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As
members of Ground Zero we feel that public witness is very important to
both us and the community at large. By witnessing in public we continually
commit ourselves to lives of nonviolence, we affirm that which we stand
for and that which we stand against. By witnessing in public we hope to
stir the conscience of the community to opt for a nonviolent world in which
all life is held sacred.
Anti-War Toys Vigil
Ground Zero held its annual anti-war
toys vigil on November 27th, the day after Thanksgiving, at
Kitsap Mall in Silverdale with the message "Children Learn What They Play
- Please Don't Buy Violent Toys." As in previous years the objective was
to try to make the connections between the toys that children play with
and the scope of violence in the broader world. Judging from the enthusiastic
responses, our message was well received, possibly even better than in
previous years. With increasing violence being enacted by children with
guns, our message was clearly making some connections. The community obviously
sees this as an issue important enough that the vigil was reported on the
front page of the North Kitsap Herald in a very encouraging light.
Advent Vigil
During the season of Advent, the four
weeks preceding Christmas, Ground Zero member Tricia Sullivan kept vigil |
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every
weekday from 6:00 a.m. - 7:00 a.m. at the entrance to the submarine base.
She held a sign that read "Love Your Enemies" as a reminder that Christ,
whose birth is celebrated on Christmas, would clearly not approve of the
nuclear madness that is Trident.
Vigiling at Kitsap Mall on November
27, 1998 From L to R: Sue Ablao, Brian Watson, Mary Gleysteen, Brenda
McMillan and Elizabeth Roberts.
During the first week of her vigil
Tricia was evicted from the vicinity of the gate at the main entrance and
subsequently given a Ban & Bar letter stating that she would be arrested
if she was ever to be found on the base side of the "blue line". According
to base |
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security
officer, John Spencer, she had not received permission to stand outside
the gate. He further stated that there was no standing policy regarding
people who wished to leaflet or vigil outside the gate and that such decisions
were left entirely to the whim of the base's commanding officer. During
the course of her four-week vigil Tricia clearly touched the hearts of
people who subsequently would wave, honk their horns - and in several cases
- would stop and express their respect for her presence.
Protest Against Iraq Bombing
As the United States bombed Iraq in
the third week of December, Ground Zero led the public witness in Kitsap
County voicing opposition to this blatant use of weapons of mass destruction
with the message "Bombing Iraq: Not In My Name." On each day that the bombing
was carried out, Ground Zero members and supporters kept vigil at the entrance
to Kitsap Mall in Silverdale with signs and lanterns. Other signs read,
"Stop the Bombs," "Bombs Kill Mothers and Fathers, Brothers and Sisters,"
and "When The Mighty Roar It Is The Innocent Who Die." Reaction to the
vigil was mixed. In some cases passers-by were particularly vehement, yelling
obscenities and hateful words. In other cases drivers honked their horns
in affirmation and we even gained two or three supporters who stopped and
joined us. Ì |
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