A publication of the INTERCOMMUNITY & JUSTICE CENTER NO. 105 / WINTER 2015 Unlocking a Nonviolent Future by Michael N. Nagler, PhD communal violence and now seems to some (including the present author) to be a nonviolent answer to war. erek Oakley and Andres Gutierrez ducked into a As Derek explains, “If we had had weapons we would not hut where they found five women and nine children be alive today,” and neither would the women and children; also hiding. On April 17, 2014, gunmen invaded and “Andres and I survived unharmed through a combination of Dstarted shooting unarmed men, women and children in the nonviolent training methods focused on strategy in dealing Protection of Civilians (POC) compound of the United Na- with violent conflict and ethnic tensions. tions Mission in South Sudan. They eventually killed at least UCP represents one of five qualitative changes—growth 58 people—most of them internally displaced people (IDPs) points—that have emerged in the development of nonvio- of the Nuer ethnic group who had been staying in the POC lence worldwide in the years since Gandhi and King. They since the civil war in South Sudan erupted in December 2013. are: Soon enough the militia burst into their hut, armed with as- 1. New Institutions. Along with more formal institutions sault weapons, axes and sticks. Somewhat startled to find such as the International Criminal Court (arguably nonvi- two non-Sudanese there, they roughly ordered them out. But olent in that it removes impunity from certain very violent Derek and Andres were well trained. Glancing at one anoth- crimes) and legal protocols like the “Right to Protect,” civil- er, they turned to the gunmen and calmly explained that they society organizations like UCP have come onto the world were humanitarian workers and would not leave without the stage to reduce and forestall conflict by creative, nonviolent others, who were anyhow innocent women and children who means. There are some forty UCP groups operating world- had nothing to do with the war. Apparently unmoved at first, wide, which can be divided into three types: local nonviolent the militia ordered them to leave three times, but Derek and vigilante groups like Chicago’s “Interrupters” or the Orange Andres did not budge. In the end, the militia Women and children residents of a POC camp in South Sudan left and the women and children were all saved.

“If we had had weapons we would not be alive today.”

Who were these two men, what were they doing in one of the world’s most violent con- flicts, and how did they survive their brush with death? Derek and Andres were respective- ly International Protection Officer and Team Leader for the Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) in South Sudan. NP is the largest of some forty non-governmental organizations worldwide that are carrying out what’s called Unarmed Ci- vilian (UCP), institutionalizing an ancient practice that en- visioned as a way to protect communities from JC McIlwaine / UN Photo JC McIlwaine © Berets that patrol New York subways; tion—in sharp contrast to the system- for , would be making su- domestic teams like Meta Peace Team atic, diligent learning that goes on in perb use of the “new science” today. that keep the peace at potentially vola- the war system. Today, taking advan- Since this “new” science resoundingly tile events, often more effectively than tage of the increases in global commu- supports the inheritance of human wis- and much appreciated by police forces; nication and travel, activists have been dom, we now have a powerful consen- and international, cross-border peace more concerned to share “best practic- sus about reality, whether we look at the teams like NP. These new institutions es” with those who find themselves in outside or the inside worlds (through also represent the important shift in the similar situations. Student leaders from science or spiritual discovery) that logic of organizations from a top-down, the successful overthrow of President points to nonviolence as not only pos- hierarchical model of the typical for- Milośevič in Serbia, for example, were sible, but the fulfillment of our destiny. profit corporation to more organic and on hand at Tahrir Square. They created 4. New Actors. Gandhi began his democratic forms. This has been beau- The Centre for Applied Nonviolent Ac- work among relatively enfranchised tifully brought out by Ori Brafman and tion and Strategies (CANVAS) to carry “free” Indians, and a critical boost to Rod Beckstrom in The Starfish and the on this vital work. his campaign happened Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Lead- when two new groups were drawn in: erless Organizations. Since the essence laborers and women. Similarly today, of nonviolence is rehumanization as …nonviolence as two traditionally marginalized groups Martin Luther King Jr said—“We must not only possible, are increasingly empowered, organized rapidly begin the shift from a thing-ori- and engaged. Women, probably the ented civilization to a person-oriented but the fulfillment most important, and indigenous peo- civilization”—this shift toward a more of our destiny. ple, who are increasingly threatened human-centered vision of organizing is by corporate attacks on their lifestyles, the key structural feature of a possible have found ways to mount success- nonviolent world. 3. New Science. What is now called ful nonviolent resistance, especially in 2. Learning. The — “classical science”—the materialist North and South America. At least one or in Kenneth Boulding’s insightful paradigm of life as random, determin- regular organization, Via Campesina, phrase, the worldwide “movement to- istic and essentially meaningless—is an has helped them gain visibility and ef- ward peace”—has traditionally been integral part of the world of violence fectiveness without sacrificing their plagued by discontinuity. Every event, and destruction from which we are try- traditional lifestyle, and we have seen every opportunity that crops up in the ing to emerge. In the last thirty or so unprecedented collaborations among course of events takes participants un- years, an undeniable paradigm shift people who were all but unaware of one awares, and they must “reinvent the has happened across all scientific dis- another’s existence, like Native Ameri- wheel,” with all the weaknesses and ciplines which should have profound cans in the territorial and errors incident to that kind of opera- and helpful alternative impacts on the Mayan Indians in southern . search for a non- 5. Peace Science. Along with the violent future. great shift in “hard” sciences, scholar- “Mirror Neu- ly research has begun to acknowledge rons,” studies on nonviolence as a field, or at least a phe- empathy, a new nomenon. There is now an extremely vision of evolu- influential study, Why tion—the story Works by Erica Chenoweth and Maria is too rich to be Stephan (2012), showing that “transi- ©Meta Peace Team / Wikimedia Team Peace ©Meta detailed here, tions to democracy” that are free from but every peace violence (not the same as nonviolent actor should in principle, which is still quite rare for be well versed large movements) are twice as effective in it.* Gandhi, as violent ones, in one-third the time. who seized on When Prof. Chenoweth, who at first the work of N.K. did not believe in nonviolence, went Bose on the con- to look up the research on the relative sciousness of effectiveness of violent and nonviolent plants to buttress resistance movements, she found... his arguments

