Wednesday, September 20, 2006
University Of Peace
In the current issue of the Beijing Review, there was a rather good article that pointed out we have many schools in the world to teach war, but none to teach peace. It suggested that the path to peace might start with the creation of such universities and that in a time when the world is crying out for peace and peacemakers, we are sorely lacking in anyone trained to the task.
War is big business. There is always money to be made in war, but where is the profit in peace? If we could make peace as viable a profit maker as war is today, then we might be able to actually sustain lasting peace in the world. The trick of course is to find a way to make peace pay.
Perhaps also if there was a way that did not violate free trade to make it impossible to realize any profit from war it would also help. (like imposing such dramatic taxes on any gain realized as a result of war to make it an unpopular way to make money)
Back to that article. This author made the article an invitation, or a challenge to all nations to individually or jointly create schools for peace. One thing I do not recall being mentioned in the article was religion which would actually have to be left at the door to the class rooms as we all know the history of using religious beliefs to embark upon "holy wars" which in fact were sometimes not so thinly veiled wars of aggression over property and wealth.
Arbitrators and negotiators could take the place of troops and guns. They would need to have more of a global consciousness than a national one in order to be unbiased and really look at all the issues and find common ground for all parties.
From the perspective of a follower of the Tao, it appears that Christianity and Islam are not all that far apart in theology, yet some would have you believe there is a holy war in progress. Somehow making a war one of a holy cause is supposed to validate it. People still die, there is still ground taken, there are still the same prizes and costs.
Bush is taking the stand that his war is righteous because it is against terrorism. Think about that for a moment. It is first and foremost, an un-winnable war because with each terrorist you kill or maim, you create two or more (sometimes even hundreds) more terrorists. He claims to be there to spread democracy.. which like the previous argument makes you wonder if he is really this stupid or just a liar since he fails to recognize that Hezbollah was democratically elected as part of the Palestine government .
Ok, cease fire for a minute on Bush. What about Condi Rice? Sent supposedly to negotiate a peace or help to do so. As far as I can see she has no qualifications as a peace maker or peace keeper. She delayed her trip for what, a month? to give Israel time to bomb the crap out of the Hezbollah before she could step in and have the appearance of being a peace maker with all the best intentions. The only agenda for the United States is to put folks in power who agree with us and destroy those who don't. (or better yet, let someone else destroy them and we wont step in to look like the good guys until the "bad" guys are pretty much wiped out.)
We need to have institutions of higher education that teach peace, negotiation, and ethics. We need to have the graduates of such institutions be the negotiators and peacemakers of the world without valuing nationalism above globalism.
Maybe we can even make this a race. Which Nation shall rise above all others and be the first to create a higher education institution of Peace? Which Nations will band together in an attempt to end wars forever ? Who will be the first to hand out diplomas in Peacekeeping? My money is not on the US as long as Bush still holds the reins.
War is big business. There is always money to be made in war, but where is the profit in peace? If we could make peace as viable a profit maker as war is today, then we might be able to actually sustain lasting peace in the world. The trick of course is to find a way to make peace pay.
Perhaps also if there was a way that did not violate free trade to make it impossible to realize any profit from war it would also help. (like imposing such dramatic taxes on any gain realized as a result of war to make it an unpopular way to make money)
Back to that article. This author made the article an invitation, or a challenge to all nations to individually or jointly create schools for peace. One thing I do not recall being mentioned in the article was religion which would actually have to be left at the door to the class rooms as we all know the history of using religious beliefs to embark upon "holy wars" which in fact were sometimes not so thinly veiled wars of aggression over property and wealth.
Arbitrators and negotiators could take the place of troops and guns. They would need to have more of a global consciousness than a national one in order to be unbiased and really look at all the issues and find common ground for all parties.
From the perspective of a follower of the Tao, it appears that Christianity and Islam are not all that far apart in theology, yet some would have you believe there is a holy war in progress. Somehow making a war one of a holy cause is supposed to validate it. People still die, there is still ground taken, there are still the same prizes and costs.
Bush is taking the stand that his war is righteous because it is against terrorism. Think about that for a moment. It is first and foremost, an un-winnable war because with each terrorist you kill or maim, you create two or more (sometimes even hundreds) more terrorists. He claims to be there to spread democracy.. which like the previous argument makes you wonder if he is really this stupid or just a liar since he fails to recognize that Hezbollah was democratically elected as part of the Palestine government .
Ok, cease fire for a minute on Bush. What about Condi Rice? Sent supposedly to negotiate a peace or help to do so. As far as I can see she has no qualifications as a peace maker or peace keeper. She delayed her trip for what, a month? to give Israel time to bomb the crap out of the Hezbollah before she could step in and have the appearance of being a peace maker with all the best intentions. The only agenda for the United States is to put folks in power who agree with us and destroy those who don't. (or better yet, let someone else destroy them and we wont step in to look like the good guys until the "bad" guys are pretty much wiped out.)
We need to have institutions of higher education that teach peace, negotiation, and ethics. We need to have the graduates of such institutions be the negotiators and peacemakers of the world without valuing nationalism above globalism.
Maybe we can even make this a race. Which Nation shall rise above all others and be the first to create a higher education institution of Peace? Which Nations will band together in an attempt to end wars forever ? Who will be the first to hand out diplomas in Peacekeeping? My money is not on the US as long as Bush still holds the reins.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Fundies & The War On Terrorism
We all have multiple identities. Race, religion, nationality, ethnicity, class, and probably some others that do not spring readily to mind.
