Author Topic: World Peace ??????  (Read 10241 times)

Offline misfitguy

  • Administrator
  • *
  • Join Date: Oct 2006
  • Posts: 584
    • Misfits Central
World Peace ??????
« on: October 21, 2006, 02:15:02 PM »
(This was first written on Feb 8, 2005 on our Proboards site.)


Well, what do you think? Is it possible? Is it probable?

I'll tell you, I believe, not only in its attractiveness, but in its inevitably.

Yeah, I know. There is a lot of dissension in the world, but there is an awful lot of love as well. I will expound if somebody shares their thoughts.
Go to www.misfitscentral.net  Why not?

Military justice is to justice what military music is to music.

~Groucho Marx

"The world is one country and mankind is its citizens..."  Baha'u'llah

Offline misfitguy

  • Administrator
  • *
  • Join Date: Oct 2006
  • Posts: 584
    • Misfits Central
Re: World Peace ??????
« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2006, 02:22:42 PM »

Reply from timateo:

? Reply #1 on Feb 11, 2005, 12:15am ? 
  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The writing of this book is in tribute to all the indigenous peoples of the world, US. We truly are glorious beings, each and every one of us. These writings, I believe, are not only my ponderings and self discoveries, but are ours to the extent that they are true and of our like mindedness. These thoughts allow me the freedom of hope. This hope has grown into an assured knowing for myself.
I am not going to tell you that my thoughts are the TRUTH, but are merely my TRUTH. I feel secure with my understandings of myself, you, us, the world, and that which brought it into existence. No natural power that exists on this plane of existence is capable of destroying this security, and as such I am truly free. The realization of this unfettered freedom has allowed me to experience the ecstasy of life, the reality of PEACE.
I offer my thoughts because I truly want you to experience PEACE, a real peace, which stands strong against all life?s turmoil. This I wish for all people. How could I wish it for myself and not wish it for my family, all of you? We are one people, ?The People? of earth, united under one God, THE INEFFABLE MYSTERY, the God of life, the God of Peace.
May my words be ?ITS? words, because ?ITS? words are ?THE TRUTH?.


Introduction

The basic premise to my philosophical perspective is that all life is sacred and that universally life consists of everything from the rudimentary mineral, which is essential for the sustenance for all other life forms; ranging from the single celled organism to the most complex and unpredictable-the human being.
I recognize that humankind has been given limited authority over this planet of life in that, we are the only form of life, which possesses the instinct to make meaning and the power to affect the future of every species of life. We are shapers and creators of environments through our own volition and not strictly driven by instinct.
This is an immense responsibility, but on the other hand I believe that humankind is given the knowledge of the truth of our environment by the source of truth, The Ineffable Mystery, the quintessential power of the universe. This universal power is released through humanity with the accumulation of accurate understandings and the responsible use of these understandings. Through our decision making; and actions we prove the validity of our understandings to the extent that we create healthy environments. Environments more conducive to life; moving toward a greater realization of peace, which respects and honors the differences of all life.
The discussion concerning humanity?s relationship to itself, lower life forms, and the environment we share has been occurring within all civilizations since our conception into this world. As our perceptions of ourselves and those with whom we interact have changed; humanity has formed ever larger alliances with those who at one time were considered the others, those who were not of your people and had different life ways. Our histories are very similar, in that our ancient ancestors are merely our younger selves. We have come to age together. Our families, the people of earth, us, have traversed time together and possess a common beginning. Our grandparents, the first people, were bestowed life directly from the Ineffable Mystery -The Great Earth Mother and The Almighty Father. LIFE begot life and it is that LIFE which makes us one family.
As we have traversed time together, we have gained a more accurate conception of the universe, our place within it, and the laws by which it operates. In the 18th century we identified an unalienable truth, that all men are created equal in a state of freedom. I believe that today the world?s consciousness? asks every individual to respect the sovereignty that each person has to govern themselves, their own lives. This is achievable to the extent to which we hold ourselves personally accountable to an accepted standard. The standard of that accountability being to make every decision with the fullest understanding that one can achieve and the decision must result in benefiting the majority, if not all members of the community that the decision effects.
I would suggest that if there is a sincere desire to attain to the standard of personal sovereignty for all people there must be a redefinition of how people perceive themselves in relation to others. For myself I attempt to see every human interaction as the coming together of equally significant individuals; each with a unique understanding to offer and each in search of a greater understanding. Each person I encounter has something unique to offer me, as the reverse is also true, in that we are members of the same family. We are each created to be learners as well as teachers. This relationship with life is best nourished in an environment where its members interrelate in trust and mutual respect. Life flourishes when all our needs are met; when we live in safety, without fear, at peace.
The above discussion is the understanding that I have attained concerning my relationship to the world around me at this point in time. The following writings are topics that further substantiate my philosophical core beliefs. These are my thoughts; may you find them worthy of your consideration.

