Statement on Charlottesville

We at Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice stand with those vigil attendees in their proclamation that "love wins" and in declaring that hate is not welcome here.

We also acknowledge that what happened in Charlottesville is not new, perhaps only forgotten, as our history of racial, xenophobic and anti-semitic violence runs deep in American history. Our faiths demand that we stand up, name, confront, resist and defeat evil with love and in love's name and we welcome and honor all who share the same commitment.

Together at the Table: A Potluck for Peace

Sunday, August 20
5-7PM
Oshmann Family Jewish Community Center
Outdoors at the Jessica Lynn Saal Town Square
FREE

Hosted by the Oshmann Family Jewish Community Center, this potluck is to honor our diversity and common humanity.  In the face of last week's hateful events, we are dedicating this meal to diversity, inclusion, equality and open conversation. Leave your signs at home and bring a dish to share with your neighbor. (Please no pork or shellfish.) Tableware, cultery and beautiful outdoor setting will be provided by the JCC.

The flyer for the event is required for admission. Please download, print and bring with you.

Rally for Equality and Diversity in Mountain View

Saturday, Aug. 19, 1-3pm
Mountain View City Hall, 500 Castro Street, Mountain View

In response to the planned right-wing "March on Google" this Saturday, August 19, Mountain View Voices for Peace and Justice, along with other organizations and individuals, will be holding a rally in Mountain View Civic Center Plaza to demonstrate our area's support for the human rights principles of equality and diversity. The rally will take place from 1 pm to 3 pm on Saturday, August 19, 2017 at Mercy and Castro Streets in Mountain View.

Click here for more information.

Sept. 11 Peaceful Presence: Multifaith Prayers for Peace & Justice

Mark this Day for Peace, Justice and Inclusion
Monday, September 11, 7-8pm
King Plaza (at Hamilton & Ramona) in Palo Alto

Let us join to affirm our common humanity and shared commitment to a world of peace, justice and inclusion. Prayers, reflections, music and rituals from diverse religious traditions will call us to unity and compassion as we make a public witness for peace. Those of all faiths and of no formal faith are more than welcome.

At 5:30-7pm there will be a Multifaith Peace Picnic, also on King Plaza, sponsored by American Muslim Voice along with many other organizations including MVPJ.  Come for that and have more opportunity to cultivate community and friendship. Our Peaceful Presence Gathering will immediately follow the picnic.

Download flyers by clicking on the ones you want:
Full color PDF
Fill color JPG
background PDF (for easier printing)

URGENT ACTION: Urge Senator Harris and Congresswoman Eshoo to Cosponsor Bill to Restrict First Use of Nuclear Weapons

Urge Congress to send a strong message to the President regarding the very serious threat of the use of nuclear weapons. A long list of cosponsors have signed a bill entitled "Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017" that would deny Trump the authority to use nuclear weapons without a declaration of war by Congress.

In the House, H.R. 699 has 40 cosponsors, including Rep. Speier and Rep. Lofgren. Rep. Anna Eshoo has not yet signed on as a cosponsor. In the Senate S. 900 has 9 cosponsors, including Sen. Feinstein, but Sen. Harris has not yet added her name.

URGE Sen. Harris and Rep. Eshoo to become co-sponsors!  Call or email them today!

EMAIL Sen. Harris.
EMAIL Rep. Eshoo.

March for Nuclear Abolition and Global Survival

Rally, March & Nonviolent Direct Action
Wed., August 9, 8am
Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab
Corner of Vasco & Patterson Pass Road, Livermore

Commemorate the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the place where new US nuclear weapons are created today. Change the future!

