Fr. Robert

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150723918062692&set=a.10150637545697692.414484.525607691&type=1#!/pages/Tommy-v-Anglican-Church/343052882409372

 

Here is link .. Thank you ... RJK

Dear Rev. Robert

 

I am connecting with you in the hopes that you might consider supporting a person that I know, by the name of Richard Tommy Campion.

 

He and his sister were terribly abused in Australia at an Anglican Orphanage/home along with many. I have an interest- as my father was one amongst many children that were abused in Bindoon Catholic Orphange and like to take some time out to assist if I can with others that are facing their abuse from childhood. Is there anything you can do to help Tommy- as he is clearly in need of support- also to know that there are some good in different religions - just like any culture. Would you please take a look at this link to his page on Facebook and have a good read of what is going on. I have read your page and see you understand peace. Peace for Tommy and many others will only come with being recognised by the Anglican Church people at the top and apolygies that go along with the healing process, as like Tommy, all the abused children back then are all grown up, still carrying the pain around with them- also allot would have no doubt shut off the childhood memories and wonder why they have emotional problems etc.

 

I trust you will understand me asking someone like you. I have been a part of iPeace for a few years now and find allot of assistance here when I need it or I know of others that need it.

 

Sincerely

 

RJK

 

 

Robert,

I have had a relationship with Jesus Christ since 2002, and have been "discovering," as it were, how truly pacifist He really is. I have read Tolstoy's "the Kingdom of God is Within You" and his "What I believe." I have also read some various articled pertaining to this very subject, I would more or less consider myself a pacifist now, in the Way of Christ. Being a learned man and, I sense, a deeply spiritual Christian, would you recommend any other works?

Good to see you sir how are u?

Never Give Up!

Nonviolent Action: Can There Be A Second Act ?
Rene Wadlow

We are constantly being astonished these days at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence. But I maintain that far more undreamt of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of non-violence. M.K. Gandhi


Two October is the UN-designated International Day for Non-violence, the date chosen being the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the best-known figure of non-violent action. To honor seriously the day, we have to ask serious questions: What determines the success or failure of a non-violent movement for change? Are violent and non-violent methods competing or complementary strategies? Does help from outside sources matter? Today, the United Nations recognizes a collective responsibility to protect people threatened by genocide, ‘ethnic cleansing’ and other crimes against humanity, but the way to respond to these challenges non-violently have not been set out. Does the example of one movement influence others? Is non-violence one possible strategy among others or is it as Gandhi thought a way of being in the world?

The recent death in August 2009 of Corazon Aquino, the former president of the Philippines, recalled to mind the “Peoples Power Revolution” of 1986 which non-violently overthrew the corrupt government of Ferdinand Marcos who had ruled the Philippines under martial law since 1972. A modest woman who overcame her fear to speak in public and who had been projected to leadership through the assassination of her husband, the prominent opposition politician, Benigno Aquino Jr. started a movement which showed that resolute non-violence can be a source of political change.

Robert Kennedy spoke during a visit to South Africa still under its apartheid government of each act of courage as a ripple sent forth to join with other ripples, ultimately “to build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” Yet in Robert Kennedy’s America, there is a saying that “in politics, there is no second act.” If there is not success when one has the first occasion, there will be no second chance. The Peoples Power Revolution of Corazon Aquino showed that political power could be overthrown by non-violent action. Many in the Philippines hoped that economic and social change would follow. But since Mrs Aquino left office in 1992, the Muslim and Communist insurgencies have continued. There are serious human rights abuses by the military in combating these insurgencies. The Philippines remains a collection of oligarchies and political dynasties. Much of the population is poor with a high unemployment rate and some eight million Filipinos work overseas. Many families depend on remittances from abroad, and an overseas job can be one of the highest ambitions for the upwardly mobile.

Likewise, the death this summer of Kim Dae-jung, a dissident who survived a death sentence and an assassination attempt by military dictators before winning the South Korean presidency reminds us of the difficulties of keeping up a momentum of peaceful change through non-violent diplomatic methods. As president from 1998 until 2003, Kim Dae-jung was the first opposition leader to be elected in Korea. In 2000, he flew to Pyongyang for talks with Kim Jong-il of North Korea. The meeting led to a period of détante on the divided Korean Peninsula. However, inter-Korean relations have chilled as the North tested nuclear weapons first in 2006 and again in 2009. There was no second act after the first act of “Sunshine Policy” and a vision of reconciliation to overcome five decades of hostility.

For there to be successful non-violent action, one has to keep in mind that there must always be a second act for which one must be prepared. The actors may not be the same as in Act I, but they must be ready to continue a momentum, to build coalitions with new social forces and to be willing to undertake the long-term but often slow development of the socio-economic framework which many people expect from the exciting first act.

Rene Wadlow, Representative to the UN, Geneva, Association of World Citizens