Perceptions of "9/11"

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="057285a1erlcgo.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>TurnTheTide</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TurnTheTide"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div>   <A HREF="id88.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Background Archives"><U><B>Background Archives</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Key Resources"><U><B>Key Resources</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Einsteins Page"><U><B>Einstein's Page</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rachels Page"><U><B>Rachel's Page</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><B>Perceptions of "9/11"</B><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="World Religion Statements"><U><B>World Religion Statements</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Congress Connect"><U><B>Congress Connect</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="056d2c00dkelyh.png"> <div> <B> </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="index_site_map.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TurnTheTide"><U><B>LINK TO SITE MAP</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I><B><U>SUN TZU</U></B></I></div> <div> <B>Now is the time to recall the advice of the great Chinese general, Sun Tzu [circa 500 B.C.]: </B></div> <div> <I><B>"Do not do what you would most like to do. Do what your adversary would least like you to </B></I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I><B>do." </B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Perceptions of "9/11"</I></div> <div> <B>LINKS: </B></div> <div> <B>1. The "World Future Society:" scenarios that could result from "9/11."</B></div> <div> <B>2. Commentary on 9/11 IONS Noetic Science Review: the consciousness dimension.</B></div> <div> <B>3. Genesis Farm Earth Literacy Center: "Long Before 9/11 Earth was in crisis"</B></div> <div> <B>4. Word from the Wisdoms Table: "We are at a crossroads...we must pray our way forward."</B></div> <div> <B>5. </B><B>A family of a 9/11 victim speaks out: </B><B>"Our Grief is not a Cry for War." </B></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><U>1.</U></B><I><B><U> Future Survey, October 2001</U></B></I></div> <div> <B>INTRODUCTION to a World Future Society Publication October 2001: </B></div> <div> <B>"This issue of </B><I><B>Future Survey</B></I><B> is like no other. It is devoted entirely to the post-September 11 response... By comparing futurists with non-futurist Op-Ed writers, it can be clearly seen that futurists are more diverse and long-term in their thinking, imagining more negative possibilities, but also (and most important) suggesting some positive futures that could result." </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000CC" FACE="Arial" ><B>www.wfs.org/fsurv.htm</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" ><B><U>September 11 and Multilateralism:</U></B></FONT><B>  </B>People worldwide are caught up in a complexity of hatreds as both victims and victimizers; the list is endless. Given the enormity of the barbarity America experienced, our government will certainly exact vengeance. But let us be aware that from the point of view of our enemies, we are guilty of horrendous crimes against them; thus their hatred against us. </div> <div> President Bush has rightly declared war against terrorism, but we must know that Osama bin Laden is leading a holy war against the US and Israel. He has been building his army and tactics for decades. When we eventually kill him, or he kills himself, in his place will arise myriad new Osama ben Ladens, equally committed, impassioned, and ruthless. Fire is not always vanquished when one fights fire with fire, especially if one fights a fire that is considered holy. </div> <div> The attack came against the most conservative administration in modern US history, which has been systematically withdrawing from many multilateral agreements and treaties. Paradoxically, the actions of Sept 11 were taken against the son of the man who organized the coalition of nations to fight Desert Storm, the catalytic point at which bin Laden turned his armies against the US. History has bestowed upon George W. the task of organizing a coalition against the man that his father's coalition turned into the enemy. </div> <div> The President who is withdrawing from the world in order to maximize America's freedom for unilateral actions in the world has been met by the ultimate unilateralist: bin Laden. The superpower has met the super-empowered individual. To succeed, Bush the unilateralist must become the premier multilateral. He must forge a coalition of nations against world terrorism like the world is trying to forge to deal with global warming, nuclear disarmament, and trafficking in small arms and bioweapons. </div> <div> Working within the complexity of coalitions, the war against terrorism can only be truly won when we also declare war on the roots which cause such acts of barbarity: poverty, illiteracy, injustice, and disease...</div> <div> <B><U>Theodore J. Gordon, Senior Research Fellow, Millennium Project</U></B><B> </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000CC" FACE="Arial" ><B>www.ac.unu.org</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > In the wake of Sept 11, and with the help of people from several countries, a set of anti-terrorism scenarios has been drafted in the hope of finding policies to reduce terrorism and promote peace over the next few decades. The process began with e-mail requests for scenarios to the listserves of the World Futures Studies Federation and the Millennium Project of the American Council for the United Nations University...</FONT></div> <div> The nine scenarios are arranged by permutations of extremes on three axes: vigilante response vs. rule of law, high tech vs. low tech. and inspired leadership vs. insipid leadership:</div> <div> <B>1. Escalation: </B>initial and secondary attacks topple the Taliban, but further provocation comes from massive bio-attack on the US...with escalation comes much more advanced security and high-tech bio-detectors...a frustrated Office of Homeland Security forms a "futurist skunk works" to anticipate future attack modes...</div> <div> <B>2. Counter Mindset: </B>all strategies are directed toward affecting the mindset of the Political Islamists who believe that Islam's mission is the set the world right...a UN Trusteeship Council is authorized to administer transition to a new Afghan government...media are designed to enlighten Muslims about alternative views of life...a Global Partnership for Development deflects sympathy from the radicals...an "intellectual arms race" has been set in place.</div> <div> <B>3. Root Causes:</B> after failure to end the military war, the US proposes a different global strategy based on the value of human life and providing minimal standards of health, education, services, and housing worldwide.</div> <div> <B>4. Socratic Justice:</B> US ratifies the International Criminal Court and brings captured criminals and terrorists to it. </div> <div> <B>5. Wild West:</B> calls for a "crusade" and resulting military strikes lead to endless escalation, with terror meeting terror; nations already poor become poorer, but OECD states become stronger. </div> <div> <B>6. The Peaceful Cowboy:</B> the US seeks cooperation while a good deal of Wild West posturing continues...some laws are changed to grant more powers to law enforcement and intelligence.