Rice for our Iraqi "enemies"?

Date: Fri, 7 Feb 2003 11:57:40 -0400 (AST)
From: Paul A Falvo <pfalvo@chebucto.ns.ca>
To: Sustainable Maritimes <sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca>
Precedence: bulk
Return-Path: <sust-mar-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>

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Be sure to read the ending ... about how a similar campaign may have
averted nuclear war in the 1950s ... 

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Over the last six years, approximately 25,000  people  have died from acts
of terrorism,  worldwide.

 Over that same period, 52 million people   have died from preventable
hunger; about 24,000 people  per  day.

                        Patterns of Global  Terrorism,
                        Bureau of Public  Affairs,
                        U.S. Department of State, 2000


The following article  is courtesy of a United Church Faith in Action
committee  newsletter:

The following action has its roots in the Christian scripture upon which
Bush says his crusade is based.  Please, do what you can.  We may  never
know what impact our efforts have.  We may not be  "successful".  All we
are called to be is faithful.      "We can do no great things.  We can only
do small things with  great love." (Mother Theresa)


   1.    Place 1/2 c. uncooked rice in a small plastic bag (a snack-sized
bag or    sandwich bag works fine).  Squeeze out excess air and seal the
bag.   2.    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."   3.    Place the paper
and bag of rice in an envelope (either a letter-sized or    small padded
mailing envelope - both are the same cost to mail) and address it    to:

President George Bush
White House - 1600 Pennsylvania    Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500

    4.    Make a second package and mail it to (you don't need to affix
postage    if mailing within Canada):

 Prime Minister Jean    Chretien
 Office of the Prime Minister
 80 Wellington    Street
 Ottawa, Ontario
 K1A    0A2


Drop this in the mail TODAY. It is    important to act NOW so
that President Bush and Prime Minister Chretien    get our letters as soon
as possible!  In order for this protest to be    effective, there must be
hundreds of thousands of such rice deliveries to the    White House and
Parliament Hill. We can do this if we all forward this message    to our
friends and family. If we get the message out, there will be packets
from hundreds of thousands of people!  5.

   There is a positive history of this protest! 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 non-violent 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 US 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 US
feed  the Chinese, he certainly wasn't going to consider using nuclear
weapons against  them."
 People Power: Applying Non-violence Theory by David H. Albert, p. 43, New
Society, 19.

 If you want to pass this on, paste this text onto a new message  rather
than just forwarding it.  It makes for easier  reading.

 Thank you all for being people of hope.



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SUST-MAR TIP:  our archives are http://www.chebucto.ca/lists/sust-mar

CBC enviro news-briefs follow:
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FULL STORY:
http://cbc.ca/stories/2003/02/06/powell_rxn030206__

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