September 27 2023
September 2020 Meeting
Since Monday, September 21 is ‘International Day of Peace’, the week of our fourth Wednesday meeting schedule, what do you think about encouraging our members to watch this film, “We Are Many”?
You can read below to see more about it. I certainly plan to watch it. Go to this website to see the trailer and the way to buy a ticket which is good for 24 hours from Sept 21. I signed up for a senior ticket which cost 7.00. If anyone wants to come to my den to watch, I can have Collin plug my computer into the TV screen. OR, anyone can just watch it at home with friends and family for 7.00.
https://watch.eventive.org/wearemany/play/5f3d491b3eb76900754dc2ba?m=1
I registered and it told me that my registration was successful and I would be receiving a notice about how to live stream.
Anyway, I watched the trailer and it looks like a marvelous film. Surely it will be available later to buy or rent, but this is a good chance to watch it now. The 7.00 gives you a window of 24 hours.
Let me know what you think.
Joyce
July 2020 Meeting
Instead of meeting in July, we are planning to attend the online Campaign Nonviolence Conference being held on August 6-8, 2020. Check out the information in our Local and State Events section.
June 2020 Meeting
Sometime before Wednesday, June 24, the fourth Wednesday of June, please take the opportunity to watch for free the new Dorothy Day documentary, Revolution of the Heart: The Dorothy Day Story. You will find it at this link: It is the 57 minute film on that site.
/https://www.pbs.org/video/revolution-of-the-heart-the-dorothy-day-story-lwz697/
At our June meeting, we will have a Zoom gathering to talk to each other about this film. If you want to join us, I will have Zoom open for you to come on as early as 6:30 pm for a chat and the meeting will begin at 7:00.
But, you must let me know ahead of time if you plan to join us (just reply to this email) so that I can send you the link to get into our meeting. I will send the link to the zoom to you on Tuesday, June 23. Some of you have already told me that you want to participate, but it might be a good idea to remind me. If you have trouble getting on, please call me at 214-384-8894.
It really is excellent. I have watched it twice and intend on seeing it again before our meeting.
Maybe we will be able to relate our experience with the Corona Virus and how we might like a change of heart for our country and planet. Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin are excellent examples to guide us—–how to use their example?
Also, along with it, here is an article in the New Yorker Magazine about that documentary. After seeing and reading, we should be up on the Catholic Worker movement. Perhaps you know that one of Dorothy Day’s granddaughters, Martha Hennessey is one of the Seven Plowshares awaiting sentencing on June 28 for her participation of the nonviolent action against nuclear weapons.
Here is the site for the article on the documentary.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/04/13/dorothy-days-radical-faith
Hope you all are doing well and are being able to fill your day with good thoughts.
In peace,
Joyce
May 2020 Meeting
This Wednesday, May 27, is our regular Pax Christi meeting day (fourth Wednesdays). How can time go so quickly when we are in lock-up??
For this month, we will not have an agenda, but instead will use the time to process our experience of living during this rare time, to talk to each other, perhaps do some reflecting on our experiences.
We can talk about what we are thinking, what we are doing to fill the voids, and maybe help each other with some ideas for good ways to spend our time on peace and social justice issues. If you have something you would like to share, please ‘bring it’ to the gathering.
There are lots of things coming to us over the internet: Webinars coming up or just attended, The Poor People’s Campaign March coming up on June 20 (virtually), waiting with the Plowshares Seven for them to receive their sentence from the judge for their non-violent direct action against nuclear weapons, Pace e Bene virtual conference in New Mexico in August on the 75th anniversary of Hiroshima/Nagasaki to protest nuclear weapons, and lots of environmental issues, not the least of which the Vatican’s encouragement to focus on this issue for the coming year.
Perhaps you have a book or a film you would like to suggest—a great way to continue to educate ourselves on important issues. Or anything else that comes to mind.
If you plan on joining the group Wednesday evening, please respond to this email so I can put you on the list and send you a link that you will need to enter the zoom meeting. You will get the email from me with the link on Wednesday morning.
I will have it set up for us to start coming on board at 7:00 pm.
Do hope that many of you can join in.
Joyce Hall
April 2020 Meeting
Dear Pax Christi Members and Friends,
As you know, Pax Christi Dallas has always had a regular member on the fourth Wednesday of each month, this month, April 22. Beginning at 6:00 p.m. we usually come together for food and conversation and our meetings begin at 7:00pm. (Sorry, your own meal at home this time.)
So what do we do that we can’t meet as usual. Let’s try this!!!!! We are going to ZOOM.
The plan had been to watch an environmental documentary at our regular meeting until ‘the virus’ changed our plans.
Earth Day takes place in April so appropriate focus for the month, however it pains me that we focus so much only in April when it should be all encompassing throughout the year.
The film we had planned is Earth Air Water Fire: The Human Element. If you would like to watch that, it is available on Amazon Prime for rental for 3.99. Another option is a really lovely film from Netflix but available to watch free on YouTube is Our Planet, the full episode which runs only 50 minutes is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfO-3Oir-qM
Another option for this week is to register for Earthx. You can register free at Earth.org/conference. You can sign up for any number of events which will be online and then go to their site to see the schedule which begins on April 22.
So, there are a plethora of options for this week/month/year, etc. Just choose what you want to watch and give us some feedback at our meeting.
I have set us up for a Zoom Meeting for Wednesday, April 22 at 7:00 pm. Let me know as soon as possible if you plan to join us so I can send to you by return email the envite and the link. So on Wednesday night, all you have to do is go to that email and click on the link in the message and it will take you immediately into the chat room. Be sure to turn on your camera and your mike on your device. You do not have to have the zoom icon on your device.
Do try to do a little bit of watching/reading so that you contribute to the conversation. I hope you will try this with us.
Looking forward to ‘seeing you’ on Wednesday evening.
P.S. if you have trouble getting on, I will have my cell phone handy, so please feel free to call me at 214-384-8894 and will help to walk you on.
Joyce Hall
Below is something you might find interesting:
In this COVID-19 crisis can we recognize we are one human family? Both Pope Francis and the UN Secretary General Call for a Global Cease-fire
Sr. Martha Ann Kirk
U.N. Secretary General calls for a global cease-fire
“Pope Francis issued two passionate humanitarian appeals on Sunday, March 29, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. First, he joined the U.N. secretary general in calling for the cessation of armed conflicts ‘in all corners of the world.’ Second, he called on governments worldwide ‘to avoid tragedies’ that could result from the spread of Covid-19 in overcrowded prisons. . . . . He prayed that ‘the common effort against the pandemic may bring everyone to recognize our need to strengthen the fraternal bonds as members of the one human family.’
“On Monday, March 23, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres appealed to warring parties ‘to lay down their weapons.’ He said, ‘It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives.’ In a message that was transmitted to a global audience by Vatican Media, Francis said, ‘I associate myself with all those who have accepted the appeal, and I invite all [parties in conflicts] to follow up on the appeal by stopping every form of warlike hostilities.’ He called on leaders to facilitate the creation of humanitarian corridors for aid, to open avenues of diplomacy and to attend ‘to those who find themselves in situations of great vulnerability.’
According to the 2020 report from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there were some 41 active armed conflicts over the last year, in places like Yemen, Syria, Libya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Venezuela. The global powers, including the United States and Russia, are involved in many of them.” Read more in America Media
If you would like to stand with the Pope speaking for a cease-fire and signing in support of the message of the Secretary General, click here. UN Secretary General António Guterres wrote, “Let us take inspiration from coalitions and dialogue slowly taking shape among rival parties in some parts to enable joint approaches to COVID-19. But we need much more. End the sickness of war and fight the disease that is ravaging our world. It starts by stopping the fighting everywhere. Now. That is what our human family needs, now more than ever.”
To end the sickness of war, we need to disarm our hearts and start facing the truth. Our greed and unreasonable fears are main things that fuel violence and war in the world. Am I willing to face this truth, choose to live in simpler ways, learn to control my fears, and lessen the suffering in the world?
Start to learn from spiritual groups like the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative or Pace e Bene or Compassionate Integrity Training how to disarm our own hearts. Start to learn from educational groups like World Beyond War how to face realities and abolish war. Do I understand the meaning of the word “security” or has my understanding been high jacked?
When compared to other countries, the U.S. has more COVID-19 cases and is very vulnerable. “The military occupation of the American mind has brainwashed Americans with strictly military concepts of ‘defense’ and ‘security,’ perverting federal spending priorities in the interest of war and militarism at the expense of all our country’s other vital needs, including the health of Americans.
Why can’t we just bomb the virus?
Of course, this question is ridiculous. But this is how U.S. leaders respond to every danger we face, with massive diversions of our national resources to the military-industrial complex (MIC) that leave this otherwise wealthy country starved of resources to tackle problems our leaders can’t pretend to solve with weapons and war. Depending what is counted as ‘defense’ spending, it accounts for up to two-thirds of federal discretionary spending. . . . . At the end of the Cold War in 1989, senior officials told the Senate Budget Committee that the U.S. military budget could safely be cut by 50% over the next ten years. Committee chairman Jim Sasser hailed the moment as ‘the dawn of the primacy of domestic economics.’” Have we in the U.S. chosen to do that so that people could have the security of food, housing, health care, education, and environmental protection?
…This is the time that each of us could seek to disarm our hearts and disarm our countries and seek authentic securities, such as those laid out in the U.N. Sustainable Development goals. Listen or read and learn from Pace e Bene. Learn to be compassionate towards your self, towards others, and infuse compassion into our global systems, a way to authentic security, a way to peace.
We could seek to disarm our words. As Pierre Thompson writes in “We Must Resist the ‘War’ on Coronavirus,” we are invited to examine our rhetoric which may lead us in dangerous directions. “Being ‘at war’ requires us to accept a dualistic and confrontational worldview: winners vs. losers, allies vs. enemies, us vs. them.” The word war “stifles our empathy and compassion for other human beings.” Each of us can choose to use words that indicate the solidarity of the human family, that lead to the common good, and that unite us in nonviolent energy. We are not in a time of war, we are in a time of joining Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Beloved Community.” We are in an era of joining the global circle dance of compassion.
