Department of Peace

A while ago I felt inspired to write to President Obama about creating the United States Department of Peace. There has been a movement to create a Department of Peace for years, supported by members of congress from both the Democratic and Republican parties and as far back as 1793. I delayed in writing the letter but was not sure why. Then yesterday I heard a discussion on the radio about online petitions and a site the White House created called We the People, where anyone can register and create their own petition. 

That was apparently the information I had been waiting for. I honestly believe that this issue is non-partisan, that a Department of Peace is essential if we want to create a peaceful future for ourselves and future generations. Below is the letter I wrote to the President - it is in it's full length, in order to submit it on the White House site I had to shorten it! Don't they know I'm a writer?! 

Here is a link the petition for the creation of the United States Department of Peace, https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/create-united-states-department-peace/mDl2yR6c. I also had to shorten the description of the petition as they only allow 800 characters! If you would like information about the bill submitted in 2007 to Congress for the creation of a Department of Peace you can find that here, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/110/hr808#summary.

Together we can make our voices heard with a call for Peace. Until the petition reaches 150 signatures it will not be publicly viewable on the We the People website so you have to follow or copy and paste the link for now. To be reviewed by the White House the petition needs to get 100,000 signatures by February 15!

Please be the peace you hope to see in the world and sign the petition and share the link.

In gratitude,
Lynda

January 16, 2013

Dear President Obama,

Congratulations on your re-election. As a two term president I’m sure you are acutely aware of the legacy you will leave as a gift to our country. Therefore, as you celebrate your inauguration there is no better time to make a choice that will positively impact not only our country, but also our world, for generations to come.  I ask you as a citizen, as a parent and as a member of our human family, please Mr. President take this opportunity to make a bold statement for peace by creating a Department of Peace.

As I’m sure you know, there is a long history of a call for a Department of Peace dating back to our Founding Fathers. With the horrors of Newtown still fresh in our mind you could say that now is the time.  And it is indeed time to heed the call for peace, but not solely as a reaction to the debate on gun violence, but because it is the right thing to do. There must be balance to achieve harmony. So I ask you, how will we ever reach a place of balance and harmony and even begin to have a culture of peace when we have only a Department of Defense?  

We have a history of reacting to our world rather than creating the world we hope to see. Yet, you yourself have said, “Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Please, live your own inspiring words and be the change our world seeks. You have the opportunity and the means; use them to create a legacy of peace. I know you have the heart to do it and I know you will have people all over the country and all over the world who will support and cheer your choice. Be the leader I know you are and lead us along a path of peace.

While I have a strong belief that peace begins within each heart, a Department of Peace could provide the means to assist so many in finding that path to peace. The Department of Peace can coordinate the provision of conflict resolution materials and training for schools, universities, non-profit organizations, corporations, cities and towns across the United States. It’s true that we already attempt to assist in negotiations in difficult situations around the world, but imagine the impact it would have if there were a department full of people whose job it was to be peacekeepers every day. Peacekeepers not just on the international scale, but in cities plagued by gang violence, in prisons where violence is the culture rather than peace and in communities reaching out to people of different ethnic groups and backgrounds to bring people together to see their similarities rather than their differences.  The possibilities are limited only by our imagination! So imagine it Mr. President, a country where peace is a way of life. That is the legacy you can create for yourself and for all of us.

In order to demonstrate to you the support I know you will have for a Department of Peace, after I send this letter to you I plan to take you up on your offer of participation and collaboration on the We the People website and will begin a petition for a Department of Peace.  

My heart is with you President Obama, now is the time and you are the one. Be the change.

In gratitude and peace,

Lynda Allen