Sunday, November 16, 2008

UPDATE: The Department of Peace

On Monday November 10Th, I made a post about the Department of Peace. Someone identifying herself as Wendy responded by leaving a comment. She offered to give me more information on the DOP because she felt I was misled. I wrote the following to her on Tuesday November 11Th:

"Wendy,
Thank you for your comment on my blog. My understanding about your organization is that it is founded on new age principles with new age leadership. However, I do have a reverse gear. What would you suggest I review to learn more about The Peace Alliance? I thank you for taking the time to respond.
Sincerely,
Barry Jenkins Sr."

To date I have not received a response. Draw your own conclusions.

1 comment:

weyah_2000 said...

November 19, 2008

Barry, I sure hope you and other readers concluded, “This woman must have a full and busy life and like so many of us, is sometimes unable to respond to email as quickly as she’d like”! I do apologize for the delay in responding and thank you so much for your note. I really appreciate your willingness to consider a "reverse gear."

The Peace Alliance is not affiliated with any particular religion or religious world view. I’m sorry that I don’t have a specific “history” of the organization that I can refer you to at this time, but as explained in the “About Us” section of our website, the Department of Peace Campaign includes volunteers who are “Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Green Party members, former and current military and police, soccer moms, entrepreneurs, senior citizens, youth on high school and college campuses, traditional peace activists, and more.”

We seek to expand our nation’s capacity for applying nonviolent conflict resolution principles and practices so that we become expert at resolving conflict BEFORE it erupts into violence. We’re working to create a Department of Peace to help to reduce and prevent violence both in the United States and internationally, and to provide every President with access to the most cutting edge technologies and practices in conflict resolution. Peace is everyone's issue, and our goal is to help create a safer world; it is not to assert a religious agenda of any kind.

Our Articles of Incorporation describe our work this way: “…the Corporation’s purposes and powers shall include the following: To work towards positive, proactive change for the creation of a nonviolent, peaceful world by promoting programs, projects and legislation that create foundational transformation of the social and political conditions that cause and perpetuate violence of all types, whether it be domestically or internationally by (i) training, educating and activating citizens to help create a more peaceful and loving world and (ii) participating in direct and grassroots lobbying of elected officials at all levels of government.”

You might also find the below useful:

1) Our website Board of Directors page and Staff biographies, which show you the people who are currently leading the organization: http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/101/120/ and http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/332/119/).

2) The “About The Peace Alliance” section on our website: http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/77/118/

3) The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website portions discussing violence prevention, which provide a scientific framework that we could see being more broadly advanced and applied by a Department of Peace and give more information on the public health issue that is violence in the U.S.: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/prevention_at_CDC.htm

4) The 3D Security Initiative website (http://www.3dsecurity.org/node/1). This organization provides a thoughtful analysis of international relations and the ways in which conflict resolution may be applied.

5) The World Health Organization’s report on violence, which describes the impact of violence in the U.S. and around the world: http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/publications/violence/en/index.html.

6) Remarks by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, talking about the needs that we believe a Dept. of Peace will help fill internationally: http://www.defenselink.mil/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1199

Thanks again for being willing to explore this further. It’s important work and it needs all of us to come together to support our government leaders in finding and implementing effective solutions. I'm happy to speak with you if you would like. My office number is posted on our website, in the staff directory.