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Support the Troops with a Department of Peace
Dot Maver
July 2005
At an airport car rental facility, a young man in his mid-twenties politely and enthusiastically stepped me through the rental process. We exchanged kind words about travel and life in general. As I signed the paperwork, he inquired about my line of work.
"I'm with The Peace Alliance. We are supporting legislation calling for a US Department of Peace."
His demeanor instantly changed. He took a step back and stated, "I'm an NCO ma'am (Non-Commissioned Officer) and I was just called up to Iraq. I might not be interested in that."
"Really?" I replied. "A Department of Peace is one of the best ways to support our troops." He frowned. I continued. "The Department of Peace would mean that our citizens would be educated in peaceful conflict resolution. For instance, are you familiar with the culture in Iraq or with the ways of the Iraqi people? Do you know the basics of mediation and nonviolent conflict resolution? Do you have the skills to de-escalate violence? What will you do in the city square if young men are arguing and they are carrying guns? What if their arguing escalates to a violent conflict?"
The young man was incredulous as he said, "Is that what you do?"
"Yes, a Department of Peace and National Peace Academy will provide training for our troops so that they will be prepared whether dealing with conflict in a war zone, the aftermath of a tsunami, or providing relief aid to hungry children overseas."
"Do you have a card?" he asked, "I want to talk to my platoon about this. We should all be aware of this!" And with that he opened the car door for me. With a thoughtful look on his face he said, "But I have to tell you that if I am face to face with some guy in Iraq who wants to shoot me, he's going down. I have a Mom to come home to!"
We stood still, looking into one another's eyes. Finally he said quietly, "Oh, right, he has a Mom to go home to, too."
Dorothy J. Maver, Ph.D. is Executive Director of The Peace Alliance, advocating for legislation that supports a Culture of Peace.
“Eisenhower: Turning the World Toward Peace”
Terri Mansfield
Thanks to a phone call to the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas, and to an October 2003 email we received from Dr. Robert Mueller, the retired Assistant Secretary General of the UN, we became aware of important historical background of the Department of Peace. A book titled "Eisenhower: Turning the World Toward Peace", was written in 1990 by Harold Stassen and Marshall Houts. Stassen was a close advisor to President Eisenhower who in March 1955, personally selected him to be his cabinet level "advisor for disarmament and peace", nicknamed by the Press as the Secretary for Peace. (Chapter 19, pp.275-291) What a wise President to set the tone for the current DOP HR 1673 legislation now in Congress.
If not us, who? If not now, when?
Shirley Catazaro
January 2004
It is the year, 2003 and I ask myself these two questions, Who are you waiting for to bring about peace in your life and when will you step up and take the action that needs to be done?
There is a Hopi prayer that states: “We are the ones we have been waiting for.” This simple phrase was an answer to my question, “IF NOT US, WHO?” The answer is simple, it is me. I need to be accountable to myself and make the changes in my life so that my children and grandchildren can inherit a world of peace and safety. What good is a legacy of fear going to give my children, my grandchildren? Will they ask me one day, “What did you do to make a better world for us? Will they ask me to be accountable for denying them a safe, peaceful existence?
You might ask? How can we know peace, how can we sustain ourselves individually and collectively as human beings given a rhetoric of fear that is intravenously fed to us on a daily basis? “Fear this, fear that, terror may strike at any moment, and our spirits begin to sink lower and lower into the abyss of fear created by the what if’s in our lives building up a momentum within that creates a separation with our fellow beings, seeing them as other than us.
Our forefathers faced this same dilemma. They came here to find ‘freedom and peace.’ They came together from all walks of life with one objective and wrote first the Preamble and then The Constitution. They recognized that without a foundation of peace and equality for everyone our society would not flourish. The original United States representative democracy, fashioned by the founding fathers, drew much inspiration from the Iroquois Native American tribe, who were known as the Haudenosaunee Confederacy of nations. The Confederacy of nations was made up of six nations including the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, and Tuscaroras. This Confederacy of Chiefs was invited and attended a meeting of the Continental Congress on June 11, 1776, while independence was being debated. There was a speech delivered by Canassatego, a great Iroquois chief, who addressed the delegates as brothers, and told them of his people’s wish that the friendship between them would continue "as long as the sun shall shine and the waters run." The speech was also hopeful that the new friends and the Iroquois would act "as one people, and have but one heart." The Iroquois chiefs presence in Congress, so near the time of American Independence, attested to the fact that the Iroquois had a definite productive impact on the founding fathers. It is said that Benjamin Franklin shared what he learned from the Iroquois with the other founding fathers, when he demonstrated that one arrow could easily be broken by the hands of a man, but the combined strength of six arrows could not. It is thought that this image was one that served to strengthen the resolve of the founding fathers and unite the States.
