1)There is a grassroots campaign underway to protest war in Iraq in
a
simple, but potentially powerful way. It might be more notieable
than
yet
another petition.
Place 1/2 cup uncooked rice in a small plastic bag (a snack-size bag
or
sandwich bag work fine). Squeeze out excess air and seal the bag.
Wrap it
in
a piece of paper on which you have written, "If your enemies are
hungry,
feed them. Romans 12:20. Please send this rice to the people of
Iraq;
do
not
attack them."
Place the paper and bag of rice in an envelope (either a
letter-sized
or
padded mailing envelope) and address them to:
Prime Minister John Howard
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Drop this in the mail. It is important to act NOW so that Prime
Minister
John Howard gets the letters ASAP.
In order for this protest to be effective, there must be hundreds of
thousands of such rice deliveries to the Prime Minister. We can do
this if
you each copy this message and send to your friends, family and
mailing
list.
There is a positive history of this protest! In the 1950s,
Fellowship
of
Reconciliation began a similar protest, which is credited with
influencing
President Eisenhower against attacking China. Read on:
"In the mid-1950s, the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation,
learning of
famine in the Chinese mainland, launched a 'Feed Thine Enemy'
campaign.
Members and friends mailed thousands of little bags of rice to the
White
House with a tag quoting the Bible, "If thine enemy hunger, feed
him."
As far as anyone knew for more than ten years, the campaign was an
abject
failure. The President did not acknowledge receipt of the bags
publicly;
certainly, no rice was ever sent to China.
"What nonviolent activists only learned a decade later was that the
campaign
played a significant, perhaps even determining role in preventing
nuclear
war. Twice while the campaign was on, President Eisenhower met with
the
Joint Chiefs of Staff to consider U.S. options in the conflict with
China
over two islands, Quemoy and Matsu. The generals twice recommended
the use
of nuclear weapons. President Eisenhower each time turned to his
aide
and
asked how many little bags of rice had come in. When told they
numbered in
the tens of thousands, Eisenhower told the generals that as long as
so
many
Americans were expressing active interest in having the U.S. feed
the
Chinese, he certainly wasn't going to consider using nuclear weapons
against
them."
�http://www.homebirthservices.com.au�
Trudie de Keijzer
phone 02 47574744
mobile 0438 572337
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