Lutheran Peace Fellowship

Youth E-News
September 11, 2006
A Publication of Lutheran Peace Fellowship

Welcome

Welcome to the first issue of Lutheran Peace Fellowship’s revamped e-newsletter One hundred years ago today Gandhi began his nonviolent revolution, using nonviolent means in the face of injustice. Five years ago today, thousands were killed by acts of terrorism in the United States, and the country reacted in violent retaliation. In the face of injustice, we can violently retaliate or we can work nonviolently to help bring an end to the cycles of injustice. Instead of using an “eye for an eye” mentality, we can look to the world around us and see the conditions of poverty, hunger, and disease that often lead to the growth of terrorism.

Today and in the coming weeks, many of us will participate in times of reflection and meditation in remembrance of September 11th. Many people who realize the injustices in society today also realize that it is up to the youth of today to bring justice tomorrow, which is why LPF’s youth program is dedicated to growing leaders among today’s youth to shape a better tomorrow with a view that lets all people see rather than making the whole world blind. Thank you for joining us in believing that there is a better way to live.

–Allyson Fredericksen, LPF Youth Trainer and Coordinator
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for future issues, e-mail me at lpfyouth@yahoo.com


“Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.” –Gandhi

Peace and Justice Around the Globe

Global Day for Darfur, September 17: As violence in the Darfur region of Sudan continues to rise, events are happening around the United States including a rally in New York City, a prayer service in Seattle, and a rally in Des Moines on September 17, among others nationwide, to call for an end to the ongoing genocide in the Darfur region. For information on the situation in Darfur, visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5329548.stm. To find an event near you, visit http://www.savedarfur.org/home.

Call for Global Action Against IMF/World Bank, September 14-20: Mobilization for Global Justice is calling on people around the world to “take action in their own communities against the IMF/World Bank the week of September 14-20, while the institutions meet in Singapore.” For more information, visit http://dc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/134649/index.php.

International Day of Peace, September 21: On Global Peace Day, people around the world will join in events in their communities as a unified call for peace. To find an event near you, visit http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org/events.htm.

Lutheran Peace Fellowship Events

Let Justice Roll: October 7-9: ELCA Region 1 high school youth leadership retreat held at Holden Village in Washington. LPF will be leading workshops and helping facilitate the retreat. For more information, e-mail cyfcenter@tlc.edu.

Rick Steves Benefit Event, October 8: Rick Steves will explore with us how travel and faith have shaped his activism for peace. Rick is widely known for Travel with Rick Steves on NPR and Rick Steves’ Europe on PBS. Tickets available from LPF or order online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5788

Advocacy Alerts

September 11 IS a Choice: Since the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, September 11 has been remembered as a day of tragedy. However, injustice doesn’t have to lead to more violence but, as seen by Gandhi’s actions 100 years ago, injustice instead can lead to hope and constructive work toward a better future. Visit www.seattlecenterforpeace.org to find information on pledging to choose the path of nonviolence and not the path of violent retaliation.

ONE Campaign: In today’s world, too often wealthy nations focus on war and acts of terrorism and neglect the fact that poverty, hunger, and disease are running rampant; however, this can change. The US can and must do more to aid governments and groups helping improve the lives of those affected by global poverty and the hunger and disease that follow. Each one of us, too, can make a difference and help our nation help others. Join the ONE campaign today and urge the United States government to use our resources to help turn the tide against hunger, poverty, and disease. For action ideas and to learn more, see www.elca.org/advocacy/one and www.bread.org.

Declaration of Peace: “The Declaration of Peace is a nationwide campaign to establish by September 21, 2006 a concrete and rapid plan for peace in Iraq, including:
* a prompt timetable for withdrawal of troops and closure of bases
* a peace process for security, reconstruction, and reconciliation
* and the shift of funding for war to meeting human needs.”
For information on action opportunities, visit www.declarationofpeace.org.

Million Voices for Darfur: “Nearly three years into the crisis, the western Sudanese region of Darfur is acknowledged to be a humanitarian and human rights tragedy of the first order. The humanitarian, security and political situation continue to deteriorate: atrocities continue, people are still dying in large numbers of malnutrition and disease, and a new famine is feared. According to reports by the World Food Program, the United Nations and the Coalition for International Justice, 3.5 million people are now hungry, 2.5 million have been displaced due to violence, and 400,000 people have died in Darfur thus far.” Sign on to urge President Bush to stop ignoring this genocide and to help bring an end to the violence in Darfur. http://www.savedarfur.org/splash.php

Community News

Across the nation workshops, vigils, inter-faith peace services, and other events are taking place in a pursuit of peace and nonviolence. Please e-mail events in your community or events that you are aware of to lpfyouth@yahoo.com and we will include them in our next e-newsletter. In the meantime, you can find information at the following websites about events throughout the United States.

www.unitedforpeace.org
www.forusa.org

Contest

We are looking for a catchy name for our e-newsletter, and you’re invited to help The title should have something to do with peace and justice, and if possible tie to the Bible verse James 3:18, “And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” Submissions will be accepted until October 3, 2006. The creator of the title we choose will be recognized in next month’s issue and will also receive an LPF resource or CD activity of their choice. Send your ideas to lpfyouth@yahoo.com

Spiritual Reflection

In this time of uncertainty, we are all united in an opportunity: to make September 11 a day of hope for a better future. The following poem, reflecting on the myriad of issues of injustice in our world, has been borrowed from http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices. May we be reminded that we are all connected and that there is yet hope.

