www.FoodNotBombs.net addresses two of my favorite issues in one stroke. It questions how we can spend incredible amounts of money on munitions to kill hundreds of thousands of people and ruin millions of lives while people around the globe go hungry or starve every single day. Then they take up their slotted spoons and spatulas, go forth and feed people.

Sometimes the results can be rather odd. A young man was arrested in Orlanda, FL back in April for feeding too hungry many people and potentially faces six months in prison for his “crime.” Apparently he was serving stew in a public park and the law is that up to 25 people is legally considered a picnic, but 26 or more requires a permit or permits. A police officer counted as he ladled stew into hungry people’s bowls and when he delivered the 30th ladle, he was immediately arrested. (You can’t make this stuff up, but just in case you think I might have dislodged several cerebal screws on this one, check for yourself.

If you didn’t click through, I’ll provide the relevant part of the page here:

A volunteer with Orlando Food Not Bombs was arrested April 4, 2007 for sharing more than 25 people vegan food.
Undercover officers filmed the food line, meticulously counting Montanez serving 30 unidentified persons food from a large pot utilizing a ladle,according to an arrest affidavit. Food Not Bombs volunteer Eric Montanez, 21, was arrested Wednesday, April 4th for feeding the hungry in Orlando, Florida in the United States. This past July the cities of Orlando, Florida and Las Vegas, Nevada passed laws making it illegal to feed the hungry. Other cities also tried to ban Food Not Bombs but their efforts failed. The City of San Francisco made over 1,000 arrests starting on August 15, 1988 but after spending over a million dollars and failing to stop the group the city gave up and let Food Not Bombs continue with it’s work. When the public saw you could get arrested for feeding the hungry people from all over the world contacted San Francisco Food Not Bombs to see how they could start a local chapter.

Who knew that feeding people is as subversive an activity as trying to get people to stop supporting killing people in mass quantities? *sigh*

Promoting peace where war currently holds sway, preventing war where there currently is none and rejecting the use of torture by ANYONE ANYWHERE ANYTIME for ANY PURPOSE, beginning with anyone acting on behalf of the United States, MUST be PRIMARY among the causes we support.

Get out of your BarcaLounger or LazyBoy and email or phone your Congressperson and Senator, and any other representative who sits on a committee with influence in this area TODAY!

(The complete “Whereas” sections edited for length . . .)

“THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the delegates of the 139th Annual Meeting of the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ, urge the United States to continue working cooperatively on international plans to resolve peacefully the dispute with Iran concerning nuclear power and development of nuclear weapons and not to engage in a pre-emptive strike against the government and people of Iran, but rather to call upon countries, including the United States, to reduce their nuclear armaments toward the goal of eliminating such weapons of mass destruction; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Connecticut Conference and national staff of the United Church of Christ provide information and suggestions to enable member churches and individual members to understand better the issues related to nuclear weapons, to different cultures and mores, particularly those in Iran and other Middle Eastern Countries, and to provide guidelines for constructive actions to promote peace and justice; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the local churches and individual church members be urged to communicate to members of the United States government and to the media their concerns and convictions relating to the possession, development and use of nuclear weapons by any country and their desire for a peaceful resolution of the dispute the United States and other nations have with Iran.”

I fell over this while looking for any evidence of follow-up/follow-thorugh on the Just Peace proposal for Action adopted by GS15, either on the national or conference or any other level, (still looking and not finding .. .)

I have never heard of this before, either in church or outside of church. Has anyone else seen or heard any educational efforts or calls to communicate with our representatives regarding this?

The reportedly “accidental” joyride 6 nuclear-tipped cruise missiles took mounted under the wings of a B52 from North Dakota to an AF base in Louisiana this past week, (said base is used as a jumping off point for operations in Iraq), coupled with the increasingly loud saber rattling by the Bush/Cheney administration, makes it IMPERATIVE that far greater and more visible attention be paid to this resolution’s directive than has been done thus far.

Surely none of us want to be sitting on our hands, shaking our heads in dismay as bombs, possibly nuclear missiles, rain down on Iran, moving moderate Muslims world-wide who are currently on the fence about the U.S. to a new-found, extremist, radical violent opposition to the U.S.

We have biblical justification and practical motivation to put this resolution into action IMMEDIATELY. How do we go about doing so?

Friday, September 21st is the International Day of Peace. As we look around the world, we see far too little peace, far too much war, and the possibility of still more war on the horizon.

Today we urge you, in Christ’s name, to take the time to prayerfully and seriously consider what has happened and continues to happen daily in Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur and other places around the world, as well as what may be threatening to happen in Iran. Consider how we as disciples of Christ are to act and react to the seemingly endless hatred and killing.

Today we urge Christians to stand up and say, “Enough! No more!” Today we urge UCC congregations to become pro-active – to let all know that no longer will you stay silent for fear of causing upset, for what is at stake is much more than mere lack of conflict in our communities. It is time for our churches to live out the reality of Jesus’ statement “I came not to bring peace but division” by becoming one of the blessed peacemakers, of a real peace that is Just in God’s eyes, that loves our neighbor even when they are our enemy, and that values the life of each of God’s children over the desire to “not rock the boat” in our churches and in our communities.

I’ve also discovered just how fractured and dissonant the UCC is today. I’ve understood that intellectually and in the abstract for a while now, but I have a new, personal, nearly visceral appreciation of it after the events of the last week. I’m not going to rehash all that, but instead begin again at the first hopeful point I’ve seen since last Thursday.

I’ve heard, both in my own congregation and on ucc.org, that the 100k for Peace letter is too political and insufficiently pastoral. I rejected that at first in my desperation to get Peace “on the table.” Having seen the wider reaction to it, having had some time to digest what I’ve heard, and especially after reading the beginning of a more appropriate letter this morning, I decided that it would be worth while in many ways to start this site as a workspace in which those who seek an alternative message for the International Day of Peace can collaborate on a “replacement” pastoral letter.

I’ve attached my first edit of Deb K’s thoughts, (originally posted on ucc.org), on what this alternative might look like. Feel free to download it, comment on it, add to it, edit it, re-name it by replacing my initials with your own on your version of UCC Thoughts on the Int’l Day of Peace 2007 and attach it to your own post. Kind of like a progressive supper, but with food for thought instead of food.

Peace be with you, and with us all,

Dave Cope