Colman McCarthy - Teaching Peace

This is a really inspiring talk by Colman McCarthy about peace and the need for peace education in schools.



He started off righly by saying that all of us got to where we are due to the effort and help given by others. And the best way to repay those debts of gratitude is to become a peacemaker.

He rightly points out that "peace is the result of love, and if love was easy, we'd all be good at it." The great peacemakers that he has interviewed, like Mairead Corrigan,  Desmond Tutu, Muhammad Yunus, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, always told him that in order to decrease violence, you need to go to where people are.

And thus, he started going to local high schools to "teach peace", and to introduce peace studies. He also mentioned that students today graduate from high school peace illiterate, and are therefore vulnerable to cycles of violence. "If we don't teach the children peace, unless we teach them peace, somebody else will teach them violence."

People would ask him. how would "peace" ever work? He cited examples where brutal dictatorships and social systems were brought down by peaceful, non-violent means. He cited Ferdinand Marcos, Augustus Pinochet, and how apartheid was demolished by non-violent means.

This talk, given at the University of California at Santa Barbara,under the auspices of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation headed by David Krieger.

I found it to be a very inspiring talk on how important it is to teach our children peace. The education system is working overtime to teach children "knowledge" and "skills", but not values that enable them to live the right path in life.

Peace studies, dialogue, conflict resolution are among some important studies that ought to be taught to students in the future, and soon.

The Future of Nuclear Weapons

Jayantha Dhanapala is the President of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, and former United Nations Under-Secretary General for Disarmament. In this video, he talks to Steve Paikin of The Agenda on the future of nuclear weapons.

He says that today, "the greatest worries are that we could have a nuclear weapon being used, either by accident, or by design, and by state actors, who have nuclear weapons, or by non-state actors - terrorist groups. It's become much more diversified, much more complex, and much more dangerous than the cold war situation."

He also stressed that dialogue and negotiations are the way towards resolving our nuclear problem, not sanctions and pre-emptive strikes. He also called upon the major nuclear states to show leadership in reducing their nuclear arms. Eventually, nuclear weapons must be outlawed, and a nuclear weapons convention must exist.

He also pointed out the hypocrisy of major powers on allowing the peaceful use of nuclear power, saying that when a regime change occured, their attitudes suddenly changed. He also pointed out that it cannot be proven that nuclear deterrence and the "balance of terror" has helped kept the peace.

The host asked at the end, perhaps with some disbelief, "Is a world without nuclear weapons genuinely achievable? Mr. Dhanapala replied confidently that "It is achievable. We scaled many mountains in international relations. We though that slavery could not ba abolished because it was an institution that fed a lot of economies in the world - but it was abolished.  We thought that women's right to vote would not be achievable, but it was achieved. We thought that apartheid was immutable, but it was destroyed finally. And so, I'm sure that we can, with the right political will and the part of countries, and the leadership of the right people like President Obama, achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons."

Newspaper headlines this weekend (26-27 June 2010)

The newspaper headlines (The Star, especially) over this weekend have not had really good things to talk about. Today, were were greeted with news that foreign workers working on the spanking new Istana Negara had not been paid their wages:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/27/nation/6557795&sec=nation


Yesterday, it was this news about the rise of teenaged mothers in Malaysia:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/26/nation/6549733&sec=nation

It would be a shame indeed if the palace meant for our sovereign is built on what could turn out to be slave labour (how was the White House built originally?). In this country, we love to moralise about all sorts of stuff, but there is this RM 800 million behemoth being built in our capital, on prime land, fuelled by discrimination and suffering. It was particularly disturbing to read that one of the ladies, who lives in the kongsi on the construction site, had to hide in the nearby woods with her baby to avoid the authorities during raids. Sometimes, she had to spend the night there with her baby.

As for the case of teenaged mothers, we still have a long way to go in educating our youth on the consequences of sexual relationships and how to handle them responsibly. Simply demonising and condemning young people and pregnant teens obviously do not work. For those who become pregnant, yes, they may have made a mistake, but the last thing they need is to face humiliation and punishment. They are in enough pain already. What they need is counselling and support from society.

"Life is the most precious of all treasures", a Buddhist sage once wrote. Babies that are born out of wedlock are not guilty of any crime or sin.