Program features:
Daniel Ellsberg (pictured above) - renown whistleblower, former Pentagon War Planner, disarmament advocate
Emma's Revolution (pictured below) - acclaimed singer/songwriter duo of Pat Humphries and Sandy O
Christine Hong - North Korea expert, UC Santa Cruz
Marylia Kelley - nuclear weapons watchdog, Executive Director at Tri-Valley CAREs
Barbara Rose Johnston - advisor to the Marshall Islands radiation claims tribunal, senior research fellow, Santa Cruz
Jan Kirsch, M.D., M.P.H. - medical oncologist, global warming specialist at SF Bay Area Physicians for Social Responsibility
Hibakusha speaker invited

8am Program
9:15am March - Bring large photos of people, animals or nature for which you care deeply; drummers, singers, guitarists, traditional Japanese bon dance & symbolic die-in at the Lab's West Gate followed by an optional opportunity for those who wish to peaceably risk arrest in the gates. Civil disobedience and risking arrest is not expected or required of anyone.

MVPJ is a cosponsor in memory of our dear friend and colleague the Rev. John Beverley Butcher, who faithfully participated in this nonviolent action for many years.

Click here to download a flyer with full information. 

NEW MVPJ Solidarity Team Plans in Place

Multifaith Voices for Peace & Justice (MVPJ) is setting up a process which will allow us to respond quickly with publicly visible acts of solidarity on behalf of any religious, ethnic, or other vulnerable communities in our local area which are being threatened, or which have been harmed or violated in some way.  Examples of triggers could be receipt of hate mail, defacing of property, threats to the well-being of the community or to a member of the community.   Our goal is to gather in response and public solidarity within 24-48 hours of learning about the incident. These MVPJ solidarity responses will be faithful, peaceful demonstrations of solidarity and friendship, and do not require the training necessary for the Rapid Response teams who will be possibly confronting ICE agents or raids.  Supportive, peaceful, faith-based signs may be brought by participants to these public solidarity events. 

 

When an action is needed, our email subject title will be “IMMEDIATE LOCAL RESPONSE NEEDED”, and the body of the email will include instructions as to where and when to gather.

 

Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice Non-Violent Commitment

 

In all actions that it takes, members of Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice commit to the principles of non-violence, and pledge that all their actions will be peaceful, respectful, prayerful and non-violent.

MVPJ Statement on Supreme Court Ruling on Muslim Ban

Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice is gravely concerned by the recent Supreme Court decision, allowing partial reinstatement of President Trump’s Muslim ban, pending court review of the issue.  We are gratified that the Court greatly restricted the ban, by ruling that those with “bona fide relationships” with persons in the U.S. are to be admitted.  But we are deeply alarmed that, pending Court review, U.S. law now restricts entry for Muslims from the six majority-Muslim countries named in the ban.  We believe that this sets a profoundly dangerous precedent, permitting religiously based discrimination against Muslims in American immigration policy.  We share heartfelt distress with our Muslim friends and neighbors who await future court decisions in fear, and we renew our determination to object with all our might to discrimination against Muslims in our country.  If any one of us is persecuted, we all suffer as Americans, as a nation, and as a human family.  We will not stand idly by as our neighbors and friends are victimized and as our country closes its doors to people in need of refuge.

Multifaith Voices for Peace & Justice
June 29, 2017 

Multifaith Prayers for Peace on 11th of the Month

Monthly Multifaith Prayers for Peace
7-7:30pm on 11th of every month
Friday, August 11, 7-7:30: Palo Alto Friends Meeting House

In the midst of difficult times, Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice will host “Peaceful Presence,” a monthly prayer service on the evening of the 11^th of each month, offering a time of quiet multifaith prayers for peace and strength for the journey.  All are welcome: those of all faith traditions and of no defined faith, those who are suffering at the hands of their own government, those who need a pause in the midst of intensive work on behalf of others, and all who would like to pray with others for the well-being of all.  The prayer time will include elements from several religious traditions.

Upcoming:
Friday, August 11, 7-7:30: Palo Alto Friends Meeting House, 957 Colorado Ave., Palo Alto - Click here for map.
Monday, September 11 PUBLIC WITNESS, 7-8pm in Downtown Palo Alto

CAIR on SCOTUS 'Muslim Ban' Decision

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, said the recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court allowing a limited version of the Trump administration’s “Muslim ban” executive orders to take effect ignores the Islamophobic origins of the policy and emboldens Islamophobes in the Trump administration.

Click here to read the full statement.

For a court summary and more on what the ruling means, click here.