Swords into Plowshares

Justice: A Journey in Moral Reasoning

"But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream." (Amos 5:24)

Prophets and other biblical writers emphasize the theme of justice. Micah proclaims that one of the three things God requires of us is to "do justice."

Justice: A Journey in Moral Reasoning is a new television series and interactive Web site created by Harvard University in partnership with WGBH Boston that will provide an opportunity to explore the concept of justice.

These new tools will take participants and viewers inside the course, Justice taught by Michael Sandel each year. This course in moral and political philosophy has been taken by some 14,000 Harvard students.

Justice: A Journey in Moral Reasoning will premiere on public television stations nationwide in mid-September. Check local listings. The publicity states that the series will be available online in the middle of September.

The series will give viewers the opportunity to join in discussion and grapple with difficult ethical questions posed by the professor and students during each session.

The Justice interactive Web site will host discussions and debates with participants from around the world.

Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?, a related book by Sandel will be released on September 15.

The Reckoning

Mark your calendar (and set your Tivo) for Tuesday, July 14th so you can watch PBS's new documentary on the International Criminal Court (ICC): "The Reckoning."

The film should air at 10 pm in most areas, but check here to see your local listing.

From PBS comes the description:

"Over 120 countries have united to form the International Criminal Court (ICC) - the first permanent court created to prosecute perpetrators, no matter how powerful, of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. The Reckoning follows dynamic ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo and his team for three years across four continents as he issues arrest warrants for Lord's Resistance Army leaders in Uganda, puts Congolese warlords on trial, shakes up the Colombian justice system, and charges Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir with genocide in Darfur."

The Reckoning is one of the films in PBS's POV series.

National Geographic Channel story on 2008 hostage rescue in Colombia

The National Geographic Channel (check your local listings) will air a story on the rescue by the Colombian military of 15 hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on March 4, 2009 at 8:00 PM. National Geographic describes the program in these terms:

"On July 2nd, 2008 a new page was written in the history of military hostage rescues. On that day, a Colombian military intelligence force, using a strategy of deceit, rescued 15 hostages from the jungles of Colombia. The hostages where being held by dozens of armed guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC. Throughout the rescue operation, not a single shot was fired, no one was killed and no one was harmed. Through never before seen footage of the planning and execution of the operation, a video taken by the duped guerillas, firsthand accounts of the rescued hostages and for the first time, the testimonies of the intelligence commandoes who executed the mission, this documentary presents the dramatic, real story of one of the most successful rescue operations in history."

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has a long history of mission involvement in Colombia. The 218th General Assembly (2008) adopted a Report on Human Rights in Colombia.

Environmental Work in Peru Featured on CNN

For 10 years, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission workers in Peru have worked to   empower the residents of La Oroya, a town high in the Andes that has been devastated by mining-related environmental degradation.

That decade of educating and organizing Peruvians, Presbyterians and various governments and environmental and health organizations will be part of a December 11 documentary on CNN, “Planet in Peril: Battlelines.”

One of the Presbyterian Hunger Program's "Joining Hands Against Hunger" networks is between Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery and Uniendo Manos Contra La Pobreza in Peru. This network has been involved in the efforts in La Oroya.

The Peru Joining Hands Against Hunger network took part in the 2008 Peacemaking Conference. The picture shows Jacob Goad (with guitar) and Conrado Olivera, both of the network, as they prepare to sing at the conference Talent Show.

Check CNN listings in your area for information about “Planet in Peril.”

The Presbyterian News Service has done a story on the CNN broadcast.