Christian Peacemaker Teams

This past weekend I met an interesting woman named Sarah Thompson who works for Christian Peacemaker Teams http://www.cpt.org/.  Sarah has worked in many countries of the world where conflict and tension are rampant, including Israel/Palestine, Iraq, Colombia, and some cities in the U.S. 

CPT was initiated in the 1980s by Mennonites and is supported by other Christian peace denominations.  From my talk with Sarah an examination of the website, I am impressed that CPT is doing this the right way and deserves more support. 

I am hoping to have more conversations with Sarah and hear her opinions on the subjects and questions I am trying to cover in this blog and the associated website,  https://sites.google.com/site/peacethinking/home

Fellowship of Reconciliation

One of the most important peace organizations is the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

The FOR started in 1914 in an attempt to stop World War I. During WWII, FOR encouraged nonviolent resistance, tried to prevent internment of Japanese by America, and rescued Jews and other political refuges.

In the 1940s, FOR pioneered Freedom Rides as a tactic to overcome racial oppression in the American South, encouraged the founding of the Congress of Racial Equality, and helped Martin Luther King develop non-violence as a strategy.

FOR founded the International Committee of Conscience on Vietnam, with 10,000 clergy, and sponsored a world tour by Thich Nhat Hanh, the Buddhist monk-peace leader.

FOR founded Dai Dong, an international scientific organization linking war, poverty, environmental degradation, and other social issues.

FOR helped train the Filipinos for the non-violent overthrow of the Marcos regime.

FOR sent peace activists and religious leaders to try to stop the first Gulf War, and started the Campaign to Save a Generation, an attempt to mitigate the devastation caused by the sanctions imposed on Iraq.

FOR has done many other things. Read more FOR history.

Lentz Foundation

One area we need to explore is Peace Research and Peace Education. We have already mentioned Michael Nagler, who is a professor at U.C. Berkeley and studies Peace issues.

Another is the Lentz Foundation which has been studying peace science and peace technology since the 1950s. Theodore Lentz published Towards a Technology of Peace in 1972. This builds on his earlier Towards a Science of Peace, from the 1950s.

I'll be studying these and reporting.

Which organizations should we join?

What organizations are already working towards the goal of ending warfare and bringing peace to the world?

Which organizations should we join?

This blog connects to Peace Thinking website.

This blog is a medium for people to comment on issues presented on the Peace Thinking website.

Specifically, this blog is for the page Organizations Dedicated to Peace.