Arise then, women of this day!

[Sapphire Blue]

Original Mothers Day Proclamation,
Julia Ward Howe: 1870:

Arise then, women of this day!

Arise all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be of water or of tears!

Say firmly:

'We will not have questions decided by irrelevant agencies.

'Our husbands shall not come to us reeking of 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 women of one country will be too tender to those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.

'From the bosom of a 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 forsaken the plow 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 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 be appointed and held at some place 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.

http://www.quaker.org/chestnuthill/motherdy.htm

[niallmac]

1. Thank you for that.

I have never read the quote before. My daughters will read it today though.

[Iris]

2. Great post, unfortunately. . .

It reminds me of how far we have not come.

This brings to mind a post I read here from when we first invaded Iraq. A DU-er described how his neighbor ran out of her house yelling to her sons who were playing basketball, "Come inside! They're showing the bombs dropping on tv!" She probably fixed them some snacks to enjoy while watching a city get blown to bits.

[Generic Other]

3. Women to the forefront!

A woman's revolution!

[Desertrose]

4. Its going to take the women

to get this mess cleaned up....at least to bring attention to whats really going down.

:yourock:CINDY!!

Great post :)
Thanks!
:grouphug:

[Iris]

5. Sadly,

Today, we have mothers who are not much help at all. This brings to mind a post I read here from when we first invaded Iraq. A DU-er described how his neighbor ran out of her house yelling to her sons who were playing basketball, "Come inside! They're showing the bombs dropping on tv!" She probably fixed them some snacks to enjoy while watching a city get blown to bits.

[Sapphire Blue]

8. 2nd time you've posted this same comment in this thread.

A rather broad statement based on what another DUer's neighbor did more than 2 years ago.

Yes, there are mothers who are supporting bush & his war... and there are mothers who are calling for an end to this madness, calling for caring for our troops, calling for truth... and in truth, there is power. We have the power.

[Iris]

16. Hey, I'm just saying. . .

And besides, you've been here long enough to know the sort of written masturbation that goes on around here. Not everyone reads every post in a thread. There are lots of duplicate posts by various people who could have tagged on to other posts to create real discussions rather than just inserting an opinion in a thread and going on to other threads.

It's an observation I made and I think it's a valid one. Like it or not, moms just like Cindy and, some who have nothing to lose b/c their kids aren't in the military, helped get Bush elected 2 times.

[BoneDaddy]

6. Both sexes

Actually,
It will take women AND men to achieve the best of Democracy. This is not a gender issue as pointed out by the poster who gave the story of the woman who called her kids in to cheer the murder of innocents.

That was a wonderful quote and needs to be taken into context when it was written as well. It applies to both genders.

Let's try and move into a healing postition where both sexes are valued and statements like "if women were running the country we wouldn't have war" are seen as devisive and alienates the multitude of progressive men out there who support women in their autonomy and are anti-war.

[Desertrose]

7. Yes I agree that it will take both sexes to heal this mess....

but it seems appropriate to me that a woman...a mother...someone who is embodying the feminine principal of nurturing and concern...who just wants to TALK to bush as a way to deal with things, is getting the nation's attention. I just think that is pretty awesome.

It is past time to balance things out rather than continue with the patriarchal and hierarchal way we have been "ruled" and controlled in this country.

I absolutely agree that we need men & women but it must be a balance and sometimes the pendulum must swing in the opposite direction before it comes to balance. We don't need any more of the militant false feminism but the true balanced feminine energy. This is what I see happening.

[Sapphire Blue]

10. Thanks for the call for unity!

... and welcome to DU. :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi:

[Bluerthanblue]

15. yes, and

i DO agree with you both-

i kept wanting to post this proclamation myself, but i seem to post poorly- Sapphire, she also said this about WHY she felt drawn to write what she did- not about the 'civil war'- but the Prussian war.:

"While the war was still in progress, I was visited by a sudden feeling of the cruel and unnecessary character of the contest. It seemed to me a return to barbarism, the issue having been one which might easily have been settled without bloodshed. The question forced itself upon me, "Why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters, to prevent the waste of that human life of which they alone bear and know the cost?" I had never thought of this before. The august dignity of motherhood and its terrible responsibilities now appeared to me in a new aspect, and I could think of no better way of expressing my sense of these than that of sending forth an appeal to womanhood throughout the world, which I then and there composed."

