“Create Peaceful Group Dynamics” replaces “Fighting for Conflict Resolution”
“Rescuing the Persecuted”
never did.
DATE: Wed Oct 1, 2003 10:20
SUBJ: RE Conflict Resolution
in the name of “Rescuing the Persecuted”.
The sector of the North American population that qualifies as “underprivileged,
persecuted, or disenfranchised” would fill a large Third World country, never mind
looking beyond our borders for playing “Saviour”.Then there’s always the insidious
influence Media irresponsibility has on public opinion, or the question of who is
who’s bedfellow among “the Good Ol’ Boys” – politicians, CEOs and editors.
We’ve talked until what we thought was Dooms Day, September 11th, and beyond
about trauma-invoking events and the scoundrels who orchestrate them.
Perhaps more lip service is due to the powerful fence sitters once dubbed the “Silent
Majority” who collude behind-the-scenes but mostly by their active choice to deny or
ignore the existence of violence.
Bottom-line it and ask,
“Has all this analysis and
focus on Evil Deeds by
Evil Men effectively
prevented further Evil?”
consideration and coming up with an approach that addresses as much gray
area from black to white with as little moral compromise as possible so
everybody is satisfied.
I know it’s possible – my Mom did it every day. She used simple mediation
tools that kept our house in a happy, self-perpetuating hum – when my Father
wasn’t home, that is.
My Mom raised her tribe successfully when refugee status, pancakes for
supper, two changes of clothing, and Dr. Spock pocketbook-medicine and fallen
power-lines after snowstorms were Givens.
Surely there are some simple motivators tribes of all race, creed and color can
share to found a dynamic, interactive, self-perpetuating Peace. Question: Do
we humans want peace bad enough, or have we ever really given ourselves the
credit of being able to responsibly exercise our collective Free Will?
I believe no matter what color, race or creed we are born, there are a few
universal needs and desires we all share.
For example, we all want are children to grow and live beyond us, and we want
them to be healthier, brighter, happier than we were and so on with our
grandchildren. We all need satisfactory physical attention – food, shelter and
clothing – as individuals, as families, as communities.
We all need a
dignified place in
society…
levels. We all need to have hope in faith in a benign universe and to call it and
ritualise it in a way that expresses our cultural origin.
Given some beginner-level compromise to agree to focus on some basic
commonalities as these – as challenging as this might be – it could be the most
commonsense approach to motivate each individual, group, nation to go one
step beyond conflict of interest to creating common interest.
If this step were ever taken, on neutral ground, then perhaps we could take it
a step further and exchange ritual gifts honoured by our respective cultures to
visibly prove mutual good will.
Finding a single place of common ground and exchanging a single token of
good will among opposing groups would be steps of monumental proportions. So
it’s been done before with inconsistent results – but in primitive, tribal terms
it’s the way peace is initiated.
As much as we are familiar with this routine, we can use our commonsense to
figure out core tribal practices that are tried, tested and true ways that
initiated peaceful talk and established peaceful relations in the past.
I believe in
The K.I.S.S. Policy:
“Keep It Simple,
Smart-guy”.
assuming the dynamic, ongoing nature of fanning the peace-flame are key
elements to effecting universal peace, in my humble opinion.
Note also, IMHO, that failure, mistakes and trial-runs should be the
expectations rather than first-try perfection; moreover, as urgent as peaceful
resolution is to Survival, the pressure of time and parameter of space can no
longer be factored in. Peace is timeless, hence, so is the process. Human
nature, Nature, Life work in cycles and evolve in process. Healing individuals,
mediating groups and creating peace all happen the same way, as a life-long
process, not an epiphenal Event catalyzed by a single Hero.
Events are doomed to pass as Heroes are doomed to die, usually violently.
Peace, evolution, building a community, raising a child and tending a garden or
crop are processes that are tended to and cultivated until they see harvest in
due time. Expect more than one generation to undo the damage of violations
accumulated since civilization began and generations until peace is considered
no longer a flash-in-the-pan but simple common practice.
Then, we might relax long enough to enjoy a moment of inner peace before we
create the still, peaceful atmosphere needed to initiate dynamic peace.
What if every day were a holiday? 