Where both news are concerned, we must recognise that they involve human beings just like us. Simply applying labels like "illegal", "imigrants", "slut" and others will not help the situation. We must recognise their humanity too.

What happens to human beings when a nuclear weapon explodes?

This is what happens to human beings and living beings when they get close enough to the epicentre of an atomic bomb blast.



The clip is from the 1983 Japanese anime, Barefoot Gen (Jpn: Hadashi no Gen). This anime is in turn based on a manga series of the same name by Keiji Nakazawa. The comic itself is loosely based on Nakazawa's own experiences as a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing (commonly known as hibakusha in Japan).

The scenes, though just animation, was horrifying and cruel. Therefore, justifying the existence of nuclear weapons as "strategic" is nonsense indeed. The existence of nuclear weapons will always hang like a sword of Damocles over humanity. As it is, we already have enough nuclear weapons to annihilate all of humanity several times over.

Nuclear weapons are the ultimate threat to the dignity of all life. There is no other choice but for us to work towards the abolition of nuclear weapons.

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas (movie)

It's been more than two month since my last post, and I have to admit that I haven't been particularly inspired to blog. However, I think it's time to get back on my feet, and post something here, before it becomes another "forgotten effort", or as it is much better put in Malay, "hangat-hangat tahi ayam" (or staying hot as long as chicken droppings).

This movie, The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas (2008), based on the book of the same title by John Boyne, tells the tale of friendship between two eight-year old boys in Nazi Germany. Bruno (played by Asa Butterfield), the son of a Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) officer was made to leave his life in Berlin behind when his father, Ralf (David Thewlis) receives a promotion and has to transfer to the outskirts of Germany.

Bruno and his family arrives at an area where there are hardly any other people around. One day, by chance, Bruno sees a farm in the distance from a window.  He begins to become curious about what happens on the farm, and sneaks out to the farm.

There, he meets a boy, Shmuel, who is the same age as him. They soon become best friends. In fact, they seem to be the only children their age around that area. But Shmuel cannot come out from the farm. When Bruno asked him why, Shmuel says it is because he is a Jew.

Bruno begins to see Shmuel more frequently, and often brings food to Shmuel, who is always hungry (not to mention always dirty and unkempt as well). The only clothes Shmuel has is the grey-striped pyjamas that all inmates of the farm have to wear.

Bruno manages to keep his friendship from Bruno a secret from his family, until one day. Meanwhile, Bruno's mother, Elsa (Vera Farmiga) begins to discover the horrific truth of the work that her husband is doing.

Bruno and his sister, Gretel a tutored at home by an old man who feeds them biased ideas about who Jews are. Bruno meanwhile is confused as the Jews that he came to know, Shmuel, and a kitchen help named Pavel, are anything but evil.

Soon, the brutality of his father's work begins to permeate their daily life, and leads to a calamitous ending. I'll leave you to read the book and watch the movie to find out those details.

The hubris of war does not spare anyone, not even innocent young children. Children, who are without prejudice and hatred towards others, become living sacrifices to the madness of war. Women and children often becomes the targets of war violence.Innocent children like Bruno and Shmuel, though belonging to opposites, are both mercilessly consumed.

War is cruel, barbaric, inhuman.

Funny Poems by Ogden Nash

Wah, it's been almost two weeks since I posted anything. Amidst all the "tension", I thought I just might post some humourous poetry by Ogden Nash instead. Enjoy!

A Word to Husbands

To keep your marriage brimming
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you’re wrong, admit it;
Whenever you’re right, shut up. 

Reflections on Ice-breaking 

Candy
Is dandy
But liquor
Is quicker  

 To My Valentine

More than a catbird hates a cat,
Or a criminal hates a clue,
Or the Axis hates the United States,
That's how much I love you.

I love you more than a duck can swim,
And more than a grapefruit squirts,
I love you more than a gin rummy is a bore,
And more than a toothache hurts.

As a shipwrecked sailor hates the sea,
Or a juggler hates a shove,
As a hostess detests unexpected guests,
That's how much you I love.

I love you more than a wasp can sting,
And more than the subway jerks,
I love you as much as a beggar needs a crutch,
And more than a hangnail irks.