</div> <div> <B>7. The New Year:</B> Osama bin Laden apparently assassinated and the US reflects on the opportunity take out Saddam.</div> <div> <B>8. Fortress USA/OECD:</B> borders closed and locked down, leading to short-term poverty...democracies become a sham with real power devolving to the right wing that became aligned with the military/police complex...this response results in Fortress Islam.</div> <div> <B>9. A Global Civic Ethic: </B>key NGOs' form a global council to promote a civic ethic as key to global security...a World Public Service is formed. </div> <bR> <div> <B>FOLLOWING ARE SUMMARIES FROM "FUTURE SURVEY" VOL. 23, NUMBER 10:</B></div> <div> <B><U>Yehezkel Dror, Prof of Political Science, Hebrew U of Jerusalem:</U></B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > the attack on the US stimulated much writing and pronouncement on "terrorism," but the vast majority of what is being said is shallow and often wrong, lacking a deep understanding of "atrocious fanaticism" as integral to human history. This fanaticism is defined as strongly held belief systems that justify and demand killing of others as a moral duty, even at the cost of one's own life... Even if the entire world arrives at the "end of history," with all being well-fed and much-amused, some will seek a higher purpose, and some of these will become extreme in negating realities and feeling obliged to kill so as to build a better world. </FONT></div> <div> In the 17th century, Thomas Hobbes starkly posed the choice for humanity as a war of all against all or Leviathan, a strong authoritative regime... No amount of hardening and defense can be relied on to prevent mass killings by skillful fanatics, who will find new targets and ways to hit them. Countermeasures must therefore increasingly focus on pre-emption and de-capacitating -- preventing fanatic actors from acquiring mass killing instruments and destroying dangerous fanatics and those who support them. National sovereignty must not prevent forceful interventions, and respect for human rights must not become self-destructive by preventing harsh but necessary measures.</div> <div> All this leads to the need for a hopefully limited and benevolent, but nonetheless powerful and decisive Global Leviathan, if possible within a reformed UN....This is bitter medicine, but a life-saving one until humanity matures and changes its very nature for the better.</div> <div> <B><U>Sohail Inayatulla, Professor Sunshine Coast University, Australia:</U></B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >This terrifying crime against humanity can be explained (but never justified) by the equation of perceived injustice + nationalism/religious-ism + an asymmetrical world order. To survive, humankind needs to move to a new level of identity. As Phil Graham (U of Queensland) writes: "We are the Other. We have become alienated from our common humanity, and the attitude, hope,  image, that might save us -- the globalization of humanity." </FONT></div> <div> There are crucial differences between Bush and big Laden, but there is a similarity: the US and England are the main exporters of weapons, creating increasing levels of planetary insecurity, as do the terrorists. Each distorts what it means to be human by focusing on one dimension. We need a dialogue of civilizations, and  within religions, between the hard and soft side. Social movement must continue challenging the asymmetrical nature of the world system -- the structural violence and silent emergencies -- and push for a new globalization while protecting local systems that are not racist/sexist/predatory...</div> <div> GAIAN BIFURCATION -- We cannot make traditionalist modern; rather, we must move from tradition to a transmodernity inclusive of multiple, layered realities -- a Gaia of interdependent civilizations plus a system of international justice. A new equity-based multicultural globalization means moving to world governance, human (and animal) rights, economic democracy, gender partnership, a transformed UN with increased direct democracy, and an emergent healing discourse toward others, toward the planet, and for future generations... We must have the courage to create this integrated planetary civilization that moves us beyond the capitalist West and the feudalized, ossified non-West. </div> <div> <B>I hope it will emerge through </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" ><I><B>ahimsa</B></I></FONT><B> (inner and outer non-violence); an not versions of endless terror. We need to choose life. </B></div> <div> <B><U>Nicole Schwartz-Morgan, Asst. Prof. of Politics & Economics, Royal Military College of Canada:</U></B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > Terrorism is the product of "wild globalization" -- a process as destructive to human ecology as the industrial revolution was to physical environments. The process is driven by immense technological changes, total denial of limitations (including human psychic life), a brutal conquest of space and time, and transformation of people into human garbage, left in urban and rural dumpsters that are multiplying exponentially. The guiding ideology of "market fundamentalism," as described by George Soros, refuses all deliberate planning. It is not a structure nor a natural order that is opening here, but more of a vortex -- a deep whirlpool turning more and more rapidly around itself. </FONT></div> <div> Those most terrified of the vortex are the terrorists themselves, as they anxiously watch spiritual values and traditions transformed into commerce. This "deep fear of losing control explains much more fully the terrorists' hatred of the free world than does either envy of America's wealth or its Middle East policies. Their loathing will not be diminished by any solution to the Palestinian conflict, because this hateful terror is not uniquely Arabic or Islamic. In fact, the psychic structure of the Taliban is infinitely closer to that of Christian and Jewish fundamentalism than it is to that of modern Muslims.... </div> <div> <B><U>Sam Nunn, Co-Chair, Nuclear Threat Initiative:</U></B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > What changed Sept 11 was not our vulnerability to terrorism but our understanding of it. What did not change is the most significant clear and present danger we face: the threat posed by nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. For a half century, the people of the US and the world lived under threat from nuclear weapons. The Cold War did not end that threat. The danger of nuclear holocaust with the former USSR has almost disappeared, but other threats have multiplied and grown more complex and dangerous... It no longer makes sense for either nation to stake its security so disproportionately on its ability to promptly launch nuclear attack with thousands of warheads. These nuclear postures are not relevant in stopping proliferation, and make an accident or misjudgment more likely...</FONT></div> <div> We must think anew. There can be no realistic comprehensive plan to defend American against weapons of mass destruction that does not depend on cooperation with Moscow... We must realize that threat reduction diplomacy, cooperation, military power, and intelligence are our first line of defense against the spread of  weapons of mass destruction and terrorism. National missile defense is our last line of defense. We have to guard against over investing in our last line of defense and under investing in all the others... If the US and Russia begin working together as partners in fighting terror and the threat from weapons of mass destruction, and if they encourage others to join, the world will be a different place for our children and grandchildren. We face major challenges, but a historic opportunity. We must seize it now.