1. Public signing. The intention of the Citizens' Renunciation is to publicly withdraw one's consent from the planned use of nuclear weapons, and to do so in a way that is consistent with the moral seriousness of the issues involved. We suggest that you have a signing and witnessing ceremony, and invite the important people in your life and in your community to bear witness to your declaration. Invite them to study the issue and join you in your protest.  If you would like to express your concerns in a different way, please feel free to write a declaration of your own.  (We suggest that it include a direct request to public officials to end the U.S. reliance on nuclear weapons and the threat of nuclear weapons use.)  The most important point here is for each of us to "be the change we want to see" [Gandhi], to embody the thoughtfulness and concern we want public officials to bring to these issues.

2. Send copies of your declaration (short form or long form) to the following public officials and to all your local newspapers, radio stations (news director) and TV stations (news director). Include a cover letter explaining why you have taken this step. (See sample paragraphs on preceding page.) Wherever possible, make an appointment with public officials, deliver the document personally, and express your concerns about U.S. reliance on nuclear weapons.

The President of the United States

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20500

Your two Senators in the Unites States Senate. You can usually find their addresses in the front part of your telephone book under U.S. Government, or on the web (visit www.congress.org).

Your Representative in United States House of Representatives. You can usually find their addresses in the front part of your telephone book under U.S. Government, or on the web (visit www.congress.org).

3. Please register online. Register your protest online by clicking here.  Your representatives in government will be presented with a list of people in their state or district who have signed the Citizen's Renunciation of Nuclear Weapons.

4. Symbolic acts of conscience. If you are a parent, aunt or uncle, you may want to include a copy with your will as part of your legacy to future generations of your family. Nuclear illnesses and mountains of nuclear waste will travel down the generations after us.  It may be comforting to people in the future to know that at least some people in this generation opposed nuclear weapons and the poisoning they bring.   If you wish, you may have your declaration recorded at your County Clerk or Recorder's office as an enduring expression of your instructions to your representatives. Have your declaration framed and display it prominently. Discuss this action you are taking with your minister, rabbi, imam and/or best friends, give them copies of your declaration, and explain to them that you are taking this action on behalf of all life, theirs included.

5. Support one or more of the following groups that are working on nuclear weapons issues or start a study, support and advocacy group of your own:

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (www.wagingpeace.org) advances initiatives to eliminate the nuclear weapons threat to all life, to foster the global rule of law, and to build an enduring legacy of peace through education and advocacy. Web-based membership is free, including an e-mail newsletter, The Sunflower.

Nuclear Control Institute (www.nci.org) is an independent research and advocacy center specializing in problems of nuclear proliferation. Non-partisan and non-profit, it monitors nuclear activities worldwide and pursues strategies to halt the spread and reverse the growth of nuclear arms.

Greenpeace (www.greenpeace.org) organizes many citizen advocacy campaigns on behalf of the web of life, and has one specifically addressing the "Star Wars" program.

The Nuclear Reduction/Disarmament Initiative (www.nrdi.org) is an unprecedented joint military and interfaith effort to mobilize people of faith across America against the dangers nuclear weapons pose to the whole human family.

The Institute for Cooperation in Space (www.peaceinspace.com) is a non-profit organization focusing attention on legislation and a forthcoming treaty to ban all space-based weapons, to transform the space-based weapons industry into a world cooperative space industry, and to apply alternative energy and other technologies to solving urgent and potential human and environmental problems. The Institute's web site has links to other organizations concerned with the "weaponization" of space.

The American Friends Service Committee
(www.afsc.org/pindx/nucweap.htm)

The Fellowship of Reconciliation
(www.forusa.org/Programs/disarm.html)
 

6. Make copies of the resource guide and present the topic of citizen renunciation of nuclear weapons to religious congregations and civic organizations in your community. Educate your local newscasters and reporters about the problem of nuclear weapons by sending them copies of this guide. This resource guide (all the pages on the Citizens' Renunciation web site in a single document) is available free of charge on the web as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file at:
www.nonukes.org/downloadcd.htm