Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2006 2:07 pm
Post subject: stopping the violence in the world (breaking the cycle of hatred and violence)
Geopolitical tensions ,divisions and conflicts have their origin in the inequalities/disparities of wealth wch exist on this planet,
We will always have our differences and disagreements, but we must always remember that what we share in common is infinitely more important than the differences wch divide us.
If we want to see a kinder/juster world we must see all people as members of one family (wch is our family)connected by a bond of sympathy. That wch binds us together is the essence of our humanity. Love must triumph over hate!
We live in a global village/community.Air travel and the internet have brought us closer together in a web of mutuality/interrelatedness/intimacy.We are one human family!
This earth is the mother of us all.All are entitled to a fair share of it's abundant resources.None are entitled to a disproportionate share.
We can no longer ignore the suffering of others who are deprived of dignity and a decent quality of life through being denied the opportunity to find employment.Nor can we shirk our responsibility to relieve that suffering.We must take up the cause of justice and peace! Justice must prevail! There can be no peace and no security without justice!
If we truely want others to be free we must take upon ourselves the struggle of the oppressed and the dispossesed.Violence and terrorism is a response/reaction to a situation wch is intolerable.We must seek to understand what drives men to desperate acts of violence,terror, and war.What kind of life experience creates a criminal mindset (that regards the inflicting of pain/suffering/injury as acceptable and justifiable behavior) and a loss of respect for life? When the use of force/violence becomes entrenched as a cultural norm and comes to be regarded as an acceptable means of pursueing self-interest and resolving difference...the entire fabric of society is threatened.
No child is born a criminal/evil.Childrem raised with love and taught empathy for others will not want to hurt others.
How does a human being go "bad"? If it takes an entire community to raise a child ,we must ask how we as a society are forming dangerous-minded people with a criminal mindset. And how can such socially deviant/maladjusted persons be transformed into productive, responsible and respected members of society?
Criminal actions are perpetrated by those who are desperate--who have nothing to lose and nothing to live for--who are alienated and radicalized by having no sense of belonging and benefiting from the existing system of things.We must work with the socially and economically excluded so that they also can benefit from and participate as equals in community life.
In a society that measures a person's worth and value by their income and possesions , the poor and disadvantaged are made to feel worthless.Deprived of everything (their self-worth is not validated)they have nothing to lose by breaking the rules (social contract)and engaging in criminal activity.If the existing individual and societal behaviour does not change to correct the inequality , the wealthy and economically privileged face the threat of having their quality of life degraded (see,"the preservation of privilege"),and the crisis of violence and terrorism and criminality will only escalate.
Victims of injustice,oppression,exploitation will resort to violence as a last resort.Injustice is the soil in wch hatred,violence,and fanaticism germinate and grow.
Hence there can be no peace and no security without justice!
The social cost of inequality and injustice is insecurity and the loss of social cohesion.The widening of the income gap can only result in further destabilization of the social fabric.
To stop the violence in the world we must address the issues of the oppressed and relieve their oppression.We must eliminate poverty(half the planet's population lives on less than two dollars per day), inequality (10% of the people own 90% of the world's wealth), and injustice.We must break down the religious,racial,economic barriers that separate and divide us.Fairness and dignity must belong to all people at all times.
Our future as a humane species and our very survival depends on our capacity to walk in each other's shoes!
We can make a difference! We can change the world! We can create a better living environment for ourselves,our children, and all creatures of the world. We have only to look at the example of Christ--a single person from Galilee-- to see what one individual can do.Sometimes it only takes the initiative of one person to ignite a spirit of change, to start a movement of change.The individual actions of a single person can have a positive impact on the global community.We can each make a small but influential difference by quietly living out the secret message of the kingdom of God in our daily workaday lives in the classroom,office,kitchen,factory,market,and neighbourhood.We need not be actors on the global stage to effect positive change.
Are we responding to our neighbor's need?How are we treating
children, poor people,disabled, minorities, the last, the lost, the least?
How are we treating our enemies?
If we live by the principles expressed by Jesus in the Sermon on the
Mount, would not the Kingdom become manifest/real on earth?!
Every person can be a secret agent (agent of goodness)in the struggle to establish
God's kingdom on earth.This is not the exclusive role of religious
leaders or politicians.The politicians and the governments of the world have failed to solve the problems . It's time to return power to the people. It is time for people to reclaim the power they have given to those who have proven themselves unworthy of it.
