| This one is close to me right now, since I'm having a lot of trouble
with my temper lately. Most of it seems to be related to my fear
of expressing myself truthfully, especially to those I love. For
me, peace on the household front now hinges on truth, and truth
will only be expressed when I believe in myself.
I've gone through a lot of changes in the past year; those of you who
know me can see some physical changes - I've lost about 50 lbs. What
you can't see quite so directly is the psychological change that is
occurring, which has both enabled the physical change, and been forced
to the front by it. Now that I can't hide behind what I thought of as
physical shortcomings, I have to work on the emotional stuff, which
brings me back to my subject: believing in myself enough to be
honest with others.
This is what's at the root of my temper - when I am frustrated by
feeling unable to speak my mind, I simply grasp at whatever there
is to argue about. When I want closeness, I fight. So now I'm
working on going into my head before I burst out, looking at what
I'm doing and thinking, looking at what I really want to be doing,
and TELLING the other person what's going on.
The amazing thing is, noone laughs, and it works.
In peace,
Louise
|
| 1. Nobody is better than anybody else. Granted, some people may
be better at sports, programming, or art history than others,
but there are lots of thing to be good at. Somebody is always
bette than you at something.
2. This also holds for groups of people. The white race is not
better than any other. Neither are Christians better than
Jews or Moslems. Neither are Germans better than Poles, or
Americans better than Russians. Neither are college-educated
people better than non-college-educated people.
3. People also have their own values, which come from within.
There is nothing you can do to change what somebody else likes
to do (except teach them new things they may like to do). But
you must respect their right to do what they want to, as long
as it does not interfere with what you want to do.
4. Using violence to accomplish something is NEVER the optimal
way of doing it. It may be easier in the short term, but the
long-term consequences are always bad.
To me, these principals have been confirmed by years of watching
people and sifting through my observations in a very rational
way. I am not particularly religious. I feel that these are very
practical things to keep in mind when you are dealing with people.
|
| this was boiled down from the UU notesfile discussion of peace. UU
can be found (I think) at node JUNIPR...correct me if I'm wrong.
Also they are having pen pals for peace luncheons, which I will
post about later. When I first tried to enter this, I WROTE instead
of REPLYING. I deleted my first false start, and hope it didn't
inconvenience anyone. These are by various authors, from note 59.
-Jody
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'd like to take this opportunity to announce a group which
I recently discovered called Beyond War. I copied this note without
Pete's permission (I'm sure he won't mind).
To join Beyond War, either contact Peter Sichel, or write to
their national office:
Beyond War
222 High Street
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Beyond War is a grassroots educational movement that formed in response
to the crises we now face. Today we share our world with over fifty
thousand nuclear weapons each more powerful than the bomb that destroyed
Hiroshima. All that we have ever strived to protect could be lost in
a matter of minutes. Beyond War is working to establish a new way of
thinking that will move the nations of the world beyond their current
deadly rivalry. Our action is education, we teach non-violent means
of resolving conflict.
I've found Beyond War ideas valuable both in the personal sense of
gaining a better understanding of the process of building agreement,
and also as a constructive way for individuals to make a difference
in reducing the risk of nuclear catastrophe.
I'd be happy to try to answer any questions you have about Beyond War.
- Peter
Beyond War is currently engaged in a national campaign to have this country
make a decision about war. As part of this campaign, we are reaching out
to voters in Iowa and New Hampshire to try to raise the level of dialogue
about the issue of whether war works anymore. We're not working for any
candidate, but rather for this issue.
Iowa and New Hampshire are effectively "the eye of the needle". Every
Presidential Candidate must to pass through these two states. By engaging
people in dialogue on this issue, we hope they will ask the candidates
tough questions which will in turn raise the issue on the national agenda.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a result of these experiences, I have come to the following
conclusions:
1) Peace, even on a global scale, is everyone's responsibility - MY
responsibility. That means doing something more than spending my energy
on convincing other people of the importance of peace. I must wage
peace in such a way that my actions are an appropriate end-product of
the process. That means both engaging in peace-promoting activities
and refraining from peace-hindering activities.
2) A prerequisite for peace on any scale - personal, community,
international - is understanding. Before you can have understanding,
you must have knowledge. For the vast majority of Americans,
knowledge, and by extension understanding, of Soviet society is only
obtainable second-hand. The same can be said of Soviet citizens'
knowledge of western/American society. Furthermore, many of the
sources of that second-hand knowledge are - shall we say - imperfect
channels.
3) Of all the forms which peace activism takes, citizen diplomacy
appeals to me (personally) the most. I feel that whatever I am able
to accomplish will be truly incremental to the global process. My
energies are limited. I'm probably not going to solve the problem
single-handed. But even so small a thing as communicating with a
Russian pen-pal is a shoulder to the wheel which can make a
difference. If I can maintain the resolve to do more, I can make
proportionately more of a difference.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is an outfit called PeaceNet based in California (natch') that
runs a computer conferencing network devoted to peace activist
groups. There are over 100 conferences available sponsored by such
groups as Beyond War, GreenPeace, Citizens for Innovative Diplomacy,
Friends Committee on National Legislation, Central America Resource
Network (CARNET), and many, many others.