</div> <div> <B><U>W. Warren Wagar, Distinguished Teaching Prof of History, SUNY- Binghamton:</U></B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > Whatever the US and its allies do there is little chance that they can eliminate all terrorist networks or prevent the formation of new ones. As the experience of Israel suggests, the struggle against terrorism is never-ending. It cannot be brought to a successful conclusion without removing its root causes, which lie deep within the structure of the modern world system. In fact the long-term prospects are for widening conflict between the rich and poor nations, for widening conflict among the poor nations themselves, and for increasing destabilization worldwide. </FONT></div> <div> A system that routinely rewards the few who are rich and powerful at the expense of the many who are poor and weak -- especially given the range of weapons and terrorist strategies available to the poor and weak -- is a system that cannot stand.  It is programmed for self-destruction and its eventual collapse will be the principal event of the 21st century. </div> <div> <B><U>Ewen MacAskill, Diplomatic Editor, The Guardian (London):</U></B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > US foreign-policy makers in the 1960's and 1970's loved the domino theory: allow communism to gain a grip in one country and its neighbors would fall. It never happened, but an Islamic variation is possible. The danger is that a US military strike will not be confined to Afghanistan, but destabilize governments from Islamabad to Beirut. The first and biggest risk is that the already unstable military regime in Pakistan could be overthrown in a coup or in a civil war fought by Islamic fundamentalists angry that the government is cooperating with the US. This opens up the prospect of the first Islamic fundamentalist government with access to nuclear weapons, and it would be pitched into the ongoing conflict with India. </FONT></div> <div> That is alarming enough. But if the US seeks to attack terrorism at its roots and the states that harbor it, and to apply this criteria rigorously, almost every state in the Middle East would be a target. Egypt harbors Islamic Jihad, an offshoot of bin Laden's empire. Iran sponsors two of the main Middle East guerilla organizations -- Hizbollah, and Hamas. Any move by the US against groups such as these is full of risk. Hizollah and Hamas are not regarded in the populations where they reside as terrorists, but as warriors engaged in a legitimate fight against Israel.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><U>*************************************************</U></B></div> <bR> <div> <B>2. Commentary on 9/11 from IONS Noetic Science Review</B></div> <div> Number 59 Exploring the Frontiers of Consciousness</div> <bR> <div> <B>ERVIN LASZLO, founder and president of the Club of Budapest:</B> Behind the global cacophony of terrorism, war, social, economic, and ecological upheaval, something else is happening. A quiet but significant groundswell of consciousness is arising -- perhaps just in time to save us a sustainable niche on this still-beautiful planet. </div> <div> The Old Testament told us, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." Today, we need the vision to move from economic globalization to a new and sustainable civilization...from a paradigm of rational analysis to one of holistic vision and action. </div> <div> For such a shift to occur, a new consciousness is essential. In a democracy, we cannot change the direction of our collective evolution by dictates from above; the insight and the will must come from below---from the people...</div> <div> Margaret Mead told us, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has ." Mahatma Gandhi was even more insistent: "Be the change you want to see in the world." They were right. When you change yourself, you change the world around you, and ultimately you change the world...</div> <div> The remarkable fact is that science is evolving a holistic way of thinking about the world. A better grasp of the worldview suggested by the latest scientific theories would give a positive impetus to the evolution of people's consciousness and would move us nearer to a more adapted path for our collective evolution. Little known to modern people, the basic sources for our worldview -- the popular ideas of Newton, Darwin, and Freud -- have been overtaken by new discoveries in physics, evolutionary biology, and systems science. In light of the emerging insights, the universe is no longer seen as a lifeless, soulless aggregate of inert chunks of matter; it resembles a living organism more than it does a dead rock. Life is not a random accident, and the basic drives of the human psyche include far more than the drive for sex and self-gratification </div> <div> <B>Vaclav Havel, the Czech writer-president addressed a joint session of the US Congress in Washington February of 1991. He said,</B><I><B> "Without a global revolution in the sphere of human consciousness, nothing will change for the better....and the catastrophe towards which this world is headed ---the ecological, social, demographic, or general breakdown of civilization --- will be unavoidable."</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <B>Chris Bache teaches at the California Institute of Integral Studies and directs IONS' transformative learning program:</B> I believe that the horrendous attack of September 11 is a symptom of a world under increasing pressure. As a symptom, it gives us information about some of these forces, such as the rise of extremist ideologies and the politics of exclusion. </div> <div> But in order to understand what is taking place at a deeper level, we need to understand the severe pressures that are being placed on the human family by the combination of technological, ecological, economic, and social trends generated by the Industrial Era. We need to take stock of the evolutionary fire that humanity is entering as we confront both the unsustainability of our civilization in its present form and the terrible economic disparities that plague the human family in a world becoming increasingly transparent to itself in the mirror of global telecommunications...</div> <div> When we study these facts, our world appears to be falling apart, but from another perspective it can be seen to be giving birth. In order to recognize the deep structure of the forces that are converging on humanity we need to look at the larger trajectory that is carrying us toward a decisive turning point in our history....The terrorist attack of September 11, the escalating spiral of violence in the Middle East, and the hole in our ozone layer all suggest that the past will not release its grip on us without a struggle...