Meeting Report

Mary Wind, president of the Teach Peace Foundation, came before HAGSA and delivered a simple yet powerful message, which is that peace starts with each of us. Of course, when one is as deeply involved in a subject as Mary obviously is—in this case the subject of peace—one can elaborate on it at great length without being redundant or boring.

By engaging the audience, employing various charts, and delving into anecdotal narratives, Mary was able to bring the worldview of the Teach Peace Foundation to a receptive audience in fine fashion.

Sprinkled with thoughtful sound bites, Mary’s presentation professed that peace is a verb. Although peace is a noun that describes the absence of war, it is Mary’s contention that peace is also something we do. We make conscious efforts to react peacefully, to do what it takes to avoid war and conflict, and to live lives that teach peace by example.

Just as those who do not learn history are destined to repeat it, so too are we doomed to continue warring if we do not learn how to be actively peaceful.

Part of that process includes knowing the obstacles to peace. As illustrated by Mary, these include such things as the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), the bonding of Church and State, and the state of mind that assumes America has a manifest destiny to deliver our way of life to the entire world.

Mary was accompanied by her husband, Michael Pach (a HAGSA member), who assisted her at times from the audience.

David Dionisi, also from Teach Peace and author of American Hiroshima, was originally scheduled to speak, but had to leave at the last minute to go to an orphanage he founded in Liberia. He should be available at a later date to give a related but distinct presentation.

Report prepared by Brian Jones

Click below to return to the list of 2007 Meetings or to go to the previous or next meeting report.

2007 Meetings