Back from the Brink
On Friday, August 19 the Peace and Social Concerns Committees of Sandy Spring Friends Meeting and the BYM Working Group on US Militarism and War cohosted a special presentation on the grassroots campaign for fundamental change in US nuclear weapons policy.
Presenter Danny Hall provided an overview of the growing grassroots Back from the Brink campaign, launched in 2017, to eliminate nuclear weapons. Presenter Jean Athey discussed the current danger of a nuclear exchange and nuclear war, along with the myth of deterrence. She also described the “ban treaty,” an international treaty that makes nuclear weapons illegal; the dollar costs of nuclear weapons; and current legislation in Congress.
Danny Hall is Director of Public Affairs for Soka Gakkai International-USA (SGI-USA) and is based in Washington, DC. In 2014, he helped organize the one-day conference Making a Difference: Faith Communities and the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons at the United States Institute of Peace and in 2017 he co-organized a one-day conference Toward a Fundamental Change in Nuclear Weapons Policy at the United States Capitol Visitor Center. In March 2021, he co-organized a virtual policy briefing and workshop series titled Eliminating Nuclear Weapons Before They Eliminate US: Opportunities Under the Biden Administration to Take Action. He was a citizen lobbyist at the 2017 UN preparatory meetings for the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Publications include the chapter "Pope John Paul II, Radio Free Europe and Faith Diplomacy", Palgrave MacMillan, 2013.
Soka Gakkai International-USA (SGI-USA) is the most diverse Buddhist community in the United States with more than 500 chapters and some 100 centers throughout the country. SGI-USA is part of the larger SGI network, which comprises more than 12 million people in 192 countries and territories around the world. SGI has a long history of working to eliminate nuclear weapons.
Jean Athey is clerk of the BYM Working Group on U.S. Militarism and War, and she was cofounder of Prevent Nuclear War/Maryland. She is also secretary of the MD Peace Action Board and convenor of Baltimore Peace Action. From 2006 through 2019, she was coordinator of Peace Action Montgomery, and she has previously served on the national board of Peace Action, including as co-chair for two years. Past activities include a peace mission to Afghanistan in 2011, in collaboration with the Afghan Women’s Fund. In October 2008, she volunteered with the International Solidarity Movement in Palestine for the olive harvest.
Nuclear Weapons: The Danger Today & What You Can Do
PowerPoint Presentation by Jean Athey
