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Recording by: WRUF

Title: Norman Thomas speech

Dates: February 20, 1963

Duration: 0:63:37

Identification:   Tape recording 151      

File name: WRUF 17

 

Originally recorded on reel to reel at 7.5 ips

Digitally recorded on February 2008

 

A man is heard introducing Norman Thomas.  He welcomes those present on behalf of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville and the University Liberal Forum.  He states that Thomas’s talk is on “New Ways Toward Peace”. 

 

Thomas begins by stating that he wants to combat the idea that a great war is inevitable either because of fate or because of the wickedness of the secular world.  He also wants to combat the idea that we are doing all we can do to avoid war.  He mentions some of the reasons wars have been fought in the past and goes on to say that a nuclear war is unthinkable because of the devastation which would result.  Thomas also mentions the garrison state and states that the worship of the great god military leads to the taking away of our basic rights.  In order to have peace we need to do more such as work toward disarmament but that this is not the sole means to peace.  We must substitute law for war which requires the strengthening of the United Nations.  At the conclusion of his talk he pulls together four strands - disarmament, strengthening a federated authority such as the UN, a progressive attack on the crises of our own making, and disengaging from dubious commitments beyond our wisdom and strength - to create a lifeline to peace.    

 

          

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