Call for Spirited Action 2015-2016: Shared Security and building peace in an interdependent world | American Friends Service Committee

Call for Spirited Action 2015-2016: Shared Security and building peace in an interdependent world | American Friends Service Committee

   

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The concept of shared security is growing in its scope and impact, amplifying voices for peace and justice here and abroad. Join us for a conversation with Aura Kanegis, AFSC's Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, and Raed Jarrar, AFSC's Government Relations Manager, as we explore the future of shared security.

Robin Aura Kanegis serves as Director of Public Policy and Advocacy for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), providing strategic direction for all aspects of the organization’s engagement with the federal government.

Prior to joining AFSC, she served as Director of Campaigns and Iraq Peace Campaign Director for the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), a Quaker lobby in the public interest that partners closely with AFSC on legislative concerns.

Aura previously worked for over a decade on issues impacting Native American communities, serving the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) first as Deputy Director for Governmental Affairs and subsequently as Director of Operations and Programs, providing lead oversight and coordination for the oldest, largest, and most representative organization of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments and individuals. Later she served as Director of Communications and Development for the First Nations Development Institute, working to restore Native control and culturally-compatible stewardship of the assets they own, and to establish new assets for ensuring the long-term vitality of Native communities. Aura served as Legislative Specialist on a range of client concerns with the Indian law practice of Hobbs, Straus, Dean and Walker, LLP after coordinating the FCNL Native American Program and chairing the Native American Working Group of the Washington Inter-religious Staff Community during the mid-1990s. 

Aura has served on the Executive Board of FCNL as Assistant Treasurer, and is a past Executive Committee member of the American Friends Service Committee’s Mid-Atlantic Region.

She holds a B.A. in Third World Studies and Women’s Studies from Oberlin College and an I.B. from the Armand Hammer United World College. She is the lead vocalist of Brûlée, a jazz-blues band performing in the Washington area.

Raed Jarrar serves as AFSC’s Government Relations Manager at the Office of Public Policy and Advocacy in Washington, D.C. Since his immigration to the U.S. in 2005, he has worked on political and cultural issues pertaining to U.S. engagement in the Arab and Muslim worlds. He is widely recognized as an expert on political, social, and economic developments in the Middle East. He has testified in numerous Congressional hearings and briefings, and he is also a frequent guest on national and international media outlets in both Arabic and English.

Born in Baghdad to an Iraqi mother and a Palestinian father, Raed Jarrar grew up in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Iraq. He received his bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Baghdad, and his master's degree in architecture, with a specialty in post-war reconstruction in Iraq, from the University of Jordan.

Raed has appeared in numerous media outlets, including MSNBC, Al Jazeera, Democracy Now, Foreign Policy in Focus, and Alternet. His opinion pieces have been publish

Calls for Spirited Action | American Friends Service Committee

Calls for Spirited Action | American Friends Service Committee


Calls for Spirited Action
Join us each month from September through May as we engage in conversation about the work of AFSC, and how Quakers can be involved in evolving movements for social change. These monthly calls are an opportunity to learn from AFSC staff and others about specific focus issues and campaigns, and hear ideas of how to get involved. Each one is also an opportunity to speak with other Quakers from the around the country about strategies for how to engage in collective social change work.
We will begin our new series of calls this September.
Find out more about the subject and presenters for these monthly calls, below.
Each call will be held from 8:30-9:30pm ET.
You can join by dialing 866-740-1260
and entering access code 2419995#.

Upcoming Calls

May 19th

Love knows no borders: 
Accompanying the movement for migrant justice and transformation 
with Jenn Piper & Pedro Rios

Please register here.

Listen to past calls

September 17th: 
9 Ways Your Meeting/Church Can Work With AFSC for Just Peace 
with Lucy Duncan and Greg Elliott

October 15th: 
Quakers Social Change Ministry Part I 
with Kierstin Homblette, Lucy Duncan, and Greg Elliott

November 19th: 
Quaker Social Change Ministry Part II 
with Kierstin Homblette and Greg Elliott

December 17th: 
Quaker Social Change Ministry Part III 
with Lucy Duncan and Greg Elliott.

