WORLD WITHOUT WARS IN OPERATION
COMMENTARY ARCHIVES, 10 Dec 2009
In his farewell Speech to the United States Congress, former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower said clearly and emphatically: “Remember all people of all countries want peace, only their government wants war.” A rapid glance throughout history demonstrates that most wars were literally provoked by the governments. Whatever is felt that it cannot be easily achieved through proper diplomatic means then politicians turn to the military to get ultimately what they want through violence.
Problem of the Military
As witnessed with clear-cut evidence in all the several wars that took place since World War II ended in 1945, the military industrial complex has emerged to become a very lucrative business. Some 40% of the US politicians in Washington, DC have become multi-millionaires through direct or indirect involvement with struggles and wars. In fact, many of them have become so addicted to money that for this “god” they are ready to sacrifice the lives of the American people and literally lead the world into peril.
Of course, we have all become familiar with their set of mantras in an effort to distract the people and make them literally “shut up.” Among such carefully composed mantras we find: “national defense and security,” and “safeguard of freedom and democracy.” They also try to hide from us their abuse of our US military each time they decide to get what they want. They do this by trying to gather people’s support for what they term to be “the noble mission of our young men and women in uniform,” as they put it!
We are all familiar with the ultimate objective of the military, which is to destroy the infrastructure of cities and kill thousands of innocent people, which they refer to as “collateral damage!”Confronted with such brutal realities of war, many men and women from every walk of life and profession wrote numerous articles and books about war crimes of any kind in the hope that people open their eyes widely and they become involved actively to put a permanent end to wars by all means.
Toward the end of 2009, Dr. Leo Rebello of Mumbai, India, who is a holistic healer by profession, published a highly inspiring book entitled: World Without Wars. It consists of a collection of 66 articles written by well known men and women from various walks of life and professions. Deep inside they all had one thing in common, the permanent abolition of wars that may be described as a malignant tumor to our earthly society. Schools and libraries everywhere should make it a point to secure copies of this well written book by all means.
Outlining the Book’s Contents
Fortunately, this book is planned to be printed in several countries across every continent. To become quickly acquainted with it one may get in touch with Dr. Rebello through his e-mail: prof.leorebello@gmail.com and through his website: www.healthwisdom.org The involved book is already described as “vade mecum,” that is, a book, which I must carry with me wherever I go.
Among such important writers we find Bolivian President Evo Morales, whose enlightening essay is entitled: To Save Planet, End Capitalism,” Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Arun Gandhi, whose presentation has been: Why is Peace Elusive?” Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, whose food for thought is entitled: “Rise Up Against the Empire,” Jordan’s former King Abdullah, who gave us his perspective in: “As the Arabs See the Jews,” United States Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who wrote for us: “Spirit and Stardust,” Peace writer Gary Davis, who contributed: “Is the Individual a Subject of International Law?”
Former US VP Al Gore, who is for the environment, wrote: “We Will Rise, We Will Act,” US President Barack Obama presented us: “Preservation of Our Planet,” Prolific writer Howard Zinn submitted: “Changing Obama’s Military Mindset,” Peace Expert Dr. Terrence Paupp wrote an essay entitled, “Ending Militarism,” Cuba’s President Fidel Castro, entitled his write-up: “Put an End to Apartheid, Racism and Xenophobia,” Bruce Gagnon wrote on: “Arms Race in Space,” World Peace priest John Deer presented: “War is not Change we can Believe In,” and Leo Rebello provided: “Agenda for World Health Reform.”
All the 66 articles are carefully written. Also, there are 40 uplifting poems and analysis of 111 NGOs working for peace, sustainable development, environmental safety, and humane education. Their goal is to bring into the open the hidden agenda of those who want to use weapons and wars to become richer at the expense of millions of people’s lives. The human life is the most important element that God created in this world. We cannot afford any longer to continue to solve political problems through struggles and wars. All politicians that reveal belligerent tendencies need to be replaced, the sooner the better.
What is interesting in the selection of writers to this involved book lies here. Their ages range from the thirties, forties and fifties all the way through the sixties, seventies and eighties. They all come from a variety of nations showing different cultures and personalities. One of the assets in this selection lies in the fact that such chosen writers reveal a good diversity in philosophy and style of life. In spite of all this, they all genuinely yearn to see one day a world without wars where their children and grand children could live at peace.
Noble Goals of One Peace Organization
The publication of this book had only one specific objective, namely, to promote peace on earth across every other continent that eventually guarantees everyone to be a winner and no one a loser. It has been published under the auspices of the International Association of Educators for World Peace, which has been in operation across every continent since 1967. From the outset the objectives and goals of this organization may be summarized as follows:
1) Promotion of international understanding and world peace achieved through good and constructive education,
2) Protection of the environment from man-made air and water pollution, which should be fully brought under control,
3) Safeguard of human rights, which includes the sacrosanct right for a life-time free health care and free education,
4) Disarmament and arms control with total abolition of all nuclear weapons and landmines by all means, and
5) Development of the human resources merely for positive and constructive purposes to help create a healthy world community.
