Happy Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday!!  Please take heart, for no matter what, we do what we do so at least we'll not be changed to conformity and mindless loyalty.  I believe that the hour of tribulation is upon us, and I for one say enough is enough when a world power like our United States of America shows such relentless arrogance and disdain.  If this government goes to war, it shall not be said that we didn't show equal relentlessness on behalf of the values and principles that Dr. King so beautifully expresses.  Wherever you are when you receive this message, please consider joining with other "angry and gentle people" in solidarity with the ordinary people of the world - our sisters and brothers in Iraq and our sisters and brothers who live homeless on the streets of the wealthiest country in the world. These next several weeks will be key for a miracle to happen, and perhaps we can have a hand in this...  Let us also join in solidarity with the many thousands who will march in Washington DC and San Francisco this Saturday - 1/18 and all around the earth.  Truly, we are not alone in this affair.

jmk/center for justice, peace & environment/stp
Fort Collins, Colorado/970-419-8944/PO Box 400, 80522
 

Saturday, January 18th, 12 noon - 1 PM, in Northern Colorado, Fort Collins:
Join us at the peace demonstration on the corner of Mulberry and College Avenue.  Bring friends to the corner (I am reminded that in 1991 during the first Gulf War, we had 1,500 people marching up College Avenue.), and perhaps we can turn out 500 people on Saturday to march along College Avenue.  It could happen, and now is the time.  Bring a boom box/radio, as KGNU is live-broadcasting the actions in DC and San Francisco.  Afterwards, from 1:15 - 3:30 PM, people will gather at United Campus Ministry, 629 S. Howes, for sign making to prepare for the MLK march on 1/20.  Bring cookies, juice or paint brushes if you can.  All other supplies will be provided.

Saturday, January 18th, 6:30 PM, in Northern Colorado, Fort Collins:
Join us for a Peace Potluck at A Place for Peace, 1605 W. Mulberry to celebrate this year’s Hour for Peace and to meet and dialogue events and coalition work for 2003.  Info: 493-1495 - Cheryl.

Monday, January 20th, 11 AM, in Northern Colorado, Fort Collins:
Join us for a strong anti-war presence at the Fort Collins Martin Luther King Jr. March and Celebration.  Meet at the Colorado State University Music Bldg.  (CSU Oval).  Bring signs, noise makers and boom boxes/radios.  We will be transmitting Dr. King's anti-Vietnam War speech (excerpted below) on 88.9 FM while we march from the CSU Oval to Old Town.  Ya Basta!  Bring your friends and family, and thanks for bringing beauty to this world.

Wednesday, January 22nd, 7 PM, in Northern Colorado, Fort Collins:
Join us for an evening with Elias Amidon and Rabia Roberts - Bearing Witness In Iraq.  These folks just returned from two months in Iraq and will share their experiences and insights. (See previous e-mail.)
 

"A time comes when silence is betrayal.  Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men [sic] do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war.  Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world.  Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexing as they often do in the case of dreadful conflict, we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty. But we must move on."

"A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, "This way of settling differences is not just."  A nation that continues year and year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."

"We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation. We must move past indecision to action. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who posses power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight."

"Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves in the long and bitter, but beautiful struggle for a new world.  If we will butmake the right choice, we will be able to speed up the day, all over America and all over the world, when
justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."

"May our country, on the brink of war, take to heart the final refrain of "America, the Beautiful": "America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw,  Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law."
 

Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.  Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her and she shall keep thee.  Wisdom is the principal thing: therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.