Women Say No to War - 3/8/06 International Women’s Day

Sister Joan Chittister said on September 11th, 2004, at the Omega /V Day “Women and Power” conference... “The lives of our children, the protection of millions, the hopes of all humankind, wait again now for women from opposite cultures and opposite tradition, to step over the line of political hatred to save them.”

Sister Chittister said that women can make a difference! She gave powerful statements! She stated in her speech that women must “demand the feminine alternatives of listening and seeing and caring and relating and reaching out and feeling for the other that lead the world away from war!”

The whole speech is forceful, illustrating why women have the right to demand changes in the world regarding war and peace. Sister Joan stated,  “War is not inevitable. War is planned. War is a choice.” She also stated, “Women have everything to do with war.” Women can “lead the world away from war… Say no, no, no to war! We need an antidote to extremism... The world is waiting for women to step over the lines of political hatred.”

“Women are unasked and unarmed before war.”

“Women are the booty of war.”

“Women are forgotten and un-mourned.”

“Women are abandoned in the ashes of war.”

“Women’s homes and families are ruined.”

“Women’s issues are never negotiated or redressed in peace treaties.”

“Women are trafficked to satisfy the war mongers and forced into sexualslavery.”

“Women are never counted as victims.”

“War falls longest, hardest, and cruelest on the backs of women and children.”

“Women bear the sons, bury the dead, and are left alone.”

"Women die, too, from bombs and bullets...

Die in tent cities without medicines,without clothing,without sons and husbands...

Die seeing their daughters do the same.”

Sister Chittister said women are displaced because of war, placed in rape camps, “we so genteelly call refugee camps.” The world must stop fighting against the “stings of the past” and “we must give our hearts to constructing the future.”

Sister Chittister exclaimed:

“Cry out… to the ends of the world.”

“Clearly, it time for women to save the world.”

“We must preach from the housetops.”

To paraphrase Sister Chittister, women must be in the forefront because being first brings “courage and hope to others.” Women must take responsibility for stopping war “in a world gone mad with arrogance, with ascendancy to patriarchal power.” Women must refuse to be victims or executioners. Women must prod, press, and provoke to change the world. There must be a universal call to women and an organized international voice for peace. It is crucial now.

Sister Chittister spoke of religion, spirituality and enlightenment. Religion, she said, is a means to sanctity. Religious rights and parochial rules cannot be absolute or we do religion and God an injustice. Spirituality is about one’s responsibility of giving life, preserving life and valuing life. Enlightenment is the ability to see beyond the normal and the enlightened become a torch to show the way.

Women, the world needs you! NOW! If all the women in the world get together for peace, who is going to stop you? All the women must come together because there is going to be violence. History has taught us that war will come again. Only a PRO-ACTIVE, MANDATE, will prevent war. It is time for a pre-emptive strike against war, world wide!

Women can fight a WAR where very few will die. Some will die, but the cause is worthwhile. Otherwise the suffering from violent war is 1,000 times worse. This is a challenge of a lifetime. Will women arise to the occasion before war begins? The strength will come from non-violence.

Martin Luther King said, “ Nonviolence does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship and understanding… it avoids not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. The nonviolent resister not only refuses to shoot his opponent but he also refuses to hate him. At the center of nonviolence stands the principle of love… if I respond to hate with a reciprocal hate, I do nothing but intensify the cleavage in a broken community. I can only close the gap in a broken community by meeting hate with love. (King, 1994, pp.211-214)

Sister Chittister said that women “must take a voice until they are given a voice.” Women must call their leaders and demand a world wide movement! If women knew in advance that women around the world, in every city, in every country, were massing to demand “no more war,” they would join and the world would take notice! A women’s movement to stop war will transcend political, national, spiritual, and religious boundaries. A women’s movement to stop war inevitably addresses women's issues and addresses societal issues.

Millions of women together will eliminate the fear of trying. Women leaders must rally the masses of women, so that women will lead the way for others to follow. Without the use of fear and oppression, women can illustrate the strength of “unity” to empower people, women and men, and initiate paradigm change.

Thank you, Medea! Thank you, CODEPINK!! Thank you to the women around the world who signed the petition, WOMEN SAY NO TO WAR! Thank you Sister Joan! Thank you to all the women’s peace organizations! Thank you to all the women leaders!

Andre Sheldon -  A male supporter of the women’s peace movement.

On March 8, International Women's Day, 2003, thousands of women marched on the White House in Washington DC, demanding peace and standing up for the values of caring and compassion. The march included a pageant of giant puppets and an attempt to encircle the White House with giant pink ribbon. Below is Starhawk's fable to inspire the pageant.

