The MVPJ Steering Committee watched this documentary at our April 2014 meeting. We found it quite compelling. It not only introduces and explains the egrecious nature of U.S. use of drones, but tells true and personal stories of people affected by them. We highly recommend this film!
Our friends at American Muslim Voice invite you to help make this year's peace convention the best yet! Please read the message below from AMV's Samina Sundas.
Dear peace partners,
We have cherished your support for American Muslim Voice Foundation for over a decade now and we have been grateful for that. We are celebrating our 10th year of service to Muslim community and community at large. We would love for you to be a part of this peace convention as we celebrate and look ahead to strengthen our relations to build a better world for our next generations.
1: Please reserve a table. 2: Send us a message for our brochure. 3: Place an ad. 4: Help us with outreach by sending this information to all your contacts so your constituents would have a chance to hear our wonderful diverse, speakers, panelists, presenters and authors on critical issues faced by our communities.
Please do google our speakers, panelists and authors, especially Shane Claiborne.
Malalai Joya spoke out publicly against domination by warlords in 2003. She was one of 68 women elected to the Afghan National Assembly in 2005. A remarkable young woman raised in refugee camps in Iran and Pakistan, she became a teacher in secret girl's schools under the Taliban.
Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice was formed in March 2003 before the United States began the war in Iraq. Since then, we have devoted our efforts to the elimination of war, torture, injustice, and reduction of civil liberties, all guided by the core values of each of our faith traditions. We have prayed, marched, sung, worshiped, advocated, laughed, cried, lamented, protested, served, studied and vigiled on street corners, city plazas, and in mosques, synagogues, churches, meeting houses and parks. We have met with our congress people and learned from our religious leaders. Through it all, we have built strong relationships of trust and respect. In many ways, we have become a community of sisters and brothers across faith lines.
Click here to download a history of our efforts and activities over the past 10 years.
Now we want to take this 10-year anniversary to reflect on actions, the effect we've had on our community and the world, and to think and pray about what we are called to do next.
Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice issued this statement on Sept. 4, 2013. We give thanks for the continued efforts to work for a nonviolent resolution to the tragic conflict in Syria, and urge you to keep the people of Syria in your prayers and support humanitarian efforts on their behalf.
"As people of faith from diverse traditions, Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice joins with a growing number of faith organizations and people of good will around the globe in condemning chemical weapons use in Syria or anywhere, and insisting that the world community, in particular our own United States government, respond to this tragedy using diplomatic and political tools, not military intervention. We implore Congress to refuse to authorize any military action against Syria. Bombing and killing Syrians to send a message that bombing and killing Syrians is wrong makes absolutely no sense.
U.S. military interventions in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan over the last 60 years make it clear that war as a solution to world problems is NOT the answer. By denying the president the authority to use military force against Syria, the United States Congress could bring us one step closer to the end of senseless war.
A growing number of people and organizations of faith and good will are lifting up their voices, calling for diplomatic and nonviolent responses to the Syrian crisis, and opposing military action. Here are a few thoughtful pieces and useful links.
Hear the Executive Secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation Sunday, July 28, 6-8pm Unitarian Universalist Church, Fireside Room 505 E. Charleston Road., Palo Alto, 94306
Multifaith Voices for Peace & Justice is pleased to sponsor this Real World Peacemaking event featuring Diane Randall, the head of the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL).
Founded in 1943 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), FCNL is a multi-issue advocacy group connecting peace, equality, simplicity and truth with the social issues of our nation. FCNL is non-partisan and fields the largest team of registered peace lobbyists in Washington, D.C.
A potluck will begin at 6pm, with the program starting at 7pm. Everyone is welcome. Please bring some food to share if you can.
Film & Discussion Friday, June 8, 7:30pm Unitarian Universalist Church, Fireside Room 505 E. Charleston, Palo Alto
Produced by the National Relgious Campaign Against Torture, "Ending U.S.-Sponsored Torture Forever" is a 20-minute video that reports on the facts about torture by the U.S. government after 9/11, describes the perspectives on torture from a variety of faiths, provides comments from a torture survivor, and addresses how some recent depictions of torture in popular entertainment are misleading (at best), and make it critically important to grow a clear moral consensus against the use of torture.
Please help spread the word! Click here to download a flyer for the event.
Discussion will follow watching the film. Everyone is welcome. The event is free.
Representatives of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, on Friday joined other leaders at a new conference in Washington, D.C., to state that Americans will remain united in the face of developments in the Boston Marathon bombings that include the naming of suspects who are reportedly Muslim.
The CAIR website lists case by case, year by year examples of consistently condemning any form of terrorism. According to their website: "Any Muslim who plans, attempts or carries out a terrorist attack would be acting outside the boundaries of his or her faith and would be repudiated and condemned by our community."
In the same spirit, the Islamic Network Group (ING) issued a statement expressing their prayers which are with all of the victims and their families. ING emphasized that "the ideology of extremists do not reflect the beliefs and practices of the vast majority of the ethnic or religious groups to which the extremists are associated, and that American Muslims vociferously and unequivocally condemn terrorism."
Interfaith Alliance president Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy released a statement from the national group saying that any hatred or violence expressed toward Muslims because the brothers were reportedly Muslim would be "against everything we stand for as Americans."
Californians have a unique role to play in reducing dangerous stockpiles of nuclear weapons as well as helping to reduce the deficit. Our Senator, Dianne Feinstein, is the Chair of the committee that oversees the nuclear weapons budget, and is one of the most important leaders in the Senate on the issue.
That is why an urgent Statewide Call-in Day is planned for Tuesday, April 9th, to show Sen. Feinstein that Californians want to cut spending on nuclear weapons. Please join us in calling on April 9th, or on whichever day you can this week.
Sen. Feinstein agrees that nuclear weapons are dangerous and outdated. However, current plans will have the US spend up to $500 billion in the next decade on these weapons, in direct contradiction to the growing bipartisan consensus* that we could safely cut our nuclear arsenals now and save billions of dollars to invest in our economy.
If we want Sen. Feinstein to take the lead in cutting billions in nuclear weapons spending, she needs to hear from you right now.Please join thousands of people across California joining forces to call Sen. Feinstein on April 9th!
Call Senator Feinstein at (415) 393-0707. Here is a suggested message:
"My name is ____ and I live in _____. I am calling to ask Senator Feinstein to cut wasteful spending on nuclear weapons and new bomb plants." [If appropriate, you may want to add one sentence about how your faith leads you to urge this action.]
Our friends at American Muslim Voice invite you to help make this year's peace convention the best yet! Please read the message below from AMV's Samina Sundas.
Prospects for Afghan Women and Non-Intervention in My Country
Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice was formed in March 2003 before the United States began the war in Iraq. Since then, we have devoted our efforts to the elimination of war, torture, injustice, and reduction of civil liberties, all guided by the core values of each of our faith traditions. We have prayed, marched, sung, worshiped, advocated, laughed, cried, lamented, protested, served, studied and vigiled on street corners, city plazas, and in mosques, synagogues, churches, meeting houses and parks. We have met with our congress people and learned from our religious leaders. Through it all, we have built strong relationships of trust and respect. In many ways, we have become a community of sisters and brothers across faith lines. 
Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice
Hear the Executive Secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation
Film & Discussion 
Representatives of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, on Friday joined other leaders at a new conference in Washington, D.C., to state that Americans will remain united in the face of developments in the Boston Marathon bombings that include the naming of suspects who are reportedly Muslim.