Okay, Fluxlisters...we all know how to put interesting stuff in the mail...
> Subject: [Fw: Rice for dubya] > Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 08:10:02 -0500 > > There is a grassroots campaign underway to protest war in Iraq > in a simple, but potentially powerful way. > > Place 1/2 cup uncooked rice in a small plastic bag. Squeeze out > excess air and seal the bag. Wrap it in a piece of paper on which > you have written, "If your enemies are hungry, feed them. Romans12:20. > Please send this rice to the people of Iraq; do not attack them." > > Place the paper and bag of rice in an envelope (either a letter-sized > or padded mailing envelope--both are the same cost to mail) and > address them to: > > President George W. Bush > White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW > Washington, DC 20500 > > Attach $1.06 in postage. (Three 37-cent stamps equal $1.11.) > > Drop this in the mail TODAY. It is important to act NOW so that > President Bush gets the letters ASAP. In order for this protest > to be effective, there must be hundreds of thousands of such rice > deliveries to the White House. We can do this if you each forward > this message to your friends and family. > > There is a positive history of this protest! Read on: > > "In the mid-1950s, the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation, > learning of famine in the Chinese mainland, launched a 'Feed Thine > Enemy' campaign. Members and friends mailed thousands of little >bags of rice to > the White House with a tag quoting the Bible, "If thine enemy hunger, feed > him." As far as anyone knew for more than ten years, the campaign was > an abject failure. The President did not acknowledge receipt of the bags > publicly; certainly, no rice was ever sent to China. > "What nonviolent activists only learned a decade later was that the > campaign played a significant, perhaps even determining role in > preventing nuclear war. Twice while the campaign was on, President > Eisenhower met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff to consider U.S. > options in the conflict with China over two islands, Quemoy and Matsu. > The generals twice recommended the use of nuclear weapons. President > Eisenhower each time turned to his aide and asked how many little >bags of rice > had > come in. > > When told they numbered in the tens of thousands, Eisenhower told > the generals that as long as so many Americans were expressing active > interest in having the U.S. feed the Chinese, he certainly wasn't going > consider using nuclear weapons against them." > > From: People Power: Applying Nonviolence Theory by David H.Albert, > p. 43, New Society, 19. > > Thank you for being people of hope, people of faith.