From http://saccvi.blogspot.com/2020/04/in-this-covid-19-crisis-can-we.html. You are invited to regularly read and share comments on Justicia, Paz y Tierra / Justice, Peace and Earth, http://saccvi.blogspot.com/search/label/peace a blog from the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word
March 2020 Meeting – Canceled
As they say, it is better to err on the side of caution. So, we are stepping back and taking a deep breath to see what to do next. No meeting on this fourth Wednesday of the month, which would be March 25. Since most of our members are over 70, it seems the thing to do. I certainly will miss being with you.
Please give me your feedback. We hope to be able to resume with the April 22 meeting.
We have a new film on the environment that Susan Sporl found for us. The title is Earth, Air, Water, Fire: The Human Element, so that would be appropriate for Earth Day and for a month focusing on the environment.
More about it at this site:
I look forward to hearing from you.
Joyce Hall
COMMEMORATING ST. OSCAR ROMERO: WORSHIP & FILM SCREENING
Perkins Chapel worship on Wednesday, March 25, 11:30-12:20 will commemorate the life of Saint Oscar Romero, Roman Catholic Archbishop and martyred voice of solidarity with the campesinos, the poor, the Disappeared and disenfranchised under the El Salvadoran government. The service marks the 40th anniversary of Romero’s assassination on March 24, 1980, who was canonized a saint in 2018. The preacher is Dr. Karen Baker-Fletcher, Professor of Systematic Theology. Perkins Chapel is at 6001 Bishop Blvd, Dallas, TX 75205 on the SMU campus.
On Wednesday evening (March 25), the local Pax Christi, an international peace, justice, and reconciliation movement, invites members of the Perkins community to join their (free) film screening of “Monsenor, The Last Journey of Oscar Romero,” an epic portrait of Romero’s witness that includes rare film footage from his own collection, and interviews with those changed by his witness, including church activists, human rights lawyers, former guerrilla fighters, and politicians. The screening will be at 4330 Crowley Drive, Dallas 75229 (near Walnut Hill & Midway Rd.), with soup served at 6:00 p.m. and the film starting at 7:00. To register — call or send an email — 214-384-8894 or 214-357-2173, or [email protected]
February 2020 Meeting
Pax Christi Dallas has the pleasure of an upcoming speaker for our February meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 26 that I think you will like.
Ed Fischer has spent many years in Guatemala with a variety of experiences and is presently writing a book on the subject. He has consented to talk to us about it at this month’s meeting.
To learn more about Ed, read the attached brief summary of his Guatemala resume.
We are extending invitations to some folks outside our usual membership/attendees so we hope for a good crowd, so that makes it more important to reply if you are coming in order for us to plan for enough chairs and enough soup!!
Gathering spot is my home, 4330 Crowley Drive, Dallas 75229. As usual, we come together at 6:00 for food and conversation and the meeting begins at 7:00 pm.
Please reply as soon as possible.
Joyce
Brief Summary – Ed Fischer in Guatemala
1976-77: Volunteer for earthquake relief (dropped out of Georgetown to stay on longer) Ed led effort to transition from self-interested/corrupt head of effort to bottom up community effort. Evolved from Naïve, America knows best, paternalistic approach, to empowerment and social/economic justice.
1977-78: Walked from Guatemala to Philly to raise funds for water systems in highlands and a shantytown. Raised $300,000 in cash and $50,000 in surplus PL480 food. Return to Guatemala to implement programs
1979-1980: Studied as Jesuit Novice in Panama. At the end of two years decided to return to Guatemala since the villages I worked in were victims of US supported military’s massacres and had desperate needs. I couldn’t justify studying philosophy and theology at the time.
1981: Returned to Guatemala to help popular organizations during a time of repression and control. Helped the Committee of United Campesinos, a Christian Student Group that never got off the ground, and Dialogo (Dialogue) Magazine. While in the US raising funds for the programs, Jesuit father Luis Pellecer was kidnapped. I was warned to not return to Guatemala, telling me I was on the death squad hit list. 113 days after his witnessed brutal kidnapping, Luis re-appeared saying he kidnapped himself.
1981-1990s: I founded and ran a non-profit called PEACE for Guatemala. We successfully raised funds for numerous programs and non-violent groups that the Guatemalan military wanted to eliminate. I came to believe that PEACE was infiltrated by US intel and resigned after the Board voted to change operating procedures putting Guatemalans in greater jeopardy.
1990-96: I continued to help Guatemala as an individual until the Peace accord was approved and the UN stepped in to help.
1996-: I started for-profit small business to generate an income stream that would allow me to continue to help Guatemala. After that effort failed, I worked for different non-profits and raised 3 sons.
Retired 2018: Writing book about Guatemala. The book includes Guatemalan history, US involvement in Guatemala, comparisons among US administrations, the origins of the current refugee ‘crisis’. The book begins by following my path and evolution. It emphasizes heroes I meet along the way:
- Guatemalan Jesuit priest and anthropologist Ricardo Falla who lived among massacre survivors for 5 years until ordered out by well-meaning Bishop.
- Sister Raquel Saravia: (1942-2015) A prophet, theologian, and advocate of Liberation Theology. She was a member of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart (Belgium), the VP of the Religious Orders’ Coordinating org (CONFREGUA) during a time when protesting human rights violations was extremely dangerous. She never wavered despite numerous threats until ordered out of country by her order (for her own good). Raquel also played a key role in Latin American church orgs such as CELAM and SICSAL, and human rights groups and refugee relief coordination in Southern Mexico.
- Sister Maria Jose: Organized cooperatives of women (in Guatemala and among refugees) to sell products and helped with refugees in Mexico
- Juan Pablo: A Guatemalan Architect influenced by Maryknoll priest, committed life to providing housing to poor. He had to flee to exile and helped run multi-million-dollar refugee relief effort from Mexico.
- Francisca: A nine-year-old survivor of her village massacre. She spent more than a decade with other displaced massacre victims living off eating weeds and charity from poor villagers…constantly roaming to avoid the wrath of the army that poisoned water sources and destroyed crops when discovered.
- Felipe: Forced into the Military, forced to kidnap and machine gun villagers until he fled to exile.
I plan on using the book In addition to educating Americans, (hopefully lading to policy changes) as a platform to generate support for a non-profit supporting programs in Guatemala.
January 2020 Meeting
The January 22 meeting for Pax Christi will be at the home of Joan Dolan, 3732 Townsend Dr., Dallas 75229. It is between Cox Ln. and Marsh on the south side of the street.
Same gathering time, 6:00 pm for food and conversation and meeting begins at 7:00. Please respond to this email if you are coming.
This is the first meeting of 2020, so we will discuss what we hope and will work for by the end of the year, share knowledge and experiences so important to all of humanity and this planet. Bring your thoughts and ideas as well.
Below, you will find a link to an article sent out by Sr. Patricia Ridgley. It is a good example of how there are no unexpected consequences to war in general and the Iraq war in particular. Also one in which the Church is doing something really good. Could the Church/Pope Francis be a conduit for peace between the U.S. and the religious leadership in Iran?
Vatican Diplomacy & the Iraq War | Commonweal Magazine
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/vatican-diplomacy-iraq-war
Joyce Hall
Our October meeting has been cancelled due to tornado damage to Joyce’s home.
October 2019 Meeting
The next meeting is coming up soon, Wednesday, October 23. Last month we watched the Webinar from Back to the Brink ,….
Back from the Brink: The Call to Prevent Nuclear War is a national grassroots initiative seeking to fundamentally change U.S. nuclear weapons policy and lead us away from the dangerous path we are on. The Call lays out five common-sense steps that the United States should take to reform its nuclear policy. We are asking individuals and organizations around the country to endorse The Call and build support for the U.S. government to adopt it as its highest national security priority.
To see more about the webinar you can go to —- Back to the Brink
Since much of this is about grass roots efforts to follow through with the UN resolution to eradicate nuclear weapons, we will be discussing what we got from the webinar and strategize ways to carry out the project in our local community. So even if you missed last month, please look over the site to see what you think,
Also, some important things have come up in the past month regarding nuclear weapons, one is the Canadian bishops’ statement on Nuclear weapons and also the fact that the U.S. has nuclear weapons placed in Turkey at present. Perhaps you have been reading about other related issues that you would like to bring up. Please bring articles and information and ideas.
We gather as usual at my house at 6:00 pm, 4330 Crowley Drive, 75229, for food and conversation. The meeting begins at 7:00.
Please let me know if you are coming. Either respond to this email or call, 214-357-2173. Hope to see you next week.
Joyce Hall
September 2019 Meeting
The Pax Christi Meeting this month will be on September 25. We will gather as usual for food and conversation at 6:00 pm. The meeting will begin a few minutes before 7:00 pm. The timing must be precise because we will be watching a live webinar that begins at 7:00 pm. The webinar is: Back From the Brink: Organizing Locally to Prevent Nuclear War.
We will be meeting at our regular meeting place, the Hall home, 4330 Crowley Drive, Dallas, TX 75229. Please let us know if you will be present by responding to this email.
Thanks, and hope to see very many of you all,
Joyce Hall
August 2019 Meeting
The Wednesday, August 28 Pax Christi Meeting will take place at the La Madeleine on Lemmon Avenue near Oak Lawn.
The program will be: CENSUS 101
How the Count Impacts on Social Justice Needs
And How You Might Get Involved
The presenter is Jonathan (Chris) Carathers, Partnership Specialist, Dallas Regional Census Center
Please arrive at 6:00 pm to purchase your own food and join us in the private room (behind the serving area) for the Pax Christi meeting and conversation.
The program will begin promptly at 7:00 pm. (approx.. 20 minute introductory presentation with Q and A afterward)
Please feel free—–you are encouraged—-to invite others to the program and to the earlier conversation with Pax Christi.
