Come to First Presbyterian Church Palo Alto's Fellowship Hall (1140 Cowper Street / Palo Alto) on August 29th from 2pm to 7pm for a fundraiser to help Pakistan's flood victims. This event is sponsored by American Muslim Voice. 

At the event you'll be able to view and buy:

Exquisite hand-made products from India made by organizations supporting income generation for communities will be offered to help raise money for Pakistan flood relief.

Products will include fancy evening handbags of the royal Mughal era, intricately embroidered kantha scarves and bedcovers, Kashmiri scarves, rugs, cushion covers, handbags, and elegant and festive Kurtis.

Proceeds after costs will be given to relief organizations in Pakistan.

Join us on March 21st at 2pm at Lytton Plaza to listen to, and then silently reflect upon the voices of children from war-torn places around the world, as together we pray for peace. Our time together will include music, multifaith prayers, letters from children around the world, and silence.

Click here to download/print a flyer (and please spread the word).

Plan now to join our Multifaith Witness for Peace in Palo Alto on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 9 at 3pm.

The first Mother’s Day was called for by Julia Ward Howe in 1870 with a passionate plea for peace and disarmament. 
Her proclamation reads, in part:

Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or tears! … 
We, women of one country, will be too tender of those of another to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. …
From the bosom of the devastated earth, a voice goes up with our own.  It says, “Disarm, Disarm!” 
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. … 
Let us solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace.

Inspired once again by Ward’s call, we want to gather people of all faiths and spiritual backgrounds for a Multifaith Worship and Public Witness calling ourselves and our nation to turn away from the ways of war and destruction and choose instead the paths which lead to peace, reconciliation and justice. We will include a reading of letters from children in war-torn countries that express their fears and dreams. We intend our witness to be prophetic, courageous, respectful and inspiring! We hope it will lead us all to a deeper commitment to work together for a world that is safe and life-giving for all, especially the children. 

What better way to celebrate Mother’s Day!

David Maguire is a Professor of Moral Theological Ethics at Marquette University, and author of The Horrors We Bless: Rethinking the Just-War Legacy.  This article first appeared in Consortiumnews.com on December 16, 2009.

Opportunity Lost: Obama in Oslo

Whether Obama deserved the Nobel Peace Prize is not the point. He didn’t. The fact is he got it, and was gifted with the chance of a lifetime to make a classic speech on the politics of peace-making, a speech that in the glare of Nobel could have attained instant biblical standing.

He failed miserably, producing a hodge-podge that resembled the work of a bright but undisciplined sophomore.

He hoisted his petard on the classical "just war theory," a theory that, properly understood, condemns his decision to send yet more kill-power into Afghanistan.