9/11

A request for prayers and peace from American Muslim Voice

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As we approach the Fourth Annual Fellowship of Peace this weekend, we are reminded that our Movement has long been blessed by strong voices for nonviolence and is also renewed as new voices are raised as here from last year’s FOR Martin Luther King, Jr. Award recipient, Samina Faheem Sundas of American Muslim Voice.

September, 11th 2008

We extend our deepest condolences and prayers to those who have been affected by 9/11. Tomorrow will mark the 7th anniversary of that senseless act of violence. It has been a difficult time for all of us. We stand divided as a nation and that tragedy has created a culture of fear, anger and hatred. We need to replace it with a culture of hope, love and peace. We need to come together to comfort, love and care for each other so we could heal.

Seven years on

As we approach the Fourth Annual Festival of Peace this weekend, we are reminded that our Movement has long been blessed by strong voices for nonviolence and is also renewed as new voices are raised and previously delivered prophecy is revoiced as in this piece from Sojourners by Joan Chittister.

9/11. SEVEN YEARS ON
We are seven years away now from the incineration of the Twin Towers when, in one blow, 19 radical religious zealots with a memory for Crusades and hatred for the United States turned the world upside down. Or we did. It’s very hard to tell seven years later who really did more of the turning.

What specific concerns drove these men to the point where they would give up their own lives just to injure ours is hard to tell. Few asked, and fewer still seemed to care. In the midst of national grief—and for many, anger — all that mattered, apparently, was who to strike in retaliation. Anybody would do it, it seemed. And so we did.

Join the Axis of Friendship: Light a candle for peace on September 12

A group of northern California peace activists, including several members of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (such as Rita Nakashima Brock of Faith Voices for the Common Good and the Rev. Patricia de Jong of the First Congregational Church of Berkeley), have recently organized a "festival of friendship" to take place this month on September 12th. The initiative has already sparked efforts in other local communities across the country -- the Columbus Peace Fellowship (an FOR chapter in Indiana) is one example of those who have also quickly signed on to "light a candle for peace" next Friday.

Understanding 9/11

Here's a bit from a good essay on AlterNet.org about how September 11th is misused by the media and misunderstood by the American people:

What happened on Sept. 11, 2001, was extraordinary and horrible by any measure. And certainly a crime against humanity. At the same time, it was a grisly addition to a history of human experience that has often included many thousands killed, en masse, by inhuman human choice.

9-11 commission report... as a comic book!

More along the comic theme, did you know that some artists published a comic-book adaptation of the 9/11 Commission's Report?

9-11 commission report

Two towers

Here's today's strip from my favorite web cartoon (drawn by a fellow North Carolinian):

[illustration]

Click here to see it full-size.

Create inner peace

Here's one small thing you can to today to make the world a more peaceful place: endorse this petition to "Create Peace in the World - Starting From the Inside."

Taking action to create world peace is essential, but lasting peace must start from the inside out, in the heart of every individual. Only when inner-peace becomes a reality for each one of us, can there be lasting peace on the outside.

[...]

Still working for peaceful tomorrows

Today is the sixth anniversary of 9/11 and there are so many things I want to say. I'll start with a shout out to September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. This is a group that responded to tragedy with compassion instead of vengeance. Here is an excerpt of their statement on this anniversary:

9/11 General Strike

There are a lot of ways to observe the tragic anniversary of September 11th.

Through my Facebook network, I recently discovered the 9/11/07 General Strike. I dutifully joined the Facebook group to indicate my intention to joint he strike, but I think that since my day job is working for peace and justice, I think I should keep at it tomorrow. In fact, I think I will try to post a bunch here on the blog as my way of remembering. What will you be doing tomorrow?

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