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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us January 3, 2005 Peace House needs to look inside By Solomon Tahoma Asoka Gregory Ashland The two recent commentaries in the Ashland Daily Tidings regarding Peace House by Marty Barickman (Dec. 8) and Jeff Heglie (Dec. 9) both have some elements of truth. I, too, have concerns about what has become of Peace House, especially in the last year, but I also believe that most involved - staff, board, volunteers and supporters - have good intentions, and an open dialog will help Peace House to get back on track. A distinction must be made between the whole entity of Peace House and each individual involved with it. The entity of Peace House has represented an ideal of nonviolence that is assertive, not passive nor aggressive, while accepting support from those who do not hold to that ideal. Meanwhile, within the whole activist community, there has been an ongoing debate whether property destruction is violence. The debate sometimes distinguishes between random property destruction and more meaningful property destruction - such as pouring blood on a first-strike nuclear weapon bunker - and to considerations of the risk of harm to others. There is also debate about how to respond to various forms and degrees of over aggressiveness by law enforcement: Even if the original intent of a protest is to be nonviolent, does the group have to take it if the police use excessive controls of force and violate First Amendment rights? Some people who now hold key roles in Peace House have advocated for more aggressive forms of protest, but this does not mean that the entity of Peace House has adopted this view. The Peace House Staff letter (Dec. 11) is good, but it over simplifies the issue. Peace House is a community-supported 501c3 organization. Such organizations are allowed some legislative advocacy, such as urging voters to cast "yes" or "no" votes on ballot issues, but they must totally stay out of partisan politics. Peace House certainly entered partisan politics when it sponsored the program last September that advocated for voting for Kerry. Peace House opened the door for some politically motivated, right wing prosecutor to argue that a felony was committed while Peace House was supporting a pro-war candidate who opposed the right of same-sex couples to marry. Peace House was duped by a campaign that ultimately abandoned its voters (despite a $51 million surplus!), despite the various peace and LGTB-rights candidates running. Actually, I support 501c3 organizations being involved in partisan politics as long as corporations are allowed. I hope Peace House will stick up for its rights to be so involved, though it was misguided for Peace House to become an instrument of a pro-war and anti-rights campaign. Earlier this year, Peace House ousted and humiliated a long-time volunteer for its community-meals programs when he was facing some legal problems. This cause some Peace House supporters to step back and wonder what was going on with Peace House, some saying, "Peace House isn't acting very peaceful." I just got an e-mail from Peace House saying they were short of volunteers for their Tuesday meal. Duh. Peace House has also changed its tone with regard to the Israel/Palestine conflict in the past couple of years. It has gone from being a neutral center to mediate local dialog from all sides to supporting one side. I miss the dialog. If Peace House had to take a side, Peace House should have taken a stand to oppose all violence, but I guess that takes us back to Barickman's point: Peace House may have lost track of where it stands in regards to violence. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Women's & Men's Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc libor rate Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress afsa studentloans home equity loans teleconferencing W2 Forms fasa student loans Matchmaking & Dating Scripts African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation wholesale diamonds Currancy Exchange web conferencing Online Casinos Community Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams