Campaign Nonviolence
 
       The CL Board unanimously voted to become an organizational endorser of Pace e Bene's Campaign Nonviolence. Longtime CL endorser John Dear played a key role in getting this project underway, and several of our member groups are also organizational endorsers. The Campaign conducts nonviolent action training, which includes how to positively engage those with whom we disagree, and is promoting nationwide nonviolent actions September 21-27. We believe Campaign Nonviolence is doing the kind of work that will help bring about a world closer to the one we envision, and are happy to be a part of this effort.
 

 
Signs of Progress
 
        Euthanasia: Professor Theo Boer of the Netherlands used to favor the legalization of euthanasia, but now realizes that the slippery slope is all too real and it was a terrible mistake. He’s warning the British Parliament not to make the same mistake.
 
        Death Penalty: A federal judge struck down California’s death penalty (see full order). Unfortunately, this is not because of a respect for life position, but because the practice has proven to be arbitrary since only a few get executed and there’s no rhyme or reason to which ones. Nevertheless, that’s a good enough reason not to kill people. If we can get the practice of killing people in any specific ways stopped, people will come to understand the respect-for-life reason because they won’t need to feel as defensive when the killing is in the past instead of the present.  

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The Middle East
 
      Once again, we mourn the killing of innocent children, along with innocent adults and guilty adults. The spiral of violence is taking its grisly toll yet again among Israelis and Palestinians. Our members may have a variety of views on the next best steps to reverse this spiral. But we should be able to agree that at the very the very core, the very foundation of the problems there is a belief that killing people is an acceptable way to solve problems. On all sides of the conflict and to outsiders supplying weapons, that belief underlies the problem, and removing that belief among everyone who holds it is necessary to establish peace.
        There are nonviolent peacemakers among both Israelis and Palestinians, and they are the ones whose heroic work should be admired.
        CL member group Pax Christi has posted this statement.
 

 
Quotation of the Week
Theo Boer, Dutch professor and former euthanasia supporter
July 9, 2014
 
        Under the name ‘End of Life Clinic,’ the Dutch Right to Die Society NVVE founded a network of travelling euthanizing doctors. Whereas the law presupposes (but does not require) an established doctor-patient relationship, in which death might be the end of a period of treatment and interaction, doctors of the End of Life Clinic have only two options: administer life-ending drugs or send the patient away. On average, these physicians see a patient three times before administering drugs to end their life. Hundreds of cases were conducted by the End of Life Clinic. The NVVE shows no signs of being satisfied even with these developments. They will not rest until a lethal pill is made available to anyone over 70 years who wishes to die. Some slopes truly are slippery.