January 21st: 
Barriers to re-entry and how Friends can support returning citizens 
with Lewis Webb, Jr.

February 18th: 
Shared Security and building peace in an interdependent world 
with Aura Kanegis and Raed Jarrar.

March 17th: Working for just and lasting peace in Israel & Palestine 
with Steve Tamari.

April 21st: Humanize Not Militarize 
with Mary Zerkel.

Find more audio clips from past calls on the 
Calls for Spirited Action archives page

The Lamb's War: Quakers, Nonviolence, Gandhi, and Jesus - Enfranchised Mind

The Lamb's War: Quakers, Nonviolence, Gandhi, and Jesus - Enfranchised Mind

The Lamb's War: Quakers, Nonviolence, Gandhi, and Jesus

by Robert Fischer, April 5, 2014 I have a very empirical approach to my mysticism. Some people judge mystics by their ability to say mystical-sounding things: it’s a kind of spirituality-as-performance-art. One example of this is Julian of Norwich, whose fans tend to be excited about the way in which see communicates her divine revelations. Other people judge mystics by the way the mystics carry themselves. An example of this is the Dali Llama, whose gentle, charming, affable presentation communicates a touch of the divine to his fans. But the way I see it, if someone is really in touch with the divine underpinning of all reality, then there should be some kind of practical upshot. A mystic should know something that the rest of the world struggles to comprehend. A mystic should leave a trail likeFermat’s last theorem: their message should seem right, but be beyond our ability of the world to comprehend at the moment. Given enough time, however, we should expect to be able to prove the mystic right.

The way I figure it, Jesus was a mystic like this. He had this scandalous, bizarre idea: all things will be better if we did not respond to evil with violence, but with love. This was his message and his claim. One of the great embarassments of Christianity is that a Hindu man was the one to prove that Jesus was right. Jesus said it, but Gandhi proved it worked two millenia later. Tolstoy, among other Christians, managed to make theological sense of the bizarre claim.   
J.C. Kumarappa, a Christian and one of Gandhi’s close supporters, described the experience of living through Gandhi’s proof of Jesus' message: this is why I have their accounts in my anthology. The anthology also includes Bayard Rustin’s 22 Days on a Chain Gang, which proves it out yet further by applying Jesus' lesson within the context of a prison. Yet it is Gandhi who first proved the power of nonviolence at an epic scale, and in doing so Gandhi proved Jesus' fundamental social teaching to be absolutely accurate.

One of the things that I love about Quakerism is the fact that they took Jesus absolutely seriously early on, and they still do. Christian mystics throughout the ages have found a kind of intuitive confidence that Jesus was right when he taught nonviolence: the early Christians martyrs certainly knew it, and Quakers certainly figured it out, and so did early Pentacostals. Within Quakerism in particular, there is long history of Christians being those who wage the “Lamb’s War”: to be a Christian is to be a combatant, a soldier, personally committed to the front lines of a war against Evil. Evil is all-pervasive, having infiltrated our governments, our churches, and ourselves.

The Enticement of Evil

That infiltrating power is the most powerful weapon that Evil has against us. That inflitrating power convinced us that Jesus could not have possibly meant what He said, and that clearly our only way to defend ourselves against Evil is to partake in it—but, of course, in a lesser extent. We will do evil things, but we will do less evil than the bad guys, and therefore it will work out in the end. In this way, Christ’s very followers become agents of Evil. Quakers recognized this power, and so they rejected the idea that violence is the only resort when things get ugly. Combating that infiltrating maneuver is one of the fronts where I fight the Lamb’s War. I love this QuakerSpeak interview of George Lakey which highlights how this is playing out, and the fact that we are (finally!) gaining ground on this front:

I firmly believe that the Achille’s heel of the violence paradigm is its collateral damage. To that end, institutions like Quaker House of Fayetteville are absolutely essential, because they give voice to the silent victims of the violence paradigm: murdered spouses, abused children, and traumatized veterans. These are the costs that we pay by participating in our lesser evil, but the very existence of our self-victimization creates a cognitive dissonance: after all, these are supposed to be are heroes…but how can the system which produces these heroes also produce child abusers and rapists? How can the experience that proves our heroes leave them broken, homeless, and strung out? How can the institution of heroes be actively engaged in the suppression and oppression of its own people?