I swear to you by the stars above,
And below, if such there be,
As the High Court loathes perjurious oathes,
That's how you're loved by me.
 

Dialogue - Our Common Ground of Humanity

Continued here are the selections from Global Civilization: A Buddhist-Islamic Dialogue:

The Common Ground of Humanity

Ikeda: To borrow your metaphor, dialogue is a kind of light to illuminate one’s footsteps. The whole thing begins with one human being talking with another. Inter-civilizational dialogue is currently the focus of attention, but the point of departure or the prototype is human-to-human rapport.

Whenever I visited socialist or communist countries during the Cold War years, I was always guided by the conviction that “because there are people to talk with” it must be possible to build a bridge of friendship.

We must somehow break through the “friend vs. foe” pattern of relationship and talk with each other honestly and openly on the common ground of humanity. That, I was firmly convinced, would break the ice and lead to problem solving in the end.

...Just as once there were strong prejudices against the socialist countries, today many people, especially those in Europe and North America, hold on to stereotypical images and biased preconceptions about the Islamic world. This is very dangerous.

Tehranian: I, too, am deeply concerned about the current situation. But you have taken the initiative in pursuing activities to prevent specific countries from being isolated in the international community.

Ikeda: To know each other well is the first step toward intimate friendship. To appreciate one’s partner’s strong points and to be ready to learn from him or her—this is required of all of us who live in the world today. I hope this series of dialogues between the two of us, one with a Buddhist background and the other from the Islamic tradition, will help encourage people to follow our example.

Rules for Dialogue

Tehranian: As I said earlier, the Toda Institute has chosen “Dialogue of Civilizations for World Citizenship” for its motto. As we groped for the most effective way to conduct dialogue, we have developed a set of rules. They are suggestive more than exhaustive, but I would like to introduce them here.

There are ten points:

• Honor others and listen to them deeply with your heart and mind.
• Seek common ground for consensus, but avoid “group-think” by acknowledging and honoring the diversity
of views.
• Refrain from irrelevant or intemperate intervention.
• Acknowledge others’ contributions to the discussion before making your own.
• Remember that silence also speaks; speak only when you have a contribution to make by posing
   a relevant question, presenting a fact, making or clarifying a point, or advancing the discussion
   to more specificity or greater consensus.
• Identify the critical points of difference for further discussion.
• Never distort other views in order to advance your own; try to restate the others’ positions to their
  satisfaction before presenting your own differing views.
• Formulate agreements on each agenda item before moving on to the next.
• Draw out the implications of an agreement for group policy and action.
• Thank your colleagues for their contributions.

Ikeda: They are all important points. The common thread seems to be open dialogue based on respect for others. I think you have presented a highly valuable list of rules that will serve as a model for the kind of dialogue humankind should pursue from now on.

We Can't Give Up on Dialogue - part 2

Here are more selected passages from Global Civilization: A Buddhist-Islamic Dialogue, continuing from my previous post. Interestingly, this is from the first chapter titled "Why Dialogue?" Emphasis are all mine.

The Human Revolution: Source of Value Creation

Ikeda: “Transcend your personal worries and sufferings and transform yourself in such a way as to contribute your due share to society and humanity”—this is the motto of the SGI movement aimed at human revolution.

Tehranian: That’s where I find the name Soka, or “value creation”, particularly significant. Take Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King—people who opened a new path for creation in history. They were invariably born and lived in an era when established values were in crisis. In order to live fully in an age of crisis and make “wisdom for creation” of new values shine forth, one must cultivate strong willpower and self-discipline so as to be able to cope with all adversity.

Generally, the better disciplined a person is, the more likely he/she will challenge the established authority and open up a new path of creation in the course of struggle against the old.

Ikeda: A path of value creation in an age of crisis requires well-tempered self-discipline— I could not agree more with the point you have just made.

Professor Nur Yalman of Harvard told me that he believes “sustained challenge is the fountain of great value creation”. As I interpret it, “sustained challenge” means that each man and woman must hone his or her wisdom to build up a network of solidarity among awakened people. Peace, for example, will remain an empty dream unless people have an ability to check any reckless moves of the power elite; the tragedy of war will never cease unless people unite to prevent it.

