Gen H. Norman Schwarskopf
In August of that year, the USA dropped two atomic bombs on Japan that killed eighty thousand civilians instantly in Hiroshima alone ending the war and changing the world.
The ugliness of war spurred the establishment of the United Nations Organization in 1945, a world body that commits itself to working for peace among all countries. Yet for all its efforts, today, there are 34 pockets was going on in the world, and the United Nations has its hands full trying to stop them from becoming worldwide conflagrations.
"Why should there be so many wars when we all long for peace? What causes wars and other forms of violence? What is my role in bringing about peace in this war-torn world?" These are questions we often ask ourselves as we ponder on the state of our world today.
There are no easy answers as the United Nations has discovered. But understanding what war or violence is and the horror it inflicts on humans, earth and its resources will encourage us to protect and educate the generations after us from its evil and instead, pursue the path of peace.
Experiencing and Visualizing Peace
Take your most comfortable sitting position and spend ten mi nutes in stillness. Close your eyes, breathe deeply and regularly and realax your body. Enjoy and internalize the lyrics of the following songs.
Let There Be Peace On Earth
Let there be peace on earth,
and let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on Earth,
the peace that was meant to be.
With God as our Father,
brothers all are we,
Let me walk with my brother,
in perfect harmony.
|
Let peace begin with me,
let this be the moment now.
With every step I take,
let this be my solemn vow,
To take each moment and live each moment
in peace, eternally.
Let there be Peace on Earth,
and let it begin with me.
|
Written In The Sand
You hold within your hands
The future of our lives
The light that takes you there beyond the bend
It's written in the sand, where the past had all began
The tomorrow is here within your hand
The love that's in your heart
As child of God and Man
Will burn and light your way until the end
It's written in the sand, where the past had all began
The tomorrow is here within your hand
You must hold on and dream of a place that is safe and peacefull and free
Through a thousand years and more let it be
A bright new world that shine, with love for humanity
A world that's home for you and me
You hold within your hands
The future of our lives
The light that takes you there beyond the bend
It's written in the sand, where the past had all began
The tomorrow is here within your hand
|
You must hold on and dream of a place that is safe and peacefull and free
Through a thousand years and more let it be
A bright new world that shine, with love for humanity
A world that's still for you and me
Nations rise up and cheer
We are bound by what we give to one another
Reaching out too far and near
In a world of love that brings us all together here
This great new year
You hold within your hands
The future of our lives
The light that takes you there beyond the bend
It's written in the sand, where the past had all began
The tomorrow is here within your hand
You must hold on and dream of a place that is safe and peacefull and free
Through a thousand years and more let it be
A bright new world that shine, with love for humanity
A world that's home for you
A world that's home for you
A world that's home for you and me yeah..
and me.....
|
- Sung by Regine Velasquez during the Global Millennium Day Broadcast over GMA 7; lyrics by Agnes Caballa and music by Danny Tan
It is important for us to realize that we are created for peace though at times deep within us is a stirring af restlessness. a quick temper and an impulsive action most often spell trouble. A sharp tongue and a prickly disposition usually part us from friends. Peace as you see, is multi-dimensional. It has personal, family, community, national and international aspects.
Though our main concern is international or world peace, it is important to remember that every individual contributes to the making of peace. There can be no world peace when its regions, communities, clans and families are at odds. And no family will be at peace if hostility resides in the heart of individual members. Why do conflicts arise? A writer of long ago got to the core of why wars flare up:
"Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don't have and are willing to kill to get it. You want isn't yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it." James 4:1-2
Comments from War Survivors
One Japanese woman survivor of World War II said: "Though almost 54 years have passed since the A-bomb was dropped over Hiroshima, I don't feel the war is over yet. The tragedy of Hiroshima hasn't ended. My son and I are living proof".
"At Ground Zero in Hiroshima", Shizuko Yamasaki in Newsweek March 15, 1999.
Henryk Mandelbaum was 21 years old when he was assigned to escort those hapless Jews whom the Germans condemned to the gas chamber in Auschwitz, Poland. He recounts: "I still have this before my eyes; there is no forgetting those things. All these innocent people from all over Europe, from Hunary, France, Belgium, Holland Greece, also Germany - destroyed. I lost my whole family- my parents, a sister and a brother". " Horror at Auschwitz", Henryk Mandelbaum, Newsweek March 15, 1999, p.37
Why People Go To War
Wars among countries and people just do not happen. There are causes that trigger them off.
1. War for land to live in on. Much of the fighting between the early American pioneers and American Indians in the United States is an example of this war. The present conflict between the Muslim Filipinos and the lowland Christianized Filipinos (though it has a long history, can be partly attributed to the time when President Ramon Magsaysay declared Mindanao as the "land of Promise" for lowland Christianized Filipinos to settle in.
Thousands from Luzon and the Visayas sailed to the South and staked their possession of lands claimed by Muslims and other lumads or cultural communities as their ancestral inheritance. For a long time, the conflict was bitter and bloody and today, the stains are still with us.
2. War for Wealth. The Gulf War between the United States and Iraq in 1991 was triggered off by the need to control the free flow of oil. The Middle East is the main source of oil for the world and the USA is one of its top consumers.
