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People of Faith Peacemakers

Justviewpoint.org connects people of conscience working for social justice. People of Faith Peacemakers seek to transform a culture of violence to create a culture of justice, peace, and sustainability.

People of Faith Peacemakers is a resource and support group for those concerned about peace and justice from a faith perspective. Breakfast meetings, open to everyone, are from 8 to 9:30 am at St Martin's Table, 2001 Riverside, Minneapolis, on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month. FFI Eleanor 763-784-5177 elj@yackel.org

Image by Gregory McDaniels

People of Faith Peacemakers

Congregations Caring for Creation

Link to Community of St Martin

St. Martins Table

People of Faith Calendar

UPDATED CALENDAR – 2010

January 13 Just Policing, Not War …

Is the title of Gerald Schlabach’s book in which he proposes that, if the world can address problems of violence through a police model instead of a conventional military model, there may be a peacemaking role for Christians from all traditions—pacifists and just warriors alike.

Dr. Schlabach is Associate Professor of Theology and Director of the Justice and Peace Studies program at the University of St. Thomas.

January 27 The Minnesota Health Plan - Universal and Single Payer Health Care for Minnesota and the Minnesota Health Act (SF 118/HF135)
Presented by Susan Hasti, M.D.,Chair of the Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition, member of Physicians for a National Health Program

Feb 10 “Mobilizing for humane and just immigration reform”- John Gutterman and Loren McGrail of Interfaith Coalition on Immigration Reform. Wed, 8 – 9:30am, St.Martins Table, 2001 Riverside, Mpls. 763-784-5177

Feb 24 “Positive impact of immigration on Minnesota” Hector Garcia, Exec. Dir of MN Chicano Latino Affairs Council. Hector is a Mexican immigrant and U.S. citizen.

EVERY CHURCH A PEACE CHURCH - Twin Cities

Potluck Supper Meeting - Mon. Jan. 11th at 6:30 p.m. "Can a Christian Ever be Violent?"

Calvary Lutheran Church, 3901 Chicago Ave. S.; Minneapolis, MN 55417

A panel of distinguished Twin Cities peace activists will address the question and then invite audience to join in the discussion. Polly Mann, Al Bostelmann, John Braun and Joan Haan.

Bill Berneking and Roxanne Abbas will serve as moderators.

Tuesday, January 12, 7:00 pm Rethinking Afghanistan

Many critical questions surround the war in Afghanistan, requiring public debate and Congressional oversight hearings. Producer Robert Greenwald’s film, Rethinking Afghanistan, provides information and perspectives that give us a fuller picture of this eight-year-old war. Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 2730 E 31st St, Minneapolis, sponsors a showing Tuesday, January 12, 7:00 pm. hot beverage and snack provided. Recommended for older youth and adults. 612-729-8358

More information webservant Carol Masters cmasters@bitstream.net

www.justviewpoint.org or Eleanor 763-784-5177

People of Faith may receive this calendar by email. To join this list serve, email cmasters@bitstream.net

Please join us on the 2^nd and 4^th Wednesday of the month for questions and discussion on these important topics!

ONGOING for a Calendar of Peace Events and Meetings: Minneapolis Alliance of Peacemakers www.mapm.org People of Faith Peacemakers is a MAP member

EVERY WEDNESDAY:  7-8 a.m. PEACE VIGIL at Alliant TechSystems <http://www.circlevision.org/alliantaction.html>   

5:00 · 6:00 p.m. Lake Street/Marshall Avenue Bridge · A TWIN CITIES ANTI-WAR TRADITION <http://www.worldwidewamm.org/>   

PEOPLE OF FAITH PEACEMAKERS support the following Peace Agenda by Jack Nelson Pallmeyer

PEACE AGENDA

Background:

Many U.S. citizens and people throughout the world hope the Obama administration will choose new approaches to security. Alternative foreign policies are needed in order to address critical domestic and international problems. We believe U.S. foreign policy should be guided by three insights.

Key Insights:

· It is a grave danger to confuse military power with real strength. The world is changing. U.S. power is diminished. Our economy is weak. Our military is strong, but counterproductive given the problems we face. There are no military solutions to most of our nation’s or the world’s problems.

· Our security and hope rest in joining the community of nations to solve pressing problems, building international partnerships, and respecting international law. We will be welcomed as a good global partner or we will fail as a global bully.

· The nation’s economic crisis has many causes but is best understood in relation to disastrous wars, excessive military spending, and failed foreign policies. Living standards are declining for most Americans because laws were changed to reward the greedy few and because U.S. military spending equals that of the rest of the world combined. Enlightened domestic and foreign policies will allow us to address climate change, revitalize the U.S. economy and meet critical health and other social needs.

Peace Movement Agenda for Change:

I. Dismantle the infrastructure for disastrous wars:

1. Endorse the Cluster Bomb Treaty and urge all nations to comply.

2. Abandon the missile defense system and engage Russia and China to reduce nuclear arsenals.

3. Reject U.S. plans to militarize space and join with others to preserve space for peaceful purposes.

4. Convene a global conference to cut global military spending by 50% and redirect funds to address climate change and global poverty.

5. Stop production of unneeded weapons systems and confront the “disastrous rise” of the “Military Industrial Complex” (President Eisenhower’s words.)

6. Close many of the more than 750 permanent foreign U.S. military bases.

7. Close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and the CIA secret prisons, end the practice of rendering prisoners to third countries, and issue a blanket policy precluding torture or degrading treatment of prisoners.

8. Develop renewable energy sources that reduce our use of oil and renounce the Carter Doctrine which says the U.S. has the right to use “any means necessary, including military force,” to maintain unrestricted access to Persian Gulf oil.

9. Renounce the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive war.

II. Building an infrastructure of peace & prosperity:

1. Recommit the United States to support and strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

2. Commit the United States to strengthen the United Nations, and to respect international law and nonintervention.

3. Acknowledge climate change as the gravest security threat to the United States and the world and redirect resources accordingly.

4. Disentangle U.S. foreign policies from imposition of failed economic policies and flawed trade agreements.

5. Create a cabinet-level Department of Peace to teach and implement effective mediation and conflict resolution skills that build peace and prevent violence and armed conflict.

6. Abandon the “war on terror” and address the root causes of terrorism (end illegal occupations, address economic and political grievances, view terrorism as a criminal enterprise.)

III. Resolution of current conflicts:

1. Organize a complete and total withdrawal of U.S. troops and private military contractors from Iraq within nine months.

2. Accelerate negotiations, begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, and avoid escalating U.S. military involvement in Pakistan.

3. Help resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict through determined, balanced diplomacy.

4. Negotiate with Iran and work to make the Middle East a nuclear weapons free zone.

5. Improve relations with Latin American nations:

· Close the prison at Guantanamo;

· Shut down the U.S. Army School of the Americas;

· Replace the “war on drugs” with efforts to reduce demand and to expand effective treatment;

· Normalize relations with Cuba; and

· Renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer
jacknelsonpallmeyer@yahoo.com

Webworker cmasters@bitstream.net

Photography of peaceworkers by Michael Bayly is exhibited on his website: Faces of Resistance

Worldwide Independent Media: Indymedia http://www.indymedia.org