By J. CHAD KEBRDLE
English Instructor, Ancilla College

DONALDSON — Ancilla College was recently host to two honored peace activists. Kathy Kelly and Bradford Lyttle shared the floor at the most recent Lampen Lecure co-sponsored by Ancilla College and The Center at Donaldson.

Kelly is a peace activist who co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence. She and those who participate in the peace movement share the belief, “Where you stand determines what you see.” Kelly painted a picture of what she has seen in her 27 visits among the Afghan people in a war-torn, working-class neighborhood in Kabul. She put a human face on American soldiers caught between violence and their desire to be compassionate.

Sister Linda Volk, PHJC, reflected on the message, “It is true ‘where you stand determines what you see.’ Unfortunately, our fear often keeps us rooted in place, not allowing us to engage the perspective of the ‘other,’ whom we perceive as alien to our expression of humanity. That stance can be held only when the other remains faceless to us. Stepping into another’s world opens us up to a name, a face, a history and the sufferings and joys that gives the other personhood.”

Bradford Lyttle, a longtime proponent of peace over violence, spoke of the mathematical probability model that proves the potential failure of the nuclear deterrence theory. Lyttle was an organizer with the Committee for Non-Violent Action of several major campaigns against militarism. According to Lyttle, the proliferation of nuclear weapons has increased the chances of nuclear war tremendously. Unless we come to grips with the effect of poverty and inequality world-wide; unless we substitute love for hatred, we are on the road to the destruction of civilization.

“I was so moved. The powerful impact we as a nation could have if we use our resources for peace instead of war is within our grasp. We must find a way to live in peace,” said Paula Lambo, director of marketing at The Center at Donaldson, Sister Jolise May, vice president of Mission Integration at Ancilla College, said, “What can we do in the face of such widespread feelings of helplessness? Perhaps Alfred Delp, a Jesuit priest who resisted the Nazi regime, has given us an answer.”