_______________________________________________________________________

Reply from Mick:

? Reply #2 on Feb 11, 2005, 8:47am ?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wow, Timateo.  I asked what you thought and you surely told me.  I am very impressed in your thoughts.  A couple of points are a little touch for me and are probably indefensible for you, but, hey, if everybody thought with your  love for humanity and feeling of responsibility, then how could there be anything but peace.

Sadly, though, we have reality.  We do have insanity and the results of it.  We do have feelings of greed, self-righteousness and yadayadayada...and the results of these.  We find these attributes in many leaders of todays peoples and that is where war comes from

You wrote:

Quote
I recognize that humankind has been given limited authority over this planet of life in that, we are the only form of life, which possesses the instinct to make meaning and the power to affect the future of every species of life. We are shapers and creators of environments through our own volition and not strictly driven by instinct.

Lofty thoughts, but difficult to follow.  I hold to the directions of Baha'u'llah.  He said that each of us have a soul and we nourish this soul with prayer, recognition of God and good acts.  As our soul is nourished it strengthens and guides us in our day to day, minute to minute actions.  It is this soul that seperates us from the other animals;  not some metaphysical, hard to understand, thing that requires mankind to accept a responsibility it won't probably ever recognize.

Quote
This is an immense responsibility, but on the other hand I believe that humankind is given the knowledge of the truth of our environment by the source of truth, The Ineffable Mystery, the quintessential power of the universe. This universal power is released through humanity with the accumulation of accurate understandings and the responsible use of these understandings. Through our decision making; and actions we prove the validity of our understandings to the extent that we create healthy environments. Environments more conducive to life; moving toward a greater realization of peace, which respects and honors the differences of all life.

I understand what your are suggesting, but again mankind is not given any innate knowledge of what its responsibility is.  Instead it is given a soul.  The soul guides us towards being a responsible person, acting in a responsible manner.  By the way, you don't have to believe this, but it is true. 

Baha'u'llah also has told us there is nor evil energy, but what seems like evil energy is just the result of actions that are not guided by spiritual energy or the soul.  Evil is the result of an individual not being guided at all, but simply making decisions based on his/her personal motivations...greed, desire for power, jealously, hate, fear, etc.  The more powerful position a person sits-in, in the realm of mankind, the more damage a non-guided, weak souled individual can do. 

Of course the inverse is true as well.  A guided soul can do wonderful things in this realm.  Sadly, though, the system of politics, today, is dependent on corruption and the higher one goes up the ladder, the less chance they would have of possessing a healthy soul.

Peace, on the other hand, I still insist is inevitable.  But now through today's political system.  Only throught recognition of God and our soul, can mankind develop the love and caring necessary for peace.

Mick

_________________________________________________________________________________

Reply from Gerry:

? Reply #3 on Feb 26, 2006, 11:09pm ?   

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I'm sorry to be so jaded folks but I don't believe we'll ever see world peace.

Gerry

_________________________________________________________________________________

Reply from Mick:

? Reply #4 on Mar 1, 2006, 8:18am ?   