2 NO. 105 / WINTER 2015

Meta Peace Team at the Republican National Convention none. People had been arguing whether David Yan / Flickr Yan David nonviolence “works” since time imme- © morial, but no one thought (dared?) to look at the evidence! Nor is this unusu- al in the world of nonviolence. Frans de Waal, decades earlier, found that no re- search had been done on the resolution of conflict among primates: Fires start, but fires also go out. Obvi- ous as this is, scientists concerned with aggression, a sort of social fire, have totally ignored the means by which the flames of aggression are extinguished. We know a great deal about the causes of hostile behavior in both animals and humans…. Yet we know little of the way A candlelight vigil on the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre conflicts are avoided—or how, when they trial age. As Huston Smith said some ■■ Learn everything you can about do occur, relationships are afterward re- years ago, “For our culture as a whole, nonviolence (to fill that cultural paired and normalized. As a result, peo- nothing major is going to happen until vacuum) ple tend to believe that violence is more we figure out who we are… we haven’t a ■■ Take up a spiritual practice (if you integral to human nature than peace. clue who we are today.” This is because haven’t already done so) we have ignored what Gandhi said was ■■ Interact personally wherever pos- nothing less than “the law of our spe- sible (to overcome our isolation, ...wisdom is certainly within cies:” nonviolence. In unearthing our making ourselves invulnerable to capacity for nonviolence—a process oppression, for one thing), and us; and nonviolence... is the that still has far to go—we are finding ■■ Tell the story! Never hesitate to way to find it. ourselves as a species, beginning to re- explain that we are body, mind alize the meaning of our existence. and spirit; that security does not This process needs activists who come from defeating “enemies” Some seventy years prior to that are, as Joanna Macy says, “stopping the or fulfillment from buying things epiphany, Gandhi had written in his worst of the damage;” but it also needs (and destroying the planet in the classic Hind Swaraj that what we call all of us. Nonviolence in practice (aka process). “history” records the breakdowns of the love in action) is the outward manifes- We are at the most dangerous crisis even progress of nature, the evolution tation of the “new story,” but in addi- of human existence because we have towards nonviolence, which “being tion to —and we will need acquired the power to destroy ourselves natural, is not recorded in history.” In more of it in the coming years—there and are still immature enough to actu- other words, the modern world has a are other dimensions to the mysterious ally do it. Wisdom alone can save us. myopic vision that sees only the shad- process of paradigm shift. We facilitate That wisdom is certainly within us; and ow, the negative after-image of reality. it by acting it out and being vocal about nonviolence in thought and action is Therefore it is hard to exaggerate the why we’re doing it. the way to find it. At the non-profit where I work, the potential significance of these signs of *For more information on the new science, check emergence of nonviolence. Nonvio- Metta Center for Nonviolence, we’ve out AMOS Winter 2014 at www.ipjc.org lence is, for one thing, the bridge be- developed a “Roadmap” that the pro- cc Michael N. Nagler is professor tween spiritual development and social gressive movement can use to realize emeritus at the University of California, change: one who cherishes her or his its full effectiveness in creating this cul- Berkeley, where he founded the Peace tural shift. The inner core of Roadmap, and Conflict Studies Program. He is spirituality and wants to help the world also President of the Metta Center for cannot do so through violence, which called “Person Power,” offers five rec- ommendations anyone is free to take Nonviolence and author of The Search flatly contradicts spirituality. But the for a Nonviolent Future and most significance of this emergence is even up: recently The Nonviolence Handbook: a greater: it’s nothing less than an at- ■■ Avoid violent media (even if that Guide to Practical Action. tempt of human nature to reassert itself means all commercial media to- against the conditioning of the indus- day!)

A MATTER OF SPIRIT 3 / Flickr ©Anthony Albright ©Anthony

Trading In Binding Fear for Love in Action by Ken Butigan learned from my cellmates that he rel- gaze. Then he abruptly shifted his eyes ished fights breaking out between pris- and barked, “Get the rest of this trash any years ago I served a six- oners because he could then wade in picked up!” Rolling up the window, he week jail sentence for en- among them and beat them. Anything drove off quickly. gaging in nonviolent civil could happen here, I said to myself, and For years this experience has served Mdisobedience as part of a demonstra- it would be my word against his. as a personal touchstone for the power tion for peace and justice in Central “No,” he replied. “What are you do- of violence and our potential to trans- America. On the day I arrived at the ing in this prison?” form it—and the role fear plays in both. prison in the California desert, I was I was caught off guard by his ques- Authority based on instilling fear; au- sent with the other new inmates to tion. “I protested the killing of my sis- thority acquiesced in because of that what was billed euphemistically as our ters and brothers in Nicaragua and El fear. At the beginning, the typical sce- orientation, but which amounted to a Salvador,” I said. nario had played out the way it unwinds fire-and-brimstone sermon delivered His face, already angry, grew even in innumerable ways every day around by a sergeant at the top of his lungs. The angrier. I thought he was about to go the world. Then the script suddenly had guard’s shrill and descriptive harangue berserk. gone awry. The prison guard’s history was designed to instill a heavy enough of violence had been kept tightly intact dose of fear to keep us scrupulously in by what we might call an energy field line. ...the power of violence of fear: a military service record that A few days later as I was walking and our potential to haunted him, a job that depended both across the prison yard, I heard, “Hey! on generating fear and fending it off You!” It was the sergeant who had laid transform it... and a fear that his own children might down the law. He ordered me to pick up be dragged by his government into trash out on the far edge of the prop- Suddenly, though, the anger melted war—something that had happened to erty. Without a moment’s hesitation, I away. He quickly looked both ways and him and that he deeply regretted. Now, double-timed it to the area overlooking then said, almost in a whisper, “They for just a moment, the fear abated long the desert. sent me to Vietnam. I was ordered to enough for him to come clean, to reveal After I had been picking up cigarette kill a lot of people. Now I don’t sleep himself, and to do so not simply to a butts and gum wrappers for a while, a much at night.” He paused for a mo- prisoner, which would have been un- Jeep Cherokee slowly rumbled up the ment, then he said, “If the government usual enough, but to a prisoner serving hill. When it pulled up next to me, the wants my kids for the next war, I’m time for protesting war. tinted window on the driver’s side slow- driving them to Canada.” This may have been the first time ly slid down. It was the sergeant. Then he looked me straight in the this sergeant had shared his experience “What the hell are you doing here?” eye and said, “What you did probably of killing to anyone—how it haunted he yelled. will make no difference. But I’m glad him, how he wasn’t able to sleep and “You told me to come out here and you did it.” how he even entertained thoughts of pick up garbage.” My recently acquired For what seemed like an eternity, resisting plans for a future war. As his fear of him rapidly deepened. I had the sergeant and I held each other’s fear evaporated long enough to unleash

