By Michael Gillespie, April 2024
Before the enemies of peace conspired to assassinate him in broad daylight in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 23, 1963, President John F. Kennedy famously said, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
https://images.gr-assets.com/quotes/1368564537p8/89101.jpg
By Trust for Public Land and noted by Alana Fink, Associate
Director of Digital Engagement, TPL; reprinted with permission, first published
for Trust for Public Land email and blog March 7, 2024
Andy Richter/Courtesy of Trust for Public Land
By Heidi Schlumpf, Reprinted by permission of NCR Publishing Company-EarthBeat www.NCROnline.org; first published for Earthbeat March 6, 2024- https://www.ncronline.org/earthbeat/faith/you-are-not-alone-community-young-people-find-antidotes-climate-anxiety
NCR Editor's note: This story has been supported by the
Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous
and compelling reporting about responses to social problems.
Mary Rittle says she experiences climate anxiety every single day. It may be a 55-degree January day in Chicago, when she notices that birds that should have migrated are still around. Or it could be after reading about how melting polar ice caps are endangering people around the world. Even her environmental activism can trigger anxiety because it reminds her of the urgent need for such work.
By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, March 6, 2024; reprinted with permission
https://worldbeyondwar.org/why-sign-a-declaration-of-peace
At World BEYOND War and other groups that I work for and work with we often flood elected officials with emails or phone calls — or bodies in their offices — with very urgent and specific demands to stop killing particular populations. At the same time, at the height of crises and otherwise, we find it valuable to press in a different direction.
On February 21, 1947, the
process began to serve everyone at the Methodist Building Cafeteria on Capitol
Hill no matter the color, race or creed.
reprinted with permission from The General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church; first published for The General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church website and email Feb. 21, 2024
Photos: The Methodist Dining Room in 1947, which is now the United Methodist Building Conference Room Two and Three (photos from GCAH and GBCS)
Connecting African American History Month and a Methodist milestone for social justice
We urge the Biden administration to utilize its leverage and
present a clear framework to end the violence and suffering.
By Yazeed Ibrahim, Dr. Ira Helfand, Robert Dodge, and David
E. Drake; reprinted with permission; First published on Common Dreams Feb. 9, 2024; also published in online edition of the Des Moines Register Feb. 12, 2024
Palestinians in Gaza's Al-Nasir Hospital attend a baby
injured in Israeli airstrikes. (Photo: Abed Zagout/Anadolu via Getty Image)
Since Hamas’ October 7 attack triggered the most recent, brutal round of violence in Gaza, the discourse surrounding the conflict has remained stunningly stagnant. Both sides find themselves emboldened at home.
Review by Isidro D. Ortiz; reprinted with permission; originally published for COMD (Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft) newsletter DRAFT NOtices, Jan.- Mar. 2024
Can ordinary people make change in the face of seemingly insurmountable circumstances? In the age of neoliberalism, rampant militarism and creeping fascism, at a time when resistance to injustice and institutional betrayal has often been deemed futile, for many the answer would be "no." However, the documentary I am Vanessa Guillen offers reason to be optimistic. It shows how ordinary people can make change even in the face of tragedy, in the midst of profound grief, and in confrontation with the overwhelming power of the military.
By Christine Sheller
The evening of December 28, 2023, the Des Moines Faith Committee for Peace hosted the annual prayer service for peace for the Feast of the Holy Innocents. It was entitled “The Innocents, Ourselves, and the Call of God Today,” the title which Fr. David Polich chose for his message. It was held at the Valley United Methodist Church in West Des Moines.
Reprinted with permission; first published for OEP (On Earth Peace) Newsletter Wednesday, December 6, 2023. See https://www.onearthpeace.org/
“Peace is not merely the absence of some negative force—war, tensions, confusion, but it is the presence of some positive force—justice, goodwill, the power of the kingdom of God… If peace means accepting second-class citizenship, I don't want it. If peace means keeping my mouth shut in the midst of injustice and evil, I don't want it. If peace means being complacently adjusted to a deadening status quo, I don't want peace.
By Christine Sheller
Saturday, December 2, 2023 Iowa Peace Network hosted their Annual Holiday Open House and Alternative Gift Fair at the Des Moines Mennonite Church, in which the IPN office is located. More than twenty five persons came through.
