Let there be Peace in Our Time
John L. Waters
October 12, 2006
For a year or two a certain university professor has kept a notice tacked up on a small bulletin board just outside her office door. On an 8 1/2 piece of white paper these words are boldly printed in about size 48 font:
"LET THERE BE PEACE IN OUR TIME"
On this sheet a number of students have boldly penned the following personal responses. My comments are in double brackets, [[like this.]]:
1. "Ya know, it's hard to walk in the footsteps of something you don't beleive in. Beleive in peace, pursue it. And it might become your reality. That's where peace starts."
Note in good humor that being a student in a university doesn't guarantee that you can spell.]]
2. "Wake up! Has there ever been "peace"-- no! Will there ever be peace--No (last no scratched out and someone has written YES!) Only if we throw away all of our assets as well as our personal vanity."
Throw away all our assets? Jesus advised a rich person to give his assets to the poor.]]
3. "Remember Chamberlain and Hitler WW II" [[But most young people don't.]]
4. "Peace begins with you- your relationships with your girl friend, spouse. Children are crucial, and neglect here will lead to catastrophe in your own personal little world. Clean up your own space and like the sign says "Walk in Beauty" and peace will happen. Be a love lite! Hate will kill you just like cigarettes or alcohol. It raises your blood pressure and makes you ugly."
5. "There was no love 'til two people met, nor was there hate. We invented these things. Why can't we invent peace?"
Well, there's love that doesn't depend on meeting another person, such as the kind of Love that Christ meant when He said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Self-love doesn't depend on some other person being present.]]
6. "Where "God" goes there is love and light. We are all part of His creation. You are unique. Be special."
Appealing to God is weak. These days a great many students and their mentors argue that there is no God.]]
7. "Jehovah, if you will. Someday you'll bow whether you like it or not."
Again, a weak argument. Who can demonstrate that Jehovah really exists?]]
8. "You guys are all dumb. "Let's debate on a piece of paper" Don't you all feel important?"
9. "If you wish for peace, you must prepare for war."
10. "Not Gonna happen."
11. "On your watch, maybe not. But on mine, yes!!"
12. "Lasting peace is alien to human existence. We must learn to once more embrace our essential animal and spirit nature."
13. "words= (an undecipherable scribble which might be intended to suggest stinking excrement) / more shit "
14. "stop breathing please"
15. "brave bad robots."
16. "it starts inside."
17. "As of December 21, 2012 The end of the Mayan Calendar?"
18. "Not only is freedom not free, the price is too high to pay."
That's the sum total of the remarks. And just think. These comments are from the future leaders of tomorrow's world, the university educated elite!]]
So what's up with kids today, anyway? Well, maybe a walk-by poster pinned on a wall isn't the place for young people to express themselves in depth. But what can a person say in just a few lines about peace?
Mohandas Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
Confucius said,
"Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves."
If you look into it more, you will find that wise people tend to agree. But how many people are wise?
Come to think of it, how will people ever live up to their species name Homo sapiens? Note that the word "sapiens," in Latin, means "wise." Judging from the social prominence of militaristic leaders, right now there aren't a lot of wise people. Many people still support a policy of retaliation, and they label themselves "realistic."
Of course, under ordinary circumstances when someone or some group is planning to bomb your city or your nation, they will carry out their plan unless something stops them. The chances are they won't be stopped by falling meteorites, or by disease germs, or by a strong earthquake or a strong cyclone. The chances are, to stop them some strong humans will have to kill them. So usually once a war starts, it's not going to stop until one side is totally devastated. So we need to inquire into what started the war in the first place.
For example, what caused the killing of the Archduke Ferdinand to escalate into the First World War? And why didn't the assassination of John F. Kennedy start a war? Well, in 1917 the political climate in Europe was ready to blow. In 1963 the political climate in the USA wasn't that volcanic. But both of those shooters were fanatics. So we need to inquire into what makes a fanatic.
So perhaps, if you want to be a messiah and teach peace to the world, you need to help create and be part of a society in which bright children are taught to respect anti-fanatics and grow up to be messianic characters themselves.
After all, an anti-fanatic sees from different points of view and doesn't always support any single point of view. The anti-fanatic is reserved rather than aggressive. There are hot button issues today, and the anti-fanatic isn't terribly upset by these issues. The anti-fanatic will present different points of view on whatever issue has you upset. This may make the messianic character seem non-committal or even aloof.
To become an anti-fanatic you step out of your own shoes and walk awhile in some other person's moccasins. You get out of your narrow interest and move around. Pretty soon you sense how fixated and rigid many people are, because they have invested so much time, energy, and other resources in some plan or project. Consequently if something or someone blocks them so they can't advance in that one direction, they don't know how to turn away from it and they get really upset about their blockage.
So here's an idea. People who want peace need to become messianic. They need to help create a new society in which people enjoy being together and working together on projects that involve everyone and help each other thrive. When people do this, then everyone has steady employment and no one has to do the more difficult and dangerous work while others get paid more for doing easier and safer work. But there will need to be regular activities that children and adults enjoy doing together that bind the society together as a whole. These activities will enable children and adults to enjoy low social pressure and low blood pressure and other daily health benefits as well. Indeed this is a revolutionary educational and socio-cultural plan: societies based on inclusiveness, cooperation, and sharing wealth and friendship, rather than on exclusiveness, competition, and hoarding friendship and wealth for private personal security.
