Hi folks,
I just have a brief update to keep you all up to date on our work with the Truth Commission on Conscience in War. Please let me know if you want to be removed from this email list. We can’t afford a spiffy email client that allows people to opt in or out, so just feel free to reply and I will make sure these updates only go out to those who want them.
First of all, I put up a very simple web page (actually a Google Document) where you can find ways to help us spread the word on the Commission and also support Centurion’s Guild in the process. You can find that page by going tohttp://bit.ly/alJwoQ. There you will find links and suggestions on how to maximize the use of social media, if you are tech savvy, but also links to articles that have been written about the TCCW that could really use your comments and feedback. For those that are unaware, the Pentagon recently re-approved the use of sites like Twitter and Facebook for active duty and deployed troops (http://bit.ly/9QkCeZ), so the timing is just perfect! This page will be updated as new items are posted or ideas are developed.
Secondly, the good people at Luna Productions have put together a video trailer about the Commission that you can watch on YouTube at http://bit.ly/db3AGv. Five veterans are profiled, including guys from the documentary Soldiers of Conscience as well as Jacob Diliberto and myself. Also, Kyle Caldwell, another officer on the Guild’s steering committee, will be traveling to New York to participate in the TCCW s a Commissioner for the Guild. During the Public Hearing he will be live-blogging and tweeting the event. The testimony will only be four hours (if I remember correctly), so this will not be a huge project, but he plans to blog before and after the hearing, as well as when the Commission wraps up on the 22nd.
Finally, we are trying to solicit from people their thoughts on collecting additional testimony from veterans and actively serving troops on the issue of conscience in war. Redemption stories are really the essence of what Truth Commissions stand for, but with our limited time on the 21st, there will only be time for a small number of testimonies. I think, and I hope you will agree, that there are an incredible number of redemptive tales that Americans need to hear, that even Iraqis and Afghanis stand to benefit from – that atrocities are not the only stories we soldiers have to tell.
If you, a friend of yours, or a family member would like to share a story about the triumph or tragedy of their own conscience, please put them in touch with us here at Centurion’s Guild. We are happy to protect the identities of those who contact us, and we are willing to accept video, audio, or written forms of testimony. We are interested in sharing the stories in some way between the Public Hearing next month and Martinmas on November 11th. Please help us spread the word about this project.
Gratefully,
- Logan Laituri
Executive Officer, Centurion’s Guild
“Military personnel must reject participation in organizations that …advocate the use of force
or violence” – DoD Directive 1325.6
- Follow Centurion’s Guild! We will also be providing live coverage thru twitter or our blog (details as they emerge)
- Tell your own “tweeple” about the TCCW event on March 21st and about larger issues of conscience!
- Help by using the following hashtags to help this become a full-fledged topic (feel free to use all lowercase if you wish):
o #ConscienceInWar
o #SoldiersOfConscience
o #TCCW
o #TruthCommission
- Become a fan of Centurion’s Guild and the TCCW (and suggest to friends)
- RSVP or comment on the TCCW Event
- Status updates can also be “donated” by linking to either Pages or the Event. All you have to do is begin typing “@truthcommissiononconscienceinwar” or “@truthcommissiononconscienceinwar:publichearing” in the status box (you have to already be a fan or have RSVPed to the event for the link to be inserted, I think).