4 NO. 105 / WINTER 2015 something of his deeper truth, I found it, “Violence saves.” Wink’s research Take action. Join with others to my own fears slowly ebbing away. I was showed that, for at least 5,000 years, build a movement locally, nationally or able to see this guard as a human being, many of us have put our stock in “the internationally to spread the power of and I began to wonder if this was why I myth of redemptive violence,” which nonviolent love in action. This will re- had taken nonviolent action in the first turns out to be neither good myth nor veal your fears and how to respond to place: to meet this wounded stranger, good redemption. This story that vio- them. What action should you take? to experience a brief moment of com- lence is the answer ignores the under- Write down this sentence: “If I were not munion and shared solace together, to pinnings of that myth: the fear-based afraid, I would ______,” receive such a revelation from this sur- life and an unending cycle of violence. and then reflect a bit and fill in the prising quarter and to share with him blank. It will help you crys- what the thinker Emmanuel Levinas tallize what you want to called “the flow of infinity between the ...regard anyone who crosses do—and encourages you to eyes.” your path the way you regard the take steps to it. All that this required was the mirac- Together we can trans- ulous gift of transforming fear—his and most beloved person in your life. form the cloying fear that mine—into something unexpectedly renders us immobile and powerful and liberating. Try on a belief in goodness, con- that keeps our culture of violence hum- * * * nectedness and nonviolence. Here is ming. Even more importantly, we can Virtually all monumental crises a concrete way to approach this: regard together build a and we face today—war, poverty, climate anyone who crosses your path the way nonviolence fearlessly. change, racism, sexual assault, hun- you regard the most beloved person in cc Ken Butigan is the Executive Direc- ger—are crushing forms of violence, if your life. Try this for a year. Or a month. tor of Pace e Bene Nonviolence Ser- by violence we mean any physical, ver- Or maybe a week. Not only will it help vice and an organizer of Campaign bal, emotional, institutional or structur- us see the infinite worth of every being, Nonviolence. He also teaches part- time in the Peace, Justice and Conflict al behavior, attitude, policy or condition it will begin to lessen the chronic fear Studies Program at DePaul University that disrespects, dominates, dehuman- we have been taught by our culture. It in Chicago and writes a column for izes, diminishes or destroys ourselves, will also serve as a basis of nonviolence WagingNonviolence.org. He can be our fellow beings or our world. Chronic by nourishing our interior font of grati- reached at [email protected] violence is global, but it also seeps into tude, compassion and unconditional our lives, relationships, work places, love. communities and societies. It is fear that unleashes, justifies and prolongs this violence. Even more, fear / Flickr is the binding energy that consolidates and deepens violence. This binding en-

ergy can trap us as individuals, but it ©Elisa Vireca can also grip entire societies and fuel whole cultures of violence, including our own. But it need not be this way. In our freer moments we realize that we are called in this time to build a world of peace, justice and sustainability—a world free from pervasive personal, interpersonal and structural violence— and that this will require many things, including contagiously transforming the fear that binds us. Here are a few suggestions for doing this: Give up our belief in fear and vio- lence. Our culture of violence is held together by a belief system that says, as the late theologian Walter Wink put

A MATTER OF SPIRIT 5

Children in Zanzibar We Are Beloved by Nicholas Mele

As I write, the United States is an- gry, anxious, saddened and split over

the shooting of a young, unarmed Nguyen ©Johnny black man by a white policeman several months ago. At the same time, another, younger black child has just been shot because he was at a playground with a toy gun which closely resembled a real weapon. We live in the midst of a stew of fear and violence. News outlets headline stories about scary epidem- ics, war, mass executions. Social me- dia memes—cleverly chosen images and sayings propagated over the inter- net—cater to stereotypes, polarization and fear. Popular culture promotes the myth that violence can solve almost any problem and protect individuals as well as nations from any threat. As theolo- gian Walter Wink wrote in Engaging A police officer hugs a 12-year-old boy during a Ferguson demonstration in Portland, OR the Powers, “Violence is the ethos of our myth that violence solves problems, disapproval or withdrawal. As we do so, time. It is the spirituality of the modern that a kind of purification or even re- we also strive to earn approval and love world. It has been accorded the status demption comes through violent be- and to exceed what we think others ex- of religion, demanding from its devo- havior dominates our attitudes and pect of us. tees an absolute obedience unto death.” behavior. Over time, we internalize Popular culture reinforces feelings Violence and threat breeds fear, fear the messages of threat and violence that we are not loved and/or do not of others, fear for our safety, fear that and speak harshly to ourselves. To be measure up. The same media that con- we will not be able to stand against the sure, often the violent words we hear vey messages of violence and threat threats screaming from headlines and are not intended to threaten or induce convey advertisements and subliminal television news and talk shows. fear, they are simply the consequence messages that tell us we are each inad- To climb out of the morass of vio- lence in which we live requires courage, creativity, effort, persistence, personal We see the weakest members of society... as integrity and a sense of humor. We threats to be met with bravado and force rather must start by honestly examining and healing the violence within ourselves. than as people desperately in need of compassion. The first step is cultivating awareness of how we have internalized the violence of the “ethos of our time” described equate but can compensate by purchas- we experience daily and inflict it on by Wink. For example, an exasperated ing the right products, or can soothe ourselves and others. parent seeking some support for house- our anxiety through self-indulgence. The violence we experience is not cleaning might say to his child, “Pick up We often fall into this trap and substi- confined to news headlines or fiery talk your toys!” in a tone of voice that the tute material goods for love or iden- show panelists. We also hear threats child hears as an implicit threat to with- tify and value ourselves through our and violence daily from our families, draw love or impose punishment. Over possessions: I drive a luxury car or an our friends, our teachers, our super- time, we impose limits on ourselves in SUV or a sexy sports car! I wear brand x visors and from our co-workers. The anticipation of others' disappointment, clothing! Popular culture also urges us