The River of Life… By Starhawk

Once a people lived along the banks of the river of life… The river of life is a river of sweet water, that awakens the seeds of spring and nourishes all growing things.

The river of life is a storm wind, blowing fresh across the earth. The river of life is the deep molten fire that shakes the continents. And the people should have had all they needed for happiness and joy, But they were plagued by a terrible monster, the triple-headed monster of Greed, Hate, and War.

Greed sucked up all the colors of life and locked them inside his fortress.

Hate severed the threads of love and taught the people to fear each other.

War threatened destruction to anyone who opposed the monster's rule.

And the people were separate, and afraid, and poor. The threads of connection were frayed. The fabric of care unraveled. And War took the young and marched them off to slaughter and die in places far away. Greed stole their future... The river of life ran dry.

The women saw the springs go barren, the new sprouts fail, the trees die, and the hills turn brown… And they wept and mourned, and didn’t know what to do. The women, too, were divided, for some had more and some had less. Old wounds and present injustices kept them apart. But as War shook his fist, and threatened to unleash weapons to destroy the earth... The women turned to each other; they said: "We are scraps of a torn fabric, but if we tie them together, we can bind wounds, dry tears, weave a net to carry heavy loads. "We must amplify love, and throw off dread, Take back our power and spin a thread, A life-line, held in our strong hands, A living web of shining strands. "And our hands remember how to spin. We spin freedom on the rising wind, We spin threads of life, the cords of fate, We spin love into a river that can overrun hate. "We spin justice burning like a flaming star; We spin peace into a river that can overcome war. And if you want to know where true power lies, Turn and look into your sisters' eyes.

"So come mothers and grandmothers, Lovers and daughters. Come spinners and weavers, Tool makers, potters, Dancers and dreamers, Fixers and changers, Singers and screamers. Forget all the dangers. Come ancestors, guardians, Goddesses too,

You who teach us, you who speak true,

You who plant, and you who reap,

You who soar and you who creep,

You who cook, and you who drum,

You who have been, and you yet to come,

You who fight with the sword, You who fight with the pen.

Unreasonable women, Unmanageable men.

Come harpies and banshees and gorgons and Witches;

Come sweet loving hearts and furious bitches!"

"Break the chains that have kept us bound. Weave a web to pull the monster down.

In the face of truth, no lie can stand. Weave the vision, strand by strand.

"We are sweet water, we are the seed, We are the storm wind to blow away greed.

We are the new world we bring to birth; The river rising to reclaim the earth."

-- Starhawk Copyright (c) 2003 by Starhawk.

All rights reserved. This copyright protects Starhawk's right to publication of her work. Nonprofit, activist, and educational groups may circulate this essay (forward it, reprint it, translate it, post it, or reproduce it) for nonprofit uses. Please do not change any part of it without permission. Readers are invited to visit the web site: www.starhawk.org.

Practicing peace and sustainability in your own life might be enough if you were a rural Namibian. As an American citizen your peaceful life is made possible by the environmental devastation and the death of millions perpetrated by your government with your tax dollars. In such a situation, you have a responsibility to work to stop your government’s wanton destruction.

Hopi River Message

You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour. Now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour.

And there are things to be considered: Where are you living? What are you doing? What are your relationships? Are you in right relation? Where is your water? Know your garden. It is time to speak your truth. Create your community. Be good to each other. And do not look outside yourself for the leader. This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold onto the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and they will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, Push off into the middle of the river. Keep our eyes open and our heads above the water. See who is in there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally. Least of all, ourselves. For the moment that we do, Our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt. The time of the lone wolf is over.

Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we've been waiting for.

The Elders Oraibi, Arizona Hopi Nation

The Original Mother's Day Proclamation
Mother's Day was not created by Hallmark to sell cards. The First Mother's Day was a passionate demand for disarmament and peace. As we prepare to celebrate Mother’s Day this Sunday, let’s remember the holiday’s original intention and do whatever is necessary to make peace a reality.

Julia Ward Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation - 1870

Arise then...women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts! Whether your baptism be of water or of tears! Say firmly: "We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies, Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, For caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We, the women of one country, Will be too tender of those of another country To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs." From the bosom of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice." Blood does not wipe out dishonor, Nor violence indicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil At the summons of war, Let women now leave all that may be left of home For a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means Whereby the great human family can live in peace... Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar, But of God - In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask That a general congress of women without limit of nationality, May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient And the earliest period consistent with its objects, To promote the alliance of the different nationalities, The amicable settlement of international questions, The great and general interests of peace.

Today…

Women are leaving home to gather in 7 congresses on 7 continents – www.gatherthewomen.org

Women are leaving  home to march on Washington, D.C. from May 14 – June 14 – www.codepink4peace.org

I challenge YOU to do something to end the violence.