This post was inspired by the excellent comments made on Linkedin about Petitions, specifically regarding domestic violence. One of my connections on Linkedin, Lori Dudek, made a powerful comment which also contained a rhetorical question, ‘Would people sign it?’
Domestic violence is not just a worthy cause in which I believe, which touches and destroys the lives of many, regardless of their age, gender or social status! To me, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE is like the PLAGUE!!!
Last night’s comment was in turn triggered by another powerful and true statement made by Tracy Johnson: Financial Abuse + Domestic Violence = Homelessness = MORE ABUSE!!!
How don’t we all see this cycle and destructive results???
So, I kept reading the comments, late last night and not only agreed with them but when the commentator mentioned the word ‘petition,’ I decided to start researching to find the actual steps of HOW a petition could be started and possibly make a positive difference.
What I am about to share is not complete information on this vast topic.
I am not a legal professional, so here is my disclaimer: please don’t sue me if what follows is not perfect. I don’t get paid to write this blog, I do my best and my ONLY motivation is the hope that these posts DO help the readers.
The almost 18,850 plus views and over 800 plus positive comments, make me believe that the content of the blog helps and the love and time I invest in writing them is not useless.
Each human being is unique and as a result our motivations are. Each person who takes the time and reads and is helped by the content of any post on my blog, gives me a sense of purpose and gratefulness.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. paralegal, or any type of trained legal professional.
I am a woman (yes, a woman, not “a team of guys,” as many comments refer to the creator of this blog:) When I come across events, questions or situations which in my very personal assessment, knowing more about them could help others, because it helped me, I SHARE.
Today’s boring topic is PETITIONS!!!
What are petitions and why people write them? I will not even attempt to begin any conversation on the topic of the specifics of petitions to be submitted to be considered to even be accepted by our legal systems. For instance, I noticed many of the petitions I receive say, ‘at least 100,000 signatures are necessary before being submitted to… x,y,z political entity to change the present Bill, and on and on, here’s Pandora’s box!
The primary purpose of this post is to clarify what is a petition, suggest web sites which will help people understand more or write petitions in an appropriate format.
In short, hopefully, this post will point you in the correct direction.
What is a PETITION? It is a document written with the purpose of exposing corruption, injustice and asking for a positive change which would correct the injustice.
Almost daily, I receive emails from http://www.change.org about worthy causes, and am eager to contribute by signing them.
Oh… but then here comes the uncomfortable part of one who is not rich enough to donate to a good cause, no matter how little!
My deep sense of frustration and sadness when many times, I am unable to donate even $3.00 to a cause I consider important and worthy. I experience an overwhelming feeling of unworthiness and guilt. Many times I am a click away from “unsubscribe.” I know $3.00 is an amount so small, how could anyone even think that there are people out there who might be on such a tight budget, $3.00 has a financial significance for them?
And yet, if the $3.00 check is deposited into my bank account a minute before my automatic salary is deposited, a financial tragedy happens!… penalties apply, credit is negatively affected and let’s not get into details we all know and do not wish to experience.
OKAY, this was a deviation from the straight path to the top, but the view of a mini-financial disaster, too tempting to avoid… I couldn’t stop myself…
Back to how to start a petition if you, or your organization/group wish to.
It seems that one of the easiest ways, is to visit ONLINE PETITIONS
http://www.petitions.moveon.gov
You may also wish to visit
Start a petition FREE
http://www.thepetitionsite.com and click on one of the icons of this web site, entitled: “Petition Winning Ideas.”
Another web site which, as I understand, has no political affiliation, is http://www.gopetition.com/how-to-start-a-petition
This site offers two icons, one for INDIVIDUAL Petitions and another for GROUPS/ORGANIZATIONS
Let’s give a few examples of petitions, just to illustrate how different our motivations, values and priorities are.
The Facebook Page of ‘GO PETITION,’ LIKED by 244,617 people as of July 11, 2014 lists INTERNATIONAL petitions by country.
For example, under International Petitions:
Protect Our Children, Ban Bear Farms in Korea, or Bring Baxwonka Bars!
Some examples of active petitions in the USA and UK:
Save West Virginia Pets; Support the Solomons (I don’t know who are the Solomons, but this is to illustrate one could petition about anything) and my last example, because this would be a petition I’d support and sign: Investigate N.Y. Animal Shelters in Violation of Humane Laws and Public Trust.
The same site has an icon entitled: Get a Winning Petition Template.
Also, icons for Petition samples, examples of good petitions (NOT for Court purposes)
To sum it up, a well written petition has clear structure, a section for background information (Preamble)
The Petition TEXT _ what is the call of action, what are the campaigners asked to do, beside signing, what caused the petition, what and why is needed to be done.
(More info: http://www.gopetition.com/petition-template
Spreading the word– WHERE TO POST a Petition:
For information, please visit:
https://answers.yahoo.com/questions
http://www.ipetitions.com (online)
http://www.change.org would not only let you post for free, but also help you with your draft.
Petitions are judged by the value of their content, not the fame of the petitioners. Hmm… I am tempted to debate this:)
However, now matter these more or less significant details, by starting a petition you build and support a good cause and exercise your constitutional right to freedom of speech.
Happy petitioning!
Rodica
The Nude Truth by Rodica Mihalis 