July 2019 Meeting
Dear Pax Christi members and friends,
Our regular meeting date for this month is July 24, but not at my house. There is a change of venue.
Pax Christi has been working with the Nuclear Free World Committee of the Dallas Peace and Justice Center to get Dr. Lloyd Jeff Dumas to talk about his book, The Peacekeeping Economy: Using Economic Relationships to Build a More Peaceful, Prosperous and Secure World.
Dr. Dumas is a Professor of Political Economy, Economics, and Public Policy in the School of Economic, Political and Political Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Wednesday, July 24, 2019 – 7-9PM
First Unitarian Church of Dallas – Raible Chapel
4015 Normandy Drive, Dallas TX 75204
Cosponsored by: Pax Christi – Dallas, The Social Action Council – First Unitarian Church, etc
All are welcome. There is no charge for participation.
Drinks and refreshments will be served.
The Social Action Committee at the First Unitarian Church has graciously agreed to host—-so we have great companions in this.
Please take note of the time and place. There will be light snacks, but not a meal as we usually have—-just so you know ahead of time.
Do try to attend for a very informative evening.
Hope to see you there.
Joyce Hall
June 2019 Meeting
This month only, our meeting will be on the fourth Tuesday, June 25. And we will be meeting at a different time and place. We will be taking a guided tour of The Resource Center. This will be an exclusive, behind-the-scenes tour of the heart and soul of The Resource Center let y CEO Cece Cox. Learn the stories behind their advocacy, community, and health programs.
In heir brochure it says that :
The Center is a trusted leader that empowers the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) communities and all people affected by HIV through improving health and wellness, strengthening families and communities and providing transformative education and advocacy.
The tour on Tuesday, June 25, begins at 5:00 p.m. and ends at 6:30. Please try to arrive about 15 minutes early—-remember that traffic is often worse than expected!!!!
Location: 5750 Cedar Springs Rd., Dallas, TX 75235, near the intersection of Inwood Rd and Cedar Springs.
They would like to have the names of those who will be attending, so would you please reply in time for me to get you on the list?—June 20 should give us plenty of time.
This tour was recommended by Fr. Dan Clayton who is also a volunteer there.Hope you will like this diversion from the regular time and place for a monthly meeting.
Joyce Hall
214-357-2173 or 214-384-8894 if you need more information
May 2019 Meeting
This month’s fourth Wednesday falls on the 22nd. So we will be gathering at the same place, same time – on Wednesday, May 22.
6:00 pm for food and conversation. 7:00 pm for the program. We will start the business meeting well before 7:00 in order to have plenty of time for the program:
We will show a new documentary: The Climate for Change Is Now. Paris to Pittsburgh
Narrated by Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actress and activist, Rachel Brosnahan, Paris to Pittsburgh brings to life the impassioned efforts of individuals who are battling the most severe threats of climate change in their own backyards. Set against the national debate over the United States’ energy future—and the rump administration’s explosive decision to exit the Paris Climate Agreement—the film captures what’s at stake for the communities around the country, and the inspiring ways Americans are responding. Paris to Pittsburgh is co-directed by Sidney Beaumont and Michael Bonflglio and produced by RadicalMedia in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies. Joe Berlinger, Katherine Oliver and Jon Kamen are executive producers.
If you have any announcements, bring them to the meeting, or email ahead of time.
First timers, please call (214-357-2173) for directions.
Joyce Hall
April 2019 Meeting
Our April Pax Christi meeting will be on Wednesday, April 24th. The program for the meeting will be an environmental documentary called Love Thy Nature.
Love Thy Nature points to how deeply we’ve lost touch with nature, and takes viewers on a cinematic journey through the beauty and intimacy of our relationship with the natural world. The film shows that a renewed connection with nature is key both to good health and to solving our environmental and climate crises.
Please come by 6:00 pm. for food and conversation. We will try to start our meeting around 6:30 and the program begins at 7:00 pm.
If you have any announcements or items for the agenda, either bring them with you or email before the meeting.
Let us know if you are coming. Newcomers, please call for location and directions, 214-357-2173.
Joyce Hall
March 2019 Meeting
Just for March, the meeting date has changed to the third Wednesday of the month——this month only.
So we will be meeting on March 20. Come at 6:00 as usual for food and conversation.
BUT—- another change—— we will be starting our business meeting at 6:30 around the table. That way, we can start our program at 7:00 pm.
This month, the program will be a documentary, Who Are These Russians and Why Do We Hate Them?
This is an interesting look at the Russian people and how they view their own government and life in their country.
Citizen Diplomacy is an important part of working against the nuclear arms race. This doc is done by Regis Tremblay. Perhaps you will remember that we screened one of his films a couple of years ago at the Angelika Theater entitled Thirty Seconds to Midnight.
One more thing. Some of our members have been attending meetings of a group in the Southern part of Dallas regarding the toxic waste dumping and grinding of asphalt shingles—and maybe tires too—-adjacent to a residential area.
The group has named itself Southern Section Rising, and many events are planned in the immediate future including a gathering in the flag room of city hall and a protest at the dump site. We will be notifying you of these so that you can take part if you like.
In addition to that, Pax Christi Dallas has signed on as a supporter of this effort. See the attached letter.
Hope you can make it to the THIRD WEDNESDAY meeting, March 20, 6:00 pm.
Joyce Hall
February 2019 Meeting
This is a reminder that the fourth Wednesday is upon us. Pax Christi will be meeting this week, Wednesday, the 27th.
Gather as usual at 6:00 pm for food and conversation. The meeting begins at 7:00 pm.
Will be helpful if you can let me know if you are coming.
Please bring ideas of issues you would like for Pax Christi to address in some way this year.
Thanks——and wish for much peace and love in your lives.
Joyce Hall
P.S. Newcomers or anyone needing more information, please call 214-357-2173 or respond to this email.
January 2019 Meeting
Reminder that Pax Christi’s Fourth Wednesday meeting is on January 23. Come for food and conversation at 6:00 and meeting begins at 7:00.
To follow up on our focus on environmental issues, we will be watching the documentary, Racing Extinction.
Academy Award winning filmmakers expose the forces that are leading our planet to its next mass extinction, potentially resulting in the loss of half of all species. A never-before-seen view of an international wildlife trade, operating in the shadows, reveals how creatures that have survived for millions of years may be wiped from Earth in our lifetime. Hidden in plain sight, the other great force is one of the oil and gas companies don’t want the world to recognize. Using covert tactics and state-of-the-art technology, Racing Extinction exposes these two forces in an inspiring affirmation to preserve life as we know it. (95 minutes long)
Also, for our meeting, bring your concerns and ideas for Pax Christi for 2019, and please feel free to bring a friend. If you cannot be here but would like to announce an upcoming event or to give some input, just email.If you are coming, or have any questions, please email back or call 214-357-2173. Need to make sure we have enough soup and chairs.
Looking forward to a new year and lots of input and involvement from the group.
Joyce Hall
October 2018 Meeting
Pax Christi will be meeting this coming Wednesday (4th Wednesdays) October 24.
Come at 6:00pm for a simple meal and conversation. Meeting begins at 7:00pm.
We will be switching to environmental issues at our meeting this month with the film, Before the Flood. In this illuminating documentary, global climate change is examined from multiple perspectives chronicling actor Leonardo DeCaprio’s crusade to increase awareness of the potentially catastrophic effects of the environmental changes already under way.
We have not passed on nuclear issues and will keep up with ongoing issues having to do with nuclear weapons and contamination, so please keep focused on that too.
If you would like to add anything to the agenda or make an announcement, please email me.
Let us know if you are coming by return email or call at 214-357-2173.
Joyce
___________________________________________________________________________
September 2018 Meeting
This coming Wednesday, September 26 ——we have decided to postpone our regular Pax Christi meeting and encourage everyone to attend this instead:
Dedman Interdisciplinary Institute
The Graduate Liberal Studies Program
and Human Rights Dallas
Presents:
Human Rights Dallas Map
An online resource locating events of human rights significance in Dallas county
SMU McCord Auditorium
September 26, 2018
6-7:30 PM
with presentations by
Collete Flanagan and John Fullinwider
Mothers Against Police Brutality
The Allen Brooks Lynching to the Present:
Black Men in Dallas
Jalenzski Brown—–Dallas Resource Center
LGBTQ Life in Dallas
Hadi Jawad——Dallas Peace and Justice Center
1975 Killing of Santos Rodriguez
Tonya Stafford——It’s Going to Be OK, Inc.
Surviving Human Trafficking
Moderator: Ed Gray
Annual Pax Christi Summer Potluck Supper
Saturday, August 25, 2018 – 6:30 pm
4330 Crowley Drive, 75229
Bring a friend, the more the better.
And bring a favorite dish to share.
Live Music
Our long-time member, Roger Kennedy
will be gracing us with some of his new and original songs.
No regular meeting this month
Please RSVP if you are coming
By return email or 214-357-2173
(please let us know what food item you are bringing)
July 2018 Meeting
Our July meeting is this coming Wednesday, July 25.
Food and conversation at 6:00, Meeting begins at 7:00
This month, we will watch the second half of the documentary, The Nuns, the Priests and the Bomb with a discussion afterwards.
Any other agenda items or announcements, contact Joyce by email [email protected]
Please let us know if you’re coming by responding to this email. New folks, call 214-357-2173 for more information and/or directions.
Announcement:
August 6, Hiroshima Day, there will be a Hiroshima candlelight memorial at Turtle Creek Park (formerly Lee Park) at the corner of Lemmon and Turtle Creek
Gather on the steps of Arlington Hall at 8:00 pm
Go to the Dallas Peace and Justice Center for the events surrounding the ‘Santos Vive Project” including a private screening, Santos Viva at the Angelika Theater on Monday evening, July 23.
https://www.dpjc.org/events/current-events/the-santos-vive-project
June 2018 Meeting
On Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Come at 6:00 for a simple supper and conversation
Meeting begins at 7:00
First timers, for questions or directions, call 214-357-2173
The highlight of our June meeting will be the new documentary: The Nuns, The Priests and the Bomb by award winning filmmaker, Helen Young.
