Peace Train, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise | @MDWorld

May 4, 2013 Martha Thomases 1 Comment

Those of you who keep track of such things (and if you don’t, why not?) may have noticed that my recent columns have linked more often than usual to the War Resisters League.  The first political organization with which I was ever involved, WRL has been part of my life ever since my friend, Liz Turner (now Haase) told me about it when we were 11 and 12.

This year is the 90th anniversary of WRL’s founding, And to celebrate, we’re asking you and people like you to join us.

Don’t worry.  You don’t have to become vegan, or go on a hunger strike until our troops are out of Afghanistan, or go to jail because you refuse to pay taxes that support the military.  I haven’t done those things, and I still think I’m part of the movement.

And by the movement, I mean this movement.

 

 

Think of all the times you’ve been faced with a choice.  Maybe someone cut you off in traffic.  Maybe a drunk tried to start a fight with you in a bar.

Or maybe you got a draft notice and didn’t want to go.  Or maybe you were in the military, but refused to obey a command you believed to be immoral.

Every decision you make towards a peaceful world, big or small, makes the world more peaceful.  It doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing.

Hence, I Choose Peace.

My idea was stolen from Dan Savage and It Gets Better.  I wanted real people to tell real stories about their real lives, with the hope that non-violence could be contagious.  So I made a video and hoped to persuade others to do the same.

If you go to the site,you’ll see people who have won the Nobel Peace Prize.

You’ll see people who have won major acting awards and entertained millions of people.

You’ll see people who are paid to have opinions (which is my current dream job).

You’ll see people who are taking their first steps towards making the world a better place.

If you are inspired by this, I hope you’ll read the instructions and be part of this.  In peace (but not in war), the more the merrier.

Martha Thomases, Media Goddess, is the kind of pacifist who likes James Bond movies.