Who They Are?
- The Isaiah Project is a Catholic peace organization that wants to put attention on the nuclear arms race as an immoral and illegal phenomenon that threatens peace, the future of the planet, and humanity. The Isaiah Project believes that nuclear weapons are so destructive they could result in omnicide.
- The Isaiah Project sponsors and supports the work of the Plowshares Movement, which is a faith-based anti-arms race network that calls for disarmament through direct action all over the globe. The Plowshares Movement operates mostly in the United States, with a lot of leadership from the Jonah House in Baltimore.
- Paul Magno, a former Nonviolence International staff, is a leader in The Isaiah Project. Being an advocate for peace, he agreed with the Plowshares’ message and wanted to support the movement. While he was still working at Nonviolence International, Paul encouraged the development of plans to rid of nuclear weaponry around the world. He thought that in the wake of current plowshares action to revitalize to sustain education action for disarmament.
How Did They Start?
- The Plowshares movement began with the first act of direct disarmament by a peace activist. In 1980, eight members of the Plowshares movement went to the General Electric (GE) plant in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. The GE plant was creating nuclear warheads for the United States government. The Plowshares group entered the building with the plant’s morning workforce and used hammers to damage the ballistic missiles there. Following the demonstration, the eight protesters were arrested and put on trial for criminal conspiracy and burglary. News coverage of the trial garnered national media attention and brought awareness to the destruction nuclear weapons could have on Earth.
- Since 1980 the Plowshares movement has been involved in over 100 actions.
What Are Their Goals?
- The Isaiah Project seeks to bring about a world free of nuclear weapons, racism, and economic exploitation. We plead to our Church to withdraw its complicity in violence and war.
- Nuclear weapons eviscerate the rule of law, enforce white supremacy, perpetuate endless war and environmental destruction and ensure impunity for all manner of crimes against humanity.
- Nuclear weapons kill every day through our mining, production, testing, storage, and dumping, primarily on Indigenous Native land. This weapons system is a cocked gun being held to the head of the planet.
- The Isaiah Project repents the sin of white supremacy that oppresses and takes the lives of people of color here in the United States and throughout the world. We resist militarism that has employed deadly violence to enforce global domination. We believe reparations are required for stolen land, labor, and lives.
What Is The Principal Work Of Their Organization?
- The Isaiah Project is concerned with raising consciousness through public education and encouraging grassroots action to resist and dismantle nuclear weapons in our own country, but demanding that all nuclear powers get rid of their weapons as a service to the planet and one another.
What Are Some Of Their Specific Projects?
- In April 2020 the United Nations Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference will review current international treaties concerning nuclear weapons. The Isaiah Project wants to bring awareness to the extreme violence and loss of life caused by nuclear weapons. They hope to spread awareness in order to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
- August 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the dropping of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs in Japan. The Isaiah Project is commemorating atomic bombings in Japan, and they encourage people to participate in the commemorations.
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The Isaiah Project is dedicated to holding prisoners up and supporting them and their mission to bring attention to nuclear disarmament.
- On April 4, 2018, several Catholic activists entered the Kings Bay Navy Base in St. Marys, GA, which is the home port of Atlantic ballistic missile submarines. These activists, who called themselves the Kings Bay Plowshares, believe that the nuclear weapons stored at Kings Bay Navy Base could cause a clamorous nuclear exchange and could extinguish life on the planet. Thus, armed with hammers and bottles of red paint, they went to the base at night. They used the hammers, paint, and crime scene tape to set up scenes of murder and genocide to display the extreme violence of nuclear weapons. The goal of this demonstration was to encourage acts of disarmament and stop building and modernizing nuclear weapons with millions of tax dollars. The Kings Bay Plowshares believe that they need to do the moral thing, as Popes have said. The Isaiah Project continues to support the Kings Bay Plowshares through their legal trials and will continue to support them through their anticipated prison sentences.
Where Can I Learn More About Them?
- The Isaiah Project encourages readers to stay current on what’s happening with the Plowshares Movement in the next few months by checking out their website, following the Plowshares on Facebook and Twitter, and, if moved to, contribute to support of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7.
Visit their website to learn more about their organization
View the Isaiah Project's profile in our 'Many Faces of Nonviolence' series
Heed the Isaiah Project's call to demand #ventilatorsnotbombs during COVID-19
View a virtual celebration for the anniversary of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 disarmament action