To this end, the involved organization has organized periodical world peace congresses and regional peace conferences in virtually across every continent. The proceedings of some of these world events have been printed in book-form and were then made available in some selected libraries. Most of the topics in the stated book relate directly to one or more of these stated objectives. Here are some additional topics taken at random from this involved book:
1) The Earth is but one country, 2) Globalization and poverty, 3) War against women and children, 4) Steps to creating a world without war, 5) World peace or mass destruction, 6) Finding inner peace for making peace with the world, 7) Global vision of the Holy Land, 8) Common values in different religions, 9) Pollution, the root cause of wars, 10) Modus operandi of peace organizations, 11) Towards a World Parliament, and 12) Global public television: A Grassroots path to peace.
Thousands of years ago, people lived on various continents isolated from each other. Probably, they thought they were the only beings on earth. As times rolled on, adventurers took themselves to the sea and went beyond the horizon of water confronting them wondering what they might find out. They came across other countries, and found, maybe to their surprise, there were other people as well. Slowly but surely, friendships were established, which brought about exchange of many of their original native products.
Patriarchal versus Matriarchal Society
Although they were fortunate to learn that they were not alone in this world, they still lived isolated from each other because of problems with primitive transportations they had at the time. However, when the means of transportation improved some 2,500 years ago through the building of big boats and carriages for overland travel, then we began to notice abuses that developed through exploitation and the infliction of suffering on innocent people.
This trend of war became the trademark of the patriarchal society as seen in excavations, people killing each other with bows and arrows. Before the takeover of the patriarchal society, we had a matriarchal society where everything was run by women. As we see from excavations made during this period, we do not see people trying to kill each other. Instead, we see people trying to help each other offering food and every kind of assistance. At this stage of history, we definitely need a revival of the matriarchal society as to replace permanently the culture of war with the culture of peace.
Men tend to rule from the mind which is often suspicious in a way that it finds it very difficult quite often to trust anyone. On the other hand, women tend to rule from the heart, which is trusting, loving and caring. Of course, the fact that a human being carries the body of a woman does not necessarily mean that such a woman must have the maternal qualities of love, kindness, trusting and caring of a woman. For example, Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom and Golda Meir of Israel were both head of state but both carried manly qualities. They acted like pure men trapped in the body of a woman.
By same token, the other way is also true. We may have men at the helm of government men like Oscar Arias of Costa Rica and Nelson Mandela of South Africa who tended to rule from the heart. This explains why they were so peaceful, why they were viewed by the world to be so beneficial to our earthly community. When a government is led by machismo type of people, by bullies who turn to the military to do their “dirty” work, then we have a notorious abuse of power that is bound to lead to suffering, devastation and death.
The involved book, World Without Wars, has taken a gigantic step in the direction of permanent peace, hopefully through the inspiration it has to offer. Since human beings, as a whole, do not seem to be perfect, we simply have to explore the good in each one of us and use it for the benefit of all people. At the same time, we need not to allow the evil that could be pin-pointed in each one of us to let it spread to the detriment of others. Our task is to help bring about a permanent peace into this troubled world.
Wise Advise of St. Thomas Aquinas
We need to learn vicariously as much as possible. Some ascetical writers pointed out that the wise tends to learn vicariously, that is, through the experiences of others, while the fool tries to learn the hard way, that is, through his own personal mistakes. What is important in all the selected articles in this book is to understand carefully and properly the message that is being given. We cannot judge the value of an article by the name attached to it but by its contents. In this regard, we have to listen to the advice of St. Thomas Aquinas.
This gentleman was a great philosophy and theologian who taught at the University of Paris some 800 years ago and was viewed as a genius. Once, his students asked him: “What shall we do to have our mind as clear as yours and to accumulate the knowledge you have amassed?” Needless to say, St. Thomas was taken by surprise. He starred at them and walked on the podium a few times in a pensive mood. Then he told them: “If you want to have a clear mind like you say I have and to amass the kind of knowledge that you say I have, you must simply do something that I have been doing since I was a very young man.”
After a small pause, he told them seriously: “Whenever you hear a statement never ask ‘who’ made the statement, but always ask ‘what’ does the statement say? If the statement is good, that is, it is conducive to the welfare of all people then you should respect it even if it comes from a garbage-man. On the other hand, if the statement is bad, that is, it is conducive to the detriment of others then you should reject it even if it comes from the king.”
Hence, we need to read this important book objectively, by evaluating it only in terms of what it has to offer for world peace. This book needs to be approached with a constructive attitude. Its author, Dr. Leo Rebello, has been planning it for a long time. His objective has been merely the universal welfare of all people without any exception. To order PDF version or the printed copy of this book, to have it translated into many languages, or for reprint, just write to Dr. Leo Rebello at prof.leorebello@gmail.com or at his address: 28/552 Samata Nagar, Kandivali East, Mumbai 400101, India.
12/8/09
____________________________
Charles Mercieca, Ph.D.
-President, International Association of Educators for World Peace, NGO Dedicated to United Nations Goals of Peace Education, Environmental Protection, Human Rights & Disarmament.
-Professor Emeritus, Alabama A&M University.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 10 Dec 2009.
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