Love Your Enemy: A Campaign to reclaim Human Dignity Through Nonviolence
Dear friend,
You may have heard that The Metta Center for Nonviolence is launching an ambitious
campaign to counteract the hostile attitudes that may be stirred up by the anniversary
of 9/11 — and much more. It’s called
Love Your Enemy: A Campaign to reclaim Human Dignity Through Nonviolence.
This campaign will take advantage of the attention focused by the coming tenth anniversary of 9/11; but it begins much sooner — as soon as you get this letter — and continues until we or our descendants have put the search for security on a new basis and foreign policy on a new track. Our hope is to a) empower individuals to use nonviolence in their daily lives, b) empower both individuals and organizations to use nonviolence as a template for a new security policy, and c) to bring together a community of actors who can collectively build the universal yearning for peace into a vital force.
The campaign is unfolding in three phases:
1. From now until September 10th - 12th, 2011,
2. September 10-12th : a nationwide Satyagraha,
3. After the Satyagraha: ‘constructive programme’.
1. In order to put their peace work on a firm, personal foundation, we ask those who join us to experiment with five basic practices:
• undertake a progressive ‘media fast’ to reduce their exposure to commercial and violent messages,2.
• make an ongoing commitment to learn about nonviolence, and practice it,
• take up a spiritual practice such as meditation (if they don’t already have one),
• rely on personal contact wherever possible to build up a network of relationships based on cooperation and service (rarely achieved in our hectic lifestyles), and
• “love your enemy:” start a project of personal reconciliation drawing on all this preparation. (see this link for further details)
• On September 10th observe a strict media fast and, if desired, a day of silence to share the grief all of us feel for the tragedy of 9/11.3. A network of participants emerges from the foregoing events whose intention is to carry this momentum forward by:
• On September 11th continue the media fast and encourage others and if possible public venues such as airports, restaurants, etc. not to show or play inflammatory messages. Get together and host events celebrating and discussing nonviolence. Get creative!
• On September 12th, participate in a nationwide phone conference organized by Metta to share stories of reconciliation and nonviolence and plan next steps.
• reaching out to those who do not share our views,
• developing a long-term plan for major, deep changes in national policy in security and all related areas based on nonviolence.
As an individual, you can take up the five practices we’ve outlined and participate in our regular conference calls (you may also write blogs, etc. as seems appropriate).
As an organization, you can alert your constituency to LYE, and consider endorsing the campaign (your name will be listed on our website) and hosting an event during the Satyagraha.
Contact Stephanie Van Hook (Stephanie@mettacenter.org) for further information.
Yours for a nonviolent future,
Michael Nagler, President
Stephanie Van Hook, co-Director