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you mean we, you and me, hell no we won't. But if you mean never like eternally, then that would be like saying bigfoot doesn't and never has existed.

World peace is destined. Of course if you are one that simply believes that everything here is happenstance, meaning that you have no belief in a God, then the discussion is fruitless. You would be coming from the base thought that everything has come about by chance. I would be coming from the base thought that every religion of God promises a time of World Peace.

When? I don't know. But somebody must work toward it. I have concluded that there are only a few evil people that roil up the stupid ones and that is how war comes about. Pretty simplistic, huh? Yeah, nothing this complex could or should be described with one sentence.

Evil comes from a lack of spiritual energy and goodness comes from a nourished soul. Simple that is. So world peace is not going to come from political action but from the action of the masses when they say, "Enough is a enough."

By the way, don't get "nourished soul" confused with religion. Many of the religions of man are as political as government. Many of the religions that claim to be religions of god are de facto religions of man.

So, Gerry, the avowal of World Peace shouldn't be attempted by a single sentence and, I suggest, the disavowal of World Peace shouldn't be attempted by a single sentence as well.

Thankyou for joining and posting.

Mick

_________________________________________________________________________________

Reply from Gerry:

? Reply #5 on Mar 5, 2006, 1:35am ?   

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mick,

I admit to being an atheist but that doesn't mean I live without a moral code. But my belief that world peace will never come about, as much as I'd like that, has nothing to with religion. While I don't believe that humans are inherently evil, we are subject to all the 'evils' that nature has bestowed upon all beasts.

The difference, of course is that we are capable of such abstract thought as 'right' and 'wrong'. You would think such an ability would allow us to be more peaceful but I think the fact is, this ability allows us to form 'ideals' which we find worth fighting for.

Of course, I won't give up hope that we can achieve world peace. If we can contemplate it, we should be able to accomplish it. But I'm afraid that IF it ever comes, it will be in the same manner in which France faced WWII. They were reluctant to fight because their soil had been so severely bloodied they were actually sick of war. Of course, even then, they were pushed.

But let's hope I'm wrong Mick...
 
___________________________________________________________________________________

Reply from Mick:

? Reply #6 on Mar 6, 2006, 8:22am ?   

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gerry,

One of my favorite topics is World Peace. You are a remarkable individual and obviously thoughtful. You stole one of my arguments when you said that you don't believe "that humans are inherently evil". I usually develop a series of questions that will eventually conclude that we do not have a base, animal need to kill. We have the ability, and we are able to justify it's need, but we are not driven to kill to survive as most animals are. Well not each other that is since we do kill life in the form of animals and vegetation.

You also said you were a valued individual in spite of not having a religion. I don't doubt that one bit. Being a member of a religion and having a value system that you are conciously living by do not necessarily go hand in hand. Most of the religions of the world do give guide lines so that an individual can develop his value system, but none, that I know of, give us the will to follow it. That is something each individual must decide to do and that decision isn't made once but has to be made daily, or by the hour, or maybe by the second.

I do, though, have to inform you that each and every individual has a soul. I gave the illustration of evil comes from lack of spiritual energy and goodness comes from spiritual energy. Let me develop that a little more picturesquely. Light comes from energy and darkness comes from lack of energy. Heat comes from energh and coldness comes from lack of energy. Now I normally use these comparisons to demonstrate that there isn't an evil energy, but only a spiritual energy and this energy is measurable in the way we live.

Of course, if you haven't given your soul regard and it is weak because of this and so isn't guiding you, then you must conciously make decisions that are either good or bad. For individuals like yourself, you have developed a value system that you pay attention to and so demonstrate that we do have free will to achieve our goals and to live a good and productive life. I applaud you for this. It is a way to go about it. I prefer the nurturing of my soul, listening to its guidance and then making decisions that will affect my life. About the same, but I feel I am getting some good advice along the way as well.