“But What Choice Do We Have?”

Once there starts to be cracks in the violence paradigm, people still won’t surrender it without an alternative. Gandhi called constructing this alternative “constructive programme”, and Jesus called the alternative “the Kingdom of God”. Building the kingdom of God is going to include building up a way of responding to conflict and to evil. Far too many anti-war activists have a good answer when the violence paradigm demands, “Well, what’s your alternative?” It is hard work to construct these alternative solutions and to communicate them out to the world. Accomplishing this will take more than just theory or praxis, however: it will take witness and evangelism.

Two organizations that do great work on this front are Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP/NvPf), an institution of professional nonviolent soldiers, and American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947 for (among other things) the reconciliation work at the end of World War Two that made possible the united and peaceful western Europe that we have today.

Pressing Forward

Gandhi may have beaten Christ’s followers to proving out the power of nonviolence on an international scale, but contemporary Christians are taking up our predecessor’s slack. To fight this war, you start inward and push outward. First and foremost, identify how the violent paradigm works within yourself, and be able to answer to yourself the question, “But what choice do we have?” 
1] There’s a great opportunity coming up to hear the AFSC describe how a nonviolent US foreign policy would work: to hear it, hop on the call on April 14, 2014, from 7:30-9:30 EDT. 
2] The Metta Center has two great podcast series which make up a collegiate-level course in nonviolence: PACS 164A and 164B. 
3] My anthology, Voices of Christ, is intended to help make sense of Christ’s message and help you move into the proper frame of mind.

Once you have started transforming yourself, it is time to press your advantage through your relationships. Form relationships with individuals and institutions dedicated to lovingly combatting violence in its myriad forms, and work through those institutions and relationships to transform the lives of those we encounter. The church calls this evangelism: Jesus calls it making disciples.

This is our work, and it is not easy work to do. But the great news is that Christ has already told us the ending: love wins. Evil will pass away, and God’s love will persist eternally. We just have to play our part to make it happen.

 Previous: On America, Appropriation, and Belly Dance

Next: Being the Real You 

Thinking About War and Participation in War

Thinking About War and Participation in War

Thinking about War
and Participation in War

"War poisons the soul of everyone who engages in it." -- Howard Zinn

About this site:

The goal of this site is to become a repository of material to assist you in thinking through the underlying issues related to pacifism, militarism, and conscience.

We intend this to be a broadly-based participatory site. We invite you to submit essays, articles, and personal stories if you have thought deeply on these issues and/or have had experiences you would like to share.

---

There are excellent resources on the web covering practical, legal, and a wide variety of other issues related to conscientious objection. These include:

Center on Conscience and War
1-800-379-2679

AFSC's National Youth and Militarism Program

Quaker House
This is a Quaker project, located near Fort Bragg, NC, that works at a very practical level with military resistors, as well as other aspects of militarism, consicence, and resistance. 

and the

GI Rights Hotline: 1-877-447-4487
(New web site and number)

Official Selective Service Web site including 
a fact sheet on conscientious objection.

Conscientious Objection as defined by the Military Selective Service Act
(We feel this is an overly narrow definition that excludes many people who object to specific wars or tactics based on a sincere conscientious conviction. The definition needs to be broadened to respect the consciences of all people.)

Winter Soldier Investigation, sponsored by IVAW See also the transcripts and video of the original Vietnam era Winter Soldier Investigation.

