Exploring Ways To Make Peace Within
Ourselves & the World

Women In Black Denver, Colorado

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Why Do I Write This Blog???

The easiest (and probably the most honest) answer to that question is: I don't know. It all started in the summer of 2005, when I went to Crawford, Texas ( a.k.a. the home of the prez's ranch, a.k.a. the home of Camp Casey) to support Cindy Sheehan. I wanted the world to know that, contrary to what one could read in the mainstream media, the peace movement was alive and well and large numbers of Americans did not support the war in Iraq. I wanted people to know that thousands of Americans were willing to travel to Texas and tolerate the heat, humidity, and bugs in order to support a grieving mother whose new purpose was to shine a light on the lies that led to the war and to bring home our troops so that no other mother would have to know the pain that she felt.

Over time, this blog has become more of an exploration of who I am, my spirituality, and how life works. I love life's complexities, exploring the shades of gray. I want to, as Rainier Maria Rilke said,

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."

Maybe my blog is just one big question about what is needed in order for people to take the time to love and cherish each other and our earth. Maybe someday, I will "live along some distant day into the answer."

In the meantime, thank you for joining me on my journey. I welcome you to share yours with me

 

Monday, June 19, 2006

Stop Torture Month

“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
—The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5 (1948)

I just read a very disturbing article about the three recent suicides at Guantanamo. See: The Guardian or Common Dreams.

From Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International:

"New York, June 13 (RHC)-- Human rights groups are demanding immediate and independent investigations into the suicide deaths of three Guantanamo Bay prisoners over the weekend. According to OneWorld.net, many leading rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Human Rights Watch, have long demanded the closure of Guantanamo prison -- located in eastern Cuba and illegally occupied by the United States.

Jumana Musa of Amnesty International's U.S. bureau said that "the (Bush) administration should stop trying to minimize the desperate actions of detainees with language that does not reflect the seriousness of the matter at hand." Musa said that U.S. military officials said the three detainees died in their cells as a result of suicide, which they described as "a good PR (public relations) move." Musa said that 'colorful euphemisms such as 'manipulative self-injurious behavior' and 'hanging gestures' -- both used by the administration to refer to suicide attempts in the past -- only belittle the gravity of the situation that the detainees are facing.'"

Further research led me to find that June is Stop Torture Month. If you are so moved, please call your representatives in Congress this coming Friday, the 23rd and protest U.S. sponsored torture.

The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee's STOP (Stop Torture Permanently) Campaign is a good resource for actions and information.

And I wonder... why are torture and killing
okay when we do it - or sanction someone else to do it,
ignored when done in countries that we don't care about,
and
an abomination when done in countries with oil?

posted by Carol at 8:05 AM

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