Remember this slogan: What if they had a war and nobody showed up?

Well, what would happen if everyone – or near everyone who believed in God – showed up for peace?

What would happen if a majority of religious leaders stepped outside their differences with other religions in terms of dogma or doctrine, and united as one force to inspire their adherents to help achieve peace?

Religions for Peace, an umbrella organization has just such a vision and is based upon these tenets:

• That issues of poverty, war and injustice go beyond religious boundaries and threaten all people regardless of religious affiliation.
• That, by uniting religious adherents of all stripes together in this common purpose, Religions for Peace can be far more effective in promoting peace than any single religion could ever be.

From the Religions For Peace Tool Kit PDF:

“Religions for Peace—the world’s largest and most representative multi-religious coalition—advances common action among the world’s religious communities for peace. Religions for Peace works to transform violent conflict, eliminate poverty, promote just and harmonious societies, and protect the earth.”

FOCUS ON EDUCATION AND GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY ACTION

Religions for Peace focuses on providing education and igniting action in communities worldwide in order to help accomplish the UN’s Millennium Development Goals:

• eradicating extreme poverty
• achieving universal primary education
• promoting gender equality
• reducing child mortality and hunger
• combating HIV/AIDS and other diseases

RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLES

It’s important to note that this coming together has nothing to do with converting people from one religion to another as evidenced by the organization’s guiding principles:

• Respect religious differences.
• Act on deeply held and widely shared values.
• Preserve the identity of each religious community.
• Honor the different ways religious communities are organized.
• Support locally-led multi-religious structures.

RELIGIONS FOR PEACE VIDEO

Here’s a moving eleven-minute video that explains more about their mission. (It will open in a new window.)

COMMENTARY ON MAIN OBSTACLE TO PEACE

The way I see it, on top of the biological predispositions humans have toward feeling fear and anger and then acting on these emotions, a huge obstacle to the achievement of world peace is based in pure economics. The manufacture and sale of weapons is very profitable.

Weapons corporations sell to all sides in a war. If you saw the film Hotel Rwanda you probably remember the conversation about how the French were still selling weapons to those perpetrating the massacre even after they realized what was happening. And I’ve listened to investment advisors who glibly recommend weapons stocks without conscience in regard to how the buying of those stocks translates into misery and death for others.

As in most things, you can have two billion people without influence or money who are opposed to a war yet that will make no difference UNLESS they are united, organized and ready to write, phone and march for peace.

Since the faithful are already united and organized through churches, they are a force just waiting to be inspired to action for a higher cause. Most will follow the guidance of their leaders. Catholics, for the most part, pay attention to what the Pope says.

Hundreds of millions follow other religious leaders. Were all religious leaders – including the Jerry Falwells of this world – willing to say: “peace is everyone’s responsibility,”  “make peace with your neighbor,” and ”participate in our peace march” then our world might be transformed overnight.

I think a few tried that and the Bush administration threatened to take away their tax exempt status for getting “politically involved.”

Yet if a church or church leader will not stand up for peace, but merely gives lip service to it, then what moral authority does that church have?

IMPLICATIONS FOR GETTING INVOLVED IN IRAQ

And, yet, had they all been willing to stand up for God by standing up for peace in 2003, we might have been able to resist getting   mired in Iraq.

Admittedly, the deck was stacked against the ordinary citizen. Everyone was stunned and that was used against us. We were invited to see the Twin Towers fall a thousand times over so that we were emotional wrecks.

We were deliberately worked up for war and lied to. Still, we might have heard our “better angels” tell us that a different, higher response was being called for, had all religious leaders courageously stood up and, as one voice, said “No!” and called upon each one of us to say, “No!”

Still, each one of us must look in his or her own heart and make a commitment to being an agent of peace regardless of what anyone else does or says. As Mother Teresa said, “Nothing is between you and them. Everything is between you and God.”

Just do the best you can. God expects no more – but no less either.

www.prayerforce.org

Lifting personal and world energies since 2003.

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