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Announcement :: Peace |
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Give up War for Mother's Day |
Current rating: 0 |
by Ricky Baldwin
Email: baldwinricky (nospam) yahoo.com (verified)
Phone: 328-3037 |
04 May 2006
Modified: 02:54:45 PM |
Area opponents of war in Iran and Iraq will gather a week before Mother’s Day this Saturday May 6, 2-4 PM. corner of Main and Neil, to help send the message to Bush: US out of Iraq (bases, too); Don’t Attack Iran; No more wars for oil and imperial control!
On Sunday AWARE members will hold a “church presence” at a local church. |
Urbana's National Guard troops were recently welcomed home from Iraq in a celebration joined unobtrusively by some local anti-war activists, believing the best way to support the troops is to bring them ALL home NOW. This weekend anothet twist on the growing anti-war movement takes shape in Champaign County.
Many anti-war activists hope to revive the anti-war history of Mother's Day. Locally the Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort (AWARE) invites opponents of war and occupation to join the protest this Saturday May 6 at 2pm on the corner of Main and Neil in Champaign.
Mother's Day revival
Mother's Day is actually a centuries-old tradition in Europe. The ancient Greeks held festivals in honor of Rhea the mother of the gods. The early Christians adopted the holiday, celebrating on the fourth Sunday of Lent in honor of Mary the mother of Jesus Christ.
English colonists who settled in North America, however, gave up the practice, and it was not celibrated in the US until 1872.
At that time Julia Ward Howe organized a day for mothers explicitly dedicated to peace.
Politics of motherhood
In recent years anti-war groups have sought to revive this anti-war history of Mother's Day, which has largely been forgotten through several twists and turns of a different sort.
In 1907, Anna M Jarvis started a movement to make a national holiday of Mother's Day. She dedicated this effort to her own mother, whose favorite flower was the white carnation – thus leading to the association of this flower with the holiday.
In 1914 Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second day of May as the national Mother's Day in the US. It is still celebrated on other dates in other countries.
A particularly nasty chapter in the history of Mothers Day occurred in Germany during the Nazi years, when the Hitler Administration made Mother's Day a celebration of "Aryan” “racial purity" and prolific breeding. Abortion was illegal for "pure" Germans, encouraged or forced for others.
Nowadays many Americans believe Mother's Day was originally an invention of Hallmark. Environmental groups have nevertheless attempted to use the symbolism of "Mother Earth" to return the holiday to a somewhat more historically (in the US at least) authentic theme.
And since the Gulf Wars (I and II) peace activists have been spreading the word every May about Julia Ward Howe's vision of a mother's love of peace.
AWARE invites you to help revive the anti-war tradition of Mother’s Day this Saturday and Sunday. For more info on Sunday’s events, call 328-2789. For Saturday’s protest, call 328-3037 or just show up: bring your own sign or borrow one from the AWARE stash. |
See also:
http://www.anti-war.net
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This work is in the public domain |
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Re: Give up War for Mother's Day |
by one trick pony
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
12 May 2006
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bot attack |
