Not long ago Sojouners Magazine's ezine, sojo.net, issued a special edition about a sergeant in the U.S. Army, who became a conscientious objector while serving in Iraq. Logan Laituri and I have e-corresponded since I introduced myself the same way to him. His e-address was included in the special edition.
The Sojourner's special edition about Logan contained a video-link of his remarks at a Washington, D.C., rally of Veterans of Iraq opposed to continuing the conflict. I was taken with his witness and his conviction for peace. Also, I viewed that the number of U.S. military opposed to military presence in Iraq is not limited to a handful of soldiers.
Logan's unit deployed for the second time to Iraq; however, he was denied because he refused to go to Iraq without a weapon. He was separated from the service sooner than he thought possible. Two things of note here:
1. Logan's experience was a conversion: it led him to "recommit[] myself to taking my spiritual roots in Christianity seriously. ...In a job that involved a lot of killing, I felt I had to change if I were to be serious about following Jesus."I'm proud to be acquainted with Logan and to be one person among many he keeps informed about his missionary efforts to broaden peace in our world. Read yesterday's interview with Logan in the Orange County Register.
2. Logan encountered members of Christian Peacemaker Teams. Before he was released from the Army and after Israel invaded Lebanon last summer, Logan applied to work on behalf of peace in Israel.
Photo of Ramallah by Soman is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5.
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