Beginning Peace Builders (Session I): Children ages 6 – 12
When: July 13 – 18, with a Friday night campout

Where: Sacred Heart Church, 2021 W. Pikes Peak Avenue (both sessions)
Cost: Only $125! Scholarships are available.

Contacts: Suzie Hodges or Amy Spaulding, Peace Camp Directors at
(719) 632-6189 or peacecamp@ppjpc.org.

Peace Camp 2009 is coming! Registration forms are available now at the Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission downtown: 332 W. Bijou St., Ste 106 or at the above phone number and Web site.

For years the Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission has offered this unique camp experience for the youth of the Pikes Peak region.  Children will expand their minds as they learn what it means to become peacemakers in our diverse world.  Each of the days will focus on a different aspect of peace: Peace with Self, Peace with Neighbors, Peace with the Earth, Peace with the World, and Becoming Peace Builders.

Session I: Beginning Peace Builders will discover peace with themselves, their neighbors, the environment, and the world through arts & crafts, songs, skits, and games. These young peace builders will learn how children in other cultures live in order to build understanding and tolerance.  Advanced Peace Builders will discover different aspects of peace as they do yoga, arts & crafts, environmental experiments, and bike ride the downtown area in the Ride for Peace.  These older children will also learn about war, displacement, and poverty through the eyes of children around the world who have been affected by these tragedies.

Other camp highlights include a Hunger Banquet, field trips, special guests, and a Friday night campout at Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp.  (Pick up for the overnight will be Saturday at noon at Sacred Heart Church)

We are also offering a Peace Builders in Training Program for 13- and 14-year-olds during Session I to equip young teenagers with leadership skills.  Cost is $50.

Please call or e-mail Suzie or Amy with any questions.  We look forward to seeing your children there!

The J&P is hosting a discussion series entitled, “Justice, Peace and the Obama Era: Barack, Jesus, Adam Smith and Us,” meeting from 6:30-8 p.m. the next two Mondays at the J&P office. The past two meetings, facilitated by Bill Durland, J&P board chair and self-proclaimed “Christian activist, pacifist, radicalist,” brought together 15 individuals to reflect on “real change” in the upcoming Obama era.

The attendees began by discussing Obama’s election and his “middle of the road” bipartisan approach to politics thus far, which, according to Durland, has garnered him a popularity rating among Americans of 86 percent and support from even staunch conservatives like Pat Buchanan.

But the circumstances of those outside the United States soon took precedence in the conversation, especially the conflict in Gaza. Earl Lash, a WWII veteran, farmer and retired banker, voiced his opinion on the Middle East strongly, saying, “I think there’s a better way to settle arguments than blow the hell out of people.”  He cited the U.S.’ approximately $8 billion dollars in aid to Israel last year — more than to any other single nation — as fuel for the conflict.

“From a peace perspective, I have real concerns,” agreed former J&P board member Esther Kisamore.  “Even Obama wants to strengthen the military.  We can never put our hopes in one political figure.  A lot depends on grassroots movements.”

Later in the discussion, Board Secretary Genie Durland said that Americans might respond differently to the situation in the Middle East if they were better informed. “The Palestinian territories are under brutal Israeli military control … and the Palestinians have had their own Nakba Holocaust,” she said.  “Of no one wants rockets to be fired, but we have to understand both sides.”

In regards to foreign relations in general, the group discussed the increasingly globalized nature of our world.  “When I was younger, it took 16 and half days to get to Manila,” said Earl Lash.  “But with Internet and phones, we’re now next-door neighbors to people on the other side of the world.  Why would we want to kill our neighbors?  Do we kill each other in Denver and Colorado Springs?”

While issues of peace in general and the Middle East in particular dominated the conversation, other current events, including the need for universal healthcare for the poor, lifting the embargo on Cuba, and the local issue of Fort Carson’s expansion were touched upon in the course of the evening. 

Two action steps were also proposed — a vigil in honor of the occupation of Palestine and more involvement with Colorado Spring’s City Council.  Both will be discussed further at future meetings.

“I’m trying to balance myself between idealism and pragmatism,” Betty Kerwin, a retired area school social worker and teacher said to the group. “I must be hopeful so I can be active.”

“Justice, Peace, and the Obama Era” discussions will continue on Jan. 19 and 26. All are welcome to attend.

The women attempted to peacefully walk onto the base as part of Aug. 8’s Sisters Witness Against War, when they were arrested. Two days before the trial, Judge Warren ruled that the defendants could not present the defense they had planned. They subsequently changed their plea to “no contest,” figuratively turning their backs on the court’s unruly treatment of their explanation of innocence.

The end result was a deferred sentence and a day and a half of community service for Cunningham and a week for Huber and Kisamore. Afterwards, 40 persons who came to hear their very moving statements to the judge, a military veteran, gathered outside the courtroom in solidarity with these heroes for peace.

The Presidential race is over, much earlier than many of us expected, and Barack Obama has won by a landslide.  Will his victory be a victory for the peace movement?  For the environmental movement?  For social and economic justice?  That is for us to decide.  Carlos Fierro, writing at Counterpunch, summarizes our challenge well.

We don’t need another Lincoln, or an Obama; what we need is more Fredrick Douglasses and Harriet Beecher Stowes.  We need more Martin Luther Kings, Big Bill Haywoods, and Helen Kellers.  We don’t need more FDRs, we need more Eugene Debs.  We don’t need more JFKs, we need more Philip Berrigans.  We don’t need to look to great men to lead us to the promised land, we need to recognize the power that we, the nameless and “the powerless,” possess when we assert our power rather than make assertions of faith directed at the great leader myths.

The big question is whether the remarkable and inspiring grassroots movement that propelled Obama to the Presidency will become a force capable of dragging the political class toward the just society we all want.  For PPJPC the challenge is to help those good people  do just that, and for those good people…. it’s time to get to work.  Come by the new office on Saturday from 2-5, and we can begin the conversation anew.