize the peace question as more than a peripheral or secondary subject, because it is central to the teachings of Jesus, which shapes our whole private and public life.” 3 and

WHEREAS we must educate ourselves so that we may determine when the issue of national security threatens global security, and take steps to reduce the threat, and

WHEREAS the time has come, once again, to  gather together as brothers and sisters in Christ, children of the Ultimate Peacemaker, to join with other workers for peace in crying “enough” and join in the call for disarmament,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT LSM-USA reaffirm its stands taken in former position papers and resolutions, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT students “pray, study, and work for peace in every relationship, and particularly to renounce war and militarism by our personal and corporate witness” as suggested by the Lutheran Peace Fellowship, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT students examine their own consciences and demonstrate their convictions by:

            1.  Writing letters of support for disarmament to the President of the U.S., their senators and representatives, and/or

            2.  Participating in non-violent protest aimed at nuclear disarmament, and/or

            3.  Writing letters to the Soviet Embassy and/or the Soviet Premier, applauding and encouraging the efforts they have attempted  through their test ban treaty, and/or

            4.  Work toward total peace through education of ourselves and those around us to realize that we need to change our attitudes towards other nations in order to change our World’s attitude toward all weaponry, including nuclear arms.

References:

            1.  U.S. Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Figures, Center for Defense Information.

            2.  LSM-USA Resolution 78-2.

            3.  Lutheran Peace Fellowship Statement.

Sponsored by Heather Lynn Jarman – Oglethorpe University

During the legislative assembly, there was much discussion on the definition of militarism.  The definition give in Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary is:

            a.  predominance of the military class or its ideals

            b.  exaltations of military virtues and ideals