We need leaders with integrity and a positive vision (the vision of Oneness) that embraces all mankind!Leadership is something to wch many who are called refuse to accept.We are afraid that God may call upon us to do something difficult.We must not be afraid to live the life of righteousness and love that God wants us to live.Jesus invites us to a whole new way of seeing, being, and doing centered upon God's kingdom.
Love and sacrifice are the means by wch the peace of God's Kingdom
arrives and is maintained.God demands of us a supreme sacrifice--that the notion of "I" and "mine" be obliterated from the mind.
But the mind/ego wch doesn't want to give up anything for the common good will protest:"Perhaps Jesus was mistaken when he spoke of loving your neighbor,letting others go first,or that being a servant was the route to fulfillment. How can I get what I want if I'm always putting others first?In the meantime the gulf between the rich and the poor continues to increase.
The radical revolutionary empire of God is advancing by
reconciliation and peace, expanding by faith, hope, and love
beginning with the poorest, the weakest, the meekest, and the
least. It's time to change our thinking/mindset. It's time for a new way of life--and a new world order!If the richest people and the richest countries in the world would take the moral high ground ,it would be an example for all others to follow.
The work goes on and the dream of justice and equality (of opportunity) shall never die!
Systemic evil can inhabit the most respected institutions--
government, politics,corporations, religion, family. The greatest
threat arises when religion aligns itself with evil powers: "We
have no king but Caesar!" When this happens, people reject the
true power of God for an idol.Great suffering has been inflicted on
others by religious extremists in the name of God --who use religion to promote their political goals and their economic interests.
The KKK was a religious organization. The Catholic Inquisition burned "heretics". Christ and Martin Luther King were murdered.Moslem fundamentalists(Jihadists) have been brainwashed into believing that killing a non-muslim is a ticket to heaven.
Hatred is not the monopoly of Islamic extremists;it is an emotion wch every human being is capable of,and wch we must all struggle to exorcise.
There is only one true religion...and that is the religion of love!Love is the healing power and the reconciling force in all human affairs.It breaks down walls of separation...reuniting man with God ,man with man, and man with himself. This is the universal core message of all religion. Love is the root and essence of all spirituality.Love is the essence of God's character.
Only when this message is put into daily practice can religion be a positive force in the world.
There is no other way!There is no other path to peace, safety, and security!
We cannot injure and kill God's creatures (nor live in such a way that defiles the earth--for if we continue on our present course we will transform the earth into a place not fit for life)and still claim to love God.
For God has said that he who claims to love God but not his fellow man is a liar.
Man must express/manifest his love of God through his love of his neighbour(fellow man). We are to love God by loving one another!
We must learn to live in harmony with each other and Nature.
May this message be a source of inspiration ,courage, and empowerment to all who live today.
"We must become the change we wish to see in the world"
--Gandhi
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy names of liberty and democracy?
--Mahatma Gandhi
"My notion of democracy is that under it the weakest shall have the same opportunities as the strongest...no country in the world today shows any but patronizing regard for the weak... Western democracy, as it functions today, is diluted fascism...true democracy cannot be worked by twenty men sitting at the center. It has to be worked from below, by the people of every village."
-- Gandhi
Democracy is not a state in which people act like sheep.
Mahatma Gandhi
Retaliation is counter-poison and poison breeds more poison. The nectar of Love alone can destroy the poison of hate.
Mahatma Gandhi
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
Mahatma Gandhi
There is no reason to believe that there is one law for families and another for nations.
Mahatma Gandhi
Nonviolence is not a weapon of the weak. It is a weapon of the strongest and bravest.
Mahatma Gandhi
I see neither bravery nor sacrifice in destroying life or property, for offense or defense.
Mahatma Gandhi
To answer brutality with brutality is to admit one's moral and intellectual bankruptcy.
Mahatma Gandhi
Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected.
Mahatma Gandhi
Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state becomes lawless or corrupt.
Mahatma Gandhi
Democracy and violence can ill go together.
Mahatma Gandhi
Evolution of democracy is not possible if we are not prepared to hear the other side.
Mahatma Gandhi
In true democracy every man and woman is taught to think for himself or herself.
Mahatma Gandhi
The force generated by nonviolence is infinitely greater than the force of all the arms created by man's ingenuity.
Mahatma Gandhi
A "No" uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a "Yes" merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble.
Mahatma Gandhi
I understand democracy as something that gives the weak the same chance as the strong.
Mahatma Gandhi
The spirit of democracy cannot be superimposed from the outside. It must come from within.
Mahatma Gandhi
Performance of one's duties should be independent of public opinion.
Mahatma Gandhi
The only devils in the world are those running around in our own hearts - that is where the battle should be fought.
Mahatma Gandhi
