| "THERE MUST BE ANOTHER WAY" FAST FOR PEACE AND NONVIOLENCE 
Our world is very vulnerable in this moment in history. Indiscriminate
violence, the immoral marketing of arms, acts of terrorism unheard of in
the past and a pervasive ideology of war as a means of resolving
conflict all seem to be tearing apart the fragile tapestry of our global
community. The small, but significant steps toward peace through
international dialogue and multilateral negotiations are being
overshadowed by a new outbreak of unilateralism. The advances made in
recent years towards reducing the threat of nuclear war seem to be
disintegrating. Some even speak of taking the war game into space. Every
day we hear of new frontiers of war and violence, and we have become
accustomed to the phrase "War on Terrorism." There must be another way. Since Sept. 11 many of us living in the United States of America still wake up in the middle of the night to nightmares filled with billowing smoke, burning buildings and the cries of innocent children. We share those nightmares with displaced families of Afghanistan, sick and hungry children in Iraq, the permanently maimed of Rwanda, Burundi and Cambodia, peasants in war-torn Colombia, school children in Northern Ireland, people riding in buses in Israel and those living in refugee camps in Palestine. The list goes on. War destroys the human heart and desecrates the sacred earth that is our common home. There must be another way. To make the situation worse our world lives bombarded daily by words of violence. The war of words is as destructive as the bombs, which fall from the sky. Every government, every army, every terrorist organization, every religion claims to have the whole truth. We stuff radio talk shows, television, the Internet, and the newspapers with crafty words of self-serving arrogance and "respectable hatred." We are destroying one another with words. There must be another way. All of the world's spiritual traditions honor the path of nonviolence and peace, and their teachings have consistently shown that the path of love is the true path. In the Hindu Scriptures is a verse, which says, "Every being is an abode of God, worthy of respect and reverence." The Judeo-Christian tradition points to a similar truth in the belief that human beings have been made in the image and likeness of God. The Buddha once said, "Conquer anger by love. Conquer evil by good. Hatreds never cease through hatred in this world; through love alone they cease. This is an essential law." In the Holy Q¹uran we read the words, "Whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trust-worthy hand-hold, that never breaks." Jesus, a Palestinian Jew from the town of Nazareth, said in his Sermon on the Mount, "Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you." Many great spiritual teachers and prophets have shown us that war and violence are not the only way for human beings to resolve conflict. There is another way: the way of mutual respect, loving kindness, forgiveness and compassion. These form the way to true and lasting peace. Yes, there is another way. We, the core community of this Fast for Peace and Nonviolence, are Catholic Christians and members or affiliates of the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans. For us, prayer and fasting are time-honored traditions of seeking spiritual clarity and focus. Jesus Christ taught us that prayer and fasting leads us on the path to nonviolence and peace. On Sept. 1, we will embark on an open-ended, water only fast as a way of acknowledging our need for personal and communal conversion. We do so with the hope that others from across the country and across the world will join with us in saying through silence and prayer: There Must Be Another Way. We do not claim to have the answers to the world¹s political tensions and problems. We do applaud all who work sincerely and honestly toward peaceful solutions. Our action at this moment is to wait on God, to return to our deepest center, our Ground Zero, where all beings dwell in the God who is Love. We wait in silence and in contemplative prayer as a gesture of healing and reconciliation for our world, and in memory of those who have died in the acts of terror and war of this past year. We believe in the transforming power of nonviolence, prayer and fasting. We choose to be emptied of our own violent inclinations, and to feel the pain of hunger as an act of solidarity with the millions of people in our world who live the violence of hunger every day of their lives. War will never be a remedy for the hunger and suffering of our world. Peace is the only way. We believe in a God of peace. And we believe that there is another way, and that God will show us that way if we would only have the emptiness and purity of heart to listen. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon which cuts without wounding and ennobles the one who wields it. It is a sword that heals." Our world desperately needs to be healed. And in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, "Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of humankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction." We invite political and religious leaders to set aside once and for all the words and weapons of war, and to embark on a path of nonviolence that will lead to lasting world peace. Besides the core group of the Fast for Peace and Nonviolence who will gather on Sept. 1st in New York City, we invite others to join in, as well. We welcome people of any faith tradition or of no faith tradition, individuals and communities, families, churches, sangas, synagogues, mosques, ashrams and temples to join in this spiritually motivated Fast for Peace and Nonviolence. Together let us search for another way. We invite you to be in solidarity with this endeavor in whichever way you are able:
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