Unarmed Forces Day

Related pages: Peace education, Peaceworkers

Britain's second Armed Forces Day will rake place on 26 June 2009 - initiated by the government in order to raise the public profile of the armed forces. The Armed Forces Day website <http://www.armedforcesday.org.uk/> billed it as "an opportunity for the nation to show our support for the men and women who make up the Armed Forces community".

Given the already huge public support the armed forces enjoy as well as the enormous sums of money spent on war and military solutions to conflict, QPSW and others felt it a good time to focus more on the alternatives to the armed forces in part by callin for an Unarmed Forces Day: Unarmed Forces Day press release - 22nd June 2009

Below are a list of resources for Armed Forces Day.

Useful information for those considering joining the armed forces:

'Informed Choice' is an independent report on the subject of armed forces recruitment practices in the UK (http://www.informedchoice.org.uk/).

http://www.beforeyousignup.info/ is a website for people thinking of joining the armed forces - it offers impartial advice and recommended questions to ask recruiters.

Armed Forces Day resources:

Index:

Resources for Armed Forced Day
Ideas for Children on Armed Forces Day
Useful Websites for Armed Forced Day

1. Resources

Below is a list of resources to inspire worship on a theme of peace for churches, peacemaking groups, families and children, or with home groups.

Liturgies for Peace and Repentance

Liturgies for peace and repentance are available from Pax Christi (http://www.paxchristi.org.uk/litgy1.htm) and the Fellowship of Reconciliation (http://www.for.org.uk/worship).

The Movement to Abolish War has also produced a collection of readings, reflections, prayers, hymns and other resources called Remembrance for Today (http://www.abolishwar.org.uk/resources.php?p=5#Publications)

Bible Studies on Peace

Bible studies on peace for use in smaller groups are available from the World Council of Churches movement Overcoming Violence (http://www.overcomingviolence.org/en/resources/wcc-resources/bible-studies.html).

Pax Christi also has a number of resources exploring peace and spirituality (http://www.paxchristi.org.uk/pubs.HTML)

Videos about Peace

The World Council of Churches' movement Overcoming Violence has produced several videos with stories about the impact of violence, reality of war and blessing of peace from around the world.
(http://www.overcomingviolence.org/en/resources/wcc-resources/videos.html).

Peaceful Tomorrows, an organisation created by families bereaved in the 9/11 bombings, has also produced a video exploring the impact of 9/11 on these families, Beyond Retribution (http://www.peacefultomorrows.org/article.php?list=type&type=65).

The Movement for the Abolition of War has made War No More, a short video featuring Desmond Tutu, Martin Bell, Jon Snow and others that aims to inspire discussion (http://www.abolishwar.org.uk/resources.php?p=5#Videos).

The Northern Friends Peace Board (NFPB) has produced a DVD and accompanying booklet based around an NFPB conference on Building Peace - Tackling Racism, held in Huddersfield in March 2008 (http://nfpb.gn.apc.org/bptr/dvdinfo.htm)

Also from NFPB is the 'Visions of Peace' DVD - a collage of interviews with Quakers talking about the inspiration and motivation for their peace work - contact Philip Austin on 0845 458 3095 or email nfpb@gn.apc.org for your copy.

The WMD Awareness Programme have an excellent short film 'Anthropology 101' which raises awareness about the dangers of nuclear weapons and features a soundtrack by Brian Eno (http://www.comeclean.org.uk/articles.php?articleID=301)

'Where is the Love?' is a documentary film made by school children in East London where a bi-annual arms fair takes place. See http://www.filmmakersagainstwar.org/ for this and many other films for peace.

Art For Peace

Every genre of art - poetry, music, painting - is used to campaign for peace.

Songs for the Road to Peace, a collection of religious songs and hymns, is available from the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship (http://www.anglicanpacifists.com/index.php/8/resources)

Make Peace Not War have produced four CDs of popular music for peace by unsigned artists (http://www.peace-not-war.org/shop/volume-1.php).

The Movement for the Abolition of War have two albumns of protest songs (http://www.abolishwar.org.uk/resources.php?p=5#CDs) and the World Council of Churches has created a CD of Argentinian peace songs and a ballet about peace (http://www.overcomingviolence.org/en/resources/wcc-resources/worship-prayers.html).

Women in Black UK has the work of two modern female poets inspired by peace and war on its website, Kate Evans and Isabel Ros Lopez (http://www.womeninblack.org.uk/Poetry.htm).

A collection of art works about peace can be seen at Make Peace Not War (http://www.peace-not-war.org/gallery/index.php)

Stories about Peace

The Forgiveness Project has a large collection of stories about the power of forgiveness in bringing peace, which could inspire discussion (http://www.theforgivenessproject.com/stories/anne-gallagher).

Pax Christi has a series of publications on the Lives of Peacemakers (http://www.paxchristi.org.uk/pubs.HTML) and the Peace Pledge Union has an Education microsite, with stories about peacemakers and conscientious objectors, as well as general information about conflict and peace for children and young people (http://www.learnpeace.org.uk/).

Exhibitions about Peace

The Network of Christian Peace Organisations have an 8-panel exhibition presenting peace from an ecumenical Christian peacemaking perspective (http://www.whatispeace.org)

Quaker Peace & Social Witness have an 8-panel exhibition introducing 'sustainable security' - the long-term resolution of the root causes of conflict and insecurity (http://www.quaker.org.uk/shared_asp_files/GFSR.asp?NodeID=155441)

Conscience - the Peace Tax Campaign has a downloadable exhibition - consisting of three sections on peace tax, human rights and non-military security - to help raise awareness of peace tax and the taxes spent on the military (http://www.conscienceonline.org.uk/Pages/_subSections/supportPages/getInvolved.html)

The Peace Museum in Bradford has travelling exhibitions on five different peace-related topics to offer organisations for free loan (+ mailing cost or free for pick up from Bradford).

