Theos-Talk Archives (March 2003 Message tt00412)

We have seen what the War Department leads to. Here is a proposal by 
Dr. Chopra for a Peace Department:

"Chopra.com" wrote: 

Dear Friends, 
Marianne Williamson, one of my dearest and closest colleagues, is 
launching major efforts with Congressman Dennis Kucinich to create a 
Department of Peace legislation. I am sharing this letter with you 
and will appreciate your involvement in any way you find practical. 

Love, 

Deepak 
--------------------------------- 

WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN: LOBBY WASHINGTON TO CREATE A U.S. DEPARTMENT 
OF PEACE. 
APRIL 6-8 CONFERENCE IN D.C. 
SIMULTANEOUS CALLS, FAX'S, EMAILS FROM AROUND THE NATION 

At this critical time in our nation's history, righteous action is 
the antidote to despair. Please participate in a powerful citizen 
lobbying effort to create a U.S. Department of Peace, sponsored in 
the House of Representatives by Congressman Dennis Kucinich. This 
bill establishes nonviolence as an organizing principle of American 
society, cultivating an array of peace-building policies and 
procedures. On April 8th, this historic legislation will be 
introduced for a second time; whether or not it becomes law is 
dependent on whether we, the people of the United States, take the 
time to make phone calls, lobby our Congresspeople, and in other ways 
create the political will to make it happen. 

Please join us, either in Washington D.C. for the bill's introduction 
and our initial lobbying campaign, or in your local area, as we 
blanket every Congressional district with a strong message of support 
for a Department of Peace. 

Let us stand as passionately for peace, as some now stand so 
passionately for war. 

WHAT IT IS: 

The Department of Peace focuses on individual and group 
responsibilities for establishing nonviolence as an organizing 
principle in society. The Department would focus on nonmilitary 
peaceful conflict resolutions, prevent violence and promote justice 
and democratic principles to expand human rights. Domestically, the 
Department would be responsible for developing policies which address 
issues such as domestic violence, child abuse, mistreatment of the 
elderly, and other issues of cultural violence. Internationally, the 
Department would gather research, analyze foreign policy and make 
recommendations to the President on how to address the root causes of 
war and intervene before as or before they begin, while improving 
national security, including the protection of human rights and the 
prevention and de-escalation of unarmed and armed international 
conflict. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO: 

I. COME TO THE GLOBAL RENAISSANCE ALLIANCE CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON 
D.C. ON APRIL 6-8. During our conference we will hold seminars on 
Non-Violent Principles and Civics/Lobbying Training, led by Marianne 
Williamson and Lynn McMullen along with a presentation by Congressman 
Kucinich on the Department of Peace legislation. In addition, we will 
travel together to the Capitol to lobby our representatives. It is 
particularly important that as many people as possible come to this 
event in order to lobby our Congresspeople on April 8 when the bill 
is "dropped." There is no political act more powerful than actually 
meeting with your Congressperson. Set a meeting with you Member of 
Congress for April 8th. You can visit www.renaissancealliance.org to 
learn more about how to set a meeting with your representative and to 
register for the conference. Web link here! 

II. If you cannot come to Washington SET UP A MEETING IN YOUR HOME 
DISTRICT WITH YOUR CONGRESSIONAL OFFICE on April 8th. Recruit as many 
people as you can to attend this meeting with you. Doing this, we 
will blanket the nation with meetings in support of the bill, both in 
DC and beyond. Our goal is a meeting with every single member of 
Congress or members of their staff so we need people from every 
Congressional district in the country to come forward and help. 

III. GET AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE TO CALL, FAX AND EMAIL YOUR 
REPRESENTATIVE on April 8th. Your job between now and April 8 is to 
make sure that everyone has the name and phone and fax number of 
their Congressperson (easy to find...visit www.Congress.org), and to 
call them on April 7 to remind them to make the call. It is a good 
idea for you to keep a list of the people who have agreed to call and 
the needed numbers in case they misplace the contact information. 

IV. PRINT FLYERS (on the GRA website at www.renaissancealliance.org) 
Hand them out at Peace marches and post them in coffee houses, 
universities, churches, bus station, staff break room, everywhere you 
can think of! 

As soon as Congressman Kucinich "drops" the bill, we will post its 
number on our website. Between now and April 8, e-mail as many people 
as you can, giving them the information about the Department of Peace 
lobbying effort. Ask them to help us! 

Most importantly, FOLLOW UP. It is not enough to merely let people 
know that the legislation is being introduced; our job is to lobby 
for it, so that it passes. Congress is a reactive body, but if our 
Congress people do not hear from us directly, then there is nothing 
for them to react to. 

Please send us an email to peace@renaissancealliance.org and let us 
know you will be a DOP Activist Leader. This means you will adopt 
your Member of Congress and stay with this process for the duration 
of 
this legislative session. You will be contacted within a week, to 
follow up. We will give you a new action each month to forward the 
bill. On the GRA website you will also find many additional ways in 
which you can participate in your community on an ongoing basis-- to 
help educate, speak up, and lobby for this important legislation. 

There is much to do, to change the direction of our country. Each of 
us can make a difference. The time to do it is now. 

For more information on this campaign, or for general or registration 
information on our peace gathering in Washington, visit our website 
at www.renaissancealliance.org, email us at 
peace@renaissancealliance.org or call us at (586) 754-8105. Please 
help us spread the word! You can share this information with everyone 
you know. If you are a part of an activist network, please consider 
sharing this information. To sign-up to receive email updates on the 
campaign, send a blank email to: 
join-gra-enews@lists.renaissanceunity.org 

Global Renaissance Alliance 
- P.O. Box 3259 - Center Line MI 48015 Phone: (586) 754-8105 Fax: 
(586) 754-8106 
www.renaissancealliance.org - peace@renaissancealliance.org 

READ THE BILL: 

Please visit our website at www.renaissancealliance.org to read the 
latest draft of the proposed legislation. 

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PEACE LEGISLATION 

-Hold peace as an organizing principle in our society; 

-Endeavor to promote justice and democratic principles to expand 
human rights; 

-Strengthen non-military means of peacemaking; 

-Work to create peace, prevent violence, divert from armed conflict, 
use field-tested programs, and develop new structures in non-violent 
intervention, mediation, peaceful resolution of conflict, and 
structured mediation of conflict; 

-Address matters both domestic and international in scope; 

-Submit to the President recommendations for reductions in weapons of 
mass destruction, and make annual reports to the President on the 
sale of arms from the United States to other nations, with analysis 
of the impact of such sales on the defense of the United States and 
how such sales effect peace; 

-Encourage the development of initiatives from local communities, 
religious groups, and nongovernmental organizations; 

-Facilitate the development of peace summits at which parties to a 
conflict may gather under carefully prepared conditions to promote 
non-violent communication and mutually beneficial solutions; 

-Develop new programs that relate to the societal challenges of 
school violence, guns, racial or ethnic violence, violence against 
gays and lesbians, and police-community relations disputes. 

-Sponsor country and regional conflict prevention and dispute 
resolution initiatives, create special task forces, and draw on 
local, regional, and national expertise to develop plans and programs 
for addressing the root sources of conflict in troubled areas; 

-Provide for the training of all United States personnel who 
administer postconflict reconstruction and demobilization in war-torn 
societies; 

-Sponsor country and regional conflict prevention and dispute 
resolution initiatives, create special task forces, and draw on 
local, regional, and national expertise to develop plans and programs 
for addressing the root sources of conflict in troubled areas.