Ruby Sinreich's blog

Now that the election is over, many peace activists are celebrating the Obama victory and looking ahead to a new administration.  Many of us are full of hope, but many are also concerned. How will the new President deal with Iran and Israel/Palestine? Will he continue opposition to the Colombian Free Trade Agreement? What about the enormous military budget and questionable recruiting practices?

FOR's historic work for civil rights gives us a unique perspective on the election of the first Black president, as does our work on the pressing issues of war and peace that the Obama administration will address. We'd like to hear your thoughts about the election and it's implications for peace in the U.S. and the world.

It's starting to feel as if the hard work of the growing movement to resist imperialism and insist on social justice began to pay off last night. We Buddhists say that karma is "ripening" when the consequences of our actions come back and become impacts upon ourselves. I can't decide if it was the peace movement's karma ripening last night (rewarding our efforts), or if it was the Bush administration's chickens that had come home to roost.

Earthlyn Manuel (pictured at right), director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, calls it The Ripening of America...

The fabulous, fun activists at Code Pink are inviting supporters to take a pledge to be a voter for peace. I would have signed just to get my dot on the snazzy map they use to track the geographic spread of participation, but they are also offering prizes for the people who manage the recruit the most pledges by Novembever 4th.

Our budding local FOR chapter in Nyack and our friends at Whole Women Healing have come up with a wonderful way to spend this upcoming Election Day.  After going out and working for your candidate of choice (of course!), why not come together with friends and neighbors and meditate for peace... peace in the election results, peace in the future administration, peace in Latin America or the Middle East, peace here at home.

Attached is a flyer for the Nyack event to help you in making your own. As you can see, it's a simple event to organize. Simply open your doors, and open your hearts.

(And if you live in the New York area, please grab a flyer and come to Shadowcliff on Tuesday.)

Soldiers of Conscience is a documentary about how soldiers deal with the morality of killing. It will be shown on PBS's POV next week, which interestingly is also the week of the Media Violence Fast - supported by Rainbow/PUSH Coalition as well as the United Church of Christ. 

Soldiers of Conscience is a dramatic window on the dilemma of individual U.S. soldiers in the current Iraq War – when their finger is on the trigger and another human being is in their gun-sight. Made with cooperation from the U.S. Army and narrated by Peter Coyote, the film profiles eight American soldiers, including four who decide not to kill, and become conscientious objectors; and four who believe in their duty to kill if necessary. The film reveals all of them wrestling with the morality of killing in war, not as a philosophical problem, but as soldiers experience it - a split-second decision in combat that can never be forgotten or undone.

- Soldier of Conscience: About the Film

I have been scanning the reports of media and blog coverage about Wednesday's dialogue between American peace activists and the President of Iran, which was organized by FOR's Iran Program. 

Robert Dreyfuss is a former FOR peace delegate and a writer for The Nation.  He summarized the meeting well noting that "the questions to Ahmadinejad weren't softballs" but that "the answers were, well, less illuminating than the questions."  Dreyfuss also pointed out ongoing problems with civil liberties and women's rights in Iran, and expressed frustration at the reliance on religious fundamentalism that plagues the executive branches of both the U.S. and Iran these days.

The U.S. News & World Report also covered the meeting (at the invitation of President Ahmadinejad) and largely focused on the Iranian President's assertion that our current economy and existing military obligations would keep the U.S. from even being able to attack Iran in the next decade. (Unfortunately, for some politicians where there's a will there's a way. Deficit and lives be damned.)

Leaders of Code Pink also commented on their participation in the meeting, saying “It’s rare for a head of state to take time during an official U.N. visit to meet with the peace community, especially in a situation where the host government—represented by the Bush administration—is so hostile... The fact that the meeting took place and was so positive is, in itself, a major step forward.”

Following up on yesterday's meeting between President Ahmadinejad and peace activists, organized by FOR, tonight an interfaith group led by the American Friends Service Committee and the Mennonite Central Committee will break bread with the Iranian head of state marking the traditional iftar.

In New York on Thursday, several international political and religious leaders will meet for an iftar dinner, which marks the end of each day’s fasting during Ramadan.  After dinner, speakers from Muslim, Christian, and Jewish traditions will discuss the role of religious faith in responding to major challenges, such as poverty, injustice, global warming, and war.  A major purpose is to continue dialogue with the Iranian people and their president.

"It's been a long, a long time coming. But I know... a change gonna come." -Sam Cooke

The main web site of the Fellowship of Reconciliation has been limping along for some years without a content management system. It was the very first thing I wanted to change when I started working here over a year ago, and we have finally gotten organized and ready to take on this complex and important task. This week we released a request for proposals, inviting web site designers and developers to apply for the job of creating our new web presence.

Earlier this month, syndicated columnist Robert Koehler wrote about Civilian Diplomacy.  His column did a great job of explaining the historic founding of FOR in 1915 as well as the power of FOR's peace delegations to Iran. Koehler said a lot of smart things - such as "If we know enough we'll never go to war again" - but my favorte parts were the words of delegate Hank Brusselback:

"If the government isn't willing to talk to people, then the people need to be willing to (talk to each other)," Brusselback said. "It comes from a belief in the nature of security -- it's not about weapons, fear and posturing on the world stage. It's about communication, talking to people, everyone having their basic needs met. If you understood security that way, you'd see that security is about dialogue."  [...]

We've written before about Bayard Rustin, FOR's racial justice organizer (and war resister) who led the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation and became a chief adviser to Dr. Martin Luther King on the use of nonviolent social change tactics.

Yesterday was the 22nd anniversary of Rustin's death. Artist Phil Blank has created a poster illustration of Rustin (at left, click to enlarge and read description), featuring the story of his 1947 arrest as part of the Journey of Reconciliation. (Read more about this historic action against segregation.)