nonviolenceUSA

NORTHAMPTON, MA – May 2 – On Thursday evening, Northampton City Council voted unanimously in favor of a Resolution to Defend the Bill of Rights. The resolution addresses concerns that the USA PATRIOT Act and several Executive Orders threaten key rights guaranteed to U.S. citizens and non-citizens by the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution and the Massachusetts Constitution, such as freedom of speech, assembly, and privacy; the right to counsel and due process in judicial proceedings; and protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. . . .

The Northampton City Council’s vote follows the passage of similar resolutions in the nearby towns of Amherst and Leverett the previous week. The City Councils of Ann Arbor and Berkeley passed civil liberties resolutions in January. Denver City Council passed a resolution in March. Cambridge City Council will consider a similar resolution within the next few months.

Source: BORDC Press Release Archives (Item 1) May 2, 2002. Third Massachusetts town votes to defend Bill of Rights from threats of USA PATRIOT Act. Contact: Nancy Talanian, Director, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Northampton, Massachusetts

On November 16, 1989, six Jesuit priests, their co-worker and her teenage daughter were massacred in El Salvador. A U.S. Congressional Task Force reported that those responsible were trained at the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) at Ft. Benning, Georgia.

In 1990 SOA Watch began in a tiny apartment outside the main gate of Ft. Benning. While starting with a small group, SOA Watch quickly drew upon the knowledge and experience of many in the U.S. who had worked with the people of Latin America in the 1970’s and 80’s.

Source: About SOA Watch

We believe that the penal code of the old covenant, AN EYE FOR AN EYE AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH, has been abrogated by JESUS CHRIST; and that, under the new covenant, the forgiveness instead of the punishment of enemies has been enjoined upon all his disciples, in all cases whatsoever. To extort money from enemies, or set them upon a pillory, or cast them into prison, or hang them upon a gallows, is obviously not to forgive, but to take retribution. VENGEANCE IS MINE—I WILL REPAY, SAITH THE LORD.

The history of mankind is crowded with evidences proving that physical coercion is not adapted to moral regeneration; that the sinful dispositions of men can be subdued only by love; that evil can be exterminated from the earth only by goodness; that it is not safe to rely upon an arm of flesh, upon man whose breath is in his nostrils, to preserve us from harm; that there is great security in being gentle, harmless, long-suffering, and abundant in mercy; that it is only the meek who shall inherit the earth, for the violent who resort to the sword are destined to perish with the sword. Hence, as a measure of sound policy—of safety to property, life, and liberty—of public quietude and private enjoyment-as well as on the ground of allegiance to HIM who is KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS, we cordially adopt the non-resistance principle; being confident that it provides for all possible consequences, will ensure all things needful to us, is armed with omnipotent power, and must ultimately triumph over every assailing force.

Source: New England Non-Resistance Society Declaration of Sentiments, Written by William Lloyd Garrison, September 18-20, 1838. Harmless as Doves Ministries.