Working for Peace
Dear peace activists,
Assuming all recipients of the JRPC e-news community seek peace, does that make you all peace activists? Do your actions carry out your desire and words for peace? While it is admirable to seek peace within yourself and peaceful relationships in your immediate circle of contacts, is that enough to consider yourself a peace activist? Or do you prefer not to be called an activist? Was your vote in 2008 a peace action?
On November 4, 2008, voters for peace rejoiced. Tears, hugs, shouts, laughter were the outward signs of the tremendous relief shared that finally there was hope we would soon extricate ourselves as honorably as possible from Iraq and change our foreign policy to work for peace and justice instead of corporations and imperialism. Some change has occurred, but not enough.
Now, as Jeremy Scahill’s article (below) portrays so well, President Obama and the Democrats are following in the footsteps of the previous administration in funding more war. Yesterday’s vote in the House simply repeated what had happened in the Senate earlier with only a few Democrats courageously voting against Obama’s war funding bill. Many Republicans opposed it, further demonstrating that it’s all politics, not peace. It’s hard not to fall into total cynicism.
So what to do? Meditate? Pray? In my view, that’s simply not enough. We have to use our voices, pens, computers, feet, and bodies to visibly and audibly demand peace from those who were elected to bring peace! Can we join activists like Medea Benjamin of Code Pink and Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Non-Violence who are always “out there” and never quit? As always, this e-news contains many links to peace actions you can take, and I urge you to take at least one step for peace daily. However, what we really need is that magic answer to how we can reach those in power. Do you have an idea? Can we come together to explore possibilities through JRPC?
At the same time, to help sustain inner peace, you might like to join the didgeridoo meditation Sunday evening (see below) at the Peace Park. Or if you like to work while you meditate, please visit our Peace Park any time and pull some toadflax (looks like a yellow snapdragon; needs pulling now while it’s blooming!) or knapweed. Call me (Ethel) at 549-9722 if you have questions. You can also be inspired by seeing the progress being made on our rock sitting wall, but please don’t “help” without supervision. Call Betsy at 543-3955 to be placed on the e-mail list for work sessions.
May we each act for peace as we can, sustain ourselves and encourage each other, and stay strong!
Ethel MacDonald, JRPC Coordinating Council member
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Working for Peace? Do my actions promote my desire and words for peace? While I do seek peace and balance within myself and strive to reach peaceful relationships and balance in my immediate friends and acquaintances, is that enough to consider myself a peace activist? I do not know, I guess it is how we look through others eyes. I do know that we all owe each other the promise to watch out for and provide a safe and healthy environment for our fellow man.
An interesting subject was brought to my attention the other day. Something that actually gave me pause. I was told by a friend of mine (who works in law enforcement) that Lake County, Saunders County, as well as a few others, were being trained by an instructor from Black Water.
Yes, BLACK WATER, the “security” group that has been connected to illegal arms dealing, human rights violations (abuse), illegal killings (murder), and were even thrown out of a foreign country (Iraq). Now, I am told that they are training our law enforcement. No wonder we are seeing a rise in complaints of abuse and a change in officer mentality. Just how many police departments do get training from such mercenary groups?
Now is something that will draw my attention to become, if I am not already, an activist? I believe I owe it to all my neighbors to watch and learn from this in order to ensure we all have a safe place to live.
Thanks for the joining the dialogue. We all have to answer that question individually about what constitutes a “peace action” for ourselves. I would caution you not to jump to conclusions about everything you hear. we live in a complicated and very interconnected world. we also owe it to others to check out the things we hear and read and not to jump to assumptions before we have all the facts. But also, as taxpayers, we should all take a bigger interest in how our cities and states and our country is run. Thanks again for adding to the thoughtful dialogue.