This is one of those moments when I feel absolutely in tune with the cosmos. I was just about to do this blog entry about Thursday night's conference call when my dial-up disconnected. Whenever I reconnect, my email automatically downloads, and I noticed that my "Soul Booster" had arrived, so I thought I'd take a look at that before coming back to propeace. It was from the Dalai Lama, and it said, "An enemy is the greatest teacher of altruism, and for that reason, instead of hating, we must respect him."

The main reason I wanted to blog about the conference call is that we had a Republican District Coordinator from NY on the line, and I thought I'd use Reach Across the Aisle as my theme, but the Dalai Lama's words are even better. So many times I have said that the reason we have such poor voter turnout in this country is that there is so little difference between the two major parties. I have maintained that "left" and "right" are both represented in both parties, and I've been assured by others that I'm wrong.

I am reminded of a tee-shirt in my fundraising catalog that says, "Love Thy Neighbor" on the front, and on the back, it says, "..., thy Homeless neighbor, thy Muslim neighbor, ..., thy Transgendered neighbor, ..., thy Racist neighbor, thy Addicted neighbor..." And I would add, "thy Republican neighbor, thy Psychopathic neighbor, thy Neo-con neighbor, ..." Whenever I go to propeace events, I am disturbed by the homogeneous nature of the crowd. Too many of them look like me: white, female, 45 to 60 years old. I was pleased to cross these three demographics with a mutually satisfying contact at the SRS rally on July 16.

I am also reminded of the Non-Violent Communication conference call a couple of months ago in which we were "forced" to find common ground with our commander-in-chief. It was very painful at the time, but when I look inside myself now, I find that I no longer harbor him any ill will on a personal level. I still refuse to use his name because I honor the tradition that says there is power in a name, and I would still like to strip him of his power. But I don't hate him.

Robert (or Bob, I can't remember which is the father and which is the son; both were on the line) is a disillusioned "pro-lifer" who has realized that this administration's policies are anti-life and that the DoP Campaign is pro-life. I hope he's been reading his Lakoff where we reject the notion that anyone is pro-abortion. We call for a strategic initiative for universal health care in which "no unwanted pregnancies" is the issue. And thank you, Robert and Bob, for inviting the DoP Campaign to cross another demographic.

In closing, I would admonish the propeace community to be mindful of the way we reflect black-and-white thinking in our language. I hear references to "bi-partisan" legislation, resolutions,etc., among propeace activists, and I would ask that you refer instead to "multi-partisan" actions. "Non-partisan" is a denial of the fact that we do have individual positions on individual issues; this may be what makes us seem fragmented in the eyes of the political opposition. I think that's what we mean when we say that we wish to "embrace diversity." In addition to awakening the activism in our soulmates, we must seek dialogue and mutual understanding with those we perceive as being different from ourselves.