The Iroquois have a legend that forms the basis of their spiritual, civic and community traditions. The Peacemaker legend is an inspiring story, which describes a people entrapped in violent bloody feuds that, guided by a spiritual teacher, abandoned war and adopted a Path of Peace. Author David Yarrow, states: "It's a mythic tale of struggle between good and evil, order and chaos, and the triumph of Reason. It ís a morality play depicting the transformation of humans rising above suffering and tragedy to establish a higher order of human relations; it ís also a practical guide to establishing unity and balance amongst diverse human communities and it ís a successful model of how to distribute power in a democratic society to assure individual liberty”. (This article on the Iroquois Pact is found at the School of Metaphysics website http://www.som.org) If you choose to read it in its entirety please refer to the website.)
Seeking and sharing Peace is not a new concept as shared above. We search for Peace in a plethora of ways. Peace is a powerful word and yet it means so many different things to so many people. I asked some wonderful gentlemen from the Latino community what it meant to them. It was all about their families here and in Mexico, about their struggles to survive and make a better life for their families. I asked my friends, my family, my clients, people in stores, etc., “What does peace mean to you” and received a plethora of answers, from enough, food, shelter, etc.
When visiting Congressional and Senate offices we found when we truly inquired what they want for their families, themselves, peace was always one of the words used.
Yet, when I ask individuals to support a Department of Peace, which as its organizing principles would insure ‘domestic tranquility’ through the use of non-violent conflict resolution, I receive answers from them that truly seem innocuous. It is if I was asking them to write me a check for a billion dollars, or to have them climb Mt. Everest, etc. Why is that, when peace is so important to them as individuals? What causes them to not support the concept of a Department of Peace, when peace is what they desire?
The following 3 paragraphs were written by Bruce Mulkey and is in some ways a description of what the Department of Peace is all about.
“In order to move toward a new cultural paradigm for our nation, one of greater compassion, justice and sustainability, it is essential that we cleanse ourselves of ill will, including the resentments we hold toward those who appear to be leading us in the wrong direction. “We must free ourselves from the downward spiral of fear so that we may see our vision for our world and ourselves more clearly. We must regularly connect with that inner part of ourselves - our heart, our soul, and our intuition - that knows. Peace begins within. “We must discern right action in confronting our challenges and make choices from the multitude of possibilities that exist rather than reacting and falling into old, automatic behaviors. We must liberate ourselves from the hope that the man on the white horse is coming to lead us to a better future. We are the ones who must do it - one heart and mind at a time - each beginning with ourselves.”
You might ask: What is this article leading up to? It leads to the title of this article, “If not us, who, if not now, when? In April of this year, I along with 5 other Arizona women attended a conference in Washington, DC, sponsored by Marianne Williamson founder of the Global Renaissance Alliance. The conference was to introduce us to a bill being presented to Congress to establish a Department of Peace as a cabinet level entity. (Bill HR1673) Peace, individually and collectively is our passion and a way to nationally and globally achieve it was the force that took us to Washington. Being involved in our local Arizona communities as volunteers in various capacities, with our emphasis on building a better world, we each felt drawn to become involved in helping to establish this Department of Peace. The same could be said of the other 200+ attendees from 31 states. We found Peace extended beyond the boundaries of our political affiliations. We were one people coming together to foster the reality of peace as an organizing principle. The bill was founded on achieving peace through non-violent conflict resolution. What a wonderful concept to begin seeking peaceful resolution rather than reacting out of fear
You might ask, “How can one individual make change? It takes courage the first time to step out of the norm and say, “Enough is enough.” To say, this is my country and I intend to make a difference in whatever way possible. We ask you to use your voice, write letters to your congressmen, to your senators, they work for us. Write to the President, let it be known that peace is no longer a dream; it is a reality that we must have in order to persevere as a nation, as a world. Find ways to create peace within, forgive, release old anger, when you do that peace spreads out to your families, your workplace, your community, your state and your nation. Let us give our children, our future a legacy of peace. One day they may call us their forefathers who once again opted for peaceful solutions.
The answer to the questions I entitled this article. We are the ones and the time is now.
If you feel so inclined to know more about the Department of Peace and how you can make a difference, the complete bill, HR 1673 can be found at www.dopcampaign.org. There are 4 Regional Coordinators here in the state of Arizona, 2 in the Phoenix area, one in Tucson and one in Flagstaff. Please contact: Shirley Catanzaro, azdopcampaignsc@cox.net or Terri Mansfield, azdopcampaigntm@cox.net for further information on what is happening in Arizona and to contact the other coordinators.
Shirley Catanzaro
AZ Department of Peace Regional Coordinator
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