Peace in Business Ventures
TRANSCEND MEMBERS, 8 Nov 2010
Charles Mercieca, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service
If we were to examine the products of some of the business ventures in the world we would discover that some are meant to lead and preserve peace while others are structured to create and promote war. Those that are involved in the manufacture of peace products should be viewed as valuable and beneficial and they deserve our help and cooperation to the best we can. On the other hand, those that are involved in production of war material should be viewed as the eventual mortal enemies of our earthly community and should be considered as dangerous.
Dream of Lasting Peace
If there is one element that the vast majority of people in every country really want to see by all means would be the creation of a world that is characterized by peace on a permanent basis. They would want to see a world where harmony among all people becomes the daily experience of their children and grandchildren, where the very concept of war becomes remote to the point of oblivion. If such were to be the case then we need to take immediate steps toward this end, the sooner the better.
In the first place, we need to continue to support and promote all products that are conducive to the universal welfare of all people without exception. At the same time, we should take drastic steps to stop the further creation of lethal products that are a detriment to human life and to our environment. This would be the best test we could possibly take to discover with crystal clarity as to whether we are strong or weak as well as beneficial or detrimental to the good cause of humanity everywhere. To this end, we need to raise seriously some questions.
Let us bring to our mind right now one person or a group of persons that we do feel we love dearly and infinitely. Let us assume, say, that this may be a father, a mother, a husband, a wife, a son, a daughter, a grandson, a granddaughter, a friend and the list could go on and on. Now let us suppose that we are approached and offered quite a few millions of dollars on condition that we proceed to kill one or more of these dearly beloved of ours. Would we dare to accept the money in exchange for the destruction of our beloved ones?
Let us approach this scenario from a different angle. Suppose we observe a group of individuals manufacturing lethal weapons that sooner or later would be used to destroy our environment and our very own lives as a matter of fact. How would we react? Would we try to sit calmly in our backyard watching the stars while trying to forget all about what we have observed? Or, would we try to become fully alerted and try to take immediate steps to stop and reverse this tragic trend in an effort to save ourselves by all means before it is too late?
Friends and Enemies at Work
Based on our past experience, what are the criteria we use to judge as to whether those we come across are genuine friends or potential enemies? Do we tend to trust people based on the titles they carry and positions they occupy in society? Or do we tend to trust them or distrust them in relation to how their actions are eventually affecting our lives for the better or the worse? If we were to glance at the history of the last 6,000 years we would soon discover that the various governments of the world tended to serve for their people either as a blessing or as a curse.
Those governments that, in their national expenditures, put top priority on the vital needs of their own people, such as good health care, proper education, and adequate residential facilities, have always proved to be God’s blessing at work. On the other hand, those governments that, in their national expenditures, put top priority on the manufacture and sales of weapons, on the promotion of struggles and wars, which often resulted in the annihilation of human lives and the destruction of the infrastructure of cities, have always proved to be a curse in operation.
The negative and disastrous elements of such governments are too many to enumerate. Among others, they are heartless, that is, void of all mercy and compassion. They are cruel and selfish that for money and wealth they would not miss any opportunity even if that were to involve the sacrifice of the lives of their beloved ones and risk of their very own lives. In addition, they are methodical and compulsive liars who deceitfully try to justify their evil and vicious actions by such words and phrases as “national defense and security” as well as “safeguard of democracy and freedom,” and the list goes on and on.
Ascetical writers tell us that when good and evil clash, evil tends to take the upper hand initially. However, at a time least expected evil will eventually take a sharp turn downwards to the point of total collapse before we even know it. This should be a great source of encouragement for all those who are determined to do their best to leave a vibrant legacy of peace to our children and all of our posterity. For quite a long time now we have witnessed a never-ending struggle between God and Satan, between God’s good children and Satan’s evil followers.
Those governments that put periodically money on the manufacture and sales of weapons and the promotion of struggles and wars, should be viewed as evil and vicious, as Satan’s evil followers at work. We should do our best to prevent them peacefully from the pursuance of this demonic trend. We say “peacefully” because this is an indispensable pre-requisition to have God on our side and to be assured of eventual victory in the long range. The only condition God set for us to eventually secure the victory we seek is merely this: “Do your best and God will do the rest.”
Importance of Faith
Can we really do our best trusting eventually that God, at a time He chooses, will step in to finish the job we seek properly, effectively, with determination and success? What proper and effective actions we may take as to convince God that we are really doing our utmost and the very best to bring about a complete stop to the manufacture and sales of weapons and to the further promotion of struggles and wars? Needless to say, we are all welcome to come out with a list of as many proposals we may possibly make. This would be a good effort in our genuine try to create some good and practical proposals toward bringing eventually a permanent peace.
Since the best and most effective way to solve any problem we face in life is to go to its source and block it in a way as to prevent it from ever appearing again, we should start here by all means. Let us concentrate fully and thoroughly on the greatest two devastating enemies of our earthly community. We have already mentioned them earlier. They are the manufacture and sales of weapons and the promotion of struggles and wars. Let us enlist some of the effective steps we could take to obliterate these two mortal enemies from the surface of our planet.
