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The U.S. Department of Peace Campaign By Matt Van Slyke A cabinet-level Secretary of Peace would advise the President on proactive policies. “We are in a new millennium, and the time has come to review age-old challenges with new thinking wherein we can conceive of peace as not simply being the absence of violence, but the active presence of a capacity for a higher evolution of the human awareness, of respect, trust, and integrity; wherein we all may tap the infinite capabilities of humanity to transform consciousness and conditions which impel or compel violence at a personal, group or national level toward developing a new understanding of, and a commitment to, compassion and love, in order to create a ‘shining city on a hill,’ the light of which is the light of nations.” This statement is not from a sermon or a spiritual publication. It’s from a Bill in Congress to establish a U.S. Department of Peace (DOP) and Nonviolence. The House version (HR 3760) was first introduced in June, 2001, and the nearly identical Senate version (S 1756) in September, 2005. There are currently 75 committed co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and two in the Senate. It calls for the DOP’s budget to be equivalent to two percent of the U.S. Department of Defense, with two-thirds allocated for domestic programs. A cabinet-level Secretary of Peace would advise the President on proactive policies addressing root causes of violence—versus the predominant paradigm of reacting to violent effects. Marshall Rosenberg, author of several books and worldwide trainer in Nonviolent Communication, points out that violence is the result of unmet needs. DOP policymaking would favor programs which meet psycho-emotional needs, incurring less reliance on reactive institutions such as our prison and military industries. By applying field-tested best practices models on a broadscale basis under this umbrella organization, peace and nonviolence would become more of a top-of-mind, national priority. The grassroots campaign to establish a US Department of Peace is supported by The Peace Alliance, a national organization chaired by Marianne Williamson. Local activists organize by state and congressional districts, supported by information and materials on the national website (www.DOPcampaign.org) as well as staff who train, consult and coach local volunteer leaders. In this writer’s view, it promotes practical solutions to the problems of domestic and international conflict as an historic opportunity to realign consciousness toward a culture of peace, including those who feel anger against either side of America’s culture war. By staying centered on the Bill’s plan to implement effective programs, personal energies transcend left-right politics. For those feeling disempowered or disconnected by media-fed bi-polar political news and opinion, the DOP campaign unifies people on what they have in common—adhering to the Law of One—along with other universal spiritual principles. Williamson notes that “historians are just beginning to give proper due and acknowledgement to the non-rational impulses behind social change in the United States.” Pointing to the role of the Quakers in the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, etc., “the primary spiritual practice [is their] cultivation of wisdom through silence.” With today’s American pop culture having a frenetic, “frazzled quality,” where we “simply can’t do our best thinking from that place,” Williamson asserts that the “face we show to the world [as it relates to] domestic and international policies represents that meanness and hard-heartedness that sets in when there’s just too much going on.” Big decisions can’t come from depth of wisdom and insight. As a result, “too often the policies of our government do not reflect” what Abraham Lincoln called, “the better angels of our nature.” According to Illinois State volunteer Coordinator Karen Johnson, “this campaign is for anyone who is working on being the peace they seek.” Ms. Johnson applauds and embodies the campaign’s “shared leadership” philosophy where all volunteers are heard. For her, the grassroots campaign’s joy and fun factors arise from “our DOP activists unfolding their own gifts and talents in a co-creative supportive team setting, coming from a place of peace—and of courage—reaching outside individual comfort zones so that together, practical ways present themselves in each moment to resolve conflict in respectful, nonviolent communications.” She particularly appreciates that “the bipartisan intent and nature of this campaign has provided opportunities for healing between individuals of parties currently in opposition” and opines that “perhaps as our citizenry continues to heal the hurts caused by the extreme campaigns of recent elections and stand as one people, searching for bipartisan solutions to domestic and international long-term violence and injustices by listening to our differing perspectives and speaking from a place of co-creating the future for generations to come, our elected representatives will have the courage and commitment to do so as well. America could truly be home of the brave and the free once again.” One-third of DOP funds would support international peace building. A Peace Academy serving as a sister institution to the Military Academy would support the military on the ground. Civilian graduates trained in the latest conflict resolution and negotiation techniques would approach tension-filled regions attempting to preempt violence between factions, as well as enter post-war zones to apply emotional healing and reconciliation. These skill sets could additionally be offered to military personnel to help them deal with indigenous populations when serving in a public safety capacity during post-conflict reconstruction and demobilization in war-torn societies. Walter Cronkite, an active supporter of the DOP campaign, wrote in an op-ed piece, “Wouldn’t it have been an advantage in the run-up to