The
Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center is a community organization affiliated
with the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR). The Center is crafting an
opportunity to connect more deeply with the needs and values of the people
in Contra Costa County to build a culture
of peace. The Center plans to focus on five major programs: Youth and the
Military, Peace Through Art and Writing Scholarship Fund for high school
youth, implementing the Department of Peace, four public educational forums
to be determined, and to serve as the local representative of FOR.
The
Center’s programs are designed to:
ü Build
the culture of peace into the Contra Costa County community,
ü Attract
new members by providing clear options for actions they can take that will
make a difference, and
ü Create
momentum for stirring peace awareness.
ü Support
FOR’s initiatives
FOR’s initiatives include:
ü The launching
of the ‘I Will Not Kill’ campaign is an effort to educate youth
about the reality of war and their rights to say ‘no’ to killing.
ü Calling
to resist the war. Because of the wealth of accusations and testimonies
about torture, the Fellowship of Reconciliation is calling on Congress
to initiate an independent investigation into torture through an online
petition to present to congressional representatives in the states of those
who sign.
ü Training
non-violence facilitators to teach nonviolent alternatives for personal
and social change.
We
see that people are tiring of the cost of war and violence and that there
is an opening for peace activities and conversations. We are able to use
this opening to extend the olive branch of the Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice
Center to a larger interest group.
Our
intention is to have more active members to spread the message that there
is a local community who does not agree with war as away to solve differences
or replace conversation and diplomacy. Many local actions can be sourced
from a committed group of peace activists.
The
Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center can begin to seed the community with
peaceful programs and actions.
We
exist to offer Contra Costa County residents a choice – a choice
in how to view the world through peaceful eyes, to view Contra Costa County
as part of the global family. Showing support for community programs allows
the Center to work towards engendering new ways of thinking in every citizen.
That choice includes how we spend our time and money, and the picture of
what peace looks like gets clearer as we take actions that reflect our
resolve to be the change we want to see.
Our
purpose is to work for a culture of peace through education, advocacy,
and community building. We seek to provide leadership and direction – to
serve as a lens to focus the energies of those seeking peace and justice
into productive activities.
Our
focus for 2005 – 2006 is on supporting students in making peaceful
choices, Peace Through Art and Writing Scholarship Fund for high school
youth, implementing the Department of Peace, offering four community educational
forums, and serving as the local chapter of FOR. Our main objective is
to build a culture of peace in Contra Costa County.
Our
vision is a world community with peace, justice and freedom for all. It
is a revolutionary vision of a beloved community where differences are
respected, conflicts are addressed nonviolently, oppressive structures
are dismantled, and people live in harmony with the earth.
As
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: "One day we must come to see that peace
is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we
arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means."
(1967,
A Christmas Sermon.)
Our
purpose is to work for a culture of peace through education, advocacy and
community building. We are creating an organizing force that takes unfocused
dissatisfaction with war and injustice and provides a more peaceful, sustainable
and co-operative way to take that energy and create a better world. Our
challenge is to identify the tasks where people can make a difference and
match the people to those tasks.
The
values that are bedrock for developing the programs in alignment with our
intentions are as follows:
ü Life
is sacred.
ü We
are all connected.
ü We
are individually and collectively powerful by our thoughts and actions.
ü We
treat the Earth with utmost respect to ensure sustainability.
ü All
beings deserve respect, liberty, and education.
ü Employ
non-violence as an operating principle.
ü We
must resolve conflicts non- violently.
ü We
are one people.