3. War for Power. The great European nations fought wars throughout the world to gain their increase in power; but the Vietnam War between the U.S. and Vietnam (1965-1969) nd the U.S.-NATO attack on Kosovo (April-May 1999) are modern examples of this lust for power.
4. War for Security. Most countries fear the possibility of attack and maintain armed forces to defend themselves. Sometimes this fear is directed toward some countries, hence, a nation may decide to make a defensive strike to pre-empt the perceived enemy. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor to cripple the Allied Powers on December 7, 1941 and the war spread out to the Philippines causing untold misery and millions of deaths.
Japan had hoped then to secure its security and power all throughout Asia. In retaliation, USA bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing millions of Japanese civilians. It ended the war and since then the USA has established its military, economic and political power in all parts of the world.
5. War for Religious / Ideological and Ethnic causes. As of the beginning of new millennium, there were at least 34 wars going on, and may still be going on today. In almost every one of these, religion is involved: Protestants vs. Catholics in Ireland, the Sunnis vs. Shi'ites Muslims in Iran, Muslims vs. Hindus in India, Muslims vs. Christian Orthodox in Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Muslims vs. Christians in Indonesia and the Philippines, etc.
Most often, these religious conflicts are also racial and/ or ethnic in nature. The American Civil War (1861-1865) was not only drawn along economic lines, that is, keeping slavery as an institution or aboloshing it, but it was also blatantly racial: the Negroes against the whites. The 1896 Philippine Revolution for independence against Spain was clearly ideological. The Filipinos wanted to chart their own course of freedom from the three centuries of denomination by the Spaniards.
Remember...
War or human violence is a man-made disaster. Earthquakes and floods happen to mankind but man makes war himself. To understand why wars go on when nearly everyone wants peace, we must look into the nature of war.
No nation today would go to war if it could get what it wants peacefully. The fighting starts when a nation wants a thing so badly that it is willing to go to war in order to get it. Sometimes, we can compare wars of nations to a dangerous enlargement of a quarrel between two children. " This is mine! they yell. Then they end up attacking each other. The great difference is, in wars the effects are more devastating and lasting.
Wanting our way without thought and care for others is the root cause of wars, big or small. We need to be saved from our selves. We need to overcome our being war-like, for we all have this tendency within us.
"Better a patient man than a warrior, a who controls his temper than one who takes a city".
Proverbs 16:32
want to lose weight? click here..
Thousands from Luzon and the Visayas sailed to the South and staked their possession of lands claimed by Muslims and other lumads or cultural communities as their ancestral inheritance. For a long time, the conflict was bitter and bloody and today, the stains are still with us.
2. War for Wealth. The Gulf War between the United States and Iraq in 1991 was triggered off by the need to control the free flow of oil. The Middle East is the main source of oil for the world and the USA is one of its top consumers.
3. War for Power. The great European nations fought wars throughout the world to gain their increase in power; but the Vietnam War between the U.S. and Vietnam (1965-1969) nd the U.S.-NATO attack on Kosovo (April-May 1999) are modern examples of this lust for power.
4. War for Security. Most countries fear the possibility of attack and maintain armed forces to defend themselves. Sometimes this fear is directed toward some countries, hence, a nation may decide to make a defensive strike to pre-empt the perceived enemy. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor to cripple the Allied Powers on December 7, 1941 and the war spread out to the Philippines causing untold misery and millions of deaths.
Japan had hoped then to secure its security and power all throughout Asia. In retaliation, USA bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing millions of Japanese civilians. It ended the war and since then the USA has established its military, economic and political power in all parts of the world.
5. War for Religious / Ideological and Ethnic causes. As of the beginning of new millennium, there were at least 34 wars going on, and may still be going on today. In almost every one of these, religion is involved: Protestants vs. Catholics in Ireland, the Sunnis vs. Shi'ites Muslims in Iran, Muslims vs. Hindus in India, Muslims vs. Christian Orthodox in Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Muslims vs. Christians in Indonesia and the Philippines, etc.
Most often, these religious conflicts are also racial and/ or ethnic in nature. The American Civil War (1861-1865) was not only drawn along economic lines, that is, keeping slavery as an institution or aboloshing it, but it was also blatantly racial: the Negroes against the whites. The 1896 Philippine Revolution for independence against Spain was clearly ideological. The Filipinos wanted to chart their own course of freedom from the three centuries of denomination by the Spaniards.
Remember...
War or human violence is a man-made disaster. Earthquakes and floods happen to mankind but man makes war himself. To understand why wars go on when nearly everyone wants peace, we must look into the nature of war.
No nation today would go to war if it could get what it wants peacefully. The fighting starts when a nation wants a thing so badly that it is willing to go to war in order to get it. Sometimes, we can compare wars of nations to a dangerous enlargement of a quarrel between two children. " This is mine! they yell. Then they end up attacking each other. The great difference is, in wars the effects are more devastating and lasting.
Wanting our way without thought and care for others is the root cause of wars, big or small. We need to be saved from our selves. We need to overcome our being war-like, for we all have this tendency within us.
"Better a patient man than a warrior, a who controls his temper than one who takes a city".
Proverbs 16:32
want to lose weight? click here..
No comments:
Post a Comment