the Iraq War to have had a cabinet officer whose department was responsible for training U.S. personnel in human rights, conflict resolution, reconstruction and the detailed planning necessary to restoring a durable peace; in short, to do what was so disastrously absent when our forces rolled into Baghdad?” Department of Peace programs within the nation’s borders would work on many levels. Those selected for funding from existing government agencies and non-government organizations would be awarded based on tangible results. The most effective conflict-resolution and peer mediation programs for school-age children would be selected. One proven model, the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management, involved more than 95,000 students and 7,000 staff. An independent program evaluation reported that 80% of teachers said physical fighting decreased and ninety percent said their schools were safer. The cost was $12 per student. Improvements in academic achievement, reductions in truancy, suspensions and expulsions, and decreases in time spent on dealing with discipline resulted in a total financial cost savings of $323,019 for 171 program schools. A DOP would also advance violence-prevention programs addressing domestic violence, gang violence, drug and alcohol-related violence, and the like. The metaphysical Law of Cause and Effect could be widely applied through the use of “Restorative Justice.” As an alternative to incarceration, these programs hold offenders directly accountable by paying restitution to the victim for the harm they cause. They learn empathy by facing their victim and often the victim’s family and community affected by the crime. In Baltimore’s Community Conferencing Center, supporters of both parties participate and decide how to best repair harm done. The results are impressive: • Recidivism drops sixty percent in young offenders compared with comparable juvenile justice cases • Cost effective (on tenth the cost of current criminal justice/disciplinary practices) • Victims are included in deciding outcomes, and are satisfied that “justice was served” • Reduces minority over-representation in criminal justice system • Keeps students in school and accountable for their actions • Mobilizes community to collectively take responsibility for public safety issues • Builds authentic social capital • Families have opportunity to identify their own needs and gain access to community-based resources for challenges that may have helped precipitate the harmful behavior to begin with. In Illinois, restorative justice is scattershot but effective. According to Sally Wolf, who served fourteen years as a Chief of Probation, “Through dwindling JAIBG grants from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority I have trained potential restorative justice professionals. They are anxious to return to their communities to implement programs. When they return, there is little money available for further training and education. They become stymied. Meanwhile our court calendars are huge and our prisons are overcrowded. Everyone knows that community corrections, when done correctly, is more efficient and less expensive, but there is no money for the education and training.” Another program in existence for over twenty years, the Nurse Family Partnership, has been rigorously assessed by public policy experts. It provides nurses who work with at-risk families in their homes during pregnancy and the first two years of a child’s life. It reduces child abuse and neglect by 79%, maternal behavioral problems due to alcohol and drug abuse by 44%, and the duration of dependency on Aid to Families with Dependent Children by thirty months. The Washington State Institute of Public Policy estimates the costs of the program at about $9,000 tax-dollars per family. The benefits, however, it estimates at over $26,000 to taxpayers for a net savings of $17,000 per family. These benefits include not only the direct outcomes listed above but also longer term ones, such as reduced dependency on welfare and Medicare, lower rates of incarceration, lower rates of family violence, and improved scholastic attendance. Several other time-tested programs would be expanded, possibly such as one known as STRIVE, which targets primarily ex-offenders and long-term welfare recipients. STRIVE now provides a range of re-entry support services in nineteen cities. Eighty percent of program graduates are placed in jobs targeted at a $22,000 per year average. Of those, 75 to 80 percent remain employed for at least two years. At the Quest for Global Healing, May, 2006, in Bali, Indonesia, Desmond Tutu offered, when asked for his thoughts on the movement to establish Ministries and Departments of Peace in governments worldwide, “let us put our massive investment that we are putting right now in instruments of death and destruction, let us put them [instead] into something that is creative, that is life-enhancing teaching kids that there are ways of resolving differences that don’t need to be violent. You can sit down and ultimately say, ‘You know, actually, an enemy is a friend waiting to be made.’” For those wanting to work for peace in a democracy that is long overdue to re-awaken its people who have atrophied into political apathy, this movement provides Citizenship Primer/Civics 101, Activist 101, Nonviolent Communication 101 and other trainings, information and collaborations to bring peace to one’s heart and mind. Thousands of DOP people working for the common good are making a difference today. Imagine millions. Imagine being one with those millions. For spiritual aspirants receiving empowerment from the universal Law of Love, creating time to support the Department of Peace campaign is a natural lifestyle extension on the path to enlightenment. To connect with local activists and/or learn more, go to www.DOPcampaign.org. Matt Van Slyke can be reached at USDOP5thIL@aol.com and Karen Johnson can be reached at DOPillinois@aol.com.
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