2007.01.27: January 27, 2007: Headlines: COS - Zambia: Protest: Iraq: Buddhism: Montgomery Advertiser: Zambia RPCV Ben Bell attends Washington march to rally against Iraq war
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2007.01.27: January 27, 2007: Headlines: COS - Zambia: Protest: Iraq: Buddhism: Montgomery Advertiser: Zambia RPCV Ben Bell attends Washington march to rally against Iraq war
Zambia RPCV Ben Bell attends Washington march to rally against Iraq war
The rally is an interfaith event that will bring together Buddhist groups as well organizations representing Baptists, Lutherans and Catholics. Bell said he's looking forward to joining with people of different beliefs for this common cause. "It's terrific that everyone can come together and show how they feel about this unjust war," he said. "A call for peace is needed from everyone." That call for peace is one that Bell has dedicated his life to answering since 2003. That's when he got involved with the Montgomery Peace Project, a local anti-war activist organization. Bell was involved in a peaceful vigil the organization put together in March 2003 at the State Capitol.
Bell served in the African country of Zambia until 2005. "I was living like (Henry David) Thoreau with no running water or other amenities," he said. There, Bell began to study Buddhism and was moved by the message for peace that he found in that philosophy. He was especially moved by the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism: life is suffering, the origin of suffering is attachment, the cessation of suffering is attainable and there is a path to the cessation of suffering. "I think the Buddhist nature exists in everyone," he said.
Zambia RPCV Ben Bell attends Washington march to rally against Iraq war
Local Buddhist attends Washington march to rally against Iraq war
By Darryn Simmons
Montgomery Advertiser
Caption: August 29, 2004 - New York and America Say No to Bush: In a march that stretched for miles and went on for hours New Yorkers and Americans said no to Bush.
Ben Bell would rather see peace than war and rather see money going to the Gulf Coast than to Iraq. This weekend the Montgomerian is one of many activists traveling to Washington to let them know that.
Bell, a Hope Hull resident and practicing Buddhist, is headed to a march in Washington to call on Congress to end the war in Iraq. The march is being organized by United for Peace and Justice, a coalition of over 1,000 groups that includes the Buddhist Peace Fellowship that Bell works with.
"It's an opportunity to get the word out that not everyone feels that the war is just," Bell, 33, said. "All the economic power we are spending there could be better served in places like New Orleans right now."
The rally is an interfaith event that will bring together Buddhist groups as well organizations representing Baptists, Lutherans and Catholics. Bell said he's looking forward to joining with people of different beliefs for this common cause.
"It's terrific that everyone can come together and show how they feel about this unjust war," he said. "A call for peace is needed from everyone."
That call for peace is one that Bell has dedicated his life to answering since 2003.
That's when he got involved with the Montgomery Peace Project, a local anti-war activist organization. Bell was involved in a peaceful vigil the organization put together in March 2003 at the State Capitol.
Ellen Griffin of the Montgomery Peace Project is also in Washington this weekend for the march.
"It's another call to put a stop to this war," Griffin said. "It doesn't look like it's happening, but all you can do is have something like this and hope someone in Congress is listening."
Griffin admits she has long given up on trying to talk to political leaders, but does enjoy going to marches to meet with like-minded individuals.
"It's comforting to know there are others that are dissatisfied (with the war)," she said. "It gives me a good feeling because you don't see it Montgomery."
Bell didn't see it in Montgomery either, and it led him to join the Peace Corps. He served in the African country of Zambia until 2005.
"I was living like (Henry David) Thoreau with no running water or other amenities," he said.
There, Bell began to study Buddhism and was moved by the message for peace that he found in that philosophy.
He was especially moved by the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism: life is suffering, the origin of suffering is attachment, the cessation of suffering is attainable and there is a path to the cessation of suffering.
"I think the Buddhist nature exists in everyone," he said.
After leaving the Peace Corps, he got a job as a receptionist at the Land of Medicine Buddha in Soquel, Calif. He returned to the Montgomery area last year after his parents fell ill.
In the future, Bell said he hopes to bring more of the Buddhist teachings to Montgomery. While there are Buddhist Lamas -- spiritual leaders or senior monks -- in Birmingham, he'd like to see one in Montgomery and start a temple here.
"That's something where you have to wait for the time and resources to be right," he said. "Hopefully that will happen one day."
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Headlines: January, 2007; Peace Corps Zambia; Directory of Zambia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Zambia RPCVs; Protest; Iraq
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Story Source: Montgomery Advertiser
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Zambia; Protest; Iraq; Buddhism
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