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People of Faith Peacemakers is a resource and support group for those concern PEOPLE OF FAITH PEACEMAKERS
UPDATED 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 – Aug
25 The
Wounds of War
…with
Amy Blumenshine, co-author of Welcome Them Home, Help Them Heal.
Amy has served in crisis intervention settings and will explore concepts
brought forth in her book, which has been recognized for its contributions to
the field of care-giving. Understanding the devastating costs of war and
violence, how can we – perhaps through our churches – be a part of the healing
process?
Sep 8 Rural
Immigration Issues in Wisconsin
Shaun
Duvall, Director of Puentes/Bridges, presents her story of how she organized
visits of Midwestern dairy farmers to Mexico to meet their employees’ families,
learn to know their communities, use their Spanish study, experience
home-stays, and generally deepen cultural understandings across borders. This
first-of-a-kind program has been replicated in several industries across the
U.S., benefiting many and earning Shaun an award from the Mexican government.
The vivacious presenter, Shaun, is Mom to our own Mary Duvall!
Sep 22 Reducing
Violence in the Community
Sondra
Samuels will update us on the work of the Peace Foundation on the Minneapolis
Northside, and she and a representative of the Minneapolis Police Department
(to be named) will share their perspectives on the growing problem of violence
in the city.
Oct 13 Conversation
with Don Olson
A
member of the Minnesota Eight and a person with a long history of peacemaking –
starting with draft resistance in the 1960s – KFAI radio host Don Olson will
interweave his own peace work and teaching and years of radio interviews with
discussion on considerations of the draft in today’s environment.
And at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 2130 E 31st
Street: Dialogue Breakfast
Dialogue events at Holy
Trinity (for reservation, 729-8358)
Wednesday, August 18,
8:00-9:30 a.m..
“The Church’s Call to Peacemaking,” with the
Rev. Philip Wheaton
The
Rev. Philip Wheaton, an Episcopal priest in Washington DC, has served as a
missionary in Latin America and as the director of the Ecumenical Program for
Interamerican Communication and Action (EPICA) with the Latin American
Department of the National Council of Churches. He is also a theologian
of liberation and author of many books, including Nicaragua: A People's
Revolution,
Indian Guatemala: Path to Liberation, and Flowering of the Prophetic Word in the
Americas.
Born and raised in Minneapolis and a graduate of the University of Minnesota,
Wheaton is an ecumenist and interfaith Christian and presently co-pastor of an
ecumenical congregation in Washington, DC.
More information webservant
Carol Masters cmasters@bitstream.net
www.justviewpoint.org or Eleanor
763-784-5177
ª
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 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