CONSIDER THE ALTERNATIVES

Several hundred people turned out on Mother’s Day for a special
installment of the weekly Arlington West war memorial. The
three-month-old MotherHearts organization — a group of local women
dedicated to promoting peace and restoring the original anti-war
sentiments of Mother’s Day — held its first official public event
Sunday on the sand by Stearns Wharf. Local musicians provided
entertainment and MotherHearts founders and Veterans for Peace
leader Stephen Sherrill delivered speeches. Since Sunday’s event,
MotherHearts’ membership has grown from eight to more than 50. Lisa
Wysel — a MotherHearts cofounder — said of the impressive turnout,
“We wanted to call attention to the fact that there could be other
ways, beyond war, to resolve conflict. And our message was
definitely heard. It was tremendous and truly gratifying.”
MotherHearts also stressed the outrageous costs of the war in Iraq
by providing examples of peaceful programs the $280,147,000,000
spent to date could have otherwise funded; according to
MotherHearts literature, this sum could have financed global
anti-hunger programs for 11 years or provided every child in the
world with basic immunizations for the next 92 years. MotherHearts
plans to continue its involvement with Arlington West and
“guarantees” future public proclamations of peace. — Ethan
Stewart