</div> <div> If we apply the insights of systems theory, chaos theory, and morphic-field theory to the evolutionary process we are engaged in, several remarkable conclusions seem to follow. The first is that the species as a whole is actually "sensitive" to our individual choices. This means that humanity's collective consciousness  is aware of us, that it senses what each<I> one </I>of us is doing, and it registers our actions in some cognitive way. Second, its sensitivity is <I>increasing </I>as the system moves into unstable, non-equilibrium conditions. This means that as the historical crisis we are engaging builds, the influence of the individual is growing larger... </div> <div> If we individually commit ourselves to finding and embodying the solutions that the world desperately needs today, both the technological and political solutions and the inner solutions of the heart, our actions will reach out and connect with the hidden initiatives that others are taking. Connections that are latent within the system will spring into being. We do not have to be able to see at the outset how our seemingly private decisions will impact the systems we are part of or how they will make a difference, but we can trust that they will. When we act with resolve, life responds to life, and the grace of synchronicity and synergistic collaboration can emerge... </div> <div> <B>Episcopal Bishop Bennett J. Sims, founder of the Institute for Servant Leadership: </B>Worry not that current reality is loaded with manifest improbability. The human spirit goes for great dreams not because they are plausible, but because they are irresistible. ..</div> <div> Suspecting that spirituality is stamped indelibly  into our genetic coding and that to be human is to be a spiritual being, I wonder how the differentiated religions of the world can add their ancient and honorable power to the 'fusionist' energy of an emerging New World. The great religions are the most enduring of all the world's institutions. The oldest of them emerged in the mists of many centuries before Christ: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism. Most of the remainder are still centuries older than democracy --- Christianity especially, which some scholars insist is far older than Christ because early Christianity was an internal Jewish movement... </div> <div> A former teacher of mine at Harvard Divinity School used to say, "We Christians are just honorary Jews." This is a liberal way of getting at the problem of religious tolerance and cooperation., But religious tolerance in a globalizing human culture is already fiercely resisted by many... A cherished verse in John 14:6 has seemed for centuries to make Christianity a highly exclusivist approach to God. Jesus is portrayed as having said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except by me."</div> <div> As a Christian, I have pondered how to deal with the implied exclusvism of this single verse in "diversity-intensive" America, where Muslims now outnumber all Episcopalians and Presbyterians combined. Try on the insights of Marcus Borg. See if his scholarship can liberate Christians from the counterfeit morality that despises the faith traditions of others while repeating the drumbeat of the command to love others as we love ourselves. How is it possible to love another person while denying the validity of that person's deepest source of personal identity?</div> <div> Marcus Borg says that the key to freeing the above text from rigid exclusivism lies in the word "way." "I am the way..." declares Jesus. A "way" clearly implies a path, a journey, a process, not a verbal formula or belief prescription. In other passages Jesus vividly sets forth his way --- the way of death and resurrection --- the way of new life by dying to an old way of life. </div> <div> Dying to an old way of being and being born into a new way of being is known to all the religions of the world. This is the universal reality of life, known to millions who may have never heard the name Jesus. Thus the "way" of Jesus as the "truth and the life" is not a set of beliefs about Jesus, but a path of transition and transformation --- from an old way of being to a new way of being. </div> <div> When the universality of this truth is seen, it will fire our confidence in a New World. What it means in global terms is clear: The way to a new world of economic justice and environmental sustainability is symbolized by the Cross. It means dying to an old way of unsustainable and inequitable consumption of the planet's diminishing resources, and rising to a new way of being a human family in the intricately interwoven web of life. It means dying to greed-driven competition while honoring competition's usefulness in adding zest to life. But even more, it means coming alive to spirited cooperation as the engine of all enduring achievement in all arenas of human enterprise. </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><U>*************************************************</U></B></div> <bR> <div> <I><B><U>Long before September 11</U></B></I><I><B><U>th</U></B></I><I><B><U>, the Earth was in crisis</U></B></I></div> <div> <B>3. A Response to “9/11” from Genesis Farm</B></div> <div> <B>By Sister Miriam Therese MacGillis</B></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>“From space I saw Earth indescribably beautiful with all </B></I><I><B> </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>the scars</B></I><I><B>  </B></I><I><B>of </B></I><I><B>national boundaries gone”</B></I></div> <div> <B>Muhammed Ahmad Faris, Syria</B></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>“</B></I><I><B>The first day, we pointed to our countries.  Then we were pointing</B></I></div> <div> <I><B> to our continents. By the fifth day we were aware of only one Earth”</B></I></div> <div> <B>Sultan Bin Salmon al-Saud, Saudi Arabia</B></div> <bR> <div> The astronauts who recorded these sentiments in their private diaries were among the hundreds of early space explorers from over 50 nations who experienced the first awesome vision of Earth from a vast distance outside it.  Like others, they were in awe and wonder with the overwhelming loveliness of our blue and white home planet from some 250 miles above it.  Their experiences have changed our lives as well.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> *****************</div> <div> The following reflections represent the shock and anguish of a small group of people who have struggled to find a response to the tragedy of September 11th and its aftermath. We are the participants and staff of Genesis Farm, a small Earth Literacy center in Blairstown, NJ.  We are trying to give voice not only to our anguish but to the seeds of hope that might be fostered by a deeper understanding of the Universe. This understanding is what draws us to work and study here.  Over our lifetimes, we have worked, studied and taught in Africa, Asia, Australia, South and Central America, the Middle East, Europe and North America.  In all these places we have witnessed time and again how humans are capable of expressing the deepest compassion and the most inexplicable cruelty.  </div> <bR> <div> Everyone is saying: “The world has changed. It is in crisis.  It no longer makes sense.”  We, too, feel the anxiety and uncertainty of these times.  But one of the reasons we are here at Genesis Farm is because we believe that long before September 11th, the Earth was in crisis and what humanity was doing already did not make sense.   </div> <bR> <div> It is an unspeakable tragedy that so many innocent and helpless people have died or suffered at the hands of an extensive network of angry and violent fanatics.   It is a tragedy that innocent and helpless people in Afghanistan are dying in order to obliterate this fanaticism.  It is a tragedy that Earth's land, waters, air, and creatures are suffering  in the process.  These tragedies are all connected.  While we have no clear answer to resolve them, we do believe this: that the direction of our human ventures must be set within a larger context of our human existence, our past and future, and within a common embeddedness in the planet Earth's evolutionary process.</div> <bR> <div> <B>But first we must grieve.