About the Title

Ikeda: As I recall it, you wanted to entitle this volume “Choose Dialogue” when we first talked about it.

Tehranian: Your two previous dialogues with two distinguished scholars, Arnold Toynbee and Johan Galtung, are titled “Choose Life” and “Choose Peace”, respectively. They both focused on how to preserve the sanctity of life through the pursuit of peace by peaceful means.

Those topics are problems as old as humanity itself, yet they remain of primary importance today. But we have now entered a stage of history during which “dialogue” is becoming as necessary as “life” and “peace”. In fact, dialogue may be the only means by which we can guarantee life and peace.

Ikeda: After all, the proof that human beings are human lies in the spirit of dialogue. The great Persian poet Sa'adi wrote in the 13th century, “Man is superior to the beast by being able to talk, but if you do not talk about good things, the beast will be superior.”

Tehranian: Globalization of markets and societies has brought different nations, cultures, and civilizations into intimate contact with each other on a massive scale. These contacts, on the other hand, have led to both competitive and cooperative economic and political formations, clashes in perceptions and interests, as well as
conversations and negotiations. To the extent that dialogue is absent in such contacts, as under conditions of violence and domination, the seeds of animosity will be sown for years, even decades, to come.

Ikeda: I suppose it is against the backdrop of such a situation that some scholars like Professor Samuel Huntington of Harvard have presented the “clash of civilizations” and other similar theses.

In my view, it is not only incorrect to assume a clash is inevitable but even dangerous because such a thesis might encourage fixation on the confrontational picture of the world. Even if a clash should occur, civilizations themselves are not to blame, for the true cause lies in the kind of barbarism that does not accept groups of people that are different from one’s own.

In order to prevent such a clash from taking place, we cannot emphasize too much the importance of the spirit of dialogue. For genuine dialogue requires an ultimate trust in the goodness people are endowed with and an effort to strike the right chord in their minds.

Tehranian: If dialogue is chosen as a method of dealing with our friends and foes, there is hope that we can better understand them and thereby the possibility of mutual accommodation of perceptions and interests.

Ikeda: Dialogue is the weapon of peace, and that is the fundamental spirit of Buddhism.

The Indian society of Shakyamuni’s time was, in a way, similar to the present-day world as it was in the period of transition and change. Values were in utter confusion, and various contending forces were engaged in violent struggles for power and influence.

Even at home, it is said, people had to have their weapons close at hand. Such social unrest notwithstanding, Shakyamuni literally traversed the country, preaching peace and demonstrating his teaching by action.

The weapon Shakyamuni used was none other than “nonviolent dialogue”. Through dialogue he taught the sanctity of life and tried to eliminate violence from society.

Tehranian: Without dialogue, we will have to walk in the darkness of self-righteousness.

More selections will follow.

We Can't Give Up on Dialogue

Here are some excerpts from the book Global Civilization: A Buddhist-Islamic Dialogue, which records the dialogue between Soka Gakkai International (SGI) President Daisaku Ikeda and Prof. Majid Tehranian, the former director of the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research. In the fallout over recent events in Malaysia, dialogue is more sorely needed than ever to heal the wounds and to reinforce our common ground.

From the foreword by David Chappell:

"Islam and Buddhism in dialogue? Of all the religions, these two seem the farthest apart despite over a thousand years of shared history. In recent years, some collaboration has emerged in Southeast Asia, but Muslim-Buddhist dialogue has still remained the last frontier, the least likely arena, for fruitful interfaith dialogue. But this apparent gulf is now bridged...what Buddhists and Muslims share in common is much more powerful than what divides them, and that people of good will must work together and be enriched by their diversity, not fearful of it, if we are to build landscapes of peace.

...Beyond the rich tapestry that they weave from the threads of Buddhism and Islam, their dialogue expresses the inspiration and exhilaration of crossing boundaries, of discovering kindred spirits across history, and of crafting new frameworks for building cultures of peace. After testing many paths in their own journeys, their inquiring minds offer dialogue as the best sure hope for the survival and flourishing of civilization. More personally, they inspire each of us to choose dialogue within our families and neighborhoods, within our workplace and our world, as the strongest and safest road for human cooperation and peace.

