Rev. Diana Gibson, one of MVPJ's leaders, and a large group of faith leaders from the Bay Area gathered yesterday for a press conference, urging unity instead of division, in light of plans for a Florida pastor to make September 11th a day to burn the Koran.
At the end of the report, you will have heard about a rally in San Jose on Friday September 10th. We encourage you to attend that event.
The costs of war are too high. Together we can build a world of peace. Join us at Heritage Park and St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Palo Alto on September 19th from 3pm to 5pm. Visit the World Peace Village in Heritage Park, participate in activities for children and adults, building a world of peace. Then, at 4pm, there will be an interfaith peace service in the church with music, prayers, and speakers from Palestine/Israel, Iraq, and Afghanistan, sharing their hopes for and concrete ways we can create, a world of peace.
September 11 was a tragedy that struck Americans of all religions. On that terrible day nine years ago, we were united by grief, and our losses have made the day a solemn and even a sacred one. Now a Florida pastor named Terry Jones has desecrated that memory by planning to burn Korans on September 11, seeking to turn grief into intolerance.
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.
With President Obama about to sign an historic new nuclear weapons treaty with Russia, and the United States Congress about to take that treaty up for ratification, MVPJ invites you to attend this important series of lectures at Stanford University in Spring 2010. Read more for details.
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.
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.
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.
At our 2009 summer retreat, leaders from diverse peace fellowships and traditions decided that the mission of Christian Peace Witness for Iraq must evolve to meet new challenges - so we shortened our name but broaden our mission by becoming Christian Peace Witness and calling for an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the removal of all U.S. troops and military bases. Visit the updated website to learn more, and click on "Join the Network" (right side of screen) to receive monthly e-newsletters.
The costs of war are too high. Together we can build a world of peace. Join us at Heritage Park and St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Palo Alto on September 19th from 3pm to 5pm. Visit the World Peace Village in Heritage Park, participate in activities for children and adults, building a world of peace. Then, at 4pm, there will be an interfaith peace service in the church with music, prayers, and speakers from Palestine/Israel, Iraq, and Afghanistan, sharing their hopes for and concrete ways we can create, a world of peace. 
With President Obama about to sign an historic new nuclear weapons treaty with Russia, and the United States Congress about to take that treaty up for ratification, MVPJ invites you to attend this important series of lectures at Stanford University in Spring 2010. Read more for details.
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.
Plan now to join our Multifaith Witness for Peace in Palo Alto on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 9 at 3pm.
Join American Muslim Voice for their annual peace convention on March 20th at the Muslim Community Association in Santa Clara. Read more for details.
A shorter name - a wider mission!