Scott Key didn’t always walk for peace.
With a father in the Royal Canadian Air Force and a grandfather who fought in the First World War, Key grew up in a “typical” Canadian home where questions about the justice of war didn’t really come up.
But that changed as an adult, when Key’s faith developed and he began to re-read the Sermon on the Mount, the stark biblical passage in Matthew 5 that commands disciples to turn the other cheek and love their enemies.
“There’s not a lot of wiggle room; Jesus didn’t give an out,” said Key, an education professor at King’s University College. “It’s promoting a very different message than I was being taught in school and through society.”
At a chilly evening hour on Nov. 11, Key and about 150 Edmontonians will stand near the war memorial outside City Hall, light candles and bow their heads in prayer.
The third annual prayer walk for peace will begin at 7 p.m., stopping a couple of times on the way to another war memorial on Jasper Avenue. The event will take about an hour.
On a day set aside to remember fallen soldiers, walking for peace could be perceived as disrespect for the fallen. While most events focus solely on fallen soldiers, the walk will commemorate all victims of war. Key considers the event an alternative, not a demonstration.
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