 May/Summer 2001 (XXXIX 3) |
YM's web site for peace, justice and social concerns is helping Friends and local Meetings work together more effectively. Philapeace – http://www.philapeace.org – is both a web discussion forum where members of the PYM community can read and write messages in a user-friendly web system and an e-mail listserv where the same messages can be read or written using one's own e-mail system.
Philapeace enables Friends with a concern to connect with others, learn of upcoming events and available resources, solicit and share ideas of effective activities, and discuss the issues that arise in the course of acting on their concerns. Philapeace has advantages over other ways of working together:
- saves time (because posting a single note will reach many people)
- convenient (since you can read or post notes at the times most convenient for you)
- timely (without the delays involved in printing or mailing)
- spares PYM staff (because individual Friends can connect with others throughout PYM without direct staff intervention)
- spares resources (paper, ink, postage and the environmental impact of producing them and, eventually, of disposing of them)
- preserves a historical record of PYM Friends' activities and thinking.
Here's one story about the effect Philapeace has had. In February, Michael Inskeep of Haverford Meeting (PA) read in the criminal justice section of Philapeace that William Nieves, acquitted and released after spending 6 years on Pennsylvania's death row, was available as a potential speaker. He also read that a rally for a moratorium on the death penalty was scheduled for March 27 in the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg. Mike arranged for William to speak at a forum at Haverford Meeting and scheduled an appointment with his State Senator, Richard A. Tilghman, on March 27.
A compelling speaker, William was able respond from his own experience to questions about death row and the death penalty. The Meeting formally reaffirmed its commitment to abolition of the death penalty and authorized a letter of introduction that Mike took with him to Harrisburg. Senator Tilghman confirmed that he personally favors the death penalty. He perceives that the district he represents is "deeply divided" on this issue. He believes a moratorium "legally complicated." To Mike's surprise, however, he offered that he does favor DNA testing. Some research later that afternoon in the Senate law library confirmed that Senator Tilghman voted to reenact the death penalty in Pennsylvania in 1974.
Mike is now committed to helping produce a groundswell of letters and other indicators of support that may persuade Senator Tilghman that his district favors a moratorium more heavily than he realizes.
Mike feels that these activities – prompted by reading a single posting on Philapeace – have been a great gift to him, deepening his spiritual understanding of the issues surrounding the death penalty, and his commitment to its abolition and to restorative justice. He met a number of like-minded Friends who share his calling. Most important to him is a deep sense of personal satisfaction at acting on his convictions. Mike plans to pursue this calling. If you know of Friends working on a moratorium and the eventual abolition of the death penalty (or interested in working on it), please contact Michael Inskeep (mike[at]gentlehelpers.com; 610-896-0777; PO Box 859, Ardmore PA 19003).
For more information about Philapeace see previous article or contact Laurence Sigmond, laurence@pym.org or 215-843-8747 or toll-free 866-854-8747.
Laurence Sigmond
Germantown Meeting (PA)
Meetings' Initiatives Coordinator for Peace and Concerns
Last modified: Thursday, August 25, 2005 at 07:37 PM