6 NO. 105 / WINTER 2015 to avoid relationships in which we feel abled people and even Roman soldiers. our intellectual assent to the idea that insecure, including relationships, such He saw beyond the letter of the Mosaic God loves us. Henri Nouwen was much as with poor or otherwise marginalized Law into its spirit and confronted those concerned with this subject. He moved people, that might draw disapproval who could not or would not grasp the from a kind of academic but detached from “admirable” or powerful people. Law as deeply. Jesus calls us repeatedly allegiance to the Gospel through stages We see the weakest members of soci- to this same sort of risk-taking and re- of engagement with others that culmi- ety—the homeless, the mentally ill, the moval of barriers to community. nated in his long participation in the undocumented worker—as threats to The practice of contemplative prayer life of a L'Arche community in Cana- be met with bravado and force rather has opened the door to feeling beloved da. These words, from a posthumously than as people desperately in need of for many. The longer I sit quietly in the published talk by Nouwen, sum up the compassion. Since we feel inadequate cloud of unknowing, the more aware I centrality of feeling God's love: to deal with our fear, we automatically become of God's love. Whether we fo- resort to violence instead of carefully cus on our breath, recite a sacred word We are not what we do. We are not considering responses proportional to or use any other technique, when we what we have. We are not what others the degree and probability of the threats are still, we are open to God. We can think of us. Coming home is claiming the we perceive. also feel God's love more intensely truth. I am the beloved child of a loving How then, can we defeat the violence when we practice gratitude. Simply Creator. which envelops us? How can we live a fully nonviolent, fully human life, pas- Iconic leaders in sionate and compassionate, stalwartly …we too, are God's beloved children. nonviolent action resisting evil and injustice? The Gos- also stress the value pel accounts of Jesus' life give us some recounting to ourselves a few people, of feeling beloved. Rev. Dr. Martin Lu- guidance. All three synoptic Gospels situations or things we are thankful for ther King Jr. defined belovedness as “an tell the story of Jesus' baptism; the story in our lives brings concrete evidence overflowing love which seeks nothing opens the Gospel of Mark. In all three, of God's love. Offering thanks to God in return. It is the love of God working God declares, “You are my beloved fosters greater intimacy with God and in the lives of [women and] men.” son.” After this, Jesus retreats into the a deeper knowledge of divine love. We We can come to embrace God's love wilderness to fast and pray before be- can, moreover, acquire a sense of being through various routes, but several ginning his ministry. Throughout his loved when we are serving others in steps are critical to free ourselves of the life, Jesus' trust in God's love freed him some way; when we care for “the least effects of our culture's ethos of violence. from shame, fear and other emotional of these,” we honor their belovedness We might start by growing more aware and social pressures. Thus, he was free and our own. of the violence directed at us by mass to love others, in the process breaking As members of the body of Christ, media, simply noticing the content of through social constraints to heal and we too are God's beloved children. As news reports, novels, films and so on build community with outcast, despised described above, we find this difficult and exploring how we feel as we see and people like tax collectors, differently- to know and feel although we may give hear such things. We should at the same Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Selma to Montgomery March, December 1964 time become more mindful of how the people around us replay what they see and hear and how we and they often respond with either a flight or fight -re sponse. We should not neglect a careful look at the violence we do to ourselves. All of this can be painful, and it is hard work, so we need to be gentle with ourselves as well as aware, honest and

©Abernathy Family / Wikimedia Family ©Abernathy brave. Acknowledging emotions like fear, anger and pain takes persistence and patience, yet allowing ourselves to experience these emotions helps dissi- pate them. A set of questions posed by Fr. John Dear in his recent book, The Nonviolent Life, offers a framework for examining

A MATTER OF SPIRIT 7 the violence we and others do to our- conducting ourselves that is the way of

selves from our personal experience nonviolence. Many organizations, like / Flickr ©Vertigogen and perspective. Start by looking at the Pax Christi, the Fellowship of Recon- violence within. ciliation and the denominational peace ■■ What’s going on inside you? How fellowships, offer resources for small do you feel about yourself: your life, groups or individuals wishing to move your body, your spirit, your soul? deeper into nonviolence. In commu- nity, we can explore nonviolence with ■■ Do you ever speak critically or others' support and together act to re- harshly to yourself, e.g., “That was duce and resist the violence in which stupid!”? our society immerses us. We can be- ■■ Do you have any areas or feelings of come prophets speaking the truth of violence toward yourself? our loving God and Jesus' way of non- ■■ Because we live in a culture of vio- violence to a country addicted to vio- lence, we all have moments of self- lence. hatred or violence. Ponder your Since choosing nonviolence is pro- life journey: What violence did foundly counter-cultural in the United you experience from your parents? States today, we need to look for signs Siblings? Relatives? Friends? Class- of hope while we explore the effects mates? Neighbors? of violence. Throughout my lifelong journey into nonviolence I have been ■■ How was your childhood and youth inspired, by an elderly Quaker training influenced by the realities of vio- a group of college students in 1970; by lence? witnessing unjust authoritarian states ■■ What violence did you experience? in South Africa, South Korea and the What violence did you internalize? Philippines transition peacefully to de- ■■ Finally, consider how we can let the mocracy; and by the growth and suc- violence lingering within us go and cess of unarmed interveners in conflict move beyond it to new feelings of zones around the world. Not every act peace, inner freedom and joy? of nonviolence succeeds, but as Cesar Chavez noted, “There is no such thing Moving deeper into the understand- as defeat in nonviolence.” ing of being beloved, Rev. Dr. Mar- cc Nick Mele is a retired Senior Foreign tin Luther King Jr. spoke and wrote of Service officer who writes on foreign the Beloved Community as the goal of affairs, nonviolence and other justice nonviolent action. Joining with others issues for a variety of publications. He to form a nonviolent community offers is currently a Washington state pro- companionship and support for the moter for Campaign Nonviolence. profoundly different way of being and Nick’s Picks Readings on Non-Violence áá Daniel Berrigan, SJ áá Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. áá Dorothy Day áá Thomas Merton áá Fr. John Dear áá Henri Nouwen áá James Douglass áá Terrence J. Rynne áá Mohandas Gandhi áá Walter Wink Web Resources áá US chapter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation─forusa.org áá Non-denominational resources─mettacenter.org áá The Campaign Nonviolence Initiative─paceebene.org áá Pax Christi USA─paxchristiusa.org

