One Small Step . . .
40 years ago, today, Sgt Pepper–er, no. 40 years ago, today, Apollo 11 launched from Cape Canaveral, FL (called Cape Kennedy in those days when we named everything after our slain president). It would soon land men, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on Earth’s only natural satellite, the Moon. I was 7 and living in Orlando, FL and remember the events of that summer vividly. In honor of this anniversary, my wife has given me a biography of astronaut Neil Armstrong, one of my childhood heroes.
Earlier this week, Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, 2nd man on the moon, celebrated this anniversary with a public call for us to push full force for a human-staffed mission to Mars. I second that. I want us to build cities on the moon and prepare to colonize and terraform Mars. I grew up thinking we’d already be there by this time, but Dick Nixon killed the program–supposedly for its expense, although the ENTIRE NASA budget is a tiny fraction of one military weapons system. We humans are meant to be explorers. Without that, something in our spirit dies–and wars increase. Let’s heal this planet AND go to the stars.
Share your memories: Where were you when Apollo 11 launched? When it landed (nearly crashing into a crater!) on 20 July 1969? What did you think, feel, dream? Should we go back?
Debunking American Myths About Canadian Healthcare
From the Denver Post comes this great article by an expatriate Canadian living for a long time in the U.S.A. I’d love to get this reprinted everywhere. Americans pay more and get less from our healthcare “system” and we deserve better.
Baptist Peacemaker Robert Broome Dies: R.I.P.
Robert Broome of Louisville, KY, a Baptist layperson and pioneer peacemaker died on 11 July ’09 while visiting family in Asheville, NC, ending a long battle with cancer. Broome, 66, was a member of Deer Park Baptist Church and instrumental in launching The Baptist Peacemaker (now in its 29th year of publication) and in getting Deer Park BC to host the historic meeting in 1984 where scattered Southern Baptist peace activists met with leaders of the (American) Baptist Peace Fellowship and out of that conference forged the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America.
About
Michael L. Westmoreland-White, Ph.D. I live in Louisville, KY USA with my wife, Kate, and our two wonderful daughters. My wife, Kate, is a Baptist minister who works at a Catholic charity (the Society of St. Vincent de Paul) to provide assisted housing to homeless people. Our daughters are Molly (’95) and Miriam (’99). I am a former soldier converted to gospel nonviolence and a once (and future?) academic theologian turned peace activist, author, and peace educator. Contact me at [email protected]
The Levellers were a 17th C. movement during the English Civil War. They were a religiously-inspired political movement for democracy, human rights, justice for the poor, and peace. Their strongest leader was Richard Overton, a pacifist General Baptist influenced by Dutch Mennonites. Although I write on a wide range of topics, most often this blog deals with the intersection of faith, especially Christian faith, and work for social justice and peace. So, I have named the blog and dedicated it to the spirit of Richard Overton and the 17th C. Levellers.
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