Eight hundred years ago, Francis of Assisi began to live a life in which he embraced poverty and selflessness to take up the cross and proclaim love as the way. He lived in a time of great violence in which his church and society were waging war against the Islamic people.

On Oct. 4, during the Feast of St. Francis, we will celebrate International Keep Space for Peace Week with a vigil at Bath Iron Works. BIW builds the Arleigh Burke class of Aegis Destroyers and has contracted to build the new Zumwalt Destroyers. These destroyers are part of our nation’s theatre missile defense or “star wars” program which places weapons and military satellites in outer space.

With fewer sailors and more weaponry, the Zumwalt destroyers are launching platforms for weapons of mass destruction. They are designed to attack the enemy and to fire missiles at targets hundreds of miles away creating a shock and awe type of terrorism in which human life and environmental degradation are considered collateral damage. These warships are a crime against humanity.

Can we realize and embrace disarmament just as Francis threw off the trappings of militarism and lived in a way that honors all of the creatures of the Earth and beauty of the heavens? Please join us on Saturday, Oct. 4, the Feast of St. Francis, from 11:30 to 12:30 at the BIW Administration Building on Washington Street in Bath, to honor the heavens, to say No! to weapons in Space, and to conspire toward a disarmed world.

George and Maureen Ostensen

Hope