BPF Boston: National BPF update

[announce at lists.capital-internet.net]

To: BPF Chapters and Friends and Affiliates
From: Maia

Hi everyone,

Two brief but important pieces of news from BPF 'central'.

Thanks for all that you do for peace and justice --

Maia
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1) PLEASE FORWARD TO EVERYONE ON YOUR LISTS
Last Call for BPF Gathering at the Garrison Institute! June 22-25
"Peace in Ourselves, Peace in the World: Wholehearted Practice in Difficult 
Times"
This is the last week to sign up to come to the once-in-a-lifetime BPF 
Membership Gathering in Garrison, New York, next week. Okay, it's not 
really once-in-a-lifetime, but it's been a good 10 years since it happened 
last, and probably won't come around again for another couple of years. 
Kind of like Hailey's Comet.

There have been a few great last-minute additions --
* Richard Deats of the Fellowship of Reconciliation will join us Friday 
morning to talk about the recent FOR delegation to Iran that he traveled with.
* Aidan Delgado, a courageous young man who served in the Army in Iraq and 
then became a conscientious objector, base in part on his Buddhist 
practice, will join us for the gathering and will speak with us about ways 
that Buddhist communities can support soldiers on the journey towards peace.

These in addition to some wonderful workshops, plus a special 'live' dharma 
talk from Robert Aitken Roshi, who will join us via a live phone connection 
from his retirement home in Hawaii.

We really hope you can join us, for all four days or part of the time, 
especially those of you on the east side of the U.S. who are not far from 
Garrison (which is about an hour north of New York City)!

Here's complete information about the event, including the registration 
form. Register by Thursday, June 18.
<http://www.bpf.org/html/whats_now/announcements/BPF_member_gathering.html>http://www.bpf.org/html/whats_now/announcements/BPF_member_gathering.html 


2) Religious communities take action to end state-sanctioned torture
BPF is a member of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT). 
We received this important message from the NRCAT. Please pass on to your 
chapters and friends:

Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 13, 27 religious leaders from across the religious 
spectrum, including Nobel laureates Pres. Jimmy Carter and Elie Weisel, are 
joining together in an advertisement on the op-ed page of the New York 
Times, calling for the elimination of torture and cruel, inhuman and 
degrading treatment as part of U.S. policy. View the ad (The ad was paid 
for in full by an anonymous donor.)

You can help amplify the effect of this unprecedented action. Here's what 
you can do:

** Tell two other people you know about the ad.

** Take this ad to your house of worship this coming weekend and encourage 
individuals there to endorse the NRCAT "Torture is a Moral Issue" statement.

** Place this ad in your congregation's newsletter.

** Put this ad in your regional religious body's newsletter or journal, 
asking religious leaders in your denomination or faith group to also 
endorse the ad for that printing.

** Raise the money to place a copy of this ad in your local newspaper.

** Feature notice of this ad on the hope page of your congregation's website.

** Send notice of this ad to your congregation's listserve, with the link 
to the ad (www.nrcat.org/ad.aspx), suggesting that members of the 
congregation make arrangements for wide re-broadcast to religious and 
secular groups.

** Donate funds to NRCAT to keep this campaign moving ahead.

Let us know what you did, so that we can share your strategies with others. 
Send an email to campaign at nrcat.org. Please share all press copies of the 
ad and articles about the ad with us for our clipping file!

The links to the website's of NRCAT's member organizations are posted on 
the NRCAT website: www.nrcat.org/members.aspx. Visit these organizations' 
websites for more information about anti-torture action ideas.

And, thank you for your help in the campaign to end U.S.-sponsored torture.

Jeanne Herrick-Stare, Chair of the Coordinating Committee  
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