Pax Christi Dallas will be the only place in Texas where this has been seen, so far.
Notre Dame screened it in the spring semester and will do so again in the fall. Fordham has scheduled it for October, and two other Jesuit universities are looking at it for the fall, Georgetown and Loyola (I don’t know which one).
We will use the screening process recommended by the the filmmaker for small discussion groups, watching the first half, about 50 minutes leaving time for discussion, then watch the second half at our July meeting.
If you would like to add anything to the agenda or have announcements, please email.
Please let us know if you will be attending in order to plan for seating as we may have some who are not regular attendees present for this meeting.
Thanks,
Joyce Hall
May 2018 Meeting
Our fourth Wednesday meeting is coming up this week, May 23rd.
We will finish the discussion of Daniel Ellsberg’s book, The Doomsday Machine, covering chapters 14 through 21. Five members have volunteered to take a chapter or so to summarize and pose questions. We have had excellent discussions on the first part of the book.
Come at 6:00 for a simple supper and conversation. Meeting begins at 7:00.
Time permitting, we can have a discussion on the Dr. Ira Helfand event last Wednesday. See below for notes on that presentation.
AND a brief report on Pax Christi Texas March conference.
If you have anything to add to the agenda or announcements, please let me know.
First timers, please email by reply or call me at 214-357-2173 for location, and other information.—Joyce Hall
Notes from Dr. Ira Helfand event, May 16, 2018
After the nuclear non-proliferation treaties, we acted as if the danger had gone, but this is a miscalculation—-the weapons are still with us.
Here are factors that have changed.
· Geopolitical situation between the U.S. and Russia is worse than ever.
· U. S Chinese relations are worse than ever.
· There is very tense economic competition around the world and military near misses are very dangerous.
· Korea—not out of the woods. Not necessarily designed for military peace.
· India/Pakistan—-fought four wars. Kashmir fighting every day; can easily escalate and would almost certainly inflate to nukes.
· Iran—confrontation could be catastrophic
· Cyberterrorism—Hack into command and control system; convince them that they are under attack
· Climate change—massive movements of people, fighting over land.
· Trump
A huge educational campaign is necessary.
There is talk in some quarters of a limited nuclear war which could be a threat to the entire planet.
Example: India/Pakistan—–1st week-20 million will die; causing firestorms with world wide climate destruction.
There are 1000 warheads on hair trigger alert. The president has unchecked authority to destroy the world.
We need desperately to try:
Abandon money spent on nukes, set forth a timetable and have a group to oversee.
This is a step to secure our own security. Three years to turn arms race around—-Already did it once with the ‘Freeze’ program and we can do it again.
Q and A
What about getting corporations on board. There are a few corporations in ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons)—won the Nobel Peace prize in July 1917. 120 countries have signed on to the resolution but it requires 50 countries to ratify it. The U.S. is leaning on some countries to not ratify, but thinks we are on a good trajectory to get the fifty, but it may take a while longer that first anticipated because countries have to go through a process.
Nine countries have nuclear weapons, but 95 percent are in the U.S. and Russia.
The media is resistant to cover this, so it’s not on most people’s radar screen as they have not been given the information.
China stopped at 300. They decided that 300 could destroy the world so why make more.
But their policy is beginning to change and we are not sure why.
First Use Policy—–The U.S. has never had a no first use policy, and have threatened to use them several times, i.e. Formosa Straits, North Korea, Iran in 1978.
The U.S. has a terrible track record here. We have them to threaten other countries and this is fully and widely understood in the rest of the world.
Use for deterrence—some element of truth, but doesn’t guarantee they won’t be used. Deterrence can fail completely in so many different situations
During the cold are, we were prepared to use.
We were saved only because we were lucky. Luck cannot continue to prevent a nuclear war. It is hard to understand how we have been so lucky. It can’t last forever. At some point they will be used intentionally or by accident or by cyber attack.
Those of us who have nukes are living in a fantasy world. We need to be aggressive about education and insisting that this be reversed. It seems impossible but it happened before in three years between Gorbachev and Reagan who had been enemies and then came together to talk about the understanding that we either eliminate nuclear weapons or they will eliminate us.
We must get young people into the movement but how to get them in the door??
SGI-Buddhist youth group met with Dr. Helfand in the afternoon and they were enthusiastic about devising a way.
Money is a big issue, but people who think that making and keeping nuclear weapons will spend anything if they think they will protect them and their children. It may take our children to educate us and lead the way.
We tell people to get rid of their nukes, like Libya, but countries like North Korea have seen what happened to Libya when they did—-we attacked them. We also attacked Iraq because we didn’t believe they had nukes. We are sending a message to the rest of the world—-have nukes or we might invade you. It is the exact opposite of what we say we want to do.
We meet at summits with countries that have nukes. Constantly sending messages that it’s good to have them.
We have become more and more complacent about permanent war.
We have a very distorted economy—–much depends on war.
9/11 was a cover for the military to invade other countries.
New project from Physicians for Social Responsibility—–Back from the Brink
Go to this website to learn more about this project and learn more about how you might get involved:
https://www.preventnuclearwar.org/
Back from the Brink: A Call to Prevent Nuclear War
We call on the United States to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by: Renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first ending the sole, unchecked
authority of any President to launch a nuclear attack takkng U.S. nuclear weapons
off hair-trigger alert cancelling the plan to replace its entire arsenal with
enhanced weapons actively pursuing a verifiable agreement among nuclear armed
states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.
April 2018 Meeting
At our April 25 meeting, we will continue the discussion of Daniel Ellsberg’s book The Doomsday Machine, pages 90 through the end of the first section. Five people will be responsible for certain chapters, but we will not be giving a review of each chapter as we have for other books. So as you read, highlight the parts that you think are important enough for dicussion — or an overall brief reflection on the chapter. As always, even if you don’t have an opportunity to get all of it read, do come and join in the discussion.
In addition, Joan, Carolyn and I will be giving a brief report on the Pax Christi Texas Conference in Houston in March with Paul K. Chappell.
Come at six for soup and conversation. We will begin the meeting at 7:00.
Any first-timers, please call for location, etc. 214-357-2173 or reply to this email.
If you would like to add something to the agenda or have an announcement, please let me know ahead of time, if possible.
Please respond if you are coming.
Joyce Hall
March 2018 Meeting
Our next Pax Christi meeting, Wednesday, March 28, is more of a special event—-really special.
Four Russian Women are visiting Dallas that week in a program called
Russians Meet Mainstream America, part of a month long visit to the U.S.
We will be hosting all four, March 28 for a PotLuck Supper from 6:00 – 8:00 pm
At my home, 4330 Crowley Drive, Dallas 75229
After dinner, there will be plenty of time for round table discussions about
Americans and Russians, and how we understand each other—-or not!
It is short notice, but because of numbers we would like to have your RSVP
By this Thursday, March 22
You may reply to this email or call at 214-357-2173
Also, if you would like to contribute a food item for the dinner, please let me know.
February 2018 Meeting
The February meeting of Pax Christi will be on Wednesday the 28th.
Come at 6:00 for a simple supper, meeting begins at 7:00.
We will be discussing the first five chapters of Daniel Ellsberg’s book, The Doomsday Machine.
If you haven’t read it, come anyway, but do make the effort if you can—–we would like to have your contribution to the conversation.
Please reply if you are coming, either to this email or call 214-357-2173.
Look forward to a good meeting and much discussion.
If you want to add anything to the agenda or have an announcement, please reply or bring with you.
Hope to see you on Wednesday,
Joyce Hall
January 2018 Meeting
Dear Pax Christi Members and Friends,
At our January 24th meeting, in keeping with the MLK holiday, we will be watching the address by Sr. Patricia Chappell, director of Pax Christi USA, to the Ignatian Family Tech-In annual assembly on November 8, 2017. This is on racism from a different perspective. You will not want to miss this. It runs about 40 minutes. And we hope to have some special guests with us.
Also, Carolyn Bentley will present a proposal to our group to join the Pace e Bene Nonviolent Cities Project with the intention of working toward making Dallas a Nonviolent City by collaborating with other nonviolent groups and starting a movement. She will tell us how it works and give us some ideas for networking. Go to their website if you would like to learn something more about the project before the meeting.
There will be a short report on the January 9 steering committee.
The regular format is to arrive at 6:00 for light supper and conversation. The meeting begins at 7:00. Please let me know if you will be coming so we will know how many chairs and servings in the soup pot.
Also, if you have anything you would like to have added to the agenda or have an announcement for upcoming events/actions, please let me know ahead of time if you can.
Joyce Hall
214l-357-2173
THEN, (advanced notice) at our February 28th meeting, we will start a book discussion. The book is Daniel Ellsberg’s new book, The Doomsday Machine. We believe that this is very timely due to the fact that the UN has just passed a treaty for the eradication of nuclear weapons and Pax Christi International is doing so much work with the Vatican on this subject. Also, perhaps to inspire us even further is the new film, The Post, about Daniel Ellsberg’s exposing the Pentagon Papers.
Here is a blurb from the book:
Framed as a memoir—a chronicle of madness in which Ellsberg acknowledges participating—this gripping expose reads like a thriller and offers feasible steps we can take to dismantle the existing “doomsday machine” and avoid nuclear catastrophe, returning Ellsberg to his role as whistle-blower. The Doomsday Machine is thus a real life Dr. Strangelove story and an ultimately hopeful—and powerfully important—book about not just our country, but the future of the world.
So, this advance notice will give you a chance to get a copy of the book and start reading. We will discuss the first five chapters at our February meeting.
Some other issues will be covered at this meeting, so the book discussion will not take up the entire time.
