"Mother's Day Proclamation" by Julia Ward Howe

[I Have A Dream]

Mother's Day Proclamation

Arise, then, women of this day!

Arise, all women who have hearts,
Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!

Say firmly:
"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.

Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

-- Julia Ward Howe


So be it; so be it; so be it.


Here is a link to the reading of this proclamation:

http://www.learnoutloud.com/Catalog/Social-Sciences/Gender-Studies/Mothers-Day-for-Peace-A-Dramatic-Reading-of-Julia-Ward-Howes-Mothers-Day-Proclamation/26317


Here's a link on the history of the celebration of the mother:

http://www.mothersdaycentral.com/about-mothersday/history/


Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers here! Thank you for what you give to the world. :loveya:

[rumpel]

1. Thank you, and to all mothers

A Happy Mother's Day!


This reminds me of the role of mothers (women) as per The Constitution of the Iroquois Nations
Our male dominated society requires the balance of the mothers. ;)

According to the Iroquois Constitution

44. The lineal descent of the people of the Five Nations shall
run in the female line. Women shall be considered the
progenitors of the Nation. They shall own the land and the
soil. Men and women shall follow the status of the mother.



"Our mothers, ____________, listen attentively while I
address you on a solemn and important subject. I hereby
transfer to you an ancient Lordship title for a great calamity
has befallen it in the hands of the family of a former Lord.
We trust that you, our mothers, will always guard it, and that
you will warn your Lord always to be dutiful and to advise his
people to ever live in love, peace and harmony that a great
calamity may never happen again."


"Hearken, that peace may continue unto future days!
"Always listen to the words of the Great Creator, for he
has spoken.
"United people, let not evil find lodging in your minds.
"For the Great Creator has spoken and the cause of Peace
shall not become old.
"The cause of peace shall not die if you remember the
Great Creator."
http://www.indigenouspeople.net/iroqcon.htm


Great Law of Peace honored with coin
By Gale Courey Toensing

Story Published: Feb 3, 2010



http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/83045867.html

[LiberalEsto]

2. Howe - another great Unitarian! nt