Islam and Buddhism may be worlds apart doctrinally and institutionally, but in their common work of liberation, justice, and wholeness, they are two wheels for the progress of civilization. But it is the warm friendship of Majid Tehranian and Daisaku Ikeda that ignites sparks of mutual recognition across these traditions, and the pain and poetry of their lives that transforms them into two wings for the bird of peace."

From Daisaku Ikeda's preface:

"Differences of race, nationality, or culture do not of themselves create division or confrontation. It is people’s hearts and minds that supply the energy that tears people apart. It is the task of religion to control the heart and mind and, while glorying in these mutual differences, to direct them towards the source from which all values are born. To fix one’s eyes on the eternal, the universally valid, and in this way to bring about a revival in human values—this, it seems to me, is the prime requirement of the kind of world religion demanded by our present age.

In a religion that recognizes variety as a natural manifestation of vitality, difference will be hailed as a welcome enrichment to human society, as wisdom in its most creative and worthwhile form.In these dialogues conducted by Dr. Tehranian and myself, we have traced the spiritual sources from which flow the traditions of Shakyamuni and Muhammad, the Buddhist and Islamic traditions, and to discover how the spirit underlying them can be revived in the present. In doing so, we noted not only their points of similarity, but their differences as well, believing that in an approach that transcends both of these lies the basis for the wisdom of humanity in the time to come."

"If one drop of the water of dialogue is allowed to fall upon the wasteland of intolerance, where attitudes of hatred and exclusionism have so long prevailed, there will be a possibility for trust and friendship to spring up. This, I believe, is the most trustworthy and lasting road to that goal. Therefore, I encourage the flow of dialogue not only on the political plane but also on the broader level of the populace as a whole.

In my small way, I have tried to do what I could by engaging in dialogue with intellectual leaders of the Christian, Hindu, and other religious traditions and of various cultural backgrounds, as well as with persons from countries that deny religion. My aim was to discover a road to peace through the common dimension of humanity that we all share."

More to come...

Your Religion, My Religion

The recent storm over the usage of "Allah" in The Herald has caused quite a storm in Malaysia. While on the surface it seems to be an issue between Muslims and Christians, I believe that practicioners of other faiths, or those who don't profess any religion, should think long and hard on how they can contribute to promoting dialogue and understanding among people of different beliefs.

It's good to hear that there are many parties, Muslims and Christians alike coming together to call for consultations and dialogue, like in this Malaysiakini report. The leaders of Persatuan Mahasiswa Islam University Malaya (PMIUM) and Persaudaraan Kristian Varsiti UM (PKVUM) have come together to sign a statement, stressing among other things that dialogue and discourse is the best respectable way of handling the issue.

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Tan Sri Musa Hassan has come out to warn against any 'Allah' protest. Hot-headed action will only aggravate the situation. The Malaysian Bar Council has also expressed confidence that this issue can be resolved amicably.

Religious harmony cannot be taken for granted in a country like ours which is made up of a fabric of rich faiths. Dialogue is the surest way to resolve any differences among us. Soka Gakkai International President Daisaku Ikeda wrote, "Dialogue starts from the courageous willingness to know and be known by others. It is the painstaking and persistent effort to remove all obstacles that obscure our common humanity."

Interfaith pioneer Hans Kung also stressed, among other things, the importance of dialogue:



Dialogue is the air that humanity breathes in. If we refuse to commit ourselves to dialogue, the we will certainly drown in the stormy waters of hatred and bigotry.

Goals for the New Year

1.)   Pursue my Masters' degree.

2.)  Be a better son, brother, uncle, friend, employee, writer, leader, disciple and human being.

3.)  Read more classics, poetry and philosophical works.

4.)  Write more poetry and short stories.

5.)  Participate in more activities involving environmentalism, inter-faith/inter-belief, upholding human rights and abolition of war/nuclear weapons.

6.)  Live a healthier, more fulfilling life involving lower carbon emission and losing weight.

7.)  Be strong enough to face greater hardships and overcome all challenges through strengthening my Buddhist faith, practice and study.

All are important to me; they are not arranged in any particular order. Now that I've made it public, I guess I have no choice but to see it through :)) Hope I can count on your support! Do remind me if I have strayed from my goals.

Happy New Year once again!