*** March meeting, people to people delegation, four women from Russia to be in Dallas. We may be able to host an event for them.
October 2017 Meeting
Just a reminder that we meet this Wednesday for Pax Christi. BUT we will gather at 5:30 because of a Webinar that begins at 6:00. See information below. If you have not already responded that you are coming, please do so.
See you then,
Joyce
For our October Pax Christi meeting, we will be gathering earlier because we will be watching the third Webinar sponsored by the Korea Collaborative (a group of large Peace Groups from across the nation). This one is titled:
On the Brink of War: Peace Activists in South Korea and Japan Respond.
It will begin at 6:00 pm on the dot and go for one hour. So please try to arrive by about 5:30. We can fix our plates and watch in the den on the big screen. We will be watching it live through the internet. Then we can have our regular meeting after the webinar.
We’ll have a few items of business and some letter/postcard writing. Please bring additional agenda items and announcements of upcoming events/actions.
If time allows, we have a new film, a documentary that runs for 80 minutes.
The Great White Hoax, featuring acclaimed anti-racist educator and author Tim Wise, explores how American political leaders of both parties have been tapping into white anxiety, stoking white grievance, and scapegoating people of color for decades to divide and conquer working class voters and shore up political support. The film’s primary focus is Donald Trump’s race-baiting 2016 campaign for the presidency. But it widens its scope to show how Trump’s charged rhetoric about African-Americans, Latinos, and Muslims fits within a long standing historical pattern, offering a stunning survey of how racism and racial scapegoating have shaped American politics for centuries. The Great White Hoax is an ideal resource for courses that look at race relations, white privilege, the intersectionality of race, class, and gender identities, presidential politics, and political propaganda.
Tim Wise is among the nation’s most prominent anti-racist writers and activists. Wise is the author of White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, Between Barak and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama, and most recently, Under the Affluence: Shaming the Poor, Praising the Rich and Sacrificing the Future of America.
Please respond if you are coming or call at 214-357-2173 if you are a first-timer and need place and directions.
September 2017 Meeting
Reminder of the September Pax Christi meeting on Wednesday, the 27th.
We will be discussing three timely issues that members have brought to the fore for information and possible participation/involvement.
Also we will watch a new documentary:
The Occupation of the American Mind: Israel’s Public Relations War in the United States
We come together (regular meeting place) at 6:00 for food and conversation (hope to cover most of the issues during this time)
Meeting and film (84 minutes) begins at 7:00 with discussion afterward.
Please let me know if you will be coming.
For newcomers, please email or call 214-357-2173 for location and directions.
FYI
We do have a website: Paxchristidallas.org
Take a look. If you have any suggestions for additions (it is still in process) please contact me or Laura.
Look forward to seeing you this coming Wednesday.
Joyce Hall
August 2017 Meeting
Our next Pax Christi gathering will be Wednesday, August 23 at the regular meeting place.
As usual, we gather for a simple meal at 6:00. Since it’s still so hot, bring a salad of any kind to share, or whatever you have to offer. If you don’t have a chance to do that, come anyway, there is always plenty.
Our meeting begins at 7:00 and we will see a talk by Paul Chappell, an international peace educator. He serves as the Peace Leadership Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Paul graduated from West Point, was deployed to Iraq, and left active duty as a captain.
Please submit your agenda items and/or announcements for the meeting. We have much to discuss.
If you are coming, please respond to this message or call 214-357-2173, so we will know how many to expect. First timers, please call to get location and directions.
Looking forward to Wednesday and a very good meeting.
July 2017 Meeting
This Wednesday, July 26 is our monthly Pax Christi meeting.
Everyone seemed to love the salad supper last month and because it’s so hot will repeat that plan. So bring a salad of any kind to share for our simple supper at 6:00 pm.
Our meeting will begin at 7:00.
Also, bring with you the issue/issues having to do with peace and justice that are near and dear to your heart——issues that are the most pressing perhaps and be prepared to say a little about them. No big presentation, just what and why will do unless you want to say more.
Regular meeting place.
If you are a first-timer call me at 214-357-2173 for directions and more information.
Looking forward to gathering this week.
Joyce Hall
June 2017 Meeting
Our agenda will include watching a film from the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio. It was part of a March, 2017 conference entitled ‘Daniel Berrigan and the Spirituality of Prophecy’. This segment is a presentation by Robert Ellsberg who for many years was the editor of Orbis Books and now is their publisher. His is an especially good presentation.
This is the site for that one along with some others, including Liz McAlister, widow of Phil Berrigan, and also Fr. Ron Rolheiser:
http://www.sanantoniopeace.center/event/social-justice-institute-daniel-berrigan-and-a-spirituality-of-prophecy/
We will also spend some time debriefing the film at the Angelika on May 24th, 30 Seconds to Midnight. The filmmaker is now breaking the film up into short segments on different subjects to be used for educational purposes.
As time allows we will discuss some structural and focus issues with our group. Hope to have some really good input.
This month, instead of soup we are asking everyone to bring a small salad to share——any kind. It’s summertime, so something cool would be appropriate.
We meet as usual for food and conversation at 6:00 and meeting starts at 7:00.
For newcomers, please call me at 214-357-2173 for questions and or directions.
Please let me know if you plan to attend.
Joyce Hall
April 2017 Meeting
The date is April 26 (fourth Wednesday as usual). Again, gathering at 6:00 for soup and a simple supper. Our meeting begins at 7:00.
There will be a short follow-up discussion on the effort to refocus on Nonviolence in church teaching and the program effort by Pax Christi International. Next, we will see a short (20 minute) documentary about children traveling from Central America to the U.S. in search of their families.
We will put some energy into our May project—the showing of a new film at the Angelika on May 24. The filmmaker, Regis Tremblay, will be with us that evening for a Q & A after the film. This is a big deal, so please be thinking about how to get information to lots of people. It will be free and open to the public, so cost will not be a hindrance. Much to talk about. the title of the film is 30 Seconds to Midnight. It’s brand new. Don’t confuse with another entitled 3 Minutes to Midnight.
If you have anything else you would like to place on the agenda, please feel free to do so. Also, any announcements of coming events, etc. Please let me know if you are coming. And if you are a first timer and need directions to my house, call 214-357-2173.
You will want to know that the husband of one of our long-time members, Margaret Gillett died a few days ago. His service will be in May. Will send that out when I have more information.
Some of you might want to know about and perhaps attend the luncheon and presentation by Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst under seven presidents, and co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. His specialty is Russia and still keeps up with that. That will be on May 3 at the Belo. Tickets are 40.00. If you are interested, let me know and I will forward more information to you.
Joyce Hall
March 2017 Meeting
Don’t forget, it’s the fourth Wednesday of the month this week, March 21.
We have several things on the agenda as well as plan to watch an 18-minute film by Sonia Nazario, author of Enrique’s Journey.
She is a prize-winning journalist and author. She tells of her experience following the same three-month trek on foot as many children going through Mexico from Central America.
Also, Susan Sporl, Ann Sansone and I will give a report on the Pax Christi Texas conference in Houston this past weekend. Lots of good information including the ongoing Catholic Nonviolent Initiative at the Vatican.
Come at 6:00 for soup and a light supper with conversation, etc. Our meeting starts at 7:00.
Let me know if you are coming
First timers call me at 214-357-2173 for place and directions.
Joyce Hall
January 2017 Meeting
Our first meeting of the year for Pax Christi Dallas will be on Wednesday, January 25, 2017.
This gathering will be very important. We need your input as we organize and focus for the coming year. There are many things happening right now and we can have a positive influence with some planning and action. You are very important and we need you to be present for the discussion.
First of all, we need to decide just what that our main focus will be for the year. One very important issue right now is nuclear weapons, especially as tensions increase between NATO and Russia. There is a lot going on, much that we are not aware of, so we would like to educate ourselves and others about these issues.
Pax Christi USA and Pax Christi International are both focusing on nuclear weapons as well as the broader issue of non-violence. Pax Christi International was one of the two actors in setting up the nonviolence conference at the Vatican. Much is now coming from that meeting, including the final document called “An Appeal to the Catholic Church to Re-Commit to the Centrality of Gospel Nonviolence.” (http://www.paxchristi.net/sites/default/files/documents/appeal-to-catholic-church-to-recommit-to-nonviolence.pdf) Also Marie Dennis, co-director of Pax Christi International, will be the speaker for our Pax Christi Texas conference in Houston on March 11. Perhaps there is a program or a partnership we can develop locally to help carry on this work of the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Secondly we would like input on and help with the Pax Christi Dallas website. Sometime in the next few days, go to our website: https://paxchristidallastx.org/
The postings are a bit behind and we are asking for recommendations for the site. What do you think should be posted on the site? How can it be improved? Do you want to a help?
Thirdly, what does it mean for Pax Christi Dallas that we have a new bishop in the Dallas Diocese? How might we nurture that relationship?
We need some good suggestions and discussion here. Might it be possible to get the U.S. Bishops to write a new peace pastoral, one that does not allow for nuclear weapons for deterrence?
And finally, we know it is important to be aware of current peace and justice actions and to be connected to other peace and justice groups. As usual our meetings also work as a clearing house for important issues and actions having to do with peace and justice. Lots of things fit under those categories. So bring that information with you. If you cannot come, pass the information along so it can be part of the announcements on our agenda.
There are lots of things going on now in the area that we all want to be aware of:
For one, take note of the Sunday, January 29 event sponsored by the Dallas Peace and Justice Center. Medea Benjamin and Col. Ann Wright will be in Dallas for a program. There will be a dinner with the speaking event. Go to the website of the DPJC for more information and to make a reservation if you would like to attend. I have a feeling they are going to sell out with these two women as the program.
DPJC committees are being formed and gearing up for the year with discussions and planning on being ready for the actions of the new national administration. One such group has already met twice having to do with treatment of Muslims and other people considered as outsiders by some.