</B></div> <bR> <div> We grieve the horrible slaughter of innocent people and the loss to families, communities, businesses, and properties on September 11th.   This was a crime against humanity.  It was brutal, indiscriminate.   We offer our sympathy to everyone touched by this terrible tragedy.  We rely on all the systems of law enforcement within and among the communities of nations to bring the perpetrators of this crime to the court of law.   </div> <bR> <div> At the same time we must ask ourselves: Why is it that people are prepared to give their lives to destroy the symbols of American economic and military power and kill innocent people?  Why is American power so violently hated?  We must listen to and reflect on the reason for this hatred even as we grieve. Without understanding the roots of violence, even justice within courts of law will be a hollow and short-lived victory. </div> <bR> <div> We grieve the ongoing bombing and destruction of the innocent peoples and land of Afghanistan.  We have responded to violence with violence.  War is not a legal response to a criminal act, however heinous.  The bombing of Afghanistan and the proposed expansion of the combat to other countries violate the democratic principles for which countless Americans have fought and died.  A lack of accountability and the prospect of continuance of this violence for an indefinite period of time are unacceptable.  We grieve this violation of the norms for accountability and full disclosure.</div> <bR> <div> We believe that we dull our own moral conscience when we use the very tactics we deplore in the other. To terrify, to kill innocent people even as “collateral damage” is not acceptable.  An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth does not represent our fundamental religious principles.    The end does not justify the means.   Innocent people cannot be designated as collateral damage anywhere.  This response will only result in an increased   hatred toward the United States and Western powers with unpredictable ramifications. We call on the United States, the British and all allied governments not to continue such a retaliatory response.  Not in our name.</div> <bR> <div> We need not be blinded or paralyzed by the atmosphere of anxiety spreading daily.  We believe a free press demands full access of journalists to the military activities done in the name of the U.S. people.  And if this activity is done in our name, we demand to know what we are doing and decry the control exercised over the sources of our information.  We deplore the surrendering of our fundamental rights to privacy in our homes, workplaces, and communication systems.  Misguided systems and policies hastily set in place but inconsistent with our democratic principles will take years, decades to undo, and at great cost.  Now more than ever we need to create not simply peace but the basis on which an enduring confidence can exist within and between nations.</div> <bR> <div> We grieve the devastation of our home, our Earth.  The wars of the last century have caused unspeakable destruction to the fragile web of life.  Earth is a single, living system.  Earth is one.  It transcends our national, ethnic and political boundaries.  It is not only the victim of our senseless acts of military warfare but it is assaulted on all sides by the violence of many of our daily activities.  Our economy, our technologies, our choices relentlessly devastate and pollute it in times of human peace as well as war!</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I><B>TWO POSITIVE RESPONSES</B></I></div> <bR> <div> Our reflection, study and immersion in the realization of the unity of Earth and of the Universe out of which Earth, life and humanity are derived has moved us to offer this simple but positive twofold response: </div> <bR> <div> <B>  </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" ><B>We will promote the Earth Charter</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> Since 1987, hundreds of people from around the world have shaped the first ever “people's charter” as a document reflecting our common sense understanding of what is needed to sustain life into the future.  It is a truly global, grass-roots document meant to inform and influence political leaders. It seeks to inspire in all peoples a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well-being of the human family and the whole community of life</div> <bR> <div> The Charter offers to us today a positive way to focus our energies as we confront violence in every sphere of life.  We endorse it as a statement that expresses many of our values and can help to shape a viable future.  </div> <bR> <div> <B>We will promote the image of Earth as the most inclusive and sacred symbol of our times</B></div> <bR> <div> This image inspires our deep reverence.  It has altered our consciousness of ourselves and of our place in the unfolding miracle of life.</div> <bR> <div> Displayed on posters and flags, the image of the whole Earth announces our care and concern for people of all nations, all living beings, air, soil and water.  It also reminds us of our desire to live in a world where all of life in its diversity is celebrated, reverenced, nurtured and where hatred and injustice find no home.</div> <div> It is to Earth's life and well-being, embracing all, that we give our allegiance, our love, our commitment.</div> <bR> <div> We hope these two actions might support you in these difficult times. </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>PATRIOTISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY</B></div> <bR> <div> We believe that every person and every being everywhere has a fundamental right to homeland security.  Let us hold the meaning of these words to the fire.  Every being needs a homeland on this fragile, loving planet, which, in this solar system, appears to be the only homeland that exists and upon which all smaller regional homelands depend.</div> <div> It is clear that every homeland ought to secure itself (se-cara, without anxiety) with an internal reciprocity.  Regionally and globally, each homeland ought to be as self-sustaining as possible in securing the commons of air, food, shelter, water, health and the rights of all humans and other beings to share them.  How can there otherwise be homeland security?  Thus, conserving the commons, supporting local communities and economies, rather than incurring debt, waste and contamination, is the cornerstone of patriotism, both regionally and globally.</div> <div> Patriotism is a good word.  It speaks to a human virtue, a duty to love, reverence and foster the common good of one's homeland and all its members. Its integrity ought, then, to be judged by how it supports the whole and be evaluated by how it protects the least powerful, the weakest and most vulnerable of its members, and gives voice to the voiceless in its promotion of the common good.  Vulnerability is on the increase for so many in our human community. The unraveling of air, soil, water and the teeming communities of life is incomprehensible and unbearable.</div> <div> Our nation's dependence on unlimited, unrestricted access to the planet's diminishing and polluting fossil fuels, to its waters, minerals, carbon sinks and exploited labor force distorts the high moral implications of the word patriotism.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Resources:</B></div> <div> <B>Information on the Earth Charter can be obtained on both the Earth Charter and Earth Charter  USA websites </B><B>(</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><B>www.earthcharter.org</B></FONT><B> </B><B>and </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><B>www.earthcharterusa.org</B></FONT><B> </B><B>).  