8 NO. 105 / WINTER 2015

Girl at an anti-war protest in Wrexham, Wales A Call to a Life of Nonviolence by Denny Duffell dren how to respect others and solve problems together? Sure, enny Duffell is a deacon it’s difficult—my own children living in NE Seattle and a struggle daily with the chal- member of Pax Christi. A lenges of raising our grandchil- DMatter of Spirit (AMOS) asked him dren, though they are surely a few questions about his commit- more conscientious than I was. ment to nonviolence. My wife Joan and the organiza- tion she heads, the Committee AMOS: What encounters have for Children, is a national leader led you to a nonviolent lifestyle? in social and emotional learn- I was short and scrappy as a ing for young children. Their kid, but a fight on asphalt, when Second Step program, teaching I threw another kid to the ground empathetic listening, problem- and knocked him out, instantly re- solving and impulse control to placed my anger with a dread that the very young, is changing the I had hurt someone seriously—and world! Yet even for a program it changed my life. I still remember like this, in 25,000 schools, it’s that day. still one classroom and one child I matured as a student in the at a time. Each of us can make late ’60s, influenced by the civil our individual difference; peace rights struggle and the anti-war begins in the human heart. movement. I was raised Catholic, ©Seattle Times ©Seattle AMOS: What are the oppor- and my reflections on Jesus’ life tunities to nonviolence for all and teachings led me to reject war, Denny's daughter Janice & Archbishop Hunthausen, Bangor 1984 of us? war-making and preparing for war. I sought and received Conscientious Circumstances moved us from Again, we can make a difference Objector status. Instead of serving as a our parish and community, but the in the community around us, and it soldier in Vietnam, I spent four years changes led to my current ministries spreads from there. At 67 years, I’m still as a Jesuit Volunteer, embracing prac- at St. Bridget Church and Children’s learning and searching. Last year I took tical poverty, living in community and Hospital in Seattle, where I minister the “Vow of Nonviolence” with others working to make a difference in the as a chaplain. This is a precious gift to as public witness, and we just renewed lives of the poor. Soon afterwards I met my life, and the families have taught our commitment again in December. and was deeply moved by Cesar Chavez me much. One cannot work there with- Why not seek out others to join you to and his nonviolent struggle for justice, out being moved to compassion. This take a pledge? Why don’t we all make with its strong spiritual roots. I began work has taught me that building peace peacemaking more intentional? I found to read seriously the writings of King, and holding the broken heart are very that taking this vow intensified my pas- Merton and Dorothy Day. similar. sion for ; I find myself In the late ’70s and early ’80s my wife reading about nonviolence, talking AMOS: When do you feel chal- with individuals and groups, writing and I lived with the Seattle Catholic lenged in living nonviolently? Worker community and helped cam- letters and looking for creative ways to paign against the Trident nuclear sub- Personally: traffic, child-raising and raise my voice… yearning and praying marine base at Bangor. My “day job” struggles within the family. Nonviolent for justice and peace. And yes, exam- was at an inner city parish, first staffing child-raising is one of the most impor- ining my own heart and relationships, a food bank and eventually learning tant skills we can learn, but one not and looking to join with others in non- neighborhood organizing. Of course, easy to master. But in our highly vio- violent movements for justice. Archbishop Hunthausen was a terrific lent culture, what work could be both I know I’m just one guy, but I inspiration; his picture is still on my more immediate and more important believe people all over yearn for this. wall. for the long haul than to teach our chil- Don’t you?

A MATTER OF SPIRIT 9 Ending the Spiral of Violence by Annapatrice Clarke People grow unwilling to accept the and refuse to give in to the dehuman- injustices they have been forced to en- izing cycle. Some may call nonvio- he last four years gave birth to dure. They rebel, demanding rights and lence cowardice, but it requires great a new generation of uprisings. dignity. Revolt is the second violence. courage to acknowledge that restoring From Tunisia to , Mexico When oppressors see their power the humanity of your attacker is more Tto Mali, Hong Kong to Burkina Faso to challenged, they respond with force. important than revenge. It is also suc- US streets with Ferguson, a fervor for Câmara calls this the third violence: cessful: a study by Maria Stephan and justice enkindled social movements in repression. When we use violence to Erica Chenoweth of 323 conflicts in the more than 50 countries. People around show that violence is wrong, we act 20th century shows nonviolent upris- the world are rising up and demand- discordantly and oppressors maintain ings were twice as successful as violent ing justice and freedom. But how is that moral justification to continue. Repres- ones.2 Gandhi reflected, “Power is of goal achieved: violently or nonviolent- sion creates more injustices, which lead two kinds. One is obtained by the fear ly? Violent insurrections often repeat to uprisings. The spiral continues, with of punishment and the other by acts themselves, with massive bloodshed. each iteration more deeply entrench- of love. Power based on love is a thou- Violence spirals endlessly into ever- ing the pattern. This is the spiral of vio- sand times more effective and perma- harsher responses, but it doesn’t need lence. nent than the one derived from fear of to do so. We can end the spiral with the punishment.” Repressive governments power of nonviolence. We practice courageous retain control through fear of punish- Dom Hélder Câmara, an archbishop ment—often very brutal punishment. in Brazil during its military dictator- love in the face of fear. It takes time and effort to get over ship, describes the three-part violent that fear, but once we do, the power of path in his Spiral of Violence. The origi- Martin Luther King Jr. described this love is immensely stronger and more nating violence, he says, is injustice: phenomenon poetically: resilient. “You will find that everywhere the in- When we participate in boycotts, 1 The ultimate weakness of violence justices are... the basic violence.” When is that it is a descending spiral, beget- marches, protests, vigils, letter-writing; people’s rights are suppressed—in high ting the very thing it seeks to destroy... get to know our enemies or bring gifts unemployment rates, unjust wage dis- Through violence you may murder the to those trying to hurt us, we practice parities, rising costs of living, censor- hater, but you do not murder hate. In courageous love in the face of fear. We ship and denied civic freedoms—it is fact, violence merely increases hate. Re- proclaim the greatest force in the world violence. turning violence for violence multiplies is the deepest truth: each human being violence, adding deeper darkness to a has value. As Srdja Popovic, a leader of night already devoid of stars. the Serbian Revolution now making Spiral of Violence nonviolence his life’s work, says, “Ul- Overall, violence dehumaniz- timately, power in society comes from Injusti ce es. A person trained to hate or the obedience of the people. And those kill another no longer sees people—each of whom is individually a human, but rather an a small source of power—can change object. their minds and refuse to follow com- Repression Yet, there is mands." Nonviolence reminds people another way. We that they have power, simply through hold the power being human. Nonviolence re-human- to end this de- izes in three ways: our “enemy” to us, scending spiral. us to ourselves, and us to our “enemy.” When we choose When we communicate with people nonviolence, we who are different from us, we become choose love. We more able to see their perspective and decide to see our en- can then better address their—and emy as a human being our—fears and biases. While in jail for Revolt rebellious acts, Bassam Aramin, a Pal-

10 NO. 105 / WINTER 2015 / Flickr

©editrrix maining nonviolent in the Imagine what would be possible if face of force requires cour- we each found creative ways to chal- age and a strong belief that lenge power structures, show people we are fully worthy of re- their power, humanize each other and ceiving justice and dignity. encourage the defection of supporters Furthermore, we hu- on important issues. For instance, the manize ourselves to our op- US has not been this politically polar- ponents. Boycotts, strikes, ized since the Civil War. How can we marches and comedic skits re-humanize each other, not as en- show people who support emies, but as people in the system? the oppressor that the re- These methods can be used in our sistance is made up of in- households, communities and jobs, in dividuals with wants, needs companies and governments. We can and personalities. When the each do something with our power to “enemy” knows our name, end the spiral of violence and create a estinian, watched a movie about the holds our children, shares a meal with better, more just world. Holocaust. He remembered, “I tried to us and understands our point of view, Our time is full of violence—in Cen- hide my tears from the other prisoners ideologies begin to shift. People can no tral America, Syria, Sudan and more. who wouldn’t have understood why I longer rationalize using force against Yet, we remember that hope is not lost. was crying about the pain of my op- someone they understand. Defections Martin Luther King Jr. concludes his pressors.” He started talking with his happen in practically every revolution, earlier statement; “Darkness cannot Israeli guard. Eventually friendship re- whether by just a few individuals or drive out darkness, only light can do placed the animosity between the two.3 nearly the entire military, such as in the that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only We also humanize ourselves to our- Color Revolutions of Serbia, Ukraine love can do that.” We can choose non- selves. Years of oppression and messag- and Georgia. violence. We can choose love. es of worthlessness can be internalized When we choose to humanize, the cc Annapatrice Clarke is the editor of A as self-dehumanization. We cannot, spiral stops. Governments are top- Matter of Spirit and has a degree in however, make others see our human- pled, but more importantly, hearts are Peace Studies & Political Science from ity when we cannot see it ourselves. Re- changed. the University of Notre Dame.