So, spend some time thinking in the next few days about what input you might have for the Wednesday night meeting. We will gather, as usual at 6:00 pm for soup (a light meal) and conversation. Then the meeting begins at 7:00 pm. Email or call if you can come. Call for directions if this is your first time to meet with us. Phone is 214-357-2173.
Please let us know if you are coming. If you haven’t been attending, consider this as one of your new involvements for 2017. Bring a friend. Hope to see a large group of you here on the 25th.
Joyce Hall
October 2016 Meeting
This month, October, Pax Christi will be meeting on the third Wednesday, October 19, instead of our regular day, the fourth Wednesday. So please make note of this change.
We will continue our discussion of Bryan Stevenson’s book, Just Mercy. If you couldn’t make it in September, come in October and we will catch you up. We will be covering chapters 6-10, using these discussion questions as our guide. Discussion Questions: just-mercy-discussion-questions
Bryan Stevenson, the author of Just Mercy, the book we are discussing, is going to be speaking at SMU on 10/13. There is a free lecture at 4:30 (though you have to register at smu.edu/smureads). The event is in McFarlin Auditorium. He is also the Tate Lecturer that night.
Also, Laura sent this interview with Michelle Alexander which is very pertinent to what we’re reading about in the book. Think you might be interested in this.
A conversation with the civil rights law scholar Michelle Alexander on how to dismantle the mass incarceration crisis in the U.S.
http://www.citylab.com/crime/2016/09/life-after-the-new-jim-crow/502472/
Hope to see you on the 19th.
Joyce Hall
September 2016 Meeting
We stopped meeting over the summer after a fire at Joyce Hall’s home. Fortunately, we will be able to start again in September, finally starting our discussion of Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy.
We will gather for food and conversation at 6:00; the meeting will begin at 7:00. If you want to add anything to the agenda, please let Joyce know. If you cannot attend, but want to make an announcement, please send that ahead of time.
We need to know if you will be coming, so please reply if you are. We will meet at the regular place, the Hall household. If you are new, please call for information and directions, 214-357-2173.
On September 28, our Pax Christi group will begin the discussion of Just Mercy, A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson. We hope to cover the first five chapters. Here are the discussion questions we will be using:
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Discussion Questions, from Study Guide Prepared by Melissanne Scheld, September 2014
Chapter 1 – Mockingbird Players
1. How did Stevenson’s background prepare him for law school?
2. In the introduction, he discusses his grandmother’s background and what impact that had on his career choices. How important are our backgrounds to our career choices?
3. What famous novel was written in Monroe County, AL, and how is it relevant to Just Mercy?
4. In what ways ‘Alabama’s economic policies disadvantage the state’s African American population?
5. Why was Ralph Myers considered to be so trustworthy by the Monroe County police department?
Chapter 2 – Stand
1. Does your state have Stand Your Ground laws? Do you support them?
2. Stevenson wished he had been more assertive with the police while they were illegally searching his car. Do you think that would have been effective? How would you recommend someone respond in a similar situation?
3. Do you think the police officers acted appropriately? How else might they have approached the situation?
4. Likewise, did their supervisors respond fairly to Stevenson’s official complaint?
5. How did the senior citizen attending Stevenson’s church lecture earn his “medals of honor”?
Chapter 3 – Trials and Tribulations
1. What is the importance of the 1986 Batson v. Kentucky ruling?
2. How does diversity in a jury affect its deliberations?
3. If you were in Chestnut or Boynton’s position, would you have tried to move the trial?
4. Who were some of Walter McMillian’s most important allies?
5. In your opinion, who is most to blame for Walter’s conviction?
6. Walter was both poor and black. Do you think his story would have played out the same if he had been wealthy and white?
Chapter 4 – The Old Rugged Cross
1. Describe the 1982 Supreme Court ruling related to death penalty appeals. What impact did that have across the country?
2. When do judge overrides increase and for what reason?
3. Define the 2002 Supreme Court case of Atkins v. Virginia.
4. Alabama’s capital statute requires that murder be intentional in order for a defendant to be eligible for the death penalty. Why is this relevant in Richardson’s case?
5. Richardson was a U.S. war veteran who suffered tremendous mental trauma while serving our nation. How should that be factored into his defense?
6. What is “untimely” evidence? Was this a fair ruling, in your opinion, in Stevenson’s appeals filing?
7. Richardson remarks on the frequent offers of help from the prison staff during his final day. What do you make of these offers?
8. At this point in Just Mercy, Stevenson’s legal defense center is seriously underfunded while also highly in demand. Not many people would have the stamina to continue facing the major challenges he is facing. What impact does Richardson’s execution have on him? How would you feel in his position?
Chapter 5 – Of the Coming of John
1. What is the origin of this chapter’s name?
2. While Stevenson is meeting Walter’s family, do you think he is confident Walter will be free? How would you handle that situation?
3. How is the relationship between Stevenson and Walter changing? What does the author cite as an important activity for lawyers to do when defending death row prisoners? Why?
4. Why does it annoy Stevenson that To Kill a Mockingbird is a point of pride in Monroeville?
5. How would you characterize Stevenson’s mood at the end of this chapter?
6. Based only on what you know up to this point, are you hopeful for Walter’s release?
Do hope you can make it. It’s a wonderful book. Bryan appeared and spoke at the book fair at the Dallas main public library in April.
April 2016 Meeting
This is a reminder for our upcoming meeting on Wedneday, April 27.
In keeping with our focus on racism we will watch the DVD of Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas who was one of the keynote speakers at the national Call to Action meeting in Milwaukee in November. See below for more information about her.
So, as usual, gather for food and conversation at 6:00 and meeting will begin at 7:00. If you want to add anything to the agenda, please let me know. If you cannot attend, but want to make an announcement, please send that ahead of time.
We need to know if you will be coming, so please reply if you are.
Meeting at the regular place, the Hall household. If you are new, please call for information and directions. 214-357-2173.
Look forward to our gathering and to a good program.—Joyce Hall
The Speaker on Video: Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas
Title: Stand Your Ground: A Call to Action
Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas is an Episcopal priest and serves as the Director of the Religion Program at Goucher College. A leading voice in the development of a womanist theology, Dr. Douglas has been a pioneer in addressing sexual issues in the black religious community where she is an outspoken advocate for LGBT rights. Widely published, Dr. Douglas has authored numerous books, including her most recent, Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God.
Just a little heads up for the May meeting, we will start the discussion on Bryan Stevenson’s book Just Mercy. If you don’t already have the book, you might want to get a copy and start reading. Bryan will be speaking at the book fair in Dallas on the last Saturday in April if you have a chance to go to that. The book is on our criminal justice system and has gotten wonderful reviews, will make for a good discussion. We will be taking two meetings to do that.
March 2016 Meeting
There will be a change of venue and program for our Pax Christi March 23 meeting. We are co-sponsoring the Texas Syrian Refugee Crisis program to be held at SMU Law School in Karcher Auditorium of Story Hall at the corner of Daniel and Hillcrest, northwest corner of campus.
The event takes place from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.
For more information, the flyer is attached and information for parking is at the site highlighted below.
This is an excellent opportunity for Pax Christi to be involved with important issues in the city and state. Hopefully, many of you can attend.
Attached is the flyer. We have no special arrangements for parking, but there is a visitor lot across from Storey Hall (http://www.law.smu.edu/admissions/visiting-smu). In the past, ACS has also recommended 2 hours of free parking at Snider Plaza, which is a short walk from the law school.
February 2016
At our February meeting, Wednesday, the 24th, we will be finishing up Ta-Nehisi Coates book, Between the World and Me, as we discuss the second half.
Please come for this even though you may not have been here for the discussion of the first half.
We used the Discussion Questions by Alexis Elafros.
It has proven to provoke a lively discussion with good insights.
As usual, come at 6:00 for food and conversation. Always a pot of soup on the stove.
Then the meeting begins at 7:00.
Our meetings are also a clearing house for information, meetings, programs on peace and social justice issues, so bring those; or if you can’t be here, email announcements so we can make them known.
Do hope that you can join us. Next months’ meetings will be decided by you, so bring ideas forward. We do have some videos based on racism which would be worthwhile to watch, but depend on your suggestions.
Please let me know if you are coming so that we can plan with amount of soup, number of chairs, etc.
Remember, Wednesday(4th Wednesday) February 24.
See you then,
Joyce Hall
January 2016 Meeting
Our next meeting is on January 27th. Continuing our focus on racism, we will begin our discussion of the popular and insightful Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. It is a little longer than Robert Jensen’s book, The Heart of Whiteness, but is still an easy read. We will finish our discussion in February.
Coates was interviewed on Democracy Now on September 7, 2015:
Today we spend the hour with Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of an explosive new book about white supremacy and being black in America. Titled “Between the World and Me,” it is written as a letter to his teenage son, Samori. In July, Ta-Nehisi Coates launched the book in his hometown of Baltimore. He spoke at the historic Union Baptist Church. “It seems like there’s a kind of national conversation going on right now about those who are paid to protect us, who sometimes end up inflicting lethal harm upon us,” Coates said. “But for me, this conversation is old, and I’m sure for many of you the conversation is quite old. It’s the cameras that are new. It’s not the violence that’s new.”
As usual, come at 6:00 pm for food and conversation. The program begins about 7:00. At the home of Joyce Hall. First comers, please call me at 214-357-2173 for directions and more information. Also, let me know if you are coming by responding to this email so we’ll know how many to plan for.
October 2015 Meeting
For some time now, our Pax Christi Dallas group has discussed the possibility of delving into the subject of racism. So last month we decided as a group at the August meeting to begin by reading and discussing a couple of books.
The first, which we will discuss at our October meeting, is a rather short book by Robert Jensen, The Heart of Whitness: Confronting Race, Racism, and White Privilege. Jensen is a projessor of journalism at UT Austin. The book is available on line at very low prices, so should not be hard to get. Because it has fewer than 100 pages, it can be read quickly, no problem with accomplishing that by the October 28th meeting.