While some of the conferences are interactive, many are primarily for
bulletins posted by the sponsoring organization or related
groups/individuals. These are great for getting the latest word on
what's happening in Washington, etc.
For example, CARNET publishes a bi-weekly bulletin on what's
happening in congress regarding Contra funding, upcoming votes on
foreign policy issues, and so forth. The information is detailed and
up-to-the-minute.
In addition, there are mail gateways to ARPAnet, BITnet, etc. and all
USENET conferences are available through PeaceNet.
The $10 monthly fee gives you 1 hour of off-peak connect time via
Telenet (local call most places). There's also a $10 sign-up fee. In
my experience, it's well worth the cost. Basically you get tied in to
a world-wide network of peace activists of all kinds.
You can reach PeaceNet by writing to them at 3228 Sacramento Street,
San Francisco, CA, 94115. If you sign up, be sure to tell them
Bill Forbes (wforbes) sent you; they kick back an hour's worth of
connect time for each referral.
If you want more info, send me VAXmail or call at DTN 297 5753.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark your calendar now! There will be a national rally on
Saturday, May 18th, 1988, near Falcon Air Station (which doesn't
even have a landing strip, mind you), outside Colorado Springs in
protest of the Strategic Defense Initiative, aka, "Star Wars".
This event is being organized by a local group called Citizens
for Peace in Space, but has the endorsement of numerous other
groups; religious, political and peace-oriented.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission is composed of people
of faith and conscience seeking to create a more just and peaceful
global society. The Commission embraces non-violent social action,
and education.
ACTIVE FOR JUSTICE is published monthly under the Pikes Peak
Justice and Peace Commission. Our editorial objectives are to network
with a braod based peace and justice community, to educate and inform
people in the areas of local, national, and international peace,
justice and non-violence, to provide a public forum for discussion
and to communicate to our readers and commission members and friends
the work of the Commission."
The foregoing is a published statement by the PPJ&PC. A subscription
to ACTIVE FOR JUSTICE is 10 dollars per year. I think it's an
excellent publication, but I'm prejudiced. I'm on the board of directors,
which meets monthly at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church.
Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission:
2021 W. Pikes Peak Ave #5
Colorado Springs, CO 80904
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(more useful addresses)
Letters for Peace Russian Pen Pal Project
59 Bluff Ave. International Friendship League
Rowayton, CT 06853 55 Mt. Vernon St.
(203) 853-8038 Boston, MA 02108
(617) 523-4273
We also plan to check into the "Sister City" project (in which
Worcester, and Pushkin are sister cities). More details as they
surface...be sure to join in on the fun anytime! Contact either
of us for details on the next meeting(s).
|
| ================================================================================
Note 59.5 P * E * A * C * E 5 of 20
VLNVAX::DMCLURE "Utopia is only a spec away" 8 lines 28-NOV-1987 02:30
-< Join the lunchtime Pen-Pals for Peace! >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is great! Please feel free to enter more information
about the PeaceNet here if you wish. You've also got me
interested in learning Russian during lunch, we'll have to
try and reserve a conference room somewhere...
p.s. Anyone else interested please join in!
================================================================================
Note 59.20 P * E * A * C * E 20 of 20
VLNVAX::DMCLURE "Utopia is only a spec away" 28 lines 9-DEC-1987 05:01
-< Minutes from the first PPP meeting >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, we had our first PPP (Pen Pals for Peace) meeting last Friday.
Although the turnout was a little on the small side (just Bill Forbes
and myself), the meeting went quite well. As a matter of fact, we solved
world peace, so I guess this disscussion is closed (I wish ;^). Anyway,
since I realize that many of you don't live anywhere near MR01 (Marlboro),
I will try and post minutes from these meetings in here as they occur.
We have decided to take a very neutral political stand while searching
for ways to link individuals from both sides of the wall together. Bill
is going to start by learning Russian, and I have decided to learn Russian
as well, but I also plan to go ahead and begin making contacts in hopes
that my Pen Pal will already know a little English.
|
| RE: .3
Louise -
Your opening lines took the words out of my very mouth.
I'm VERY interested in what you're going through, as it sounds like
some of my issues may be close to (if not) identical to yours. I'm at the
stage of searching for the psychological change you're talking
about (including the change which initiates the weight loss, so
there will be no more physical defenses to hide behind, and also to
be able to look at myself in a more positive manner). My temper
is rearing its (ugly?) not-so-little head, and scaring the living
daylights out of me. I'm working very hard on keeping it in check,
and after 36 years of suppressing it, have a lot to learn about
handling anger, etc. Even my dreams the past two weeks have been
expressing extreme anger, but I can't figure out to whom/what or
why.
If you'd be interested in discussing this further, I can be reached
@ MRMFG1::M_TANNY, DTN 297-2065, or MRO1-3/FX1.
Regards -
Mary
|