Today's Voice
Voice4Change
Changing Hearts and Minds
http://www.voice4change.org
July 4, 2002
The Media tells us what is wrong with the world; Voice4change will tell you
what to do about it! Our member organizations are busy organizing, so we
want to bring their message to you. Our affiliates are doing great work
every day. They need your support.We will be their link to you. Sign on to
www.voice4change.org
On this 4th of July we must remember that Peace and Disent are Patriotic;
Many of our friends and family members are caught up in a patriotic ferver
for the wrong reasons. They will be celebrating what is wrong with America.
They will be celebrating our military power instead of our power to good in
the world. At Voice4Change we want to remind all Americans that might
doesn't make right. We have chosen 5 wonderful statements from the past year
that remind us what America should be.
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A Prayer for America
Speech By Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH)
To The
Southern California Americans for Democratic Action.
February 17, 2002
Los Angeles, California
(to be sung as an overture for America)
"My country 'tis of thee. Sweet land of liberty of thee I sing. . . . From
every mountainside, let freedom ring. . . . Long may our land be bright.
With freedom's holy light. . . ."
"Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave. O'er the land of the free
and the home of the brave?"
"America, America, God shed grace on thee. And crown thy good with
brotherhood from sea to shining sea. . . . "
http://www.voice4change.org/stories/showstory.asp?file=020704~cfwp.asp
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We Come for Peace
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney: April 20th Statement for Peace
April 20, 2002
We come here today from the four corners of this nation.
We are blacks and whites, Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans; Christians,
Muslims, and Jews; gay, lesbian, and straight; immigrants and native-born
Americans; rich and poor.
Here today are representatives of all sections of society: students, union
members . . .
union members on strike . . .
homeless veterans . . .
and everyday warriors on the battlefield for justice.
But despite all our differences, we are here today . . . one community with
one thing in common: a desire to see the restoration of the true ideals of
America.
http://www.voice4change.org/stories/showstory.asp?file=020704~v4c.asp
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A Massive Act Of Conscience
By Rev. Dr. George F. Regas
Rector Emeritus All Saints Church Pasadena, California
Convener Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace
The enormity of the evil unleashed against America has weighed heavily upon
my heart and the pictures of that cataclysmic tragedy of September 11 with
7,000 deaths, untold human suffering, and physical devastation will be in my
mind as long as God gives me a memory. Yet, I am deeply troubled and
profoundly saddened that the cries for retaliation have taken us into war.
Unquestionably, we should bring to justice Osama bin-Laden and the other
terrorists responsible for the horror of September 11 - bring them before an
international court of law. However, this does not require the devastation
of war; it demands the work of justice.
http://www.voice4change.org/stories/showstory.asp?file=020703~icujp.asp
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The Higher Patriotism
by Richard Deats
The love of country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the
border? -Pablo Casals
For years during the Vietnam war, the critics of American foreign policy in
Southeast Asia were labeled as un-American: pro-Communist and
anti-patriotic. One of the leading critics of US policy at that time was
Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. Rejecting the "my country, right
or wrong" mentality, he said:
Criticism is more than a right; it is an act of patriotism-a higher form of
patriotism, I believe, than the familiar ritual of national adulation. All
of us have the responsibility to act upon the higher patriotism, which is to
love our country less for what it is than for what we would like it to be.
http://www.voice4change.org/stories/showstory.asp?file=020619~for.asp
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Take Back the Flag
By Royce Carlson and Zenzibar Alternative Culture
As I drive around on the roads and highways of the U.S. lately, I see a lot
of American flags attached to cars and trucks. What does this really mean?
The feeling I get is that most people have flags on their cars because they
support the President and his "War on Terrorism" including the bombing of
Afghanistan. But I'm not sure. It is a pretty vague statement.
I might put a flag on my truck to show that I love my country and want it to
be better. I could wave a flag to mean that I intend to exercise my right of
dissent against what the government is doing in Afghanistan. The odd thing
is that no one would know why I was showing the flag unless they asked me.
And the reason I would be showing it would be very different than most of
the other flag-waving Americans.
http://www.voice4change.org/stories/showstory.asp?file=020704~clg.asp
Warm Regards,
Voice4Change.org
http://www.voice4change.org