Copyright 2006 by John L. Waters. All Rights Reserved.
LINKS
My website at Humboldt State University
My search for a publisher
My letters of recommendation
"LET THERE BE PEACE IN OUR TIME"
On this sheet a number of students have boldly penned the following personal responses. My comments are in double brackets, [[like this.]]:
1. "Ya know, it's hard to walk in the footsteps of something you don't beleive in. Beleive in peace, pursue it. And it might become your reality. That's where peace starts."
Note in good humor that being a student in a university doesn't guarantee that you can spell.]]
2. "Wake up! Has there ever been "peace"-- no! Will there ever be peace--No (last no scratched out and someone has written YES!) Only if we throw away all of our assets as well as our personal vanity."
Throw away all our assets? Jesus advised a rich person to give his assets to the poor.]]
3. "Remember Chamberlain and Hitler WW II" [[But most young people don't.]]
4. "Peace begins with you- your relationships with your girl friend, spouse. Children are crucial, and neglect here will lead to catastrophe in your own personal little world. Clean up your own space and like the sign says "Walk in Beauty" and peace will happen. Be a love lite! Hate will kill you just like cigarettes or alcohol. It raises your blood pressure and makes you ugly."
5. "There was no love 'til two people met, nor was there hate. We invented these things. Why can't we invent peace?"
Well, there's love that doesn't depend on meeting another person, such as the kind of Love that Christ meant when He said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Self-love doesn't depend on some other person being present.]]
6. "Where "God" goes there is love and light. We are all part of His creation. You are unique. Be special."
Appealing to God is weak. These days a great many students and their mentors argue that there is no God.]]
7. "Jehovah, if you will. Someday you'll bow whether you like it or not."
Again, a weak argument. Who can demonstrate that Jehovah really exists?]]
8. "You guys are all dumb. "Let's debate on a piece of paper" Don't you all feel important?"
9. "If you wish for peace, you must prepare for war."
10. "Not Gonna happen."
11. "On your watch, maybe not. But on mine, yes!!"
12. "Lasting peace is alien to human existence. We must learn to once more embrace our essential animal and spirit nature."
13. "words= (an undecipherable scribble which might be intended to suggest stinking excrement) / more shit "
14. "stop breathing please"
15. "brave bad robots."
16. "it starts inside."
17. "As of December 21, 2012 The end of the Mayan Calendar?"
18. "Not only is freedom not free, the price is too high to pay."
That's the sum total of the remarks. And just think. These comments are from the future leaders of tomorrow's world, the university educated elite!]]
So what's up with kids today, anyway? Well, maybe a walk-by poster pinned on a wall isn't the place for young people to express themselves in depth. But what can a person say in just a few lines about peace?
Mohandas Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
Confucius said,
"Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves."
If you look into it more, you will find that wise people tend to agree. But how many people are wise?
Come to think of it, how will people ever live up to their species name Homo sapiens? Note that the word "sapiens," in Latin, means "wise." Judging from the social prominence of militaristic leaders, right now there aren't a lot of wise people. Many people still support a policy of retaliation, and they label themselves "realistic."
Of course, under ordinary circumstances when someone or some group is planning to bomb your city or your nation, they will carry out their plan unless something stops them. The chances are they won't be stopped by falling meteorites, or by disease germs, or by a strong earthquake or a strong cyclone. The chances are, to stop them some strong humans will have to kill them. So usually once a war starts, it's not going to stop until one side is totally devastated. So we need to inquire into what started the war in the first place.
For example, what caused the killing of the Archduke Ferdinand to escalate into the First World War? And why didn't the assassination of John F. Kennedy start a war? Well, in 1917 the political climate in Europe was ready to blow. In 1963 the political climate in the USA wasn't that volcanic. But both of those shooters were fanatics. So we need to inquire into what makes a fanatic.
So perhaps, if you want to be a messiah and teach peace to the world, you need to help create and be part of a society in which bright children are taught to respect anti-fanatics and grow up to be messianic characters themselves.
After all, an anti-fanatic sees from different points of view and doesn't always support any single point of view. The anti-fanatic is reserved rather than aggressive. There are hot button issues today, and the anti-fanatic isn't terribly upset by these issues. The anti-fanatic will present different points of view on whatever issue has you upset. This may make the messianic character seem non-committal or even aloof.
To become an anti-fanatic you step out of your own shoes and walk awhile in some other person's moccasins. You get out of your narrow interest and move around. Pretty soon you sense how fixated and rigid many people are, because they have invested so much time, energy, and other resources in some plan or project. Consequently if something or someone blocks them so they can't advance in that one direction, they don't know how to turn away from it and they get really upset about their blockage.
So here's an idea. People who want peace need to become messianic. They need to help create a new society in which people enjoy being together and working together on projects that involve everyone and help each other thrive. When people do this, then everyone has steady employment and no one has to do the more difficult and dangerous work while others get paid more for doing easier and safer work. But there will need to be regular activities that children and adults enjoy doing together that bind the society together as a whole. These activities will enable children and adults to enjoy low social pressure and low blood pressure and other daily health benefits as well. Indeed this is a revolutionary educational and socio-cultural plan: societies based on inclusiveness, cooperation, and sharing wealth and friendship, rather than on exclusiveness, competition, and hoarding friendship and wealth for private personal security.
Copyright 2006 by John L. Waters. All Rights Reserved.
LINKS
My website at Humboldt State University
My search for a publisher
My letters of recommendation
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