Twins Game Cancelled, but Peace Continues

Rats. Too much rain in Elizabethton, so gassy night with the Twins is cancelled. We will plan another night out soon.

In the meantime, I leave for sunny California Saturday morning to participate in the Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference. I am excited to meet some Presby peaceniks. I am not hip enough to own a laptop, so I probably won't be blogging unless they have computers set up for the homeless.

I am going to try to get a pic with our new mod, Bruce Reyes-Chow, that is if he is willing to be seen with a heretic like me!

In terms of peace, Witherspoon just posted a response from the Washington Office of the PC(USA) urging Presbys to tell their representatives "No war with Iran!"

The dangerous climate created by the current tensions between the United States and Iran could lead to war. Both governments need to commit to diplomatic talks to ease the tensions and reduce the likelihood of armed conflict.

A majority of the U.S. public supports diplomacy with Iran, but members of Congress have introduced legislation that could lead to war. New legislation in the House (H.Con. Res. 362) calls for new sanctions on Iran and demands that the president initiate a partial land, sea, and air blockade of Iran. A blockade, even a partial one, is an act of war.

At last month’s General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) a resolution was adopted opposing preemptive war with Iran, either by the United States or any other nation. The Assembly supported peaceful, diplomatic means of resolving the tensions developing as a result of Iran’s pursuit of its nuclear program. And, it called for direct, unconditional negotiations between the United States and Iran with the goal of finding and implementing a peaceful resolution.

The threat of a war with Iran will continue to grow if the United States does not take steps now to open communication with the Iranian government.

Urge your representative to oppose more sanctions and any blockade against Iran.

Ask your representative to oppose a House vote on H. Con. Res. 362. If he or she is already a cosponsor, as her or him to take themselves off. If he or she is not a cosponsor, urge him or her not to become one.

Tell your representative that imposing more sanctions and blockades, when direct talks have not even been tried, risks propelling the United States into another unnecessary war that would have disastrous consequences.