Topic: FreeThinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties

One Woman’s Voice: From darkness into the light of change

By Debbie Boen | November 6, 2008 |

Clarksville Freethinker founder reacts to Obama’s win. Debbie Boen created FreeThinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties at a time when America was more than happy to plunge into war. Like the activists of the 60s, she held to her beliefs, a minority then, and only now, with the historic election of Barack Obama, can she and all of us who have stood in the minority in one form or another, see a light of hope on the horizon.

FreeThinker founder Debbie Boen created this striking Obama signs for the Nov. 4 election.

As I was driving to the Icehouse café on Tuesday night, NPR (National Public Radio) said something about declaring Obama and I didn’t get what had happened.  I walked into the cafe and everyone was watching the big screen TV.  There was a screaming crowd on the TV set.  The scream of happiness from the TV crowd of thousands didn’t stop and seemed to shake the earth.  I swear I could feel the vibration of it come from the earth into my body.  Miranda Herrick ran up to me and said, “Did you hear what just happened?  Obama is declared a winner!  Why are we NOT screaming?  Why are we NOT screaming?”  and with that we both started screaming and again and again. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: News, Opinion, Politics | 2 Comments

Quiet vigil honors 4000 fallen soldiers

By Debbie Boen | March 25, 2008 |

A group of eleven gathered on Monday at Public Square to light candles, view the statistics of war, read poetry, hear a song, sing a song, and acknowledge the 4,000 US military dead in Iraq.

We who gathered this time are all disconnected from the war, in the way that we are not relatives of anyone enlisted. But we know co-workers, students, clients, neighbors and acquaintances who are connected with the military. We are surrounded by military.

David and I read Christine Piesyk’s recently published poem, Songs, written for vigil we held 1,000 soldier fatalities ago. The pain of picking up all the pieces of war from Vietnam to Iraq, is potent angst; something that you never want to have to do again. It is unfair for wars to take our best, chop them up and dump them back on our society, often as shells of their former selves, haunted by the war they waged in the name of duty. We who oppose the war have good reason to do so.

There is no good bomb. There is no good war, said my Grandmother, who survived WWI as a child in Germany. We who gather are in between, in between the “nothing is going on” stance of the media, and the overwhelming way the war rages on. In attendance this time were all middle class white Americans with one veteran. Three of our group were under 18. On this occasion, all of us except the vet, are Unitarian Universalists (UU’s). «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: News, Opinion | 3 Comments

Voters concerned about electronic ballots flock to UnCounted screening

By Christine Anne Piesyk | December 8, 2007 |

The Clarksville screening of UnCounted, a film targeting issues in electronic voting, drew fifty people to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Friday evening, filling the screening room to capacity for this special event. The film’s producer, Patricia Earnhardt, and activist Bernie Ellis, addressed the group and fielded questions about the film and the increasing controversy over the accuracy and security of electronic voting machines.

Bernie Ellis introduces “UnCounted”

Producers describe UnCounted as “an explosive documentary that shows how the election fraud that changed the outcome of the 2004 election led to even greater fraud in 2006 — and now looms as an unbridled threat to the outcome of the 2008 election. This controversial film examines…how easy it is to change election outcomes and undermine election integrity…” «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: News | 1 Comment »

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