Editing Not in Our Name (section)

==Two key documents==
Early in their existence, NION produced two documents&mdash;the "Pledge of Resistance"<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.notinourname.net/pledge_about.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2004-08-12 |archive-date=2008-03-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080313104210/http://www.notinourname.net/pledge_about.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the "Statement of Conscience"<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.notinourname.net/statement_conscience.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2004-08-12 |archive-date=2008-03-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311200106/http://www.notinourname.net/statement_conscience.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>&mdash;that NION members believe provide focus and expression to the U.S. anti-war movement.

==="Pledge of Resistance"===
The Pledge is written by [[Starhawk]] and [[Saul Williams]], in the style of [[free verse]], beginning:
<blockquote>
We believe that as people living <br />
in the United States it is our <br />
responsibility to resist the injustices <br />
done by our government, <br />
in our names <br />
<br />
Not in our name <br />
will you wage endless war <br />
</blockquote>
and concluding
<blockquote>
Another world is possible <br />
and we pledge to make it real.
</blockquote>

The pledge opposes what it characterizes as "endless [[war]]", "[[Blood transfusion|transfusions]] of [[blood]] for [[Petroleum|oil]]", invasions of foreign countries, bombing [[civilian]]s, and killing children. It goes on, "Not in our name / will you erode the very freedoms / you have claimed to fight for." It implicitly accuses the [[George W. Bush|Bush administration]] of deeming "whole [[nation|peoples]] or [[country|countries]]" as "[[evil]]" and pledges, among other things, "...alliance with those/ who have come under attack /
for voicing opposition to the war / or for their religion or ethnicity."

The ''[[Not in My Name]]'' EP was released in May 2003 by Saul Williams with assistance from  [[DJ Spooky]], DJ Goo and [[Coldcut]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/not-in-my-name-mw0000031222|title=Saul Williams - Not in My Name|date=May 20, 2003|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|accessdate=7 January 2013}}</ref>

==="Statement of Conscience"===
[[Image:We the People Say No to the Bush Agenda by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|These flags became an international symbol of solidarity with this statement]]NION's "Statement of Conscience", drafted in spring 2002, first lists a series of criticisms of the Bush Administration and (secondarily) the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] and calls on the people of the U.S. "...to resist the policies and overall political direction that have emerged since September 11, 2001, and which pose grave dangers to the people of the world."

Among the specific principles advocated in the statement are the right of [[self-determination]] for peoples and nations and the importance of [[due process]] and dissent. The statement expresses "shock" at "the horrific events of September 11, 2001" but, evoking "similar scenes in [[Baghdad]], [[Panama City]], and, a generation ago, [[Vietnam]]", describes [[Iraq]] as "a country which has no connection to the horror of September 11", and deplores the administration's "spirit of revenge" and the "simplistic script of 'good vs. evil': "In our name, the Bush administration, with near unanimity from Congress, not only attacked [[Afghanistan]] but arrogated to itself and its allies the right to rain down military force anywhere and anytime."

Referring to the U.S. government's treatment of immigrants in the wake of September 11, the statement accuses the U.S. government of creating "two classes of people: those to whom the basic rights of the U.S. legal system are at least promised, and those who now seem to have no rights at all", and evokes "the infamous [[Internment of Japanese Americans|concentration camps for Japanese-Americans in World War II]]".

Protesting "a pall of repression" and referring specifically to the [[USA PATRIOT Act]] as emblematic of that repression, it accuses the [[United States executive branch|executive branch]] of usurping "the roles and functions of the other branches of government," and continues, "We must take the highest officers of the land seriously when they talk of a war that will last a generation and when they speak of a new domestic order. We are confronting a new openly imperial policy towards the world and a domestic policy that manufactures and manipulates fear to curtail rights."

NION urges a movement of resistance: "President Bush has declared: 'you're either with us or against us.' Here is our answer: We refuse to allow you to speak for all the American people ... We refuse to be party to these wars and we repudiate any inference that they are being waged in our name or for our welfare ..." It indicates as inspiration "...[[Israel]]i reservists who, at great personal risk, declare 'there IS a limit' and [[Refusal to serve in the Israeli military|refuse to serve]] in the occupation of the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]]", the [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionists]], and "those who defied the [[Vietnam War|Vietnam war]]" and concludes, "we will resist the machinery of war and repression and rally others to do everything possible to stop it."

===Signatories===

NION's web site lists a broad array of signatories to the pledge, listing only those who signed before July 17, 2002. Among those are:
{|
|
*[[James Abourezk]], former U.S. Senator
*Dr. [[Patch Adams]]
*[[Robert Altman]], film director
*[[Laurie Anderson]], performance artist
*[[John Perry Barlow]], co-founder, [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]]
*[[Medea Benjamin]]
*[[Noam Chomsky]]
*[[Deepak Chopra]]
*[[Ramsey Clark]], former U.S. Attorney General and founder of [[Act Now to Stop War and End Racism|ANSWER]]
*[[John Cusack]], actor
*[[Angela Davis]]
*[[Ossie Davis]]
*[[Zack de la Rocha]], of [[Rage Against the Machine]]
*[[Ruby Dee]]
*[[Mos Def]]
*[[Ani DiFranco]]
*[[Diane di Prima]]
*[[Bernardine Dohrn]]
*[[Michael Eric Dyson]]
*[[Steve Earle]]
*[[Barbara Ehrenreich]]
*[[Daniel Ellsberg]]
*[[Brian Eno]]
*[[Eve Ensler]]
*[[Lawrence Ferlinghetti]]
*Fifty-three [[Maryknoll]] priests and brothers
*[[Jane Fonda]]
*[[Michael Franti]], of [[Michael Franti|Spearhead]]
*[[Terry Gilliam]]
*[[Tom Hayden]]
*Rev. [[Jesse Jackson]]
*[[Mumia Abu-Jamal]]
*[[Fredric Jameson]]
*[[Jim Jarmusch]]
*[[Chalmers Johnson]], author of ''Blowback''
*[[Casey Kasem]]
*[[Barbara Kingsolver]]
*[[Yuri Kochiyama]]
*[[Tony Kushner]]
*[[Spike Lee]]
|
*Rabbi [[Michael Lerner (rabbi)|Michael Lerner]], editor, [[Tikkun (magazine)|''Tikkun'']]
*[[Phil Lesh]], of the [[Grateful Dead]]
*[[Jim McDermott]], U.S. representative
*[[Cynthia McKinney]], U.S. representative
*[[David McReynolds]]
*[[W. S. Merwin]]
*[[Toni Morrison]]
*[[Walter Mosley]]
*[[Odetta]]
*[[Claes Oldenburg]]
*[[Ozomatli]]
*[[Grace Paley]]
*[[Michael Parenti]]
*[[Harold Prince]]
*[[Bonnie Raitt]]
*[[Adrienne Rich]]
*[[Edward Said]]
*[[Lucy Sante]]
*[[Susan Sarandon]]
*[[John Sayles]]
*[[Pete Seeger]]
*[[Toshi Seeger]]
*[[Frank Serpico]]
*[[Richard Serra]]
*Rev. [[Al Sharpton]]
*[[Wallace Shawn]]
*[[Martin Sheen]]
*[[Russell Simmons]]
*[[Art Spiegelman]]
*[[Gloria Steinem]]
*[[Oliver Stone]]
*[[Rose Styron]]
*[[William Styron]]
*[[Studs Terkel]]
*[[Gore Vidal]]
*[[Kurt Vonnegut]]
*[[Alice Walker]]
*[[Wavy Gravy]]
*[[Cornel West]]
*[[Howard Zinn]]
|}