Writings/Media Archived on this Site

Just and Unjust War, by Howard Zinn -- This is a firsthand reflection by the author of A People's History of the United States, 1492 to the Present (highly recommended to anyone who knows only the history that was taught in school). Howard Zinn was a World War II bombardier who believed deeply in the justness of the cause of ridding the world of Fascism, but ended up summarizing his experience with the words, "Never Again." In questioning the nearly universal acceptance of World War II as a just war, he brings all war into question as a way of resolving disputes among nations. This work is both profound and beautifully written. It should be read by anyone contemplating these issues. The essay originated as a chapter in Declarations of Independence, but is also included in The Zinn Reader, and Howard Zinn on War.

"Why I fight For Peace " -- Brief mp3 audio clip with a statement (a poem, actually) by Cloy Richards, a US Marine and a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, reflecting on his tours of duty in Iraq, the effect it had on him, and why he is determined to fight against the war. (Seehttp://grassrootsamerica4us.org/ for more about Cloy Richards and other poems.)

Webb School Chapel Talk, ~1980, by David Chandler-- Reflections on decision to become a Vietnam-era conscientious objector.

Conscience and War, by David Chandler -- Reflections on broadening the definition of what it is to be a conscientious objector.

A Rationale for Counter-Recruitment, by David Chandler -- What justifies opposing recruitment into an all-volunteer military?

A Frank Response to an Enlistee, by David Chandler -- "The mandate to 'Support the Troops' is a red herring: it is an orchestrated propaganda campaign to de-legitimize dissent."

The Case for Conscientious Objection, by Andrew Young

Statement by U.S. General Smedley Butler (1933) -- Reflections on his military career.

Statement by Alfred F. Andersen -- A reflection on a deeper "conscription": the claim of "sovereignty" each nation makes over those born within its borders.

Interview with Harry Wright-Johnson, a World War II CO

Writings by Dale L. Berry

The pacifist, the warrior, and courage--An interesting quote by Jean Giono (1895-1970) cited by Jean Paul Sartre in The War Diaries.

"Quaker Heroes" -- Three World War II conscientious objectors told their stories to the Upper Elementary Meeting of the 2001 session of the Pacific Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. The children responded by writing and illustrating the three narratives.

On Working Against War -- By Elsa Sabath

Other Articles/Resources (on the web and elsewhere)

Wars Currently in Progress (There are more than you think!)

The Press and the Myths of War by Chris Hedges -- A deeply thoughtful and articulate account of the realities of war from the vantage point of an experienced war correspondent.
"For war, when we confront it truthfully, exposes the darkness within all of us. This darkness shatters the illusions many of us hold not only about the human race but about ourselves. Few of us confront our own capacity for evil, but this is especially true in wartime. And even those who engage in combat are afterward given cups from the River Lethe to forget. And with each swallow they imbibe the myth of war. For the myth makes war palatable. It gives war a logic and sanctity it does not possess. It saves us from peering into the darkest recesses of our own hearts."

Thoreau's Civil Disobedience A classic statement about government, taxes, the Mexican War, and nonviolent resistance.

Friends Peace Testimony in Times of Terrorism by Robert Griswold

Just War Theory -- from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

The Catholic Church, in its great diversity, supports a significant peace movement through theCatholic Peace Fellowship and Pax Christi. The Catholic Peace Fellowship actively supports conscientious objectors. Its web site has much that would be of interest even to non-Catholics. Individual parishes support conscientious objector to varying degrees.

KNFS Community Radio program on Counter Recruitment Issues

Consciousness-raising videos

Sir! No Sir! -- (See also Amazon.com, Netflix and elsewhere) Did you know that one of the biggest antiwar movements during the Vietnam era was going on within the military itself? Probably not, if your source of information was the mainstream media. This documentary resurrects a piece of history that has been buried for years. (Now available to view online on YouTube)

The Good War and Those Who Refused to Fight it. -- (See also Amazon.com). The Second World War was a hard war to oppose as a Conscientious Objector. It was widely supported and considered to be a "Good War." It was also one of the bloodiest wars on record, killing over 60 million people worldwide. This is an excellent survey of the range of beliefs and actions of Conscientious Objectors and their impact on society in the years following the war.

