Militarism and the economy in our daily life is topic for May 17 event
by Scott O’Neill | Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE — The Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Militarism Working Group is conducting its second Connecting the Dots webinar in 2023 at Noon Eastern Time on Wednesday, May 17.
The topic is “Militarism and the Economy.” This webinar will explore the relationship between militarism and the economy in the context of faith and help Presbyterians and others engage in faithful action. Participants will have the opportunity during the 90-minute Zoom session to discuss why the U.S. invests so heavily in military spending when urgent issues like poverty, broken infrastructure, and environmental catastrophes are so pressing in our daily lives.
The webinar is open to all, but participants must register here.
Featured speakers include Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, Presbyterian pastor and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, and the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, associate director of advocacy for the PC (USA)’s Compassion, Peace & Justice ministries.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once named militarism as one of the three evils of society. He said, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” The U.S. military budget exceeded $700 billion in 2020, and federal discretionary spending saw only 15 cents on the dollar go toward anti-poverty spending while the military received more than 50 cents on the dollar.
Some additional topics expected to be discussed include:
- The connection between militarism and poverty
- The effect of militarism on minorities
- Actions that can congregations and individuals take in response.
The Connecting the Dots webinar series examines militarism from a variety of perspectives through a lens of Christian faith. Prior webinars have covered topics such as peace churches; national security in Colombia and Korea; gun violence, violent conflict and climate change; and militarism and moral injury. Previously recorded sessions can be viewed on the webinar’s web page.
Real-time Spanish translation of the May 17 webinar will be available.
The PMA’s Militarism Working Group includes the Compassion, Peace & Justice and World Mission ministries and the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship.
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