To the editor:

As a participant in the weekly Lawrence peace rallies, I have begun to notice several important things. First, there is a lot more community support for anti-war alternatives than we are aware of. Second, there seems to be little opportunity, in the current political climate, for dialogue about peace — something necessary to balance the Bush administration’s assumption that war reflects both the values and spirit of the American community.

It is, therefore, pivotal that those of us who value peace (and question the value of war) find/create a space in which our voices are heard. We must place demands on our elected officials, holding them accountable for representing and enacting our true values of peacefulness.

It is similarly necessary that we use our collective power as consumers to make buying choices that support the increasingly available selection of energy-efficient technologies that decrease our reliance on oil, thereby decreasing our economic gain in a war on Iraq whose underlying theme remains the availability and affordability of Middle Eastern oil. These choices carry impact, and collectively we can be a community of people working for and building a peaceful relationship with our own country as well as the larger global community.

The responsibility of creating peace is on each of us. If we choose to be passive observers while our country charges ahead with the narrow-minded agenda of the current presidential administration, we will have chosen the role of the silent conspirator. We can and must be a part of change.

Heather Greene,

Lawrence