On the back cover:
IN THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK, W.E.B. DUBOIS WROTE THAT THE QUESTION WHITES WANTED TO ASK HIM WAS: “HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE A PROBLEM?”
In The Heart of Whiteness, Robert Jensen writes that it is time for white America to reverse the direction of that question at the heart of color. It’s time for white people to fully acknowledge that in the racial arena, they are the problem.
Jensen sets his sights not only on the racism that can’t be hidden, but also on the liberal platitudes that sometimes conceal the depths of that racism in American “polite society.” Mixing personal experience with data and theory, he faces down the difficult realities of race, racism, and white privilege in the United States.
The second book is one of which you probably have heard a lot in the past few months: Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. It is a little longer than the first book, but still an easy read. The plan is to start the discussion of that book at our January meeting, so plenty of time to get and read it after Jensen’s book.
Traditionally we don’t have a regular meeting in November and December because fourth Wednesdays fall on holiday times. But we will try to find a date during that time to have a more informal gathering.
So get the first book, start reading, and be prepared for an interesting discussion on October 28.
September 2015 Meeting
Pax Christi meets Wednesday, September 23
Thanks to our friend and Pax Christi member, Maria Bergh, we will have an evening of talk, prayer, music and fun. Marie, and hopefully, her friend Ryan will be telling us about this summer’s experience in Assisi, the city of peace, and then a week at Taize, France, a monastery devoted to healing the church by reuniting Catholics and Protestants, as well as those of other faiths. It is a place of peace and discernment and sanctuary for Christians throughout all of Europe as well as Africa and Asia.
She was part of a special week for young people only called “towards a new solidarity” inviting them to consider how their lives intersect and how they might be called to devote themselves to working for peace.
We look forward to her presentation and conversation with her about her experiences.
As usual, come at 6:00 pm for food and conversation. The program begins about 7:00. At the home of Joyce Hall.
First comers, please call me at 214-357-2173 for directions and more information.
Also, let me know if you are coming by responding to this email so we’ll know how many to plan for.
See you next Wednesday, September 23.
August 2015 Meeting
Pax Christi August meeting will be on Wednesday, the 26th.
This month, we will watch the presentation made by Erica Chenoweth at the first Campaign Nonviolence Conference in Santa Fe New Mexico on August 7-9.
Erica Chenoweth is an American political scientist as well as a faculty member and Ph.D. program co-director at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies.[1] Chenoweth is also the Director of the university’s Program on Terrorism and Insurgency Research and a researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). Within the international relations community, she is known for her work on civil resistance movements and political violence.
Erica is young, only 32, passionate, and amazingly knowlegable about comparing violent vs nonviolent effectiveness to secure peace.
Please come early, 6:00 pm if you can, for food and conversation. The program will start at 7:00.
July 2015 Meeting
At our Wednesday, July 22 meeting we will have a guest speaker, Aleen Masaud, a young woman from Bethlehem University who is interning with Catholic Charities Ft. Worth this summer.
Bethlehem University, is a Christian Brothers led university, open to both Christian and Muslim students, located in the middle of Bethlehem in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. She will give a short presentation on the typical daily life of people in that area and then plenty of time will be dedicated to discussion with Q and A.
Come at 6:00 for food and socializing. The program will begin at 7:00. Please let me know if you’re coming so that I will be sure to have enough chairs. We are expecting a somewhat larger crowd this month. You can email your response or call me at 214-357-2173.
June 2015 Meeting
This is just a notice that there will be no Pax Christi meeting in June.
Hope to resume in July on the usual fourth Wednesday.
Hope you all have a pleasant and safe summer.
Joyce Hall
April 2015 Meeting
Pax Christi Dallas meets on Wednesday, April 22
Soup and conversation at 6:00 and meeting begins at 7:00
Place: 4330 Crowley Drive, Dallas 75229
Our topic for the meeting will be a presentation and discussion of the Symposium on Nuclear Weapons in New York on Feb 28/Mar1
I will be giving a presention of the event but am asking you to go to the website:
Symposium: The Dynamics of Possible Nuclear Extinction
At that point you will see the list of 25 speakers for the two days. You don’t have to listen to them all, just click on the name of the person you would like to hear. The speakers are grouped as 3 or 4 on a panel with 20 minutes each to speak. At the end of that panel there is a 15 minute Q and A. For example you might like to listen to Robert Parry, editor and journalist for Consortium news and then listen to the Q and A at the end of his group panel. He is on the first day.
Another you might want to watch is Noam Chomsky. You will find him toward the end of the second day.
Just watch as little or as much as you like, but the more you all watch, the better discussion we can have. Take notes, I had to.
This should be an interesting participatory program.
If you have any announcements or additions to the agenda, please let me know.
***Also, if anyone is interested, there will be a statewide meeting of Pax Christi Texas in San Antonio on May 9. If you are interested in attending, please let me know. It will be held at the Oblate Seminary in San Antonio.
Look forward to seeing many of you on the 22nd for our April meeting.
Joyce Hall
March 2015 Meeting
Wednesday, March 25
6:00 for food and conversation
7:00 for program
If you have any announcements or agenda items, please let me know.
To know how many will be here, please respond to this email if you can come.
Our March meeting will be in honor of Oscar Romero, the month he was assasinated. One of our members, Rita Calvert will give a presentation to the group. Her own words to summarize the program:
A powerpoint presentation by Rita Calvert depictinig 20 years working with Fr.
Roy Bourgieos as he struggles to close the School of the Americas (dubbed “School of Assassins'” at Ft. Benning, Ga where Latin American graduates have returned to their countries and have been used as death squads against their own people. Includes personal histories, descriptions of the civil war in El Salvador, scenes of the country, demonstrations at Ft. Benning and DC and stories of countries whose leaders who have agreed to stop sending
soldiers to be trained at this controversial school. I was part of a delegation honoring the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero in 2010. They will commermerate the 35th year in April,
Also depicted is the story of our attempt to persuade President Oscar Arias to quit sending Costa Rican police to be trained at the SOA, where we met at his office and he agreed to stop. The stories pf Roy’s decision to advocate for women priests is discussed and the
painful fact of his excommunication. Roy and the SOW were nominated 2010 for the Nobel prize.
Rita Calvert, Former Director of the Dallas Peace Center, 1994-9999
January 2015 Meeting
A reminder that Wednesday, January 28 is the date of our next meeting. This month, we will watch the powerful and disturbing film, Nuclear Savage.
NUCLEAR SAVAGE: The Islands of Secret Project 4.1
Adam Jonas Horowitz shot his first film in the Marshall Islands in 1986, and was shocked by what he found there, in this former American military colony in middle of the Pacific Ocean. Radioactive coconuts, leaking nuclear waste repositories, and densely populated slums were all the direct result of 67 Cold War U.S. nuclear bomb tests that vaporized islands and devastated entire populations.
Twenty years later, Adam returned to these islands to make this award winning shocking political and cultural documentary exposé titled ‘Nuclear Savage;’ a heartbreaking and intimate ethnographic portrait of Pacific Islanders struggling for dignity and survival after decades of intentional radiation poisoning at the hands of the American government. Relying on recently declassified U.S. government documents,devastating survivor testimony, and incredible unseen archival footage, This untold and true detective story reveals how U.S. scientists turned a Pacific paradise into a radioactive hell. Marshall islanders were used as human guinea pigs for three decades to study the effects of nuclear fallout on human beings with devastating results. Nuclear Savage is a shocking tale that pierces the heart of our democratic principles.
As usual, we gather at 6:00 for soup and conversation with the meeting starting at 7:00. We need to know if you are planning on coming so that we can plan for enough soup and a place at the table. Reply to this email or you can call me at 214-357-2173. For newcomers, please call this phone number for location and directions.
Also, please let me know if you have anything to add to the agenda or announcements you would like to be made. Hope to see you on the 28th.
Joyce Hall
Dear Members and Friends,
We’re coming around to the fourth Wednesday of October. Our meeting will be on Oct. 22.
Come for soup and conversation at 6:00 pm and meeting will begin at 7:00.
Our program will be to watch a documentary: Anatomy of a Great Deception. Hope you will find it interesting. Should spur good conversation.
Usual place, the Hall residence. If you are new, please call me at 214-357-2173 for information and directions. Still having water main replacement in the neighborhood, so be careful of torn up streets and construction vehicles, and piles of sand and gravel.
Please let me know if you are coming so we can accommodate for the number.
If you would like to put anything on the agenda or if you would like to make an announcement and cannot attend to do it in person, please let me know. We all want to be informed of what’s going on.
Hope to see you on Wednesday evening,
Joyce
September 2014 Meeting
This month we’ll be watching IN GOD’S NAME, a CBS primetime special produced in association with the acclaimed French filmmakers Jules and Gédéon Naudet, which explores the complex questions of our time through the intimate thoughts and beliefs of 12 of the world’s most influential spiritual leaders. These diverse and powerful voices offer provocative, compelling and enlightening perspective on myriad issues in our post-9/11 world, including the rise of terrorism, fanaticism, intolerance and war. Published by National Geographic in 2008.
As usual, come for soup and conversation beginning at 6:00 pm. The official starting time for our program is 7:00. If you are new and need place and directions, please call at 214-357-2173. If you have anything you would like added to the agenda, or announcements if you cannot be here, please let me know. Also, please let me know if you are coming.
Also, be aware that the Dallas Peace Center is accepting nominees for this years Peacemaker of the Year awardee. Think about whom you think would be worthy of that award. The annual Peacemaker of the Year Award Dinner will be December 4.
AND, this Sunday, September 21 there will be a World Peace Day event on SMU campus on the lawn in front of Dallas Hall, 4:00 to 7:00. This is one of over 150 events happening around the country, listed on Campaign Nonviolence website. Here is the site for listing of events by state: http://org.salsalabs.com/o/859/p/salsa/web/common/public/content?content_item_KEY=5283
Joyce Hall
August 2014 Meeting
Time flies!!!