Since the manufacture and sales of weapons as well as the promotion of struggles and wars are viewed as a lucrative business, we need simply to device strategies to bring this disastrous business completely to an end, no matter how much time it would take us. Once more, let us keep in mind that God is fully on our side since we have volunteered to be on the frontline to defend openly and courageously his two great commandments: 1) You should not kill, and 2) you should not destroy the property of others.
Also, God has warned us very seriously not to do to others what we do not want others to do to us. We do not want others to destroy our lives, which means, that we should never take the initiative to destroy the lives of others. We do not want others to destroy our cities, which means, that we should never take the initiative to destroy the cities of others. With this in mind we should approach the various heads of government and all those responsible in a nation not only to refrain from the manufacture and sales of weapons but also to refuse purchasing them.
Besides, we should find an effective way how to make every nation that has foreign military bases on their soil to have such machineries of death closed down. In addition, we should also discourage every nation that has no foreign military bases on their soil never to accept having such bases by all means. We need to convince all nations that are approached by advanced militaristic nations to purchase weapons and military equipment to refuse such offers and to request of having, instead, useful health items, needed educational material and good residential facilities.
Using Money Constructively
Such constructive approaches may be viewed as peace in business ventures where everyone will end up a winner and no one a loser. In his farewell speech, President Dwight Eisenhower told the US Congress emphatically: “Remember that every dollar you spend on weapons and wars is a theft from the hungry and the poor.” This inspired statement from a former US President applies to every nation today that spends millions and billions of dollars to purchase weapons and all possible machineries of war.
It was recently reported that Saudi Arabia has purchased $60 billion worth of weapons and military equipment from the United States. This may be viewed as a very poor deal and a very big mistake. If Saudi Arabia were to use such military equipment it will bring about the annihilation of human lives and the destruction of numerous residential facilities. If such military material is never used, then such money could be termed as pure waste. In proceeding with this venture Saudi Arabia put itself fully into lose-lose situation. Nations that take the initiative to pose threats can never be viewed by the world at large as peaceful.
Instead of using such money for destructive purposes, Saudi Arabia might have used such money for constructive purposes. This nation which proclaims belief in a good and merciful God who loves all of His children dearly, could have used such money wisely by providing the suffering children of God in Africa with good hospitals equipped with all available medical needs, with good schools to provide children with adequate education, and the structure of residential facilities as to provide the homeless with homes of their own.
This way Saudi Arabia would have pleased immensely that good and merciful God it proclaims so strongly to believe in. Also, this very same God, the beloved Father and creator of everything that exists, would have certainly blessed Saudi Arabia 100 fold. Saudi Arabia would have performed an action that would have put it in win-win situation. We are all familiar with the saying that actions speak louder than words. When we take the initiative to provide vital help to God’s most dear and beloved suffering children, God has many ways at his disposal to reward us big.
It is amazing how the United States, a nation whose motto says: In God we trust to save America would proceed to become so heavily involved in business transactions that are negative and destructive instead of becoming involved in business transactions that are positive and constructive. It is incomprehensive that the governments of nations that profess belief in a good and merciful God, who is assumed to love all of His children dearly, would proceed to defy some of God’s commandments with no apparent remorse whatsoever. What is sad in these war policies lies in the fact that millions of innocent people will suffer immensely and unnecessarily as a result.
Characteristics of God’s Children
Apart from warning us not to lie to people when we deal with them, God made it very clear that we should not kill and that we should not destroy the property of others. There are absolutely no exceptions whatsoever. The negative and destructive material the United States sold to Saudi Arabia has only one purpose when used, namely to kill God’s people and to destroy their properties. We have learned from a recorded history of 6,000 years that it is never wise on our part to take the initiative to defy God’s commandments in any way whatsoever.
If we were to examine some of the main characteristics that exist between the children of God and the victims of Satan, we would soon observe the following. The children of God tend to be imbued with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which may be enlisted as follows: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of God. Of course, the victims of Satan are generally characterized by a conspicuous lack of these seven gifts, all of which are termed to be spiritual. Wisdom is revealed in the courage to follow God’s prescribed laws fearlessly.
Understanding consists in our ability to distinguish between what is beneficial and what is detrimental to us. Counsel deals with the capability of giving the right and proper advice as to enable people choose what God wishes. Fortitude is revealed in our determination to do what needs to be done in line with God’s way of thinking. Knowledge enables us to enrich our minds as to see things into better and truer perspective. Piety means compassion especially toward all those who are in dire need of both spiritual and physical help.
Fear of God does not consist in our fear that God is ready to punish us when we do things wrong, but in the fear that we offend such a good and merciful Father who loves us dearly and is always ready to help us even when we manage to offend him. In view of what has been stated, when it comes to business ventures we need to become engaged only in those ventures that are peaceful or are meant to lead to peace. If we do just that, then before we may even know it or realize it, world peace will finally become a tangible reality to enjoy and cherish for centuries to come.
__________________________
Charles Mercieca, Ph.D.
President
International Association of Educators for World Peace
Dedicated to United Nations Goals of Peace Education,
Environmental Protection, Human Rights & Disarmament
Professor Emeritus, Alabama A&M University
Hon President & Professor, SBS Swiss Business School, Zurich
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 8 Nov 2010.
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