P.O. Box 81, Swarthmore, PA, 19081-- brandywine@juno.com (610) 544-1818
GOOD FRIDAY - MARCH 21, 2008 Report
"May the cross which over time was transformed from a means of
execution to a symbol of
nonviolence and justice, a sign of nonviolent resistance to
Lockheed Martin, militarism, and war."
- Good Friday Stations of the Cross Opening Litany at Lockheed
Martin, March 21, 2008.
In a blustery, cold wind that belied the second day of spring,
people gathered again at Lockheed Martin as part of the campaign
of nonviolent to the world's largest weapons corporation.
Over the past three decades of the Brandywine Peace Community,
Good Friday has always been a day for nonviolent resistance
because to "Embrace the Cross" is to resist the crucifixion in and of
our times: war and the crosses of war - poverty, neglect of the
human and the environment, profit at the expense of people,
militarism. Lockheed Martin, Weapons and War, the Crucifixion
today!
Yesterday's Good Friday observance and Stations of the Cross
remembered 5 years of war and occupation in Iraq. The Stations
ceremony, what we've called "a trail of mourning and truth", began
with a reflection by Shane Claiborne, member of the simple way
and author of "The Irresistible Revolution". Shane reflected on his
time 5 years ago this week in Baghdad where he was literally "on
the ground" in Iraq as the bombs were falling. Shane, however,
wasn't their as either invader or target, but as a witness for peace.
The Stations then began, one by one we reflected on each of the
traditional Stations of the Cross, recounting the last steps and
crucified death of Jesus Christ, with a reading that attempts to bring
home what crucifixion means to us in front of Lockheed Martin.
After each station and reading, a cross - with the Lockheed Martin
logo at the crucifixion nail points and names of Iraq war dead in the
center of the cross - was carried into the crosswalk of the main
driveway entrance to the Lockheed Martin complex until at the
12th Station 14 people with crosses stretched across the drive,
along with a large cross and a coffin, with an Iraqi and U.S. flag.
The 12th Station "Jesus Dies On The Cross and another litany (see
immediately below) that was followed by a period of silence and
broadcast of "Adagio for Strings":
In shadow of the cross, [all] we remember and mourn all the
deaths and human tragedies of war these past five years.
In the shadow of the cross, [all] we stand in mourning and
nonviolent resistance to the war in Iraq and to the economy and
culture of militarism and greed in which many suffer and die
here and around the world so few may profit.
In the shadow of the cross, [all] we insist that reconciliation,
reconstruction, and justice replace war and militarism.
In the shadow of the cross, [all] we know that to stop the war, we
must resist the war-makers.
Then those lining the entrance to Lockheed Martin turned and
carrying the large cross and small crosses and the coffin,
symbolized Lockheed Martin's status as the Iraq war's chief
weapons profiteer, walked toward the building. A solid line of
Lockheed Martin security, backed by Upper Merion police, block
the way and in a customary procedure, one by one the Lockheed
Martin resisters are informed that they are on "Lockheed Martin
property without authorization" and would be arrested if they didn't
leave. Each choose the latter, are arrested, placed in police wagons,
taken to the police station, where they are released on "Disorderly
Conduct" citations.
Those arrested and cited were: Rev. Patrick Sieber, Beth Friedlan,
Mary Jo McArthur, Bernadette Cronin-Geller, and Carroll Clay, all
of Philadelphia, PA; Robert Daniels II, Art Landis, and Tim
Chadwick, of Germansville, Perkasie, and Bethlehem, PA; Amber
Christis and Jackie Bauman, of Camden and Elmwood Park, New
Jersey; Theresa Camerota and Robert M. Smith, of Wyncote and
Swarthmore, PA; and Annie Geers and Tom Mullian, Media, PA.