Department of Peace Conference, 3-5 February 2006
Dr. Dorothy Maver, Executive Director of the Peace Alliance, a dear ally and friend of PDA, is inviting people from across the United States to a two day conference in Washington for educational workshops and then direct lobbying members of our Congress to establish a Department of Peace. The two days of education and activism will be the Third through the Fifth of February, 2007. This is an excellent chance for us all to interact with religious, political, educational and conflict resolution leaders and joining with Rep. Kucinich, along with Deepak Chopra and Marianne Williamson (two international best selling authors and world-celebrated thinkers) and people from faith, justice, peace, and activist communities in this conference, the culmination of which will be reintroduction of the Dept. of Peace legislation on the House Floor!
A Dept. of Peace is not a new idea, but was introduced during debate on the original US Constitution and the concept of peaceful conflict resolution and arbitration has been a hallmark of recent human civilization, dating from at least 500 BCE in India. The Department of Peace would also include a Peace Academy and address domestic issues such as teaching nonviolent conflict resolution to our children and youth, and addressing such longstanding problems as domestic violence (particularly towards women and children), gang and drug violence, as well as international issues.
The Peace Alliance and its allies include a wide range of individual legislators such as Dennis Kucinich, Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee, Bernie Sanders, and organizations as diverse as the Catholic Pax Christi USA, Amnesty International, American Muslim Voices and the Jewish group Tikkun!
A Dept. of Peace would only be about 2% of the present US DOD budget…2% for peace and conflict resolution rather than wars of choice and further financial engorgement of the military-industrial complex President Eisenhower warned us of in 1961 upon leaving office. Rep. Kucinich has introduced this legislation twice before, and it has never got out of committee, much less been debated on the Floor of the US House of Representatives. However, the people in theory are represented by our Congress, but only by making our feelings known, can Congress be educated and hopefully swayed in the establishment of a new model of conflict resolution and we the people will rest securely in the knowledge that noone bears us collective ill will and consequently address all the other pressing issues that face us such as: alternative and renewable energy, environmental stewardship, tackling Global HIV, and the other problems in the world which war does not solve, but aggrandize them.
By peace, we free ourselves and our resources for the advancement of ourselves, our progeny, and the present as well as our future heritage as members of the human community. Please contact your legislators in Congress and urge them to cosponsor or at least vote for a Dept. of Peace in this 110th Congress.
Posted by wickedtrio 