Groups call for peace in 9/11 vigil

The Columbia Peace Coalition has been meeting in Peace Park to commemorate the events of 9/11 since 2001.

By Beth Pearl

Published Sept. 14, 2010

Nine years ago, on Sept. 11, several Columbia residents spontaneously gathered in Peace Park to commemorate the tragedy.

They have continued to meet each year on the anniversary of the attacks to remember the lives lost and to ask for peace, reconciliation and an end to war.

They are the members of the Columbia Peace Coalition, a collection of local groups that promote non-violence and tolerance. Saturday, they held a vigil called "No More Victims" at the A.P. Green Chapel.

Mid-Missouri Peaceworks Director Mark Haim helped organize the memorial, which featured speakers and songs about peace. The event's call for an end to violence and the beginning of forgiveness, he said, is necessary now more than ever as the nation faces division over issues fueled by "Islamaphobia," as he called it, and hatred.

"We're issuing a call not only to end foreign wars, but for peace and reconciliation at home," he said.

The night's message was to honor the lives lost on Sept. 11, to ask for an end to the wars in the Middle East and to promote tolerance and diversity.

About 50 people attended the event, which began with songs from Caravan, a choral group whose performers sing and dance with messages of peace and love.

Their songs echoed the hope of the event's organizers. The lyrics focused on world peace and the triumph of love over war.

Rev. Heather Morgan of the Columbia Hope Church was the first speaker. She emphasized the importance of inter-religious dialogue and understanding between conflicting peoples. She also urged the audience to give up its desire for vengeance.

"Retribution does not work," she said, comparing violence and hatred to a thorn that must be uprooted and reconciled in every community.

MU geography professor Larry Brown delivered a speech on the need to end the conflicts abroad. He asked the audience to look for alternatives to war and violence in order to achieve an end to terror.

"We're not going to get peaceful results from violent action," he said.

He also spoke of the recent threat by one Florida pastor to burn Qur'ans, condemning people who he believes manipulate the fears of the masses in order to create more violence.

"In supporting a war that has caused the end to many lives, we are all terrorists," Brown said.

The night ended with a candlelight vigil beneath the arch of Memorial Union. The crowd gathered in a circle, each holding a small candle, and participated in two minutes of reflective silence before singing together three verses of "We Shall Overcome."

Letitia Denhartog, a member of the Rock Bridge Christian Church, attended the gathering.

"I remember how much I shut down after Sept. 11," she said. "I don't want us to have to go through that again as a country or as a world."

Haim said the group would gather again next year.

"(We gather) in the spirit of hope for peace, and in the need to end a tragic cycle of violence," he said.