News
Mennonite Central Committee joins efforts to minimize election violence in Burundi
The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) reports that together with partners it has formed the Quaker Peace Network (QPN). The Network's 200 election observers will work at polling stations during Burundi's election.
The group recruited and trained more than 200 election observers to work at polling stations on the election days.
"Burundi’s election season started in late May and will continue through September, with at least five elections scheduled during those months. These elections are the first since all rebel groups laid down their weapons in 2008, officially ending the country’s 15-year civil war," writes Chad Umble in a July 9, 2010, MCC release.
Every War has Two Losers
San Anselmo Filmaker Haydn Reiss has released a new film based on Amercian poet William Stafford's writings and actions in World War II. Stafford could not reationalize the biblical commandment, "Thou shalt not kill" with the actions of his homeland and the horrors of war. He became a conscientious objector during World War II.
Every War has Two Losers features Stafford's writings as well as a cast of writers including Alice Walker, Robert Bly, Maxine Hong Kingston and just-named U.S. Poet Laureate W.S. Merwin as they reflect on the influence of Stafford's words on their lives. Actor Peter Coyote puts a voice to Stafford's words. Stafford died in 1993.
Common Dreams reports that the "The 32-minute documentary feels more like a poem or a peace meditation than a movie."
"'"I belong to a small, fanatical sect,'" Stafford wrote in his journal. "We believe that current ways of carrying out world affairs are malignant."
9th Millennium Development Goal Recommended
Instead of speaking to the G8 political leaders, Robert J. Suderman, General Secretary of Mennonite Church Canada recommended a 9th millennium development goal aimed at the 80 gathered international delegates at the World Religions Summit, 2010 that the religions of the world "... condemn religiously motivated terrorism and extremism and commit to stop the teaching and justification of the use of violence between and among our faith communities."
The Canadian Mennonite's July 12, 2010 issue reports Suderman saying, "This millennium goal could be as simple as that our houses of faith stop teaching—and stop justifying—the use of lethal violence between and among our own people.”
The leaders included Suderman's wording as part of a broader consensus statement called "A Time for Inspired Leadership and Action" calling on G8 leaders to honour decade-old pledges to the UN's Millennium Development Goals.
MP Stephen Fletcher, Minsiter of Democratic Reform (Canada), received the statement on behalf of the religious leaders and promised to deliver it to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper who hosted the G8 political leaders summit in Ontario from June 25-27, 2010.
Faith leaders representing Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Shinto, Hindu, Aboriginal, Baha'i, and Buddist faiths from over 20 countries attended the Summit in Winnipeg, Manitoba, from June 21-23.
9th Millennium Development Goal Recommended
Robert J. Suderman, General Secretary of Mennonite Church Canada recommended a 9th millennium development goal to 80 international delegates at the World Religions Summit, 2010.
The Canadian Mennonite's July 12, 2010 issue reports Suderman saying, "“This millennium goal could be
as simple as that our houses of faith stop teaching—and stop justifying—the use of lethal violence between and among our own people.”
The leaders developed a consensus statement called "A Time for Inspired Leadership and Action" calling on G8 leaders to honour decade-old pledges to the UN's Millennium Development Goals. MP Stephen Fletcher, Minsiter of Democratic Reform (Canada), received the statement on behalf of the religious leaders and promised to deliver it to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper who hosted the G8 political leaders summit in Ontario from June 25-27, 2010.
Faith leaders representing Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Shinto, Hindu, Aboriginal, Baha'i, and Buddist faiths from over 20 countries attended the Summit in Winnipeg, Manitoba, from June 21-23.
Pentecostals seeking to reclaim pacifism
"Did you know that Pentecostal denominations have not always been militaristic?"
That's a question posed on Jay Beaman's Pentecostal and Holiness Pacifism website, a site "dedicated to the history of Pentecostal and Holiness Pacifism and related topics."
Beaman's site claims that between 5-10% of all conscientious objectors in the United States during World War I were "Pentecostals or
