🚀 go-pugleaf

Mark Shippey wrote:
> 
> catherine yronwode (cat@luckymojo.com) wrote:
> : with environmental activists, and an exceprt of a dramatic rally 
> : speech by the late Judi Bari round out the feature.
> 
>   Bari.... part of Earth First!, original publishers of the
> book EcoDefense, wherein people were encouraged to commit
> various violent acts such as burning, slashing and to use
> "punji stakes" to puncture the tires of moving vehicles.
>   I can post the actual quotes from this book if anyone is
> interested. A book that promoted violence, based on a view
> of the world that can only be compared to religous fundamentalist
> fanaticism.
>   Credibility drops quickly when Earth First! is used as a
> reference, except amongst fanatics.

This is OLD old news. Judi Bari and Earth First repudiated the use of
violence YEARS ago. In fact, it was Judi's honest and outspoken
change-of-heart on this issue won her a lot of non-fanatical supporters,
including many loggers...and me. I personally have never attended any
rallies sponsored by groups that advocate violence.  Judi's sincere and
very public admission that advocating violence had been wrong and that
only non-violence would win the cause, was what swayed me to attend my
first Earth First rally. 

Yes, Judi and her friends started out with a hot-headed attitude, but
they gave that stupid posture up in favour of legislative protest and
direct non-violent action. And since that change, non-violence training
has been an essential part of the preparation for every demonstration
they hold. 

Earth First has been completely committed to non-violence for so many
years that it seems more than high time for folks to stop name-calling
based on an abandoned policy. I myself, by the way, am NOT a member of
Earth First, so don't take my word for it -- call them up and ask them
how long it has been since they became a non-violent group. I know i was
still married to my ex-husband when they made the change, so it's got to
have been many a year! 

Cordially,  

catherine yronwode