Nonviolence in Colombia borhood impacted by port expansion and illegal armed groups, took a stand against fear and violence. Accompanied by Colombian by Julia Duranti organizations and international NGOs like Witness for Peace, the Buenaventura, the community established Colombia’s first urban humanitarian space, city of Colombia’s larg- called Puente Nayero. The space was inaugurated with popular est port, is often de- education workshops, music and dance, acts that celebrated life scribed by its extremes: over death and peace over violence and an assembly in which 800 ©Julia Duranti the unemployment (50 families committed to participating in a space governed by nonvio- percent), poverty (80 lence and free of illegal armed actors. percent), forced dis- Since then, Puente Nayero and its leaders have been threat- placement—dispro- ened by local paramilitaries, but the space’s continued existence portionately high even is a testament to the strength of the community’s commitment to in a country with the nonviolent organizing, as well as how national and international world’s second larg- accompaniers with nonviolence as their mandate help elevate the est internally displaced community’s profile to raise the political cost of violence against population. Buenaven- it. Walking with Puente Nayero as they reclaim a space for life, tura is home to more build community within it and assert their political power outside than 400,000 people: mostly Afro-Colombians whose ancestors it has been an incredible privilege. It reinforces the importance of developed a culture in harmony with the ocean. But powerful eco- Witness for Peace’s mission of physical accompaniment informing nomic interests battling for port control turned Buenaventura into popular education, which in turn elevates international attention one of Colombia’s most violent cities. Paramilitary groups enabled and action in solidarity with the nonviolent struggles of those seek- by corrupt politicians have established a brutal rule, using extor- ing justice throughout Latin America. tion, torture and murder to terrify residents into silence. cc Julia Duranti has worked with the Witness for Peace Colom- In April 2014, the community of La Playita, an oceanfront neigh- bia International Team for two years. A MATTER OF SPIRIT 11 Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America

by Lucy McBath spect the rights of citizens, yet protect laws at the state level, like closing the people from gun violence. Our moms dangerous background check loophole It was two years ago last month and supporters know there are solu- on gun purchases. In this last midterm that I found myself on a path I did not tions to curb the gun violence epidemic election, voters in Washington State choose, fighting a battle I did not start, in America, and we are working every took to the polls on a ballot initiative to advocating to change dangerous gun day to do just that. close these loopholes and expand back- laws I never knew existed. My son, Jor- Since the tragedy at Sandy Hook, ground checks for all gun sales. Gun dan—just 17 years old—was shot and not a single law has been passed at the safety won by an impressive majority, killed by an armed man in Florida in federal level to prevent gun violence. and we expect other states with ballot a dispute over loud initiatives to follow music. Jordan was suit in coming elec- unarmed and seat- tions. ed in the back seat Over the sum- of his friend’s car mer, more than when the man open a million Ameri- fired, ripping him of cans took our Gun his young life, and Sense Voter Pledge, me of my only child. committing to vote I knew after this for candidates who experience that God support common- was calling me for a sense gun laws, higher purpose: to and our supporters help prevent oth- made thousands ers from undergo- of phone calls en- ing the unspeak- couraging voters to

able pain of losing Gun Safety for Town ©Every head to the polls. loved ones in such On election night, Mothers march for gun reform a senseless way. we saw the can- Today, I serve as spokesperson for If Congress won’t protect our children didates who have publicly supported Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense and families, moms will. We launched and enacted common-sense gun laws in America, a grassroots movement of a corporate responsibility campaign to elected. moms founded the day after the mass insist that American businesses enact I, and so many Americans across this shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary policies that will protect our families great country, are empowered by the when we pa- stories of success we have in building tronize them. a community of advocates demanding Together, we will reverse this epidemic… And succeed, we not one more life be lost to senseless have. In just one gun violence. I call on the faith com- year, moms have munity to join us in pushing for change that took the lives of 20 first graders and convinced retailers and restaurants to and to provide support to those whose 6 educators. The movement was started end the practice of open carry in their lives have been so tragically impacted by a mom on a Facebook page, and has establishments—a practice that is large- by gun violence. since become a part of the largest gun ly unregulated in most states, meaning We hold the future of God’s children violence prevention organization in the no training, permitting or background in our hands—let’s do everything we country—Everytown for Gun Safety— checks are required. Starbucks, Target, can to help make it a blessed one. To- with more than 2.5 million members Panera, Chipotle, Sonic Drive-In and gether, we will reverse this epidemic, and a Moms Chapter in every state. Chili’s are among the businesses that one family, one law, one company and Since its inception just two years have chosen to enact smart gun poli- one election at a time. ago, Moms Demand Action has been at cies. cc Lucy McBath is the mother of Jordan the forefront of this movement, fight- Another way we are driving change Davis and a national spokesperson for ing for public safety measures that re- is by fighting for common-sense gun Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

12 NO. 105 / WINTER 2015 US Guns & Violence 37% of US households For every gun in the home used in own 290 million guns self-defense, there are: 5% Other 6% Hispanic 7% African American 82% Caucasian 4 unintended 7 criminal assaults 11 completed/ deaths/injuries & homicides with attempted gun a gun suicides Vow of Nonviolence

Recognizing the violence in my own heart, yet trusting in the goodness and mercy of God, I vow for one year to practice the Gun homicides in the US in 2012 nonviolence of Jesus who taught us in the Sermon on the Mount: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons and 1,370 children or teens 4 per day daughters of God… You have learned how it was said, ‘You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy;' but I say to you, Love your 8,956 adults 25 per day enemies, and pray for those who persecute you. In this way, you will be daughters and sons of your Creator in heaven. Various High-Income Countries Gun Before God the Creator and the Sanctifying Spirit, I vow to carry Homicide Rates Per 100,000 of Population out in my life the love and example of Jesus (2011/2012) WW by striving for peace within myself and seeking to be a peacemaker in my daily life; 5

