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Mayor Scott Maddasion signs on to become a Mayor for Peace at the City Council Meeting on Sept. 22nd. Looking on is Lisa Frederick, City Clerk/Deputy City Administrator |
On
September 22, upon urging by the Sisters of St. Francis and the Franciscan
Peace Center, the Clinton City Council approved a motion for Mayor Scott
Maddasion to become a member of the International Mayors for Peace. This nonpartisan organization was established
in 1982 by the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan with the goal of
realizing lasting world peace around the globe by promoting efforts to abolish
nuclear weapons.
Mayor
Maddasion is the fourth Clinton mayor to become a member of the
organization. Thirteen years ago, in 2007,
then Clinton Mayor LaMetta Wynn signed on as a Mayor for Peace. Subsequently, Mayors Rodger Holm and later Mark
Vulich also signed on. Today, Mayors for
Peace has grown to more than 7,956 member cities in 164 countries and regions.
Fifteen
years ago, in 2005, the Clinton Franciscans took a corporate public stand
opposing nuclear weapons following years of studying the issue and advocating
against warfare. The statement issued reads: "We, the Sisters of St. Francis of Clinton,
Iowa, Associates and Sojourners, oppose continued maintenance, development, and
threatened use of the United States arsenal of nuclear weapons and research
into and testing of new nuclear weaponry. We call on our government to fulfill
our commitments to nuclear disarmament as agreed to in the Non-Proliferation
Treaty of 1970 and to abide by the provisions of the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty of 1996."
Sister
Jan Cebula is President of the Sisters of St. Francis of Clinton, Iowa. "We
believe in the sanctity of every human life and all creation. Nuclear weapons are a grave danger to all
forms of life," she says. "The rapidly
growing number of Mayors for Peace is a powerful force generating real momentum
toward peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons."
In
2013, the United Nations General Assembly declared September 26 to be
the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. The intent
of the day is to enhance public awareness about the threat posed to humanity by
nuclear weapons and the necessity for their total elimination.
The
threat of nuclear weapons disappeared from the consciousness of U.S. citizens
following the end of the Cold War. Today,
while news headlines repeatedly emphasize the perceived threat of Iran and
North Korea to obtain nuclear weapons, there is little or no mention that the
U.S. is making efforts to strengthen and modernize its nuclear arsenal and is
working toward the development of new 'usable' nuclear weapons.
In
August 1945, single atomic bombs dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki instantaneously reduced them to rubble, taking vast numbers of
precious lives. To ensure that the atomic tragedy is never repeated anywhere on
earth, Hiroshima and Nagasaki have consistently sought to persuade the world
that nuclear weapons are inhumane and have continually called for their total
abolition.
To
realize this goal, Hiroshima and Nagasaki established Mayors for Peace, and, in
conjunction with partner cities around the world, has developed the 2020 Vision
Campaign, calling for the total abolition of nuclear weapons, with the
following objectives:
The Sisters of St. Francis have been active in Clinton, Iowa for over 150 years with a mission to promote active nonviolence and peacemaking, seek justice for those marginalized, and care for all creation.