Ground Zero: The Role of Religion

AJ Muste and the Peacemakers

Ground Zero reflected an enduring culture of "radical pacifism" stretching back to AJ Muste’s Peacemaker movement. Formed shortly after World War II, the Peacemakers split from other religious pacifists who pressed for peace through usual systems of protest and activism. Peacemakers deemed these methods “useless in the new atomic era,”  and insteadrelied on Christian spirituality for change through ‘Holy Disobedience,’ where members would take “suffering upon themselves in individual and collective acts of civil disobedience…and awaken their fellow Americans to their responsibility for the atomic and international crisis. With…themes of sin…repentance, and redemption.”

Ground Zero’s moral-theological positions paralleled the Peacemakers’ beliefs. Protesters were cast as a growing, religious collective whose core beliefs of truth and human unity were motivated by a return to faith-based morality. Peacemaker themes of repentance, acceptance and redemption were also apparent in Ground Zero's messages. Overall, theese similarities between Ground Zero and the Peacemakers reflect a continuation of Cold War radical pacifism.

By the end of the 1970s the Pacific Life Community had been succeeded by the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, a new anti-Trident organization which embodied religion’s role in directing activists’ moral decision-making. Although Ground Zero maintained the same set of core beliefs as the PLC; human unity and speaking the truth about the Trident system, the newer organizations’ publications and activities were more visibly inspired by Christian ideology than their predecessor. 

Christian Community

Many of Ground Zero’s actions appeared to promote the creation of a moral community driven by the traditions of Christianity, especially demonstrating against Trident shipments. For example, “White Trains” carrying Trident missiles were to be met by graceful, disciplined resistance reflecting Jesus’ teachings on the “infinite unifying force of truth and love…’repentance’ or ‘metanoia’…realizing the nearness of the kingdom of God.” By believing in Jesus’ teachings and repenting, Ground Zero activists stated that they would grow together, learn to speak the truth, and bring about the “kingdom of God,” all through protesting Trident.

Taking Responsibility for Society

Additional events organized by Ground Zero included a Trident Desert Experience, a Peace Pentecost, vigils, prayer sessions, and fasting periods. These actions sought to teach moral behavior by accepting responsibility for the flawed actions of society, and activists or interested individuals were called upon to acknowledge their complicity in the arms race which brought Trident into existence. In the descriptions of these events, Ground Zero’s messages inspired religious self-examination, symbolic consignment to the Symbol of Hope, and recommitment to choosing life over destruction. By engaging in these religious activities and following its doctrine individuals learned how to live morally, disover and correct society's flaws, and bring about a better future.