What does this have to do with world peace? Maybe nothing, but maybe everything. We are told the "world will unite one heart at a time..." It will come to pass because of the peoples of the world uniting in a single thought of let's get along. We will become curious about our differences and not suspicious and frightened. We will celebrate for each others differences and it will become "Unity in diversity." It already has for the most part.

I haven't mentioned politics, you may have noticed. Another thing to notice is that we are beginning a trend of no evil alliances. All of our recent wars included evil alliances of many nations. Now one bad nation and the rest of the world pretty much saying "no, no, no". This will be the trend of the future. Hard to call this world peace, but we could call it world unity forming. We (the world) are at an "adolescent" stage of development with all the problems that teenagers have with their new ideas popping out of their head, developing social problems and not necessarily doing wiel with them, insistence that we know everything already, problems with personal hygiene, acne, and etc. And like most teenagers we will develop into a responsible adult. Like most teenagers, we will make some mistakes.

World peace is destined, I believe. The route we take and the processes we will follow are not mapped out yet, but they are inevitable. I have been watching this unfold since the early 80's which would have included such historical events as the collapse of Eastern Europe, the Mid-east coalition against Iraq when they invaded Kuwait, the increased public awareness of political corruption in all politics, not just in a foreign country, "peak oil", world awareness and an interest of resolving issues of pollution, slave labor, women rights, child labor, human rights, etc.

Again, I thank you for sharing your thoughts. I hope we can continue to discuss this issue. Sometimes both sides become tempered in their thought or sure influenced in their thought when the "clashes of opinions" happen.

Mick
 
_________________________________________________________________________________

Reply from Gerry:

? Reply #7 on Mar 8, 2006, 12:36am ?   

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, while we're not inherently evil, we are guided, in large part, by the same needs that drive lesser animals. But since we've moved beyond a life style of mere subsistence, we've incorporated some of the more esoteric concepts into our needs hierarchy. It seems we've evolved from warring over turf, food, mating rights, things necessary for survival to warring over principles. Yes, I know this war in Iraq, at least from the American perspective, is really about oil but still, from the Muslim viewpoint, I think it's more of an idealistic war.

So now our reasons for war include not only that which threatens our physical existence but also that which threatens our moral, philosophical or religious values. These abstract principles have now become essential to our existence. As DesCartes said, "I think, therefore I am."
It is this powerful sentience, this awareness of self that allows us to elevate mankind, at least in our minds (and rightfully so, although that is a debate for a different time) above other animals. It's thought many other animals also have sentient natures but I don't think any of them reach our level.

So I think for the most part, we can say that man doesn't kill for pleasure. Yes, there are far too many exceptions but for most of us, even veterans, the killing of another human being is usually 'justified' in, one way or another, within an individuals moral parameters.

Animals also kill, not only other species but they wage war on others of their own kind. The difference is that we are able to moralize it. The male lion that takes over a pride and kills the cubs isn't acting out of evil. He is simply acting according to his nature. We do the same, yet because we're able to moralize, we are able to label it as 'justified' or 'murder' or 'evil'. So we aren't much different or even better than lower animals. We're simply able to reflect on it abstractly, place values on life and assign the lives of others priority.

For instance, no one blames the woman who kills a rapist. It's obvious, within our moral heirarchy, that the life of an innocent woman is more valuable than that of her attacker. Currently, for many Americans, the life of an Iraqi insurgent is less valuable than an American soldier. The life of an unborn child is a lower priority than the life of it's mother, to some people.

So as long as we have 'needs' that we view as essential to our survival, whether physical or otherwise, we'll have reasons to wage war. What I can't comprehend Mick is a time when we no longer have needs.

d**n, what a long winded, boring post! LOL

Gerry 

________________________________________________________________________________
« Last Edit: October 21, 2006, 02:53:06 PM by misfitguy »
Go to www.misfitscentral.net  Why not?

Military justice is to justice what military music is to music.

~Groucho Marx

"The world is one country and mankind is its citizens..."  Baha'u'llah