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Join the Troops Home Fast!
To pledge
your commitment to fast:
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Breaking the fast together on September 21, International Peace Day, outside the White House. |
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Diane Wilson providing DC's homeless with ice cream. |
Dear CODEPINK Trooper,
First and foremost, we want to thank all of you who participated in the Troops Home Fast. If you fasted for a day, a week, a month or, like CODEPINK co-founder Jodie Evans, for the whole stretch, from July 4 to September 21, 2006, we tip our pink hats to you.
You are in good company. Many of the heroes of the worldwide movement for peace and social justice have used fasting to highlight and strengthen their causes. Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., farm worker leaders Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta and our foremothers, the Suffragists, fasted in the name of their beliefs. They inspired others to follow them. And so have you! We have received your emails telling us about how your friends and communities responded to your fasting. Your resolve makes people think and inspires them to action. Our resolve to achieve peace is strengthened by your example.
Fasting, sometimes combined with a period of meditation, is an important element of various religions and of secular movements for social justice.
During the month of Ramadan, September 23 – October 24, Muslims practice a fast (swam) each day from sunrise to sunset. On October 2, Jews will observe a fast (from sunset Oct. 1 to sunset on the 2nd) as a part of the welcoming of the new year on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. The Christian bible has frequent references to fasting, the most well-known being the period of Lent. Hindus and some Buddhists also practice fasting. Fasting is frequently a prelude to significant action. It helps us reflect on the work we have done focus our attention on the tasks ahead. It requires both discipline and self-control. And it is a manifestation of the strength of our commitment. <
Many people have become aware of our Troops Home Fast just recently and have expressed an interest in fasting. Today, we celebrate the end of our fast and International Peace Day and we are re-initiating our fast at the same time. Some people have decided to fast every Wednesday until the troops come home. Others will fast for longer periods. And we will probably have another collective fast in the future.
Again, thank you for joining us on this journey.
In solidarity,
Susan Adelman
Troops Home Fast Campaign Manager
P.S. Click here to sign up and let us know when you're fasting, and be sure to visit our new Troops Home Fast Tips page.
P.P.S. Spread the word about CODEPINK and our new campaign, Give Peace a Vote, with a Pink Flicks House Party!
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