So what will we do? If we go bombing villages in Afghanistan, or assassinating people in foreign countries, we will look like the Great Satan. Terrorists use the myths about our evil intent to justify their actions and recruit young people to their cause. We can act in ways that reinforce the myth or in ways that show the myth to be false. If we take actions that result in the death of innocent civilians, we do the former. And we make ourselves look like the terrorists whose tactics we decry. If we try to bring the terrorists to justice through the legitimate channels of international law and diplomacy, we begin to show we do respect other nations, religions and cultures, and we undercut the terrorists' rationale for their actions.

Finally, the record of history shows us that, without fail, violence begets violence. What has been happening for the last year in the Mideast makes that clear again, as do many other conflicts playing out across the world. To break the cycle of this madness requires some people with the moral courage and practical wisdom to stand up and say, "No more." Mahatma Gandhi told us, "There is no way to peace; peace is the way."

The United States can be a great nation now by recognizing that the ideals upheld in its religious and moral heritage can make good policy. We can seek the prosecution of the terrorists through appropriate international channels and institutions. In seeking justice, we can choose actions that show we do respect the sovereignty, cultures and values of other peoples and nations. And most important, we can commit ourselves as a nation to helping resolve conflicts around the world that feed the conditions that breed terrorism. If we want a better world, where what happened on Sept. 11 will not happen again, peacemaking has never made more sense than it does now. 

Minutes Approved by Columbia Meeting

Recommendations from Peace & Justice Committee, 9/23/01
1. We encourage participation in public events that are a clear witness to nonviolence, embodying principles of reconciliation, love, and the unity of humankind.  Specifically, we call attention to the weekly vigils of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and the Women in Black.
2. We will seek joint activities with other faith communities, including but not limited to the "historic peace churches," and the pacifist tradition within many religious heritages.  We empower our Clerk to speak on our behalf between our business sessions, if suitable opportunities arise.
3. We shall collect and transmit funds and material aid to relieve suffering of those caught up in the devastation of war _ regardless of ideology or nationality.  We shall reach out to refugees, even as we oppose actions that would create more tragic loss and dislocation.

In furthering our historic position of aid to victims on all sides of conflict, we shall work with the larger Quaker organizations.  We intend to be courageous and faithful regardless of whether governments approve or disapprove of our attempts at relief .
4.  Columbia Meeting will offer its resources to affirm and support the rights of conscience of those saying "no" to participation in war, as we have during previous epochs of war.  We uphold those who take courageous stands for peace in the public arena. We reaffirm our opposition to military conscription or the suspension of civil liberty.
5. We shall seek concrete, ongoing ways to