Earth Charter USA also has a free study guide on their website.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Earth Charter International Secretariat is c/o Earth council, P.O. Box 319.6100, San Jose, Costa Rica. Tel: (506) 249-3500.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Earth Charter USA is 2100 L Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20037.  Tel: (202) 778-6133.  Fax: (202) 778-6138</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Global Education Associates, 457 Riverside Drive, Suite 1848, New York City 10115, Tel: (212) 870-3290,  Fax: (212) 870 - 2729, email: </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><B>globaleduc@earthlink.net</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>EarthFlag, 58-30  7</B><B>th</B><B> St., Maspeth, NY 11378   Website: </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><B>www.earthflag.net</B></FONT><B> </B><B> Tel: (800) 421-3524.  Email: </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><B>earthflag@aol.com</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Foundation for Global Community, 222 High Street,  Palo Alto, CA 94301, Tel: (650) 328-7756</B></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><U>******************************************</U></B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><B><U>4. We are at a Crossroads</U></B></I></div> <div> <B>By William Johnson Everett</B></div> <div> <B>This is an excerpt from reflections on September 11, 2001 </B></div> <div> <B>from the Wisdoms Table </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000CC" FACE="Arial" ><I><B>www.wisdomstable.net.</B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> ... (the "9/11") horror (was) perpetrated in unknowing by persons who only seek the good, but who suffer from a fatal flaw they share in some degree with all humanity. On the one side may stand those who seek to defend their ancient ways under the symbol of Islam. They struggle against a force that seeks through money, arms, and culture to strip them of their heritage and dreams. But it is a force that they neither know or understand. Their Taliban hosts conjure up specters of evil from a Bible they have never read. They live in a bunker of hostile ignorance. They seek to eliminate an unknown source of all their woes. There is, then, something of us in them.</div> <div> And more. Where has such an abundance of wealth come from that a band of warriors can amass the resources to launch such attacks? It is from our money for their oil. To feed our desire for cheap energy we have unwittingly fed the bubbling rage of those who seek to destroy us. Their strength would not exist without the spoils of the global capitalism they despise. We have not known what we do - the fate of every mortal. Even more, we know not whom we have fed. We suffer from an abyss of ignorance about the cultures of Arabic, Persian, Afghan, and Egyptian Islam. What are the fractures and faultiness that make a human mosaic out of the shapeless uniformity we see form afar? We do not know about the struggles between oil monarchs and displaced, resentful youth. We do not know what struggles for power may flare out from the friction of internal struggle. Is their attack on us simply displaced from the potential struggle with their own fathers? What seething turmoil lies beneath the sands of an oppressive and seemingly arbitrary order? We do not know how men and women in these places come to terms with their desires for peace and justice and their fall into violence. We do not know the Book they claim to adore, the complex yarn of tradition they try to make into one whole cloth. We do not know.</div> <div> We did not know that the creation of the state of Israel, which Westerners saw as their solution to the protection of a people they had tried to destroy, would become the seed and setting of new oppressions and new genocidal impulses. And so today the weeping in Jerusalem has also become the tears of New York and Washington. We are entering a new exile from a world of infantile self-aggrandizement. We have come to the end of the oil age, its last advocates still seeking to prize the last barrels out of Nature's pristine refuges. But are we truly at the beginning of a new age of information, where even the secrets of The Attackers and The Defenders are laid open in the public court of world inspection and opinion? Are we really at the cusp between the age of fossil beds and the age of electromagnetic fields? Are we really entering a faith that cares for our descendants and our creation more than for our ancestors? Or are we entering a new age of darkness, with Vandals at the gates, tearing down even the basis for their own well-being?</div> <div> We know we are at a crossroads where the intersection of ages may be the wind and sun but the steps are our decisions. We face the challenge of trying to fix our path on the stars of common humanity, mutual persuasion, and ecological responsibility while at the same time resisting the bitter winds of retribution, violence, and blind greed. It is a time to pray our way forward, knowing that we don't know, but knowing that we are known by the One who seeks our peace.</div> <div> <I><B>William Johnson Everett</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>September 12, 2001</B></I></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><U>******************************************</U></B></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>5 "Our Grief Is Not A Cry For War"</U></B></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>By Amber Amundson and Ryan Amundson</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <B>[Amber Amundson is the wife of Craig Amundson who was killed by terrorists at the Pentagon on September 11.  Ryan Amundson is Craig's brother. These statements were made following a "Walk for Peace" from Washington, DC to New York to oppose war as the response to the September 11 attacks. They are working with the families of other victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to create an organization of families who do not want their grief used to be used to justify war.) </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Statement by Amber Amundson during Walk For Peace</B></div> <div> <B>Walk4peace@yahoo.com</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>.</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> On September 11, I lost my husband, Craig Scott Amundson, to the suicide</div> <div> attack that occurred at the Pentagon. Almost immediately, I had concerns</div> <div> about the United States' reaction to the attackers. I had fears of further</div> <div> attacks here and abroad. I began to feel pain for the women all over the</div> <div> world who lost, or who were going to lose, their husbands because of</div> <div> September 11.  Despite any anger I had harbored, I knew that I did not want</div> <div> anyone anywhere to feel the deep sorrow I was left with following the</div> <div> travesty of September 11. </div> <bR> <div> Here I am today. My husband Craig Scott Amundson will not die in vain. The</div> <div> Amundson name will ring loud and clear across the world. We do not want</div> <div> war. Along with other family members, we are creating a voice. Please know</div> <div> that we are not comforted by the bombing in Afghanistan. I would like to</div> <div> share a bit of my experience while being part of a walk for healing and</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >peace that was sponsored by </FONT><B>Voices in the Wilderness</B>.