Hearts and Minds -- (See also Amazon.com, Netflix and elsewhere) This film won an Academy Award in 1974 for Best Documentary Feature. It is a remarkable account of the Vietnam war. The viewer reviews on Amazon help convey the power of the film, short of seeing it oneself. (Now available to view online on YouTube)

Winter Soldier -- (See also Amazon.com, Netflix and elsewhere) This is a documentary about the Winter Soldier Investigation, conducted in 1971 by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, to publicize the extent of atrocities committed by US troops in Vietnam. The film, which features interviews with soldiers telling about their personal experiences in Vietnam, is powerful, emotional, and graphic.

Antiwar Links Dealing with Current Events

Antiwar.com "Antiwar news, viewpoints, and activities"

War Times A newspaper devoted to war-related news.

A Just Cause, Not a Just War, by Howard Zinn

Voices for Creative Nonviolence: "We recognize that for years now the U.S. has stood on the precipice of all out devastation-of itself and of the world. We look to history as a guide-and try to learn lessons from those who preceded us in far more dire circumstances, who somehow found the ability to form communities of resistance to oppression in Nazi Germany, in apartheid South Africa, in the Jim Crow South of the U.S. and in the super segregated cities of the North."

Other Links

"I Will Not Kill"--This site is an outgrowth of the The Conscience and Courage Gatheringsponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation. The "I Will Not Kill" campaign affirms the fundamental human right to refuse to kill.

Avoiding violence often involves learning to resolve differences peacefully. Beyond Reason, an outgrowth of the Harvard Negotiation Project, looks at how emotions, as well as reason, enter into conflict situations and must be addressed in successful negotiation. This book teaches negotiation skills that can be applied both individually and internationally. See also a discussion of some of the themes in the book by Elsa Sabath.

Two counter-recruitment organizations with useful web sites:
Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities and 
Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft.

Movies on Peace and War Recommended by Quakers From submissions on the Quaker-L e-mail list.

Quaker Peace Page A site maintained by Chuck Fager with links to material related to the Quaker Peace Testimony

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and the more radical Vietnam Veterans Against the War--Anti Imperialist -- Lots of articles and links by and about Veterans whose eyes were opened by their experiences. (The two antagonistic organizations are not related. Both pages have thought provoking material to offer. Judge for yourself.)

Buddhist Peace Fellowship

We don't advocate one way or the other on the issue of non-registration, but DraftResistance.org is a site that does, and it makes some valid points. You may decide to go this route, but it is an act of civil disobedience with possible legal and financial consequences, so it is important to understand the issues clearly. Read widely.

Daniel Zwickel, hosts a site called Pacifist Nation that is worth exploring.

The National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund works to pass legislation that would allow conscientious objectors to pay their federal taxes into a fund that would be distributed to nonmilitary appropriations. They work closely with the Center on Conscience and War.

Please contact us if you have information about local peace centers,
military/draft counseling programs, related web sites, and other resources.

Web site designed and maintained by David Chandler

Thinking About War and Participation in War

Thinking about War

and Participation in War

"War poisons the soul of everyone who engages in it." -- Howard Zinn

About this site: The goal of this site is to become a repository of material to assist you in thinking through the underlying issues related to pacifism, militarism, and conscience. We intend this to be a broadly-based participatory site. We invite you to submit essays, articles, and personal stories if you have thought deeply on these issues and/or have had experiences you would like to share. There are excellent resources on the web covering practical, legal, and a wide variety of other issues related to conscientious objection. These include: Center on Conscience and War 1-800-379-2679 AFSC's National Youth and Militarism Program Quaker House This is a Quaker project, located near Fort Bragg, NC, that works at a very practical level with military resistors, as well as other aspects of militarism, consicence, and resistance.  and the GI Rights Hotline: 1-877-447-4487 (New web site and number) Official Selective Service Web site including  a fact sheet on conscientious objection. Conscientious Objection as defined by the Military Selective Service Act (We feel this is an overly narrow definition that excludes many people who object to specific wars or tactics based on a sincere conscientious conviction. The definition needs to be broadened to respect the consciences of all people.)

