Read a Peace Report- Creating culture of peace is goal of New Mexico Senate Bill 374

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On the left below, please find an article for the Culture of Peace News Network and on the right the discussion related to this article. You are invited to read and join in the discussion by clicking on any of the questions listed here, or, if you wish, you may enter a new discussion question as described on the bottom of this page. Please take the time to check one of the boxes below as to whether this article should be given a high priority, a medium priority or no priority

Creating culture of peace is goal of New Mexico Senate Bill 374
an article by Jessie Emerson in the Santa Fe New Mexican

Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino introduced Senate Bill 374 calling for the creation of an Office of Peace, a state-supported entity dedicated to peacemaking, justice and human rights. I urge everyone to support this bill. As the great-grandmother of Kailia Oasis, I must advocate for a peaceful and toxin-free environment for her and other children.

click on photo to enlarge
If it "takes a village," to raise our children, then it takes all of us together, consciously committed, to raise peacekeepers. We the community must set examples.

The Office of Peace would:

* Provide training to enable the prevention, management and resolution of conflict without violence.
* Promote the study and implementation of conditions that are conducive to a culture of peace.
* Develop a peace education curriculum for all levels in public schools. (Currently, restorative justice is being practiced successfully in Santa Fe schools.)
* Develop plans for a sustainable peace economy in New Mexico and collaborate with existing peace and nonviolent efforts to encourage innovation and coordination.

The Office of Peace would make peace an organizing principle at all levels of our society, bringing peace into the center of our lives. It would provide the infrastructure for the practice of peace and nonviolence in our communities.

Together we can create a culture of peace. Let the governor know that you support SB 374. It's my dream that Kailia Oasis and her generation will live in a land of cooperation, not competition, where commitment to nonviolence replaces fear and fighting and the whole "village" is committed to nonviolence as a way of life.

Jessie Emerson is a registered nurse who lives in Santa Cruz. For the full original letter to the editor, click here.

DISCUSSION

Question(s) related to this article:

Is a U.S. Department of Peace a realistic political goal?

Thematic forum(s) in which this article is being discussed:

AN EFFECTIVE PEACE MOVEMENT - UN MOUVEMENT DE PAIX EFFICACE

Latest reader comment:

I have had the honor of participating three times in the production of a play called "Let Slip the Dogs of War" by a friend of mine, David Rothauser. (He just had a film on Sacco and Vanzetti on PBS.) This particular play focuses on the parts that the government has played in leading up to wars including the Second World War, Korea, Viet Nam, and now Iraq. It then goes on and includes a mock discussion between Bush and Kucinich regarding the formation of a Department of Peace. It is performed as a radio play so it is easy to produce. If anyone is interested in it, please contact me.

This report was posted on April 7, 2011.

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