A Child's Campaign to Stop the U.S. from Waging War -
and a response from the Rev. Meg Riley, Director of Advocacy and Witness, UUA

Recently, the UUA received the following letter:

Dear People,

My name is India Miller and I am nine years old. My brother Isaac and I are organizing a letter writing campaign to President Bush against the war on Iraq. We are doing this so that no one will get hurt and we can join other cultures in friendship.

Please help out by writing your own letter to President Bush. If you need an example, see my letter is at the bottom of this note. We want to mail all the letters together, so the President will know that we're all together working on this. So, when you're done with your letter, mail it to me at the address below. If you want to get a whole group of people to write, like school classes, churches, families, or groups of friends, gather all your letters together and send them to us in one big envelope.

We're asking people from all over the country to write letters. Please send other people this message or copy it and print it out. Let me know if you can help. My Mom's email address is CKingmanM@aol.com .

I hope you will join us in the campaign. Please hurry.

Peace on earth and goodwill to people!

-- India Miller

Address:
India Miller
c/o Starr King School
2441 LeConte Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94709

India Miller's letter to President Bush

Dear Mr. President, sir,

My friends and relatives and I really don't want you to have a war against Iraq. Why do we have to keep on having war against other countries? What reason do we have to be big bullies to them? They're so poor and we're so rich. We're acting really snotty to them. Let's be friends instead of enemies.

You are my President. I want us to build schools and houses for them and give them money for food and clothes. Peace comes from sharing and giving, so we should share and give to them.

Yours sincerely,

India Miller
A citizen of the USA
Age 9

A Response from Meg Riley, Director of Advocacy and Witness, UUA

Dear India,

Your mom shared with me about your project gathering letters to the President from kids who don't want to go to war with Iraq. I think it's a splendid idea!

My name is Meg Riley. I'm a UU minister, like your mom is studying to be. My ministry is to help UUs all over the country lift up our voices of love and care for this beautiful, fragile planet we all share, and to help us make sure that we are living our faith not only in our congregations but in our whole world. (My title is Director of Advocacy and Witness: Advocacy means I help UUs advocate for the values we say in our principles and purposes; Witness means I help UUs to notice what is going on in the world and to share what we see with everyone we can through media and prayer vigils and protests and campaigns exactly like the one you are now organizing!)

As one organizer to another, let me tell you that it can sometimes get discouraging. Sometimes it feels like the problem that you're trying to solve is way too big to really do anything about! But, overall, I find this ministry to be the most exciting thing in the world to do. You get to be part of making something happen that grows bigger than you could have dreamed! As a UU, you get to make new friends with amazing people all over the country and world.

I'll share a poem I think of sometimes when it feels like whatever I am able to do to stop something as big as a war just isn't enough. Perhaps you already know it:

For want of a nail, the horse-shoe was lost.
For want of a horse-shoe, the horse was lost.
For want of a horse, the rider was lost.
For want of the rider, the battle was lost.
For want of the battle, the kingdom was lost.
And all for want of a nail!

I think people like you and me are the ones who say, "Well, here are some nails that I have, so I'm going to make sure that the horseshoes are all
securely fastened on any horses that run by me!" You just never know which one might be the nail that saves the entire kingdom!

Please keep me informed of your good efforts. And write to me if you get discouraged, or if anyone says mean things to you about what you're doing--sometimes they say them to me, too, and I know it can be tough. I will share your letter and your story with everyone I can.

Peace,

Meg Riley

Back to Responding to the Threat of War

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