riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) (11/01/84)
What would you do if the U.S. invaded Nicaragua or El Salvador tomorrow?
Here's one possible answer:
At the present moment, thousands of men and women across the United
States are helping to organize and participate in the Emergency Response
Network to block or halt U.S. intervention in Central America. These
people are pledging to engage in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience if
the United States invades, bombs, sends combat troops or otherwise
significantly escalates its intervention in Nicaragua or El Salvador. If
such an invasion should occur, this nonviolent action will bring the
issue dramatically before the North American people, will pressure
Congress to act, and will signal the unwillingness of thousands of U.S.
citizens to support the war. [From a brochure prepared by the Austin ERN
task force.]
Becoming a part of the Emergency Response Network involves making a commitment
to one or more of three levels of participation: Resistance (nonviolent civil
disobedience), Witness and Support (legal vigils and demonstrations in
conjunction with the above), and Ongoing Work (newsletters, publicity,
letter-writing, etc.). Here in Austin the Network has specific plans for the
resistance portion of the response: volunteers will peacefully occupy
Congressional offices within 24 hours of a U.S. invasion and refuse to leave
until the invasion has stopped. At least as important is the ongoing work:
The U.S. is already at war in Central America. One of the purposes of
forming the Emergency Response Network is to raise awareness in our
community and to work to replace present U.S. policies in Central America
with policies that promote peace and justice. It is also our hope that
the very existence of the Emergency Response Network will prevent the
escalation of the war by deterring a U.S. invasion of Central America.
[From the Austin brochure.]
The Emergency Response Network was originally proposed by members of the
Christian peace movement and has spread beyond it to include other communities
as well. National endorsers as of a few months ago included Witness for
Peace, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Fellowship of
Reconciliation, Pax Christi, Clergy and Laity Concerned, the American Friends
Service Committee, SANE and Sojourners, among others. The actual work of the
Network, however, is done by local groups in individual communities across the
country. If anyone is interested, I can post a list of regional co-ordinators
of Witness for Peace or the AFSC who can help you get in touch with people
working on the Emergency Response Network in your town.
For more information, see the article "A Pledge of Resistance" by Jim Wallis
in the August 1984 issue of the Christian peace magazine "Sojourners."
--- Prentiss Riddle ("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.")
--- {ihnp4,harvard,seismo,gatech,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddle
[Apologies for the first, incorrect, posting if I didn't cancel it fast enough.]cem@intelca.UUCP (Chuck McManis) (11/07/84)
What ever happened to writing your congressperson? If enough people
really are against it, (not say, 1000 people who manage to get their
picture in the press for violating the law simultaneously) and they
tell their representitives, then the government will not increase
its central american activities. It certainly worked for the Reagan
tax cut, which would have never passed had it not been for the
overwhelming support shown by the American people. The ERN sounds
like another attempt at disrupting the government by a small group
of people. Who benefits from this? Certainly not central america,
or the people of the united states, it only makes us look bad on
international T.V. Why not use government rather than abuse it, and
let it work the way it was designed.
--
-- Chuck - - - D I S C L A I M E R - - -
{ihnp4,fortune}!dual\ All opinions expressed herein are my
{proper,idi}-> !intelca!cem own and not those of my employer, my
{ucbvax,hao}!hplabs/ friends, or my avocado plant. :-}
ARPAnet : "hplabs!intelca!cem"@Berkeleymyers@uwvax.UUCP (Jeff Myers) (11/09/84)
> What ever happened to writing your congressperson? If enough people > really are against it, (not say, 1000 people who manage to get their > picture in the press for violating the law simultaneously) and they > tell their representitives, then the government will not increase > its central american activities. Most congresspersons have their minds either made up already or are only influenced by events. I have the choice of writing Congressman Bob Kastenmeier, one of the few members of Congress who has had a consistent non-militaristic bent since Vietnam or Senator Redneck Kasten. I've written to Kasten twice -- once to register my disapproval of the shoot-first-ask- questions-later invasion of Grenada, and once to encourage him to support the defeated Civil Rights Act of 1984 (which he didn't, being a SF). In both cases, I got replies indicating that he, too, was concerned about the issue, and that I could be sure that he would consider the matter carefully. You can only beat your head against the wall so many times before you see the stars! I've gotten more reasonable replies when I've written or called Kastenmeier, but he needs little convincing to be on the correct side of most issues. The major problem with writing to a politician is that it does absolutely nothing to educate those who are not professional politicians. That's what grassroots movements are all about. If you prefer to sit on your butt and write letters, I encourage you to do so, because it can be especially important in regard to those issues which have received little attention (maltreatment of Eddie Carthan, Leonard Peltier, problems with a local branch of govt, etc.). But don't sit on your duff and tell others to close their traps and write their reps when they realize how little good it usually does. -- Jeff Myers The views above may or may not University of Wisconsin-Madison reflect the views of my employers. ARPA: myers@wisc-rsch.arpa uucp: ..!{allegra,heurikon,ihnp4,seismo,uwm-evax}!uwvax!myers