Winter Soldier Investigation, sponsored by IVAW See also the transcripts and video of the original Vietnam era Winter Soldier Investigation.

Writings/Media Archived on this Site

Just and Unjust War, by Howard Zinn -- This is a firsthand reflection by the author of A People's History of the United States, 1492 to the Present (highly recommended to anyone who knows only the history that was taught in school). Howard Zinn was a World War II bombardier who believed deeply in the justness of the cause of ridding the world of Fascism, but ended up summarizing his experience with the words, "Never Again." In questioning the nearly universal acceptance of World War II as a just war, he brings all war into question as a way of resolving disputes among nations. This work is both profound and beautifully written. It should be read by anyone contemplating these issues. The essay originated as a chapter in Declarations of Independence, but is also included in The Zinn Reader, and Howard Zinn on War.

"Why I fight For Peace " -- Brief mp3 audio clip with a statement (a poem, actually) by Cloy Richards, a US Marine and a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, reflecting on his tours of duty in Iraq, the effect it had on him, and why he is determined to fight against the war. (Seehttp://grassrootsamerica4us.org/ for more about Cloy Richards and other poems.)

Webb School Chapel Talk, ~1980, by David Chandler-- Reflections on decision to become a Vietnam-era conscientious objector.

Conscience and War, by David Chandler -- Reflections on broadening the definition of what it is to be a conscientious objector.

A Rationale for Counter-Recruitment, by David Chandler -- What justifies opposing recruitment into an all-volunteer military?

A Frank Response to an Enlistee, by David Chandler -- "The mandate to 'Support the Troops' is a red herring: it is an orchestrated propaganda campaign to de-legitimize dissent."

The Case for Conscientious Objection, by Andrew Young

Statement by U.S. General Smedley Butler (1933) -- Reflections on his military career.

Statement by Alfred F. Andersen -- A reflection on a deeper "conscription": the claim of "sovereignty" each nation makes over those born within its borders.

Interview with Harry Wright-Johnson, a World War II CO

Writings by Dale L. Berry

The pacifist, the warrior, and courage--An interesting quote by Jean Giono (1895-1970) cited by Jean Paul Sartre in The War Diaries.

"Quaker Heroes" -- Three World War II conscientious objectors told their stories to the Upper Elementary Meeting of the 2001 session of the Pacific Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. The children responded by writing and illustrating the three narratives.

On Working Against War -- By Elsa Sabath

Other Articles/Resources (on the web and elsewhere)

Wars Currently in Progress (There are more than you think!)

The Press and the Myths of War by Chris Hedges -- A deeply thoughtful and articulate account of the realities of war from the vantage point of an experienced war correspondent.
"For war, when we confront it truthfully, exposes the darkness within all of us. This darkness shatters the illusions many of us hold not only about the human race but about ourselves. Few of us confront our own capacity for evil, but this is especially true in wartime. And even those who engage in combat are afterward given cups from the River Lethe to forget. And with each swallow they imbibe the myth of war. For the myth makes war palatable. It gives war a logic and sanctity it does not possess. It saves us from peering into the darkest recesses of our own hearts."

Thoreau's Civil Disobedience A classic statement about government, taxes, the Mexican War, and nonviolent resistance.