Blogosphere
- Write your own blog or article about the TCCW or CG based on your experience and values, linking to either CG or TCCW sites
- Link to one or more of the many articles already released about the TCCW;
o “Oppose Afghanistan But Not a Pacifist? Tough.” Religion Dispatches (Jan. 5th)
o “Truth Commission on Conscience in War” Ferus Theologica (Feb. 1st)
o “Reinvigorating the Discourse on Just War and Pacifism” God’s Politics (Feb. 2nd)
o “The Invisible Moral Consciences of Those in the Armed Forces” Dog Canyon (Feb. 8th)
o “Encouraging Informed Freedom of Conscience on Questions of War” God’s Politics (Feb 9th)
o “Conservative Christian Leader Attacks Commission on Conscience in War” Religion Dispatches (Feb. 10th)
o “Five points about the Truth Commission on Conscience in War” Ferus Theologica (Feb. 11th)
o “The Religious Right Supports the Troops! …As Long as Soldiers Keep Quiet” TheBeatitudes Society (Feb. 15th)
o “Law, Morality, and Conscience in War” Truthout (Mar. 1st)
- Live-blogging (more details later)
o Watch/read the coverage yourself
o Alert your supporters and fans
o Consider re-posting/re-tweeting
o Cite live-blogged content in subsequent blogs or articles
Additional Testimony:
We are trying to gauge support for compiling additional testimony by vets and service members who have been impacted by conscience in their armed service. Being that this is a Truth Commission, we are trying to expand the limited scope of the one-day public event by incorporating more voices via video, audio, and written forms. I feel strongly that “redemption has stories to tell” (Switchfoot; “Dare you to Move”), and that the more people we hear from, the greater the impact and capacity to transform the national dialogue. The following ideas could use your help being developed;
- How can we get as many vets and service members to the public event as possible?
o Participate/view via live-blog
o What about travel subsidies for individuals directly affected trying to get to NYC?
o Gather support/funds for a mixed media documentary project in tandem with the TCCW?
- Gauge support and resources for compiling additional testimony
o Ask affected people in your circles to contact CG privately if they want to go ‘on record,’ either anonymously or publicly
o Ask groups and organizations you are a part of to lend their support for the this project and spread the word or contribute funds
o Help us fundraise to build up our website to host the compiled testimony
Hi Guild fans;
A few important updates for are in line, so bear with me. First and foremost, we offer our congratulations to Kyle and Jessica Caldwell for their new daughter, Eden Evangeline! Zach and Laurel Cornelius are also counting the days until they welcome their own new addition into the world. A favorite theologian of mine has said that children themselves are acts of hope, that we trust the world will improve, that maybe young ones will inspire us to act to improve the one we have!
On another front, we are all very excited about the upcoming Truth Commission on Conscience in War (TCCW) and encourage all of you to check out their website (www.conscienceinwar.org) to learn more about this significant event. The Guild is proud to be a co-sponsor of this event and we are currently working on inviting a commissioner as a part of that collaboration. Kyle and I will both be in attendance as representatives of the Guild; Kyle will possibly live-blogging and I will be offering testimony from my own CO experience. Furthermore, I am also very honored to be a part of a group of students compiling academic material to support the work of the Commission and authoring the final report, which will be published later this year on Martinmas (AKA Veterans Day). To help Kyle and I get to New York in March, please consider donating to the Guild. Instructions on how to do that are on the lower left corner of our website, and donations are tax deductible through our generous sponsor, The Simple Way of Philadelphia.
Because of the enormous effort we are putting into this commission, we will not be publishing our seasonal newsletter, Change of Command, on time. Do please check out our last two issues, which are available for viewing and download athttp://bit.ly/cFtGtC and http://bit.ly/bvF0Lk. On other media fronts, we are also going to be migrating our website onto Wordpress software and hopefully doing a lot of work on it just prior to the TCCW. Expect us to be blogging finally, as well as trying to compile theological and legal resources (articles, links, videos, books, etc.) for service members and their families who are struggling with their participation in war as people of faith.
Surprisingly, we are going strong on Facebook and have been doing a bit of linking and status-ing, so for now this is the best place to keep up to speed with us. Please invite friends to be fans of ours and consider following the Purse at www.causes.com/centurionspurse. I promise we will soon explain in more detail the direction we want to take with this. 
It has been calmly collecting dust in the back burner, but in the next issue of Change of Command, we plan on getting more serious about advancing this area of our community work.
Finally, we are thinking very seriously about welcoming members into the Guild (we’ve been thinking of calling them “Centurions”), and we are looking for feedback on what YOU think that could look like. We are definitely going to have a Centurion Auxiliary Corps, like CPT Reservists or something, but we wanted to hear from our ‘fans’ about what that might entail. Expect us to be contacting some of you one on one or via email to hear from you directly.
Thats about enough for now. Thank you SO much for reading this far, I will try to keep these updates much shorter from here on out…
Dutifully,
- Logan
Executive Officer, Centurion’s Guild