Rest in Peace: September 11, 2002
by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

I am one who died on September 11 from the terrorist attacks, and
I am one who died since September 11 from the violence of war, floods and fires, AIDS and famine, accidents on the highways and drownings at sea, and from all other causes.
May I rest in peace.

I am one who has been deeply touched by the trauma experienced by the survivors and families of September 11 and the rescue workers who served so selflessly at Ground Zero, and
I am one who has been moved to compassion by the suffering in other tragedies since September 11 and the loss of so many valued members of our world community.
May I know peace.

I am a New Yorker still hearing media warnings of new attacks, feeling vulnerable and insecure in my hometown, and
I am an Afghan refugee still fearful that my village is not safe from the bombs and fighters in the war on terrorism.
May I know peace.

I am an Arab immigrant in the United States whose son was taken away by the FBI last September and has not been heard from since, and
I am a relative of one of the disappeared in Columbia or Chile or Bosnia-Herzegovina who is losing hope that I will ever find out what happened to my loved one.
May I know peace.

I am a prisoner in China held incommunicado for a political crime, and
I am an al Qaeda detainee held without a trial or access to lawyers in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
May I know peace.

I am a deer in a Rocky Mountains forest asphyxiated by the black boiling smoke of a fire outside Denver, and
I am a goat resting in a cave in Afghanistan when an American-made daisy cutter bomb levels my mountain habitat.
May I rest in peace.

I am the father of a dutiful and compassionate son who was maimed while clearing mines in the fields outside Kabul, and
I am a father with two children in college who has taken a high-paying job at a plant in Minnesota that makes and exports landmines.
May I know peace.

I am a Palestinian girl killed by an Israeli missile attack while walking home from my first day of school, and
I am an Israeli boy killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber while eating at a pizzeria in downtown Jerusalem.
May I rest in peace.

I am a soil particle from Kenya's eroded farmland that has blown across the Atlantic Ocean to Florida, and
I am a tree in the world's largest virgin forest in Russia that has been chopped down illegally by loggers out to make money.
May I rest in peace.

I am a mother in the American Midwest casually washing my car and watering my lawn with the abundant water I take for granted, and
I am a mother in Pakistan whose village has so little water that I clean the dishes with dirt.
May I know peace.

I am a little girl snatched from the yard of my home in California and sexually abused, and
I am a little boy kidnapped from my home in India and forced to work long hours in a carpet-making operation as a modern-day slave.
May I know peace.

I am a young man who was abused by my parish priest and I now want justice from the church, and
I am a priest who sinned in the past and I now want forgiveness so I can continue in my ministry.
May I know peace.

I am a teenage girl sold into a prostitution ring in Thailand by my parents so they can purchase a refrigerator, and
I am a marketing expert for a multinational corporation trying to be responsible to the stockholders by creating demand for new products in developing countries.
May I know peace.

I am a 16-year-old girl in Bangladesh working 7 days a week 15 hours a day for 15 cents an hour sewing t-shirts, and
I am an unemployed American parent who is grateful I can purchase cheap clothes made overseas.
May I know peace.
I am an infant suffering from malnutrition in Baghdad, and
I am a United States government official who is convinced that economic sanctions and even a war against Iraq are the only ways to make the world safe for children everywhere.
May I know peace.

I am a financially strapped senior citizen in Maine who must go over the border to Canada to purchase the prescription drugs I need at affordable prices, and
I am a young man dying of AIDs in Africa with no access to the generic drugs that could ease my suffering.
May I know peace.

I am the chairman of a large corporation who cashed in stock worth millions while trying to keep my company out of bankruptcy, and
I am a worker in the same company who lost my job, my medical benefits, and the savings in my 401(k) pension plan.
May I know peace.

I am a Ukrainian mother who gathers berries and mushrooms for family meals from fields still contaminated with radioactive debris from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, and
I am an American student in Massachusetts worried about my health since finding out that my school is near a toxic waste dump.
May I know peace.

I am an American businessman needing to upgrade my company's computers and cell phones in order to compete in the marketplace, and
I am a Chinese teenager who has gotten lead poisoning from working at a recycling operation handling technological trash from the United States.
May I know peace.

I am a citizen of the world, worried about the escalation of violence, the devastation of the planet, a future seemingly in jeopardy, and
I am a person of faith who believes that good things can come from people working together and who relies on the grace of God/Lord/Allah/Spirit/Higher Power.
May I know peace.

I am a child of God who believes that we are all children of God and we are all part of one another.
May we all know peace.