Friends Peace Testimony in Times of Terrorism by Robert Griswold

Just War Theory -- from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

The Catholic Church, in its great diversity, supports a significant peace movement through theCatholic Peace Fellowship and Pax Christi. The Catholic Peace Fellowship actively supports conscientious objectors. Its web site has much that would be of interest even to non-Catholics. Individual parishes support conscientious objector to varying degrees.

KNFS Community Radio program on Counter Recruitment Issues

Consciousness-raising videos

Sir! No Sir! -- (See also Amazon.com, Netflix and elsewhere) Did you know that one of the biggest antiwar movements during the Vietnam era was going on within the military itself? Probably not, if your source of information was the mainstream media. This documentary resurrects a piece of history that has been buried for years. (Now available to view online on YouTube)

The Good War and Those Who Refused to Fight it. -- (See also Amazon.com). The Second World War was a hard war to oppose as a Conscientious Objector. It was widely supported and considered to be a "Good War." It was also one of the bloodiest wars on record, killing over 60 million people worldwide. This is an excellent survey of the range of beliefs and actions of Conscientious Objectors and their impact on society in the years following the war.

Hearts and Minds -- (See also Amazon.com, Netflix and elsewhere) This film won an Academy Award in 1974 for Best Documentary Feature. It is a remarkable account of the Vietnam war. The viewer reviews on Amazon help convey the power of the film, short of seeing it oneself. (Now available to view online on YouTube)

Winter Soldier -- (See also Amazon.com, Netflix and elsewhere) This is a documentary about the Winter Soldier Investigation, conducted in 1971 by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, to publicize the extent of atrocities committed by US troops in Vietnam. The film, which features interviews with soldiers telling about their personal experiences in Vietnam, is powerful, emotional, and graphic.

Antiwar Links Dealing with Current Events

Antiwar.com "Antiwar news, viewpoints, and activities"

War Times A newspaper devoted to war-related news.

A Just Cause, Not a Just War, by Howard Zinn

Voices for Creative Nonviolence: "We recognize that for years now the U.S. has stood on the precipice of all out devastation-of itself and of the world. We look to history as a guide-and try to learn lessons from those who preceded us in far more dire circumstances, who somehow found the ability to form communities of resistance to oppression in Nazi Germany, in apartheid South Africa, in the Jim Crow South of the U.S. and in the super segregated cities of the North."

Other Links

"I Will Not Kill"--This site is an outgrowth of the The Conscience and Courage Gatheringsponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation. The "I Will Not Kill" campaign affirms the fundamental human right to refuse to kill.

Avoiding violence often involves learning to resolve differences peacefully. Beyond Reason, an outgrowth of the Harvard Negotiation Project, looks at how emotions, as well as reason, enter into conflict situations and must be addressed in successful negotiation. This book teaches negotiation skills that can be applied both individually and internationally. See also a discussion of some of the themes in the book by Elsa Sabath.

Two counter-recruitment organizations with useful web sites:
Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities and 
Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft.

Movies on Peace and War Recommended by Quakers From submissions on the Quaker-L e-mail list.

Quaker Peace Page A site maintained by Chuck Fager with links to material related to the Quaker Peace Testimony

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and the more radical Vietnam Veterans Against the War--Anti Imperialist -- Lots of articles and links by and about Veterans whose eyes were opened by their experiences. (The two antagonistic organizations are not related. Both pages have thought provoking material to offer. Judge for yourself.)

Buddhist Peace Fellowship

We don't advocate one way or the other on the issue of non-registration, but DraftResistance.org is a site that does, and it makes some valid points. You may decide to go this route, but it is an act of civil disobedience with possible legal and financial consequences, so it is important to understand the issues clearly. Read widely.

Daniel Zwickel, hosts a site called Pacifist Nation that is worth exploring.

The National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund works to pass legislation that would allow conscientious objectors to pay their federal taxes into a fund that would be distributed to nonmilitary appropriations. They work closely with the Center on Conscience and War.

Please contact us if you have information about local peace centers, 

military/draft counseling programs, related web sites, and other resources.

Web site designed and maintained by David Chandler