N Gun Homicide Rates WW by accepting suffering rather than inflicting it; 90 TI O Number = Guns per 100 Residents WW by refusing to retaliate in the face of provocation and violence;

L A 4 U WW by persevering in nonviolence of tongue and heart; O P

P WW by living conscientiously and simply so that I do not deprive

F 3

O others of the means to live;

WW by actively resisting evil and working nonviolently to abolish 45 46 2 war and the causes of war from my own heart and from the 100,000 32 face of the earth. R 31 30 30 E P

S 1 God, I trust in Your sustaining love and 15 12 believe that just as You gave me the grace

RAT E 6 4 and desire to offer this, so You will also 0 0.6

DE bestow abundant grace to fulfill it. C I Source: Pax Christi USA HOM I

US children & teens compared to their peers in 25 other high-income countries combined: US gun homicide rates have decreased 49% compared to the peak in 1993. Let us continue to work for peace and nonviolence in the • 32x more likely to die from gun homicide world! • 10x more likely to die from a gun suicide or accident A MATTER OF SPIRIT 13 ``Young Adult Justice Cafés ``Women's Justice Circles Spirituality: A Justice Community Circle participants in Lima, Peru, in partnership with the Municipality of El Rimac, organized Building Awareness and Special Event Creating Strategies to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based In collaboration with the Seattle Archdiocese Pastoral Care Violence. The conference included congresswomen, policy Office, IPJC provided the first Justice Café for young adults makers, local authorities, psychologists, social workers and with disabilities. heads of women-led organizations.

Young adults from the Seattle Justice Café served as facilitators

One parent said that this is the first time she experienced an María Inés gave opening remarks opportunity for young adults with special needs to gather about issues of justice, share faith and hang out together. ``Publications

Fossil Fuel Transportation in the Pacific Northwest The increasing demand for coal in he United States has the world’s largest proven deposit of coal reserves and shale formations. Improvement in drilling and fracking technology, less expensive electricity generated from gas and cleaner burning of shale gas have significantly Tdecreased the US consumption of coal. However, the increasing demand for coal in China has made northwest ports an Monthly Worldwide Justice Cafés attractive gateway for US coal export to Asia. China has made northwest ports an Coal I-5 Corridor to the Westshore Terminal terminal projects at Coos Bay, Grays in Vancouver, BC. Currently, 2-3 coal Harbor and Port Westward have been here are no coal mines or shale trains pass through Seattle each day. shelved. Tformations in the Pacific Northwest. At full production, the proposed Lummi Nation: However, the world’s largest coal mine increase in coal export of 110M tons attractive gateway for US coal export is operated by Peabody Energy in the a year would require an additional 18 People of the Sea Powder River Basin, which is located trains per day to travel to three NW January—Upholding the Dignity of Work: Creating a in Wyoming and Montana. Coal is terminals: Gateway Pacific Terminal at he 1855 treaty between tribal transported by rail in open hopper cars Cherry Point (48M tons/yr); Millennium Tnations and the US government in train units that are 1.3 to 1.6 miles Bulk Logistics in Cowlitz County (44M granted rights to the tribes to hunt, fish, to Asia. long. The trains travel through Spokane, tons/yr); and Morrow Pacific Project and gather throughout their traditional Pasco, along the Columbia River Gorge, in Morrow and Columbia Counties in lands in exchange for ceding title to Just Economic System and north along the heavily populated Oregon (8M tons/yr). Three other coal millions of acres of what is now known Be sure to download the IPJC February—Life on Purpose: Fossil Fuels Transportation in the Contemplation & Justice Pacific Northwest primer, providing opportunities for education, analysis, March—Climate Change: reflection and action on the issue of ,3-& Our Future with Earth ‹ fossil fuels and their environmental impact. April—Act for Eco-Justice!

Israel and Palestine: History, Politics and the Pursuit of Peace he Palestine- conflict is over a piece of land the size of New Jersey and the self-determination of the Palestinians. Who is IPJC? TBoth people claim ancient rights to this contested land. Ever since the establishment of the State of Israel seven decades The Intercommunity Peace and Justice Just Video ago, the conflict has raged on with no real progress towards a settlement. In July 2014, the third Gaza War in seven years was launched. The following is a brief look at the history, politics and major peace talks leading up to the latest war. Israel and Palestine: History, Winners: Center promotes just structures in our `` ƒ Winning videos will be posted on Church and world. We are sponsored by Contest In the Beginning… the Intercommunity Peace & Justice 18 religious communities and collaborate From 3200 to 1200 BC the Canaanite civilization ruled over an area covering modern day Israel, the , Gaza, Syria, Just Video Contest 2014-2015 and Jordan. Different peoples passing through the area settled in the area alongside the Canaanites. Their descendants Center’s website with Catholic, ecumenical, interfaith and Politics and the Pursuit of Peace would later include Jews, Christians and Muslims. The biblical Jewish Kingdoms of David and Solomon lasted about 74 years. other groups in carrying out this mission. ƒ Including all the ancient Jewish kingdoms, Jewish rule lasted approximately 414 years: from King David (1000 BC) to the Winning participants will receive destruction of Judea (586 BC). In the first and second centuries CE, the Romans drove out the Jews from Palestine, beginning prizes: $400 for 1st, $150 for 2nd the Diaspora. Five centuries later, the Arabs invaded the area spreading Islam, settling and intermarrying with those already and $100 for 3rd We serve parishes, communities, there, resulting in a predominantly Arab and Islamic Palestine. In the early 16th century, Palestine became an Ottoman Empire An 8-page primer on the Israel/ organizations and individuals through: province. The IPJC Justƒ Videos become Videoproperty of the Contest After centuries of European antisemitism and Eastern Europe pogroms, Theodor Herzl started the Zionist movement by ƒ Workshops Intercommunity Peace & Justice forming the World Zionist Organization in late 19th Century. After considering acquisition of land in Africa, South America Center ƒ Retreats and Palestine, the latter was chosen to be the Jewish homeland. Zionists encouraged Jewish immigration under the slogan, Palestine conflict. It explores past “a land without people for a people without land,” although almost all the fertile land in Palestine was already occupied. The ƒ Publications E Ottoman Census of 1914 reveals that Palestine was already home to 602,000 Muslim Arabs, 81,000 Christian Arabs, and 39,000 th n 1 ƒ Immersions v Jews, most of whom had lived together peacefully in Palestine for almost 1400 years. ir is now in its 6 year!ƒ Conferences on British Mandate of Palestine (1922 – 1948) and current events of the region as m ƒ Processes ent During WWI, the British promised Jews in Palestine in what is known as the provisions regarding Jewish settlements. to support Arab independence and a Balfour Declaration. The Mandate was ratified in 1923. ƒ Community Organizing Jewish homeland. In a series of letters After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, History shows that for generations, the to Sharif Hussein in 1915 (Hussein- in July 1922, the League of Nations peasants of Palestine worked the land and ƒ Corporate Social Responsibility McMahon Correspondence), the British it struggles toward a path for peace. drafted the Mandate and confirmed the passed on the right to cultivate it to their High commissioner McMahon in Egypt partitioning of the territories, with children, under a communal form of land pledged to help Arab independence if procuring Syria and Lebanon and the tenure. In 1858, Ottoman law introduced they would fight in World War I on the British acquiring: Mesopotamia () the concept of registering individual land If you know high school juniors or side of the Allies. Two years later, the and Palestine (Palestine & Transjordan). ownership. This enabled the educated Includes maps of the region, glos- British government, motivated in part by Two months later, the Transjordan Arabs to register communal/peasant lands sympathy for the Zionist cause, declared s Memoranda was added which excluded as their own without the knowledge of the t its support for a national homeland for Transjordan (now Jordan) from the peasants. These new owners then sold gh this land to Zionists mainly for economic Ri reasons, without awareness of the Zionists’ sary of terms, resources for further seniors, please encourage them to submit Human Lebanon political intention. The peasants only (French Mandate) Syria become aware of their dispossession (French Mandate) when the new landowners came to live in their land. Erstwhile, the well-organized Sea of Galilee Iraq Sea (British Mandate) Zionists had created the Jewish National reading and reflection questions. Fund (JNF) in 1901 for the sole purpose a video. Check out the official Just Video Mediterranean of buying, leasing and selling land in Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center Palestine Trans-Jordan Jordan River (British Mandate) the name of and for the Jewish people. Video Submission Information! a collaborative venture of (British Mandate) sponsoring communities: Adrian Dominican Sisters Dead In addition, the organization supported Sea Upload your video to www.youtube.com and Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace • Oregon Province Jesuits new immigrants by providing funds then fill out our online form at Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, U.S. Ontario Province Egypt for agricultural equipment and other Sisters of Providence, Mother Joseph Province (British Protectorate) capital improvements. A series of laws