<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > Along with family</FONT></div> <div> members, supporters, and friends, we traveled from DC to New York under the</div> <div> banner, "our grief is not a cry for war." </div> <bR> <div> <B>On November 26, I stood before the White House and read this letter:</B></div> <bR> <div>  <B>Dear President Bush</B>:<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > my name is Amber Amundson. I'm a 28-year-old single</FONT></div> <div> mother of two small children.  The reason I am a single mother is because my</div> <div> husband was murdered on September 11, while working under your direction.</div> <div> My husband, Craig Scott Amundson, was an active duty, multi-media</div> <div> illustrator for your Deputy Chief of Staff of Personnel Command, who was</div> <div> also killed. </div> <bR> <div> I am not doing well. I am hurt that the United States is moving forward in</div> <div> such a violent manner.  I do not hold you responsible for my husband's</div> <div> death, but I do believe you have a responsibility to listen to me and please</div> <div> hear my pain. I do not like unnecessary death. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000CC" FACE="Arial" ><B>I do not want anyone to use</B></FONT></div> <div> <B>my husband's death to perpetuate violence. </B></div> <bR> <div> So, Mr. President, when you say that vengeance is needed so that the victims</div> <div> of 9/11 do not die in vain, could you please exclude Craig Scott Amundson</div> <div> from your list of victims used to justify further attacks. I do not want my</div> <div> children to grow up thinking the reason so many people died following the</div> <div> September 11 attack was because of their father's death. I want to show</div> <div> them a world where we love and not hate, where we forgive and do not seek</div> <div> vengeance. </div> <bR> <div> Please Mr. Bush, help me honor my husband. He drove to the Pentagon with a</div> <div> <B>"Visualize World Peace"</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > bumper sticker on his car every morning. He raised</FONT></div> <div> our children to understand humanity and not to fight to get what you want.</div> <div> <B>When we buried my husband, an American flag was laid over his casket. My</B></div> <div> <B>children believe the American flag represents their dad. Please let that</B></div> <div> <B>representation be one of love, peace, and forgiveness</B>.<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > I'm begging you for</FONT></div> <div> the sake of humanity and my children to stop killing. Please find a</div> <div> non-violent way to bring justice to the world. </div> <bR> <div> Sincerely, </div> <div> Amber Amundson. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Statement by Craig's brother, Ryan Amundson:</B></div> <div> Since September 11, many have tried to speak on behalf of the victims'</div> <div> families. When some question the response of the US, supporters of violent</div> <div> retaliation sometimes shout, try to tell that to the victims' families. It</div> <div> is assumed that those most personally affected by the September 11 attacks</div> <div> take comfort in whatever actions our political leaders deem necessary. This</div> <div> assumption is not true. </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >My family is proof. Many other families are proof.</FONT>  <B>We take no comfort in</B></div> <div> <B>the emphasis on military action as a solution to the complex economic and</B></div> <div> <B>political problems that fuel terrorism. In fact, the prospect of more</B></div> <div> <B>killing in the name of justice is horrifying.  Only peace will bring</B></div> <div> <B>comfort. </B></div> <bR> <div> All of us, of course, want peace. The question is are we as a nation on the</div> <div> right path? We are told that our actions to oust the Taliban have been</div> <div> successful so far, but there are many ways of judging success. These</div> <div> actions are not likely to effectively combat the root causes of terrorism.</div> <div> Rather than exploring the reasons for such violent, anti-American sentiment,</div> <div> our nation has first taken the course of violent retaliation. </div> <bR> <div> A wide swathe of people are being punished in hopes of catching the guilty</div> <div> ones in our path of destruction. An untold number of innocent people have</div> <div> already been killed. Humanitarian workers have been hit. What little</div> <div> infrastructure Afghanistan has left is target for destruction. Taliban</div> <div> soldiers, many of whom, who are forced to fight, are being slaughtered by</div> <div> our bombs.  American troops' lives have been lost. Millions risk</div> <div> starvation, and we are promised that this is the, only the beginning. </div> <bR> <div> Is this the path leading to peace, justice and the assurance of safety for</div> <div> American citizens in the years to come? Or is it a further contribution to</div> <div> the cycle of violence? My brother's death being used as a justification for</div> <div> continued violence is an indignity. We don't want to see more widowed</div> <div> mothers like my sister-in-law or more children without a dad like my niece</div> <div> and nephew, or more moms and dads outliving their sons like my parents, or</div> <div> more brothers losing brothers like me. Standing on the rubble, our nation</div> <div> will be no closer to justice and no safer than the day of the attack. </div> <bR> <div> Rather than succumbing to a frenzy of dangerous nationalism, many have</div> <div> remarked that America's situation could be regarded as an opportunity to</div> <div> make the world a better place. Rarely does the entire world come together</div> <div> as it did after September 11. This common bond of sorrow can bring about</div> <div> feelings of openness and cooperation as my family has found, but it takes a</div> <div> commitment to deal with your grief in a healthy way. </div> <bR> <div> It's also going to take a commitment for the United States and the world to</div> <div> deal with this in a healthy, constructive way. Focusing on fear and hatred,</div> <div> while regarding revenge as a source of comfort, is the wrong path.</div> <div> Unfortunately, the United States has followed a destructive course. Our</div> <div> nation's anger is understandable. The crime of 9-11 was an atrocity. It</div> <div> would be inhuman not to feel sorrow as well as anger, but it is also inhuman</div> <div> to act on this anger without first considering the consequences. These</div> <div> consequences are more death and destruction, including the likelihood of</div> <div> more terrorist attacks, possibly nuclear, on US soil. </div> <bR> <div> I understand the anger for myself and my fellow Americans, but I am</div> <div> horrified at the exploitation of these emotions to create an environment of</div> <div> fervent patriotism in which rational discussion is limited for the sake of</div> <div> political goals. Working to stop conditions which breed hate may be more</div> <div> complex and difficult than just dropping bombs, but the existence of evil</div> <div> does not have an easy solution. </div> <bR> <div> We agree that sacrifice is required, but this does not necessarily mean</div> <div> sacrificing the lives of innocent people abroad, our troops or our freedoms</div> <div> here at home. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000CC" FACE="Arial" ><B>The greatest honor to my brother's life would be that his</B></FONT></div> <div> <B>death would mark the end of a vicious cycle of violence.</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > I hoped that</FONT></div> <div> something good could come from something so terrible. This hope</div> <div> disintegrated as I heard the vengeful words of our leaders. When the bombs</div> <div> started falling, I felt like my brother would be just another casualty in</div> <div> the cycle of violence. <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000CC" FACE="Arial" ><B>The attackers got exactly what they wanted, Holy</B></FONT></div> <div> <B>War</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >, with the creation of more violent fanatics on both sides. There is</FONT></div> <div> always hope for some change. People I meet are usually more eager to</div> <div> discuss different points of view than what is presented in the popular</div> <div> media.  There is a strong receptiveness to alternatives, especially when one</div> <div> realizes that emphasizing the military solution will not make our country,</div> <div> or the world, any safer. I just hope that our nation's leaders and the</div> <div> people of our nation can figure that out. Thank you. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Question & Answer Period:</B></div> <bR> <div> Q. I wondered if information about the walk and the text of your letter are</div> <div> available somewhere?</div> <bR> <div> A. Amber Amundson: Yes, it is, you can access it at _ HYPERLINK</div> <div> <B><U>http://www.vitw.org</U></B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >and click on Walk for Peace.</FONT></div> <div> .</div> <bR> <div> Q.  What kind of reception did you get at the White House?</div> <bR> <div> A. Ryan Amundson: Reception? Well, we were told that we were not to stand</div> <div> still. We had about 20 people with us, and I guess in front of the White</div> <div> House if you're holding signs you're not allowed to stand still. So what we</div> <div> had to do was to walk in a circle around Amber while she read her letter.</div> <bR> <div> A. Amber Amundson: And I marched in place. </div> <bR> <div> Q.  How large is your organization? How many other members of families of</div> <div> 9/11 victims are doing things like you're doing?</div> <bR> <div> A. Ryan Amundson: On the walk we were joined by David Petordy (SP?) and</div> <div> Colleen Kelly, both of who lost brothers in the World Trade Center, and</div> <div> there are many other families that we've been in contact with. So far, about</div> <div> eleven have agreed to work together, but this is only the beginning.</div> <div> Different families are just so isolated, and there's no way to really</div> <div> contact each other. So, we're just hoping that we can sort of get the word</div> <div> out and for other families to contact us, so that we can start forming these</div> <div> organizations, that we can have this voice. We have a email address that</div> <div> family members can contact or anyone else can contact for that matter. It's</div> <div> <B><U>Walk4peace@yahoo.com</U></B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>.</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> Q. Do you have any contact with Israeli families of people who've been killed</div> <div> in terrorist attacks who take the same position you do? There's some</div> <div> extraordinary material.  I will get that to you.</div> <bR> <div> A. Amber Amundson: Thank you.</div> <bR> <div> Q. Thank you for being here. What if any response did any of you receive</div> <div> from anybody in the Bush administration? And, I was happy to hear about</div> <div> your husband, brother's, bumper sticker? I don't know how typical of people</div> <div> using the Pentagon parking lot. </div> <bR> <div> A. Amber Amundson: Regarding the bumper sticker, I have a feeling it was</div> <div> probably the only Toyota Corolla at the Pentagon with that bumper sticker.</div> <div> But my husband was certainly well-received within his office, and he was</div> <div> very content where he was at. He was able to speak about his beliefs and</div> <div> was well-respected.  So that's hopeful for me, that within the umbrella of</div> <div> the Pentagon my husband was able to talk about other options and more</div> <div> peaceful ways to communicate internationally.</div> <bR> <div> A. Ryan Amundson:  You asked about a response from the White House. I think</div> <div> on October 26 and then again about a week ago Ann Fleischer was asked what</div> <div> Bush's response is to the families of victims who are opposing the war.</div> <div> Basically, Ann Fleischer said that in the few times that America has been to</div> <div> war, America has won every war it's ever fought because people like us are</div> <div> allowed to speak their mind, and that's why they're fighting this war, for</div> <div> us, so that we can have our freedoms and blah blah blah. It was completely</div> <div> avoidant and dismissive of any of our arguments. </div> <bR> <div> Q. I wonder if you and some of these other families that have been</div> <div> victimized have tried to get on a national TV talk show like Oprah Winfrey.</div> <div> I think that's so valuable when there are millions of people who would hear</div> <div> this point of view. I encourage you to try to do that. </div> <bR> <div> A. Amber Amundson:  About two months ago I worked on an interview, actually</div> <div> Dateline spent the day with me, and I found out that today they will be</div> <div> showing that segment. [The broadcast comes] Only after coaxing. After each</div> <div> live interview I had on the radio, especially nationally syndicated, I would</div> <div> request that people call Dateline and say hey, there's this material. So</div> <div> for any one who helped with that, thank you. Unfortunately, the interview</div> <div> was two months ago, so in my mind, it's a blur. I hope that it's as current</div> <div> as I'm feeling now. We'll see. As far as Oprah and those shows, we've been</div> <div> asked to speak, but I have wanted to have more solid organization before</div> <div> doing that. So, in the future, you'll hear about us. </div> <bR> <div> Q. I was wondering if you could share with us a few experiences in your</div> <div> lives or your husband and brother's life that have led you to this deep</div> <div> commitment to peace.</div> <bR> <div> A. Amber Amundson: I agree with Ryan in what he said earlier. There really</div> <div> is no other way to deal with this or to heal. We feel like we have to speak</div> <div> out, and that we can no longer sit back and let things unfold as they are.</div> <div> The motivation really comes from the life of Craig as we've known him and</div> <div> feeling that we want to continue to talk about the things that he talked</div> <div> about while he was at the Pentagon. Also for my children, so that they can</div> <div> have an understanding of what their father's life meant to me and to the</div> <div> family. </div> <bR> <div> <I><B><U>Walk4peace@yahoo.com</U></B></I><I><B>,</B></I><I><B> or contact the Peace & Economic Security Program of the American Friends Service Committee, 2161 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, Mass. 02140 or  </B></I><I><B><U>AFSCNERO@afsc.org</U></B></I><I><B>.</B></I></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><U>******************************************</U></B></div> <bR> <div> <B><U>******************************************</U></B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>