Dems owe us peace
Maybe the Democrats in Washington owe the anti-war activists in America something. If Sara Donnelly is correct when she says in her article, "Does Peace Have a Chance?" (December 29, 2006), “[on November 7, Election Day] . . . Democrats rode a wave of anti-war discontent to gain control of the US House and Senate,” then it may be time for some well-earned political reciprocity. In her article, Donnelly portrays the anti-war movement as high in membership but low in visibility and clarity of mission. As invisible and unfocused as these organizations may or may not be, Donnelly’s article gives brief mention of a bill that could serve to take the confusion out of both antiwar activism and peace-building alike. This bill, to be reintroduced into Congress in early 2007, calls for the establishment of a US Department of Peace and Nonviolence and a cabinet-level Secretary of Peace. If, as Donnelly contends, the Democrats are now in control through the efforts of anti-war and peace activism nationwide, then the seat of our government should reflect the will of this constituency. It is fair. It is representational. It is time. And I hope our senators and representatives are listening, in Maine and in the nation.
The current legislation to establish a US Department of Peace and Nonviolence and a cabinet-level Secretary of Peace was introduced on the floor of the House in 2001. Since then, it has been reintroduced twice, in 2003 and 2005, and introduced to the floor of the Senate for the first time in 2005. It currently has 75 co-sponsors in the House and two co-sponsors in the Senate. The legislation is not meant to replace our current Department of Defense nor our Secretary of State. Nor is it designed to add extra layers of costly bureaucratic strangleholds on how we do business both at home and abroad. Its proposed funding is the equivalent of 2 percent of our current annual defense budget. The primary intention of a United States Department of Peace and Nonviolence is to establish peace as an organizing principle of our government and nation. The primary function of such a department is to research, articulate and facilitate nonviolent solutions to domestic and international conflict.
Why a Department of Peace? And why now? A sobering eight-letter word: survival. We are at a critical juncture in our 230-year history. To think that as a nation we can continue to act out of self-interest and a power-over mentality is both unrealistic and untenable. To believe that we can continue a path of unbridled economic growth and greed in full knowledge of dwindling global resources is immoral. And to identify oneself by nation alone is foolhardy. We share a planet together, and we are interdependently and inter-connectedly webbed as one. “We are in a new millennium,” begins the bill, “and the time has come to review age-old challenges with new thinking wherein we can conceive peace as not simply being the absence of violence, but the active presence of the capacity for a higher evolution of the human awareness, of respect, trust, and integrity.” Peace, in other words, is not just a holiday greeting but a working frame of reference and moral compass for a paradigm change in how our government does business both at home and abroad.
With the New Year come new possibilities. The pending legislation to establish a Department of Peace and Nonviolence and a Secretary of Peace (HR 3760, S1756) is a clear mandate from pro-peace and anti-war activists who work on a daily basis for a peaceful and sane tomorrow. In Maine, none of our Representatives or Senators has agreed to co-sponsor this bill. If Sara Donnelly is correct in her statement that “Democrats rode a wave of anti-war discontent to gain control of the US House and Senate,” then maybe it is time for our Democratic Congressmen from Maine to support the mandate of peace on the floor of the House. When HR 3760 is reintroduced to the House in the early part of 2007, Congressmen Allen and Michaud will have the opportunity to co-sponsor this legislation. When this happens, I hope our Congressmen from Maine think of us back home and give peace a chance.
Shelley Schweizer
State Co-Coordinator for the Maine Campaign to Establish a Department of
Peace
On the Web:
For information on the state and national campaigns and to read the bill:www.mainedop.org, and www.thepeacealliance.org
Join the protest
I read Sara Donnelly's wonderful article “Does Peace Have A Chance?” in the December 29, 2006, issue of the Portland Phoenix.
The only thing I would add is the there is a second group of Women in Black who have been meeting every Friday from noon to 1 pm on the corner of Temple and Middle streets in Portland.
We are a small group of mostly older women and one man. Our numbers range from as few as two to as many as 15 on a very good day, with the average being approximately five people. We have been meeting for at least four and a half years.
All are welcome to join us for the full hour or just a few minutes.
Margaret Boulos
Cape Elizabeth
