Rev. Kathleen McTigue, Mark Colville, and Keeley Colville (l-r) block the entrance to the federal building in Hartford, in an act of civil disobedience.
Rev. Kathleen McTigue is arrested.
Rev. Carolyn Patierno addresses the demonstrators.
A Good Day for Peace: Unitarian Universalists Engage in Civil Disobedience to Protest Iraq War
March 21, 2008
On March 19, 2008, the fifth anniversary of the start of the U.S. war with Iraq, a cold rain fell in Hartford, Connecticut. More than two hundred people, including nearly 100 Unitarian Universalists from several Connecticut churches, gathered in front of the federal building in Hartford to demonstrate their opposition to the war in Iraq. Five individuals, including two members of the Unitarian Society of New Haven and their minister, Kathleen McTigue, were arrested for first degree disorderly conduct and trespassing when they refused to move away from the doors of the building. Those arrested included James Barron, 80, Caroline Bridgman-Rees, 85, Keeley Colville, 17, and her father Mark Colville (age unknown).The action was organized by Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice, an interfaith organization formed to advocate against the war and torture. The organization is connected to both the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.
McTigue said, following her release from jail, "The [federal] administration has been frightening successful at making the cost of war invisible.We do not see coffins, we see almost no images of Iraqi people cradling their dead... If our faith is worth anything at all, it compels us to do what we can to end military action in Iraq. We created this mess, and we have to figure out how to end it. The military surge has helped to quell some violence, but within that, the Iraqi government has been incapable of forming a functional governing body. Unless something is in place diplomatically, multi-nationally, there will continue to be a huge amount of civil violence."
Rev. Carolyn Patierno, minister of All Souls Unitarian Universalist Congregation of New London, had preached a sermon, “On Peace,” (PDF) to her congregation on March 2. In it, she asked them to be at the March 19 rally in Hartford. She was thrilled to see sixty of them arrive, most of them on a chartered bus, representing the congregation. Patierno said, "[That sermon was the] seventh I'd preached on the war and peace. It made me feel ill. It's hard to write a sermon of ideas about something that feels immoral, when action is needed. This became a watershed moment for the congregation, and for me...this fifth anniversary called for a different kind of sermon, a sermon engaged not just in ideas, but in what we need to be doing."
Patierno continued, "We have spent five years, 4,000 lives, trillions of dollars, and all of it exists in a broader culture that would have us believe that God is on the side of the militarily and economically powerful. I have been involved with "Reclaiming the Prophetic Voice" because it hopes to offer another perspective in this time." Patierno said that over half of those who went to Hartford from the All Souls congregation had never been to a public demonstration before. "They are remarkable and courageous and determined. I am so proud of them."
Also present at the event were members of the Unitarian Universalist Society: East (Manchester) and Unitarian Society of Hartford, along with their ministers, Rev. Josh Pawelek and Rev. Barbara Jamestone.
Kathleen McTigue's court date is set for March 24. She said, "Until the war is over, we will keep doing things. We have to speak out against something that is so wrong."
Last updated on Tuesday, April 1, 2008.
