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Saying NO to "Empire" and YES to "Global Solidarity"

In the Aftermath of the War on Iraq

Action Suggestions

Some Political/Public Responses

Support effective humanitarian aid. Urge Congress to increase humanitarian aid to Iraq and to channel it through UN and US humanitarian agencies, not through the Pentagon. Sign and promote the "Citizens’ Humanitarian Pledge" toward this goal (www.epic-usa.org/signon.php).

Support the UN. Challenge any unilateral assertions of US military, political, and economic power, either in determining the interim government of Iraq or in considering any future "Iraqs." Urge the US government to reconsider its rejection of the Kyoto Agreement on the environment, the International Criminal Court, and withdrawal from the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Oppose the addition of smaller more usable nuclear weapons to the US arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. Contact Voices of Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org) and MoveOn (www.moveon.org) for updated accounts and specific action suggestions.

Support Middle East peace. Challenge the Bush administration to move seriously, immediately, evenhandedly and multilaterally in pressing for a just settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Contact the Shalom Center (www.shalomctr.org) and the Palestine-Israel Journal (www.pij.org) for analysis and specific action suggestions.

Promote debt cancellation and a massive infusion of aid for poor nations, a new "Marshall Plan," to address widespread poverty that serves as the breeding ground for terrorists. Contact JubileeUSA (www.jubileeusa.org) for updated action suggestions

Support political candidates who have a more cooperative and less arrogant vision of the role of the US in today’s global society.

Continue to speak, teach, and preach prophetically. Use Dr. King’s "When Silence Is Betrayal" speech as a source of inspiration and analysis. Encourage religious and community leaders to speak out against militarism, racism, and poverty/materialism. Note to K-8 and high school teachers: use our new resources on responding to terrorism and war, THE THINGS THAT MAKE FOR PEACE.

Some Humanitarian/Economic Responses

Donate generously to programs working with the victims of the war, including the (www.) to . Donate also to programs working with poor children in our own nation.

Redirect some of our tax dollars and/or investments to meeting human needs, not supporting war or the worst of corporate America.

Some Personal/Spiritual Responses

Pray daily for the victims of war and injustice, political leaders, and peacemakers. Pray in the words of other faith traditions and reach out to people from these traditions, especially Muslims. Use pictures of those people for whom you want to pray regularly. Use Francis of Assisi’s "Peace Prayer." Contact Pax Christi USA (www.paxchristiusa.org) and denominational peacemaking offices for a variety of prayers and worship services as well as the Muslim Peace Fellowship (www.mpfweb.org).

Do penance for our personal and our national abuse of the world’s resources, as well as for the evil of war and other forms of domination. Consider a variety of ways of fasting – from some foods and liquor, from oil, from privatized [bottled] water, from speaking (if we tend to dominate with our words), from any other resources or privileges for which our government justifies its need for dominance.

Escalate love (random acts of kindness and beauty) throughout our daily routine, to the point of genuinely sacrificial love. Be good to one another and to the earth and all her creatures. If you are using our "Pledge of Nonviolence" or Pax Christi’s "Vow of Nonviolence", do so more faithfully.

For more information, contact
James McGinnis
Institute for Peace & Justice
475 E. Lockwood Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63119
314-918-2630
jimppjn@aol.com