Tag: Peace

September 8, 2014

Thoughts on Our War World

STARVING COSMOS

How can we listen to sad love songs,
When there are so many starving for love?
Who the hell do we think we are?
What rights for pity do we think we have,
When outside our doorstep,
Is a cosmos of love-starved beings?

COSMIC ANNIHILATION CREATION

We, we are the Higgs boson,
We are elusive,
Impossible to discover,
Yet everywhere.…
September 2, 2014

Reflections, August 2014 vol.2

The stoics, the Epicurians, Taoists, Sufis, the Buddhists, all feel that the real prison is the human mind. I am still thinking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Directive The question now facing #Jews is how many #Palestinian lives should be sacrificed for one #Israeli soldier? 10? 100?

With children of #Syria #crdc and project Amal ou Salam

A budding #Syrian artist, generously giving his paintings away

A message of the children of #Syria

To be with victims in a time of war is to be @loss for words but not to be with them even one victim is to be @loss of your soul

#Syrians and #Turks deep in negotiations

The beginning and end of conflict prevention is gratitude. #peacebuilding

https://marcgopin.com/2014/08/23/urgent-on-syria/ please Share widely. It is essential to both save #Syria from #ISIS and to use all parties for immediate ceasefire.

http://www.haaretz.com/mobile/.premium-1.611395?v=680CA1F8707230AE49358F9E70E58220 Only by facing the death of #democracy in #Israel can you fight for …
September 2, 2014

A Moment

It is a special agony leaving loved ones behind who go back to war. It is a special guilt that tears at the soul.

…
August 28, 2014

Violence: The Turning

It is a law:
Violence begets nonviolence,
Like a tulip in winter,
In all places,
In all cultures.
But only those
With eyes wide open
Can see it,
In the middle of
Winter storms.

The most important turning point
for any civilization passing from darkness into light
is every moment
that a weapon passes
from someone who has no self control
and no compassion
to someone who does.…
August 27, 2014

Reason and Compassion

Reason and compassion are lovers
That give birth to our humanity,
but only when they engage
Daily, with intensity.
The more one’s mind
is drawn daily to compassion
For all sentient life,
the more it is drawn daily to develop
universal principles of behavior
that apply to all beings
Without exception,
Even very imperfect beings.
The more that reason is developed daily
the more it becomes empirically clear
that we are all the same,
in 99% of our being,
the more it becomes empirically self evident
That where we are different
it is an advantage,
Our diversity is our strength.

compassion and reason are lovers,
So that we can be.

(Photo: Cultivating Leadership)…
August 19, 2014

“Sunni and Shiite British Imams Denounce ISIS Together In New Video” -Huffington Post

Very important Muslim statement on IS.

Sunni and Shiite Muslim leaders in the United Kingdom have come together to denounce the Islamic militant group ISIS in a video posted by a group called Imams Online, reports the BBC.

A statement on the Imams Online website says, “Senior British imams have come together to emphasize the importance of unity in the UK and to decree ISIS as an illegitimate, vicious group who do not represent Islam in any way.”

Click here to read the whole article.

…
August 14, 2014

Shades of Heaven / Birth

SHADES OF HEAVEN

When a theologian of another religion says what you were thinking the moment before it comes out of your mouth #syria, with the Bosnian hero Father Ivo.

BIRTH

The warrior is born at 15000 feet,
With the press of a thumb.
The anti-warrior is born underneath cement,
With the press of a shovel,
Eyeing,
The first,
Grey,
Thumb.

(Photo: Now Media)…
August 14, 2014

“Baghdadi Denial Syndrome” -Now Media

Very important essay. The only people hurt by conspiracy theories are those that hide behind them. There is much more to reveal about IS over time, but like Bin Laden and those sad conspiracy theories, the truth will be even harder for the Arab world to bear. Honest self examination is the only path forward. It is amazing to me how many people expect the Jews to self examine about Israel yet when it comes to this horrific stage of the Arab Muslim history these folks need to invent Hitler like insanity to avoid hard realities. But change is coming to this region and it will be horrific until the blaming of others becomes less important than the reconciliation of warring Muslims.

NOW, Baghdadi Denial Syndrome by Hussein Ibish

One of the most alarming features of Arab responses to the rise of the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and
…
August 13, 2014

The Brain War

An international outpouring of grief over unnecessary human losses from depression has led to a startling conclusion: the truth that occurs to the human brain is often absolutely not the truth.
The same can be said of the human brain on war and the human brain on nationalism. The brain on nationalism is a brain on cocaine. is a brain bent on unreality. is a brain that is damaged.
The human brain on nationalism finds it impossible to express anything. to experience any new fact other then in how it affects the balance of power between his nationalism and everyone else’s nationalism.
There could be a statement on a flower and it will be reinterpreted in terms of national defense, national attack, national opportunity.
I am persuaded by extensive evidence that most human brains are capable of being rewired. But it takes hard work and the failure to do so …
August 11, 2014

Bankruptcy / Exercise of Power in a Time of War

BANKRUPTCY

The moment the country says, they made me do it, you know you are in a morally bankrupt situation.
The moment the country says the other side is worse, start sheltering the women and children.

REFLECTIONS ON THE EXERCISE OF POWER IN A TIME OF WAR

Hold on to both justice and love at the same time. Few people can.
Inspired by Cyrus of Persia: Loving your enemy is not necessarily for ethical reasons. It is often the best strategy.

(Photo: Rubicon.dk)…