Prospects for Afghan Women and Non-Intervention in My Country
Friday, Oct 18, 7:30pm
Friends Meeting House, 957 Colorado Ave., Palo Alto

Click here for details.

Malalai Joya spoke out publicly against domination by warlords in 2003. She was one of 68 women elected to the Afghan National Assembly in 2005. A remarkable young woman raised in refugee camps in Iran and Pakistan, she became a teacher in secret girl's schools under the Taliban.

Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice was formed in March 2003 before the United States began the war in Iraq.  Since then, we have devoted our efforts to the elimination of war, torture, injustice, and reduction of civil liberties, all guided by the core values of each of our faith traditions.  We have prayed, marched, sung, worshiped, advocated, laughed, cried, lamented, protested, served, studied and vigiled on street corners, city plazas, and in mosques, synagogues, churches, meeting houses and parks. We have met with our congress people and learned from our religious leaders. Through it all, we have built strong relationships of trust and respect. In many ways, we have become a community of sisters and brothers across faith lines. 

Click here to download a history of our efforts and activities over the past 10 years.

Now we want to take this 10-year anniversary to reflect on actions, the effect we've had on our community and the world, and to think and pray about what we are called to do next.

Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice issued this statement on Sept. 4, 2013. We give thanks for the continued efforts to work for a nonviolent resolution to the tragic conflict in Syria, and urge you to keep the people of Syria in your prayers and support humanitarian efforts on their behalf.

"As people of faith from diverse traditions, Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice joins with a growing number of faith organizations and people of good will around the globe in condemning chemical weapons use in Syria or anywhere, and insisting that the world community, in particular our own United States government, respond to this tragedy using diplomatic and political tools, not military intervention. We implore Congress to refuse to authorize any military action against Syria. Bombing and killing Syrians to send a message that bombing and killing Syrians is wrong makes absolutely no sense.

U.S. military interventions in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan over the last 60 years make it clear that war as a solution to world problems is NOT the answer. By denying the president the authority to use military force against Syria, the United States Congress could bring us one step closer to the end of senseless war.

A growing number of people and organizations of faith and good will are lifting up their voices, calling for diplomatic and nonviolent responses to the Syrian crisis, and opposing military action.  Here are a few thoughtful pieces and useful links.

Friends Committee on National Legislation - Click here for excellent articles on possible alternative responses and action

US Conference of Catholic Bishops - Click here for statements on Syrian crisis

Jim Wallis of Sojourners: "Respond, But How?" 

Peninsula Peace & Justice Center has posted several excellent articles, including "On Syria, a U.N. Vote Isn't Optional"

Rabbi Arthur Waskow's full article "Drop Gas Masks, Not Bombs"

Pope Francis' Declaration of a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Syria

Hear the Executive Secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation
Sunday, July 28, 6-8pm
Unitarian Universalist Church, Fireside Room
505 E. Charleston Road., Palo Alto, 94306

Multifaith Voices for Peace & Justice is pleased to sponsor this Real World Peacemaking event featuring Diane Randall, the head of the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL).

Founded in 1943 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), FCNL is a multi-issue advocacy group connecting peace, equality, simplicity and truth with the social issues of our nation.  FCNL is non-partisan and fields the largest team of registered peace lobbyists in Washington, D.C.

A potluck will begin at 6pm, with the program starting at 7pm.  Everyone is welcome.  Please bring some food to share if you can. 

Film & Discussion
Friday, June 8, 7:30pm
Unitarian Universalist Church, Fireside Room
505 E. Charleston, Palo Alto

Produced by the National Relgious Campaign Against Torture, "Ending U.S.-Sponsored Torture Forever" is a 20-minute video that reports on the facts about torture by the U.S. government after 9/11, describes the perspectives on torture from a variety of faiths, provides comments from a torture survivor, and addresses how some recent depictions of torture in popular entertainment are misleading (at best), and make it critically important to grow a clear moral consensus against the use of torture.

Please help spread the word! Click here to download a flyer for the event. 

Discussion will follow watching the film.  Everyone is welcome.  The event is free.

Representatives of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, on Friday joined other leaders at a new conference in Washington, D.C., to state that Americans will remain united in the face of developments in the Boston Marathon bombings that include the naming of suspects who are reportedly Muslim.

The CAIR website lists case by case, year by year examples of consistently condemning any form of terrorism. According to their website: "Any Muslim who plans, attempts or carries out a terrorist attack would be acting outside the boundaries of his or her faith and would be repudiated and condemned by our community."

In the same spirit, the Islamic Network Group (ING) issued a statement expressing their prayers which are with all of the victims and their families.  ING emphasized that "the ideology of extremists do not reflect the beliefs and practices of the vast majority of the ethnic or religious groups to which the extremists are associated, and that American Muslims vociferously and unequivocally condemn terrorism."

Interfaith Alliance president Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy released a statement from the national group saying that any hatred or violence expressed toward Muslims because the brothers were reportedly Muslim would be "against everything we stand for as Americans."