And as for it being a 'womens' issue- or a 'mothers' issue- i have to point out that some VERY exceptional 'mothers' have been, and are male. i always wanted to send my dad a mothers day card- because he mothered all his children as well as 'fathered' them as best he was able.

Nurturing is something very special, and vital for the survival of all life, and it doesn't end at age 18.- We should ALL nurture each other- when we do that there WILL be peace.

thanks for reading this.- and for posting mother Howe's wonderful words.

blu

[Sapphire Blue]

17. Your words... a powerful statement...

Nurturing is something very special, and vital for the survival of all life, and it doesn't end at age 18.- We should ALL nurture each other- when we do that there WILL be peace.

Thank you for posting this... and also for reminding us of the value of a nurturing parent... both mother and father.

Your father's ability to nurture shines forth in you. :hug:

[Bluerthanblue]

18. thanks - for many things. eom

.

[lildreamer316]

12. Actually I'd like to take this a little farther;

if I may.
It isn't the actual gender thing that I believe is at the center of the point being made. I actually believe it is the gender of the VALUES we wish were prevelant. For example: I wish more feminine-based VALUES were being honored: peace; kindness; caring. Now this is not to say that men cannot and do not posess these values; just that we as a culture assign them to women. Make sense?
I too would like to see us come together both men and women to support this "feminine" ideal. Too bad it isn't just a humane ideal; eh?

[omega minimo]

22. TY for making this point-- and the excellent replies you got

It could have been a male or a female parent who did what Cindy did.

Maybe it's more likely to be a woman who would be willing and able to let her pain and heartbreak show;
to testify in the DSM hearings with tears and dignity;
to respond with active righteous indignation to a president loading his catapult with propaganda exploiting the memory of her son;
to be pissed off on behalf of all the other lost lives and grieving parents;
to stand in a Texas ditch with her heart on her sleeve;
to care more about her son and the other senseless deaths/destruction than her pride.

The person willing and able to stand and face peacefully the humiliation and vitriol that would result, happened to be a woman, a mother.

And she inspired others:



"Let's try and move into a healing postition where both sexes are valued and statements like "if women were running the country we wouldn't have war" are seen as devisive and alienates the multitude of progressive men out there who support women in their autonomy and are anti-war."

It's true that can be seen as divisive and we need "cool men" to join the dialogue and the efforts toward progress. It's also true that the male-dominated culture (if I may call it that) is wreaking havoc on the world and its inhabitants, the point at which "uppity women unite" historically results.

I would suppose the "let women run things for a while" may "alienates the multitude of progressive men out there who support women in their autonomy and are anti-war" similarly to the alienating effects that pig-headed macho bullshit talk alienates the multitude of progressive women.

And that is part of the problem. IMHO Democrats will continue to fail if they pursue the "might makes right" "outbully the bullies" rhetoric that many here on DU advocate.

Rather than face facts and real reasons for the problems and for Democratic loss of power, some guys like to oversimplify that it's cuz they're "weak" or "soft" or "namby-pamby" or worse.

This tough guy approach gets in the way of communicating effectively (on DU for example). This is one of the areas women DO want to make real change and ARE willing to point out that hierarchical organizations and domination styles of management and communication are perpetuating the problems.

DU has shown clearly the propensity for (some) men to be defensive and and treat discussion as a COMPETITION, where (some) women are more open and flexible, interested in COOPERATION.

Your suggestion of the place we need to get to will be fostered by more listening and cooperation, rather than domination and competition.

If the guys don't like it and keep heading for mutual assured destruction-- LYSSISTRATA TIME, BABY!!!!!!!!!!!! :rofl:

[Just Me]

9. Beautiful. Thank you.

:hug:

[katinmn]

11. Answering the call!

:grouphug:
and kicking this over to the Greatest page.

[hippywife]

13. Answering here, too! n/t

[omega minimo]

14. "Irrelevant agencies" indeed

"...reeking of carnage for caresses and applause."


NERO PEDALS WHILE ROME BURNS


"Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each bearing after their time the sacred impress not of Caligula, but of God."

[Libby2]

19. Thank You!

And a big kick to the top.

[Sapphire Blue]

20. You're welcome!

and an evening :kick:

[BrklynLiberal]

21. kicked and nominated