Did you know that Mother's Day was dreamed up, not by some Hallmark executive, but by a Unitarian woman named Julia Ward Howe? And did you know that she originally conceived of it, not as a sugary-sweet tribute to the joys of motherhood, but as "a call for women to wage a general strike to end war"? You can read the whole article from alternet.org here.

When I gave birth, I was overwhelmed by the sudden feeling of connection I had with other women. The pain and blood of birth, and the bliss of holding a newborn baby had instantly and magically joined me with women around the globe. We'd all participated in the most creative action possible : the act of bringing new life into the world.

I've spoken to many women - women of different ages and sexes and races and political affiliation and almost all of them recognised this feeling that motherhood had linked them to a community of women.

So I find it hard to fathom how any woman who is a mother can support war. Because, in a war, every person who dies is some mother's baby. I know all the "rational" reasons people can lay out in favour of fighting and killing. I just don't understand how any mother can put cold reason ahead of warm love.

If it weren't for that darn "believing in God" clause I'd be a Quaker.