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People of Faith Peacemakers is a resource and support group for those concern PEOPLE OF FAITH PEACEMAKERS
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UPDATED CALENDAR – September-December
2009
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
February
11 & 24 Immigration
Reform
Upcoming Minnesota legislation; no
human being is “illegal”; Latino community’s contributions to addressing reform
effectively; our drug laws and penal system—all the interrelationships, and
mobilizing for just immigration reform.
More information webservant
Carol Masters cmasters@bitstream.net
www.justviewpoint.org or Eleanor 763-784-5177
People of Faith
Peacemakers is a resource and support group for those concerned about peace and
justice from a faith perspective. Breakfast meetings, which are open to
everyone, are 8 to 9:30 am at St
Martin's Table,
2001 Riverside, Minneapolis, on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays. The website (www.justviewpoint.org) features the current
calendar, related events and actions.
UPDATED CALENDAR – July
2009
June 24 – a day at Hospitality
Place; focus on “Constantine’s Sword” film and discussion, facilitators Roy
Wolff, others from POFP. Begin at 9 am, soup lunch; bring snacks.
Directions from St. Martin’s Table:
1: Start out going NORTHWEST on RIVERSIDE AVE/CR-48 toward 20TH AVE S. 0.2 mi
2: Turn RIGHT onto CEDAR AVE S/CR-152. Continue to follow CR-152. 0.3 mi
3: Merge onto I-35W N. 12.6 mi
4: Merge onto LAKE DR/CR-23 N via EXIT 31B. 2.1 mi
5: Turn RIGHT onto E GOLDEN LAKE RD. 0.2 mi
6: End at 20 E Golden Lake Rd Circle Pines, MN 55014-1725
Estimated Time: 20 minutes Estimated Distance: 15.39 miles
July 8 - “Reflections on Constantine’s Sword” and other topics from the June 24 retreat. Facilitators are retreat planners
July 22 “Sudan” Mary Duvall shares experiences from her recent trip to Sudan. Mary represents Lutheran World Relief, a relief and development organization
August 12 to
be determined
August 26 “Stories from Burma/Myanmar” told by Bernice Johnson, teacher of refugees in Thailand
3,000 years ago the Shan people came south from China and settled in a land now called Burma. The fascinating history of Burma/Myanmar and the current cruel military rule is told in a recently published book by Bernice Johnson, The Shan: Refugees without a Camp, by an English Teacher in Thailand. She will tell her own and Burma’s story.
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 Martins Table, 200l
Riverside, on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month.
See: www.justviewpoint.org. or 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 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month for questions and
discussion on these important topics!
PEOPLE OF FAITH PEACEMAKERS STATEMENT
on Repentance / Forgiveness among
Nations
in response to the theme of the June 27, 2007 retreat at Hospitality
Place
When individuals, ill physically, mentally, and
emotionally, owing to the commission of heinous acts, are in search of
wholeness and health they find that the solace they desire and need requires
them to examine their past deeds and to seek forgiveness from those whom they
have wronged. This same path is essential for nations. In order for the United
States to shed its mantle of militarism and be the beacon of hope proclaimed in
countless documents, it must examine and atone for the dark transgressions of
its past and present.
These transgressions have been many but two committed
in the past that must be addressed are: 1) the theft of the land once occupied
wholly by the indigenous people of the western continent and the genocide
accompanying it and 2) the enslavement, torture and travail visited upon the
African people brought to this continent to be sold as slaves. Also included in
these past transgressions are countless aggressive actions and wars calling for
atonement. The present transgressions are the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
during which hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and wounded and
millions of refugees have been created.
The scripture declares: “Therefore, if thou art
offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother has anything
against thee, leave thy gift before the altar and go first to be reconciled to
thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”
As it appears unlikely that any U.S. administration
will suggest the need for national repentance and atonement, we members of
People of Faith Peacemakers as citizens of this country do offer this statement
and encourage other religious bodies to follow suit.
Polly Mann for People of Faith Peacemakers
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 5050 Lincoln Drive Edina <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/>
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PEOPLE OF FAITH PEACEMAKERS STATEMENT on nuclear
weapons People
of Faith Peacemakers, an ecumenical group in the Twin Cities, is alarmed at
the continued threat posed by the continued development and possible use of nuclear
weapons. We believe this to be a crucial time to address this threat, as
violence heightens in the Middle East, and other parts of our world, and as
nuclear material and weapons in the former Soviet Union continue to be
vulnerable to terrorist threats. Nuclear
weapons could destroy not only our present civilization, but with long-term
radiation effects and the possibility of nuclear winter, nuclear weapons
could destroy the future. Even when unused, their production and deployment
cause environmental degradation, divert massive resources from human need,
and add destabilizing fear to tense political situations. Since
September 11, 2001, the Bush administration has revealed a plan for the
future of this country's nuclear arsenal, which envisions new, specialized
nuclear weapons that could be used in a first strike against terrorists and
rogue dictators, further increasing the danger. Therefore,
we join with other people of faith in the United States in an "Urgent
Call to End the Nuclear Danger," a call adopted by many faith groups as
they look to reverse the drift towards catastrophe. We call on our government
to *Permanently
end the development, testing, and production of nuclear weapons; *Seek
agreement with Russia on the mutual and verified destruction of nuclear
weapons withdrawn under treaties, and increase the resources here and in
Russia to secure nuclear warheads and material, and to implement destruction
of weapons; *Strengthen
nonproliferation efforts by ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty,
finalizing a missile ban in North Korea, reducing fissile material worldwide,
and negotiating a ban on its production; *
Work toward peaceful negotiations in all cases of tension and crisis. Contemplating
the use of nuclear weapons is an affront to God, the Creator. Preparing to
unleash such destructiveness runs counter to the life-giving creativity that
comes from God. As people of faith, we affirm life and all that nurtures it.
We abhor nuclear weapons and the destruction they portend. As people of
faith, we choose life. |
Webworker
cmasters@bitstream.net