www.ipjc.org/programs/justvideo.html Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia • Tacoma Dominicans I Arabia were later adopted that further facilitated page at affiliate communities: Benedictine Sisters of Cottonwood, Idaho Benedictine m www.ipjc.org Sinai the transfer of ownership of conquered Sisters of Lacey • Benedictine Sisters of Mt. Angel m Dominican Sisters of San Rafael • Sinsinawa Dominicans Peninsula Palestinian lands to the State of Israel Download at Deadline Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary ig and made it available for the benefit of r 2 Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet • Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon at its Jewish majority. The majority of land All entries must be uploaded by Society of the Holy Child Jesus • Society of the Sacred Heart ion April 17, 2015 Ursuline Sisters of the Roman Union 1216 NE 65th ST • Seattle, WA 98115 A program of the 206.223.1138 • [email protected] • www.ipjc.org Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center www.ipjc.org

14 NO. 105 / WINTER 2015 NEWS • ANNOUNCEMENTS • EVENTS

``Catholic Advocacy Day ``Mark Your Calendar March 26, 2015 "Proclaim Justice & Life for All" Spring Benefit Dinner All are invited to join us to ensure the Gospel message to care for our brothers and sisters is heard in Olympia! Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center "A Movement in Hope" April 16, 2015 St. Demetrios Church Look for your invitation in the mail!

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"Those who lead the many to ``Climate Change Booklets justice shall be like the stars Our booklets are already in their forever." ─Daniel 12:3 second printing! Form a group and use our new 4-session booklets! Remember to let us know if your company ■■ Our Earth Community matches your donation. ■■ The Science of Climate Change: Call to Change Course In honor of: Nancy Dorn, IPJC staff, Rosemary Rognstad, Karen Rossman, OP, Alice Marie Schmid, OP, ■■ Ecological Conversion Sisters of the Holy Names Leadership Team, ■■ Eco-Imagining Our Emerging Joan Trunk Future In memory of: Elinor Brennan, Audrey Kocarnik, A great Lenten opportunity! Bernie Ternes, OSB

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SPONSORING COMMUNITIES Choose Peace Adrian Dominican Sisters Congregation of the Sisters of Preparation: Invite others in your communi- St. Joseph of Peace ty to choose peace and nonviolence. Prepare Oregon Province Jesuits the space with a ritual cloth, candle and soft Sisters of the Holy Names of instrumental music. / Flickr Ratcliff ©Trey Jesus and Mary, US-Ontario Province Reading Sisters of Providence, Two Wolves (Cherokee Legend) Mother Joseph Province An elder Native American was teaching his Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia grandchildren about life. He said to them, Tacoma Dominicans A fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One AFFILIATE COMMUNITIES wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, Benedictine Sisters of regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, Cottonwood, Idaho resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, Benedictine Sisters of Lacey superiority and ego. Benedictine Sisters of The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, Mt. Angel friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. Dominican Sisters of San Rafael Sinsinawa Dominicans "This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too," he added. Sisters of Charity of the Blessed The grandchildren thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, Virgin Mary "Which wolf will win?" Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet The old Cherokee simply replied..."The one you feed." Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon Leader: I invite you to reflect on the Pax Christi Vow of Nonviolence Society of the Holy Child Jesus Pax Christi Vow of Nonviolence (p. 13) Society of the Sacred Heart Before God the Creator and the Sanctifying Spirit, I vow in light of the story. Ursuline Sisters of the to carry out in my life the love and example of Jesus áá Which element of the Vow am I Roman Union ■ by striving for peace within myself and seeking to be ■ challenged to live? a peacemaker in my daily life; EDITORIAL áá What can I do to nurture this step BOARD ■■ by accepting suffering rather than inflicting it; toward nonviolence? Timnit Ghermay ■■ by refusing to retaliate in the face of provocation and Gretchen Gundrum violence; Leader: I invite anyone who wishes to Linda Haydock, SNJM share a step she/he will take toward ■ by persevering in nonviolence of tongue and heart; Vince Herberholt ■ nonviolence. Tom Hulscher ■■ by living conscientiously and simply so that I do not Closing Prayer Nick Mele deprive others of the means to live; Editor: Annapatrice Clarke ■■ by actively resisting evil and working nonviolently All: May the God of peace who loves Layout: Justin Almeida to abolish war and the causes of war from my own us infinitely bless us abundantly, the heart and from the face of the earth. Creator of peace, the Christ of peace and the Holy Spirit of peace. Footnotes online at www.ipjc.org