It’s Pax Christi meeting time this coming week.
We will be watching a relatively new film, Pandora’s Promise which should spur lots of conversation. This is a blurb from Netflix:
Former antinuclear activists and groundbreaking scientists speak out in favor of the much-maligned energy source in this provocative documentary that explores the history and future of nuclear power.
Remember, beginning at 6:00 come for soup and talk. Then official starting time for program is 7:00. Members of the Dallas Peace Center’s Nuclear Free World Committee have been invited to watch it with us, so be prepared for some good conversation.
If you are new and need place and directions, please call at 214-357-2173.
Also, please let me know if you are coming. —-Even more critical this time as we may be having extra guests.
July 2014 Meeting
This is a reminder that Pax Christi will be meeting on Wednesday, July 23. We will discuss the last third of John Dear’s book, pp 99-140.
Please be prepared to have some questions and comments about this section as well as the book as a whole.
Let me know as soon as you can if you will be attending – we need a count.
Remember, we eat at 6:00 and the meeting begins at 7:00.
If you have anything to add to the agenda, please let me know. Also, announcements of other events/speakers are welcome. Let me know in order to make sure everything is passed on.
See you on Wednesday,
Joyce
June 2014 Meeting
This is the week of our regular meeting, June 25.
We will be discussing the second section of John Dear’s book, The Nonviolent Life, so please read pp. 63-97.
Laura suggests that you come prepared with a question or comment on each chapter.
We had an excellent discussion on the first section in April so look forward to this one.
As usual, come at 6:00 pm for supper. Our meeting begins at 7:00.
Please reply if you are coming—–we need to have a count.
If you are a first timer and need directions, you can also call me at 214-357-2173.
Look forward to getting back to discussion of important issues.
See you Wednesday,
Joyce
May 2014 Meeting
This month instead of our regular meeting, we are attending a presentation by John Dear at the Community of Hope on May 17, 2014.
Come be inspired by Nobel Peace Prize nominee and Pace e Bene staff member, John Dear, as he explains Campaign Nonviolence and speaks about his new book, The Nonviolent Life. Admission is free, but donations will be gratefully accepted. Books will be available to purchase.
Cathedral of Hope
5910 Cedar Springs Road
Dallas, TX 75235
6 p.m. Reception
7 p.m. Presentation
Campaign Nonviolence is a new, long-term movement to mainstream active nonviolence –making nonviolence an obvious and natural way of living and of fostering a world that works for all.
Presented by: Pax Christi Dallas and Hope for Peace and Justice
Co-sponsors: Code Pink Greater Dallas, Comm. for Middle East Peace, Comm. for a Nuclear Free World, Dallas MoveOn, Dallas Peace Center, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Maryknoll North TX, North TX Veterans for Peace, The North TX Light Brigade, The Open Window, Peacemakers Inc., UNT Castleberry Peace Institute, Dallas Chapter UNA
April 2014 Meeting
This is to remind you of the Pax Christi meeting this coming Wednesday, April 23.
Remember, we are doing a book discussion on the first part of John Dear’s book, The Nonviolent Life. So, this gives you time to read it if you have not already done so.
Regular time frame, 6:00 for supper and conversation, 7:00 meeting begins.
Any new attendees, please call for location and directions.
Please let me know if you are coming in order to arrange for enough seating and food.
Look forward to seeing all of you and to the discussion. Be sure to have a question for the group regarding this first of the three sections in the book.
Joyce Hall
214-357-2173
March 2014
Dear Pax Christi members and friends,
This is a last minute reminder aboout our meeting this Wednesday night.
We will be meeting at Le Madeleine on Mockingbird just west of I-75 next to SMU campus. We are meeting at 6:30 an hour before people from other groups show up to hear the speaker Shahid Buttar, Executive Director of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee. That will give us time to order what we might want to eat and have a brief meeting.
See below for more information about the program.
Hope to see many of you there.
Joyce Hall
This Wednesday night please join me and Dallas & Fort Washington area civil rights activists for a thought-provoking discussion about our escalating constitutional crisis—and how you can get involved to stop the assault on your and your family’s rights.
Revelations of dragnet NSA spying has reignited grassroots action across the country, spurred multiple federal lawsuits, over 20 proposed congressional bills, two presidential review panels, and made way for the light of scrutiny to penetrate the opaque and unconstitutional operations of the NSA.
More recently, allegations that the CIA has spied on Congress to impede oversight into the agency’s human rights violations have expanded the domestic spying controversy.
How do the several agencies involved in domestic surveillance relate to each other? How can states and communities fight back? And what can We the People do to raise our voices and force long overdue institutional action to restore constitutional rights?
Event Details:
Wed., March 26, 2014
7:30 – 9:30 PM
La Madeleine
3072 Mockingbird Lane
Dallas, TX
Co-sponsors include:
Bill of Rights Defense Committee Dallas
CODEPINK Greater Dallas
North Texas Veterans For Peace
The Dallas Peace Center
North Texas Civil Rights Project
Pax Christi Dallas
South Asia Democracy Watch
Hope to see you there,
Shahid Buttar
Executive Director
January 2014
As you know, our Pax Christi meeting was canceled on Wednesday January 22 because I was out of town for a funeral for my sister-in-law. I am back now and realizedthat we have five Wednesdays in January, so would like to reschedule the meeting for the 29th. Do hope that many can make it. We will do the same program, a one woman play (53 minutes) of Dorothy Day, the co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement. It occurred to me that it would be a nice gesture for us to make a contribution to a Catholic Worker house after watching the film. Most of you know Jim Douglass, author of JFK and the Unspeakable. He and his wife Shelly have founded Mary’s House, a Catholic Worker House in Birmingham. It is used primarily for homeless women and children.
Also, for anyone who might not be able to come to the meeting, but would like to make a contribution for any amount, make your check out to Mary’s House and send it to me at 4330 Crowley Drive, Dallas, TX 75229 and I will send them in together as a gift from our Pax Christi group. Let me know if you plan to make a contribution so I will not send them to Jim and Shelly until I receive them all, or if you like, I can send you the address for Mary’s House in Birmingham.
Wednesday, January 22 if the date of the meeting this month. [Meeting canceled]
In addition to a discussion including Pace e Bene’s Campaign Nonviolence by Laura Wilder and planning for the year, we will watch a short play on video, A Fool for Christ: The Story of Dorothy Day. This is a one woman play with Sarah Melici.
“Dorothy Day, one of the most dynamic and beloved religious figures in modern history, is brought to life by Sarah Melici in this acclaimed one-woman play. Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1897, Day made her mark as a journalist, social activist and a devout convert to Catholicism. Co-founder of the Catholic Worker Newspaper/Movement in 1933, Dorothy Day is perhaps best known for her long battle for peace and justice on behalf of the poor and homeless. Dorothy died in 1980. Her work continues today aound the world in over 180 Catholic Worker Communities protesting injustice and violence in all forms.”
Soup and conversation begin at 6:00 and the meeting begins at 7:00. Please let me know if you are coming by replying to this email or calling at 214-357-2173.
Looking forward to a good year.
Joyce Hall
October 2013
The program for the October 23rd meeting of Pax Christi Dallas will be the film, Chasing Ice. See the synopsis below.
We will gather beginning at 6:00 pm for soup and conversation. IF you have anything you would like to put on the agenda or an announcement that you would like to have made, please email me. David Noblin will bring some names of those on death row who have requested to have someone write to them. So be thinking about being a pen pal to someone on death row.
Please respond if you are coming to the meeting. Newcomers, please call 214-357-2173 for location and directions. The program will begin at 7:00
SYNOPSIS
In the spring of 2005, acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog headed to the Arctic on a tricky assignment for National Geographic: to capture images to help tell the story of the Earth’s changing climate. Even with a scientific upbringing, Balog had been a skeptic about climate change. But that first trip north opened his eyes to the biggest story in human history and sparked a challenge within him that would put his career and his very well-being at risk.
Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Within months of that first trip to Iceland, the photographer conceived the boldest expedition of his life: The Extreme Ice Survey. With a band of young adventurers in tow, Balog began deploying revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers.
As the debate polarizes America and the intensity of natural disasters ramps up globally, Balog finds himself at the end of his tether. Battling untested technology in subzero conditions, he comes face to face with his own mortality. It takes years for Balog to see the fruits of his labor. His hauntingly beautiful videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate. Chasing Ice depicts a photographer trying to deliver evidence and hope to our carbon-powered planet.
– See more at: http://www.chasingice.com/about-the-film/synopsis/#sthash.Ylwi66ab.dpuf
This coming Wednesday, July 24 is our Pax Christi meeting.
Regular gathering time for a simple supper, soup and snacks, and good conversation.
Special speaker for the evening beginning at 7:00 p.m.:
Catherine Bentley, daughter of our dear friend Carolyn Bentley and the late Earl Bentley, is in Dallas from the Middle East for a brief visit. Catherine has spent a great deal of time in Sulemaniyeh in the Kurdish north of Iraq, and will be returning to work in Jordan. She will give us a perspective of life in postwar Iraq. Lots of time for Q and A.
Catherine has acquired perspectives on the affairs of the region that she is planning on turning into a book, ” From Within: The Untold Truth of the Modern Middle East”. The book will seek to illustrate a new paradigm to interpreting the dynamics of the modern Middle East.
Please let me know as soon as possible if you will be attending.
Call 214.357.2173 if you are new and/or need directions.
We will be meeting on Wednesday, June 26. Gather at 6:00 for food and conversation. Program begins about 7:00.
We meet at the home of Joyce and Mac Hall. Please let us know if you will be attending so we will know how much soup to have in the pot. Reply via this email or phone 214-357-2173.
Program:
Sharon and David Noblin will talk to us about their work to abolish the death penalty. They will bring a friend, Paula Keeth who is the leader of the Dallas Quaker Meeting and active in the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
If you have any announcements of upcoming events or report of recent happenings or would like to have something added to the agenda, please let me know.