Every identity has it’s fundamentalists, the gatekeepers of what is permissible for those who share that specific identity. They usually have their work cut out for them to keep everyone within their identity toeing the line. Their one commonality is that they are all reactionary, guardians of authenticity, there job is to deny complexity and impose uniformity.
They exploit identity as an end rather than a beginning from which to connect with humanity and exclude the rest of humanity from their specific niche. They are devoted to eternal and exclusive truths and brook no dissent or debate.
A Christian fundamentalist will only recognize you as a fellow human being up to a certain point unless you also are a Christian, beyond that point you are just one more lost sinner.
In the real world identities do not exist in a vacuum and are rooted in material conditions that confer power and privilege in relationship to one another.
Lets examine 9/11 for a moment with regard to national identity. Immediately nationalist fundamentalism took grip after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and has been thriving ever since. We are told REAL Americans will rally round and support the administration in the war on terrorism, and that if you do not agree you are not a real American, you are the enemy.
Fundamentalists thrive only at times of crisis. The rest of the time we can pretty much ignore them and be true to all our combined identities.
So here is the problem. Finding alternative and more attractive routes out of the current crisis, breaking the cycle of violence that is snowballing out of control.
The Taoist ideal of sitting quietly is something poets, artists and mystics usually know how to do. When our minds are stuffed full of current ideas there is no room for new thoughts and we are unable to be truly creative.
In our current situation we are faced with a great need for creative solutions to the unprecedented dangers of the day. It was unthinkable after 9/11 to declare a 40 or 60 day period of mourning and take no further action until the horrific reality was fully accepted and understood.
Instead, without all the facts, politicians reached after short-sighted policies. Afghanistan, Iraq, threats to Iran, all of which have made a bad situation much worse. I have said before that you can make a terrorist, but you cannot unmake one.
Listening is a rare commodity, as is forgiveness, and in fact forgetfulness. ( at this point I can feel the knee-jerk reaction of those fundies who still cry remember the Alamo and throw the Mexican over the newly built wall to the South.) I do not mean we should forget the past entirely, I do mean we need to sit quietly and listen. We need to start from scratch and be ready to forget who did what to whom so that we can actually negotiate peace for our people. It is clear that the current administration has no intention of anything but continued violation of the laws of our nation. The headlines even on a local small time paper this morning told of more prisoners that have been being held in secret without legal recourse, who have just been shipped to Guantanamo.
Sit quiet for a moment, and reflect, let your mind empty. Then look at the reality of what the administration is doing and ask yourself if you believe in the rule of law. If you answer yes you believe in the rule of law, then it is your duty as an American to rid the country of an administration that has become a dictatorship eroding away all the human and civil rights this country was founded on based on the premise they are at war on terrorism. The only way to stop the terrorism is to stop feeding it by creating more terrorists.
Every identity has it’s fundamentalists, the gatekeepers of what is permissible for those who share that specific identity. They usually have their work cut out for them to keep everyone within their identity toeing the line. Their one commonality is that they are all reactionary, guardians of authenticity, there job is to deny complexity and impose uniformity.
They exploit identity as an end rather than a beginning from which to connect with humanity and exclude the rest of humanity from their specific niche. They are devoted to eternal and exclusive truths and brook no dissent or debate.
A Christian fundamentalist will only recognize you as a fellow human being up to a certain point unless you also are a Christian, beyond that point you are just one more lost sinner.
In the real world identities do not exist in a vacuum and are rooted in material conditions that confer power and privilege in relationship to one another.
Lets examine 9/11 for a moment with regard to national identity. Immediately nationalist fundamentalism took grip after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and has been thriving ever since. We are told REAL Americans will rally round and support the administration in the war on terrorism, and that if you do not agree you are not a real American, you are the enemy.
Fundamentalists thrive only at times of crisis. The rest of the time we can pretty much ignore them and be true to all our combined identities.
So here is the problem. Finding alternative and more attractive routes out of the current crisis, breaking the cycle of violence that is snowballing out of control.
The Taoist ideal of sitting quietly is something poets, artists and mystics usually know how to do. When our minds are stuffed full of current ideas there is no room for new thoughts and we are unable to be truly creative.
In our current situation we are faced with a great need for creative solutions to the unprecedented dangers of the day. It was unthinkable after 9/11 to declare a 40 or 60 day period of mourning and take no further action until the horrific reality was fully accepted and understood.
Instead, without all the facts, politicians reached after short-sighted policies. Afghanistan, Iraq, threats to Iran, all of which have made a bad situation much worse. I have said before that you can make a terrorist, but you cannot unmake one.
Listening is a rare commodity, as is forgiveness, and in fact forgetfulness. ( at this point I can feel the knee-jerk reaction of those fundies who still cry remember the Alamo and throw the Mexican over the newly built wall to the South.) I do not mean we should forget the past entirely, I do mean we need to sit quietly and listen. We need to start from scratch and be ready to forget who did what to whom so that we can actually negotiate peace for our people. It is clear that the current administration has no intention of anything but continued violation of the laws of our nation. The headlines even on a local small time paper this morning told of more prisoners that have been being held in secret without legal recourse, who have just been shipped to Guantanamo.
Sit quiet for a moment, and reflect, let your mind empty. Then look at the reality of what the administration is doing and ask yourself if you believe in the rule of law. If you answer yes you believe in the rule of law, then it is your duty as an American to rid the country of an administration that has become a dictatorship eroding away all the human and civil rights this country was founded on based on the premise they are at war on terrorism. The only way to stop the terrorism is to stop feeding it by creating more terrorists.
