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Clergy, Lay leaders release Pastoral Letter on Nuclear Weapons Production

More than twenty-four clergy and lay leaders of religious communities in East Tennessee joined to issue The Urgency of Now: A Pastoral Letter on Nuclear Weapons Production in Our Community on Monday, August 3, 2015 on Market Square in downtown Knoxville.

The letter, released in the week of the 70th observance of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings calls for people of faith to engage the morality of the ongoing production of nuclear weapons in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and plans for a new bomb plant”the $6.5 billion Uranium Processing Facility”at the Y12 Nuclear Weapons Complex there.

“As people of faith, dedicated to lives of gratitude, service and love, we ask ourselves: Is it right for us to support the production of weapons of mass destruction designed to be used against other human beings with our money, our votes, or our silence?” asks the letter.

The letter will be opened to additional signatures at a public release and ceremonial signing event on Market Square and will be available on-line soon for signatures to be added.

An annotated version of the letter has also been prepared. Religious leaders who created the Pastoral call plan to produce study resources and discussion guides for personal and congregational use.

The letter is available here:

Pastoral letter brief

 

An annotated version of the letter can be found here:

Pastoral letter annotated

 

Resources:

Reflections for Nonviolent Community

Latest:

Sunday Vigil at Y-12 in Oak Ridge Tennessee

Sunday Vigil

OREPA has held Sunday vigils every week for more than 22 years at the main entrance to the Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Complex (intersection of Scarboro Rd and East Bear Creek Road) at 5:00pm ET. We are outdoors and space our chairs; when covid numbers are up, we encourage people to wear masks. Bring your own chair, we have some umbrellas for sun shade or rain.

Learn More »
Where Should I park? vigil-map.jpg

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