Exhibitions include: 'A vision shared', 'My country the whole world: Women Peacemakers' 'Champions of Peace: Nobel Peace Prize, The First Hundred Years', 'Such a Journey' and 'Hiroshima & Nagasaki'

Contact The Peace Museum on 01274 434009 or email peacemuseum@bradford.gov.uk

Postcards, Posters, Badges and other resources

Quaker Peace & Social Witness has a website devoted to peace resources, events, action opportunities, information about volunteering and courses and other peace links (http://www.peaceexchange.org.uk) - amongst these are several posters including 'Help Britain Kick the Nuclear Addiction', 'Build Peace' and 'PEACE' written in English, Hebrew and Arabic.

The Peace Pledge Union have produced a number of postcards and posters promoting peace (http://www.ppu.org.uk/sales/index.html).

Similar resources are also available from the Fellowship of Reconciliation (http://www.for.org.uk/node/245), the World Council of Churches (http://www.overcomingviolence.org/en/resources/wcc-resources/leaflets.html), the Movement for the Abolition of War (http://www.abolishwar.org.uk/resources.php?p=5), the Northern Friends Peace Board (http://nfpb.gn.apc.org/resrces.htm) and Pax Christi.

Make Peace Not War has cotton "Make Peace Not War" bags and T-shirts (http://www.peace-not-war.org/shop/merchandise.php) and Peace One Day has a variety of peace accessories (http://www.peaceoneday.org/comersus7F/store/comersus_index.asp)

Peace Tax Seven greetings cards with an attractive peace design by Arthur Windsor are available by sending a cheque to Ursula Windsor, 4 Brunswick Square, Gloucester, GL1 1UG or by calling 01452 549 669 (5 cards for £4 incl postage).

Books and pamphlets about peacemaking

'Peacemaking, a Christian Vocation' is available from the URC bookshop for £3.99 plus postage (http://books.urc2.org.uk/item.asp?ItemID=1226).

'Think Peace' is a series of booklets from Quaker Peace & Social Witness exploring the meaning of peace (http://www.quaker.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=91080)

'Preparing For Peace' - by asking the experts to analyse war' presents the findings of a five year enquiry into whether war works as an instrument of policy in the twenty-first century - £6.99 from Quaker Bookshop (020 7663 1030) (http://www.preparingforpeace.org/)

'Rethinking war and peace' by Diana Francis - a Quaker author, campaigner and nonviolence trainer - mounts a head-on challenge to the belief that war as an institution is either necessary or effective for good - £11.99 from the Quaker Bookshop (020 7663 1030).

Ten Top Ways for Peacemaking Today

The Fellowship For Reconciliation has a summary of "Ten Top Ways to Make Peace", which gives practical ideas for using these resources (http://www.for.org.uk/node/222).

Information about military recruitment and Conscientious Objection

'Informed Choice' is an independent report on the subject of armed forces recruitment practices in the UK (http://www.informedchoice.org.uk/).

http://www.beforeyousignup.info/ is a website for people thinking of joining the armed forces - it offers impartial advice and recommended questions to ask recruiters.

War Resisters' International has a comprehensive database of known prisoners for peace and conscientious objectors (http://www.wri-irg.org/programmes/pfp).

In addition, the Peace Pledge Union has a CO Archive and Education Resource (http://www.coproject.org.uk/)

2. Ideas For Children and Young People

Make Your Own Flag

The Government have designed a flag specially for Armed Forces Day, based on the Union Jack. This clearly demonstrates their desire to incite patriotic sentiment, support for themselves and effectively celebrate war. A simple flag-making activity will help children explore expressions of peace:

Give each child a piece of paper and access to colouring pencils / craft materials. Ask them to design a "flag for peace", which they could wave in support of peace. You could print off some different peace symbols for inspiration.

Making Paper Cranes

Quaker Peace & Social Witness offers a worksheet on making paper cranes which includes the inspiring story of Sadako Suzuki, the young girl from Hiroshima (http://www.quaker.org.uk/Shared_ASP_Files/UploadedFiles/88A59A46-089E-4E3A-8DEB-7EE6045AA810_Trident_Making_paper_cranes.pdf)

Postcard Writing

Help children find out about the life of a peacemaker (using one of the resources listed above). Use this as inspiration to write a postcard to your local MP or a friend about why you think peace is important.

Prayer Writing

Get a map of the world and some stories about and pictures of conflict from newspapers. Use these as inspiration to write prayers for peace, which can then be pinned to the map. You could encourage children to focus on writing prayers for the children who suffer as a result of war.

Games

The Peace Pledge Union has two books of games for children: Parachute Games, suitable for primary school children, which introduces values of cooperation in a fun and non-dogmatic fashion, and Cooperative Games, which challenges "competitive theory of motivation" and argues that children learn spontaneously (http://www.ppu.org.uk/sales/index.html)

Make Tea Not War

Host a tea party and use one of the films listed above about peace to inspire a discussion about why commitment to peace is important.

Collage for Peace

Use newspaper cuttings, pens and paints to create a "collage for peace".

Make Your Own Vox Pop

Take a video camera out and ask people on the street whether they think our Government should be more committed to peace.

Peace Education Resources

The Peace education Network (PEN) has produced a free guide for all those involved in educating for a just and peaceful world (http://www.peaceeducation.org.uk/downloads/PEN_Curriculum_document.pdf).

PEN provides resources for all stages of the national curriculum (http://www.peaceeducation.org.uk/resources)