Ecology Global Warming The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, the international body that periodically assesses climate research, stated in February, 2007 that “warming of the climate system is unequivocal.” This statement was made in agreement with 600 scientists from 40 countries. So there is at least a 90% likelihood that global warming is caused by humans due to our carbon dioxide emissions and our burning of fossil fuels.
Think Outside the Bottle The basic human right to water is at risk and the lives of people are at stake. Coca-Cola, Nestle and Pepsico are threatening the local control of water when operating their bottled water plants. Be part of Corporate Accountability International’s campaign and challenge the corporate control of our water by asking Coca-Cola, Nestle and Pepsico to stop interfering in local control of water.
CHALLENGE CORPORATE CONTROL OF WATER
Water for Life At least 1 billion persons do not have access to clean drinking water or basic sanitation in our world. At its 58th session, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a draft resolution proclaiming 2005-2015 as the International Decade of Water for Life. The goal of the decade is a greater focus on water-related issues with emphasis on women as managers of water to help to achieve internationally agreed upon water-related goals and to halve by 2015 the proportion of people who do not have safe drinking water and access to basic sanitation.
Non-Violence Ban Cluster Bombs Cluster bombs consist of a canister designed to open in mid-air and disperse smaller bomblets that kill all living creatures within a specific area as large as several football fields. In the last 15 years, the United States has used cluster bombs in civilian areas in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq. Iraqis call cluster bombs “steel rain” as they seem to fall from the sky as rain. In 1973, a cluster bomb was dropped in Laos. Since then, 12,000 civilians have been killed or injured. Presently, the United States’ arsenal includes nearly 1 billion bomblets. Urge your senators and representatives to cosponsor the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act respectively (S. 594 and H.R. 1755).
Iraqi Refugee Plight Dire Almost two million Iraqi refugees are in need of food, housing, medical supplies and resettlement since their lives have been interrupted due to the Iraqi war.
Keep Space for Peace We believe that peace will come when all persons are respected and when peace dwells in the hearts of all. We believe that true inner peace will come from a non-violent way of life. Ask your representative to KEEP SPACE FOR PEACE. Recently, our government broke the ABM Treaty with Russia and is building weapons to use in space.
Peace in Iraq Since March 19, 2003 to August 9, 2007, 3,677 Americans and 650,000 Iraqis have been killed in the war in Iraq, this is not counting the soldiers from other countries as well. As prophets of non-violence, we need to speak out for an end to the occupation of Iraq; call for a return of our troops; petition the United Nations to resolve the crisis nonviolently; and to heal the Iraqis.
Repeal the Military Commissions Act of 2006 This law passed by Congress and signed by President George W. Bush allows the government to classify anyone as an enemy combatant; strips anyone held as an enemy combatant of the right to appeal their detention in court, known as habeas corpus; gives military commissions the power to impose death sentences without trials that protect defendants’ rights; prohibits courts from considering international law when the making decisions under the war Crimes Act. It is an unjust law.
School of the Americas The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation formerly known as the School of the Americas is located in Ft. Benning, Georgia. Graduates from this school, mostly Latin American soldiers have committed some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America including the assassinations of Archbishop Oscar Romero, the churchwomen, the Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her child in El Salvador, and Bishop Geraldi in Guatemala.
Justice for the Poor Cover the Uninsured On August 28, 2007, the federal government announced that 47 million Americans do not have access to needed health care. This fact raises serious clinical concerns as to how our nation will meet health care for those in need. Nine million children do not have health care coverage.
Ten years ago SCHIP began and lowered the number of uninsured children. However, over the next weeks, Congress and the White House are debating the future of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. This program needs to be strengthened so that more children in need will have coverage. Please write to President George Bush and ask him to sign SCHIP into law in order to provide comprehensive and affordable health care coverage for children in need.
Children are our future!
Resources Prayers and Reflections For additional prayers, please click here.
The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
And where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled, as to console,
To be understood, as to understand,
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned and
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Suggested Readings
| AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH | | Al Gore |
| BLUE GOLD | | Maude Barlow |
| DISARMING THE HEART | | John Dear |
| OUR GOD IS NONVIOLENT | | John Dear |
| PLAN B 2.0 | | Lester R. Brown |
| OSCAR ROMERO AND THE NONVIOLENT STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE |
| John Dear |
| SEEDS OF NONVIOLENCE | | John Dear |
| THE GOD OF PEACE | | John Dear |
| TRANSFIGURATION | | John Dear |
| WHEN THE RIVERS RUN DRY | | Fred Pearce |
| WITH SPEED AND VIOLENCE | | Fred Pearce |
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