Sarhad, a registered trust, plans to institute a university of music that can ease tensions globally through its unified diversities and dispersal of universal knowledge on music
Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will be as one- was the anthem Lennon sang to galvanise the counter culture movement. He believed that music could raze boundaries and lived and died for the belief. That belief now has found wings and a prayer again half a world away. Sarhad, an organisation working for peace in militancy-hit regions, wants to concretize this healing power of music, embody it in buildings, house it in a campus and nurture it with citizens all across the globe.
Working since 1997 for promoting peace, rehabilitation of victims of violence (specially in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir) and reconstructing ruptured spirits, Sarhad, now wants to create a university of music where universal knowledge of music could pass freely inside and outside the country. Sanjay Nahar, president of Sarhad, is ready to invest his energies, resources and soul to see his dream transmogrify to reality.
"...I got together with other members of Sarhad on an enterprise of working towards an institute which would be devoted solely to the study of music in all its forms, subjects, genres – folk , western, pop, rap, rock and what have you, from all across the world. Music has played a great role in our tradition, culture, history and spirituality, for whatever reasons, say prayer, leisure, offering, poetry and of course pacification. It is the one divinity that transcends regional contours to assume celestial dimensions. It touches the soul. And there is no institute that studies music and only music irrespective of its origin and nationality. The truth is, music has no nationality. It belongs to the world and is one despite all its variances,” he says, “and we do not have any place where all its aspects can be united for research, study, promotion and dissemination globally, without any discrimination.”
For the same, Nahar got together with eminent personalities like Dr Mahmood Rahmaan who has been the vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University and also the chairman of the Finance Commission in Kashmir which deals with betterment of Kashmir as a people's state and mapping the backward areas. “India has been a virtual storehouse of knowledge and music and we will build on this idea. The project of a university is in its conceptual stage. There are so many universities in the country. We do not want to add just another. We hope to create a place thriving with a cosmopolitan outlook and the multi-lingual characteristic of music. It will not belong to a country but the world, secular, global and moral,” says Rahman, Sarhad’s mentor.
Getting specific, Nahar adumbrates a skeleton plan. “We are seeking help from a lot of people with reference to this. We already have land near Wagholi in mind. The ideation has been completed. The legal work and architectural processes will begin by the end of June. We hope to have laid the foundation of the university in about a year,” says a hopeful Nahar.
There is no doubt that the state of Israel with its over 7.2 million citizens has great achievements. First of all, it is rare to find a state that has succeeded to make out of people, who were dispersed through centuries in different parts of the world, a renewed nation. In this process, it successfully absorbed through the years waves of immigrants (close to three million) who came to build a new life—and many arrived after experiencing trauma.
From the beginning the emerging society succeeded in developing a democratic structural system in a region where authoritarian regimes are the rule rather than exception. With the years, this society developed a tradition of freedom of information and media openness, with daily newspapers, many other types of publications, a few TV channels and many radio stations, all carrying vivid debates about Israel and the world. In addition, the Israeli public has openings to various world channels of commutation, including Arab ones, to absorb information and knowledge. During the last decades the society also witnessed the accelerated development of civil society that consists of hundreds of NGOs which raise many different issues and serve as a place for involvement and participation. These trends also indicate a positive ongoing process whereby different excluded societal sectors enter political and social arenas and expand the scope of issues that the society debates.
Also many of the founding fathers, being influenced by socialistic ideas, established a state that took the responsibility for the weak, sick, elderly and needy. Thus Israel enacted already from the beginning a wide range of social legislation and set up extensive social programs for all Israeli citizens and especially for the needy to provide them with a broad range of benefits and assistance. In 1995 The National Health Insurance Law came into effect. This law assures provision of a standardized basket of medical services, including hospitalization, for all residents of Israel. Israel's extensive medical network and high doctor-patient ratio are reflected in the low infant mortality rate (4 per 1,000live births) and high life expectancy (82.2 years for women, 78.5 for men). This reflects a high standard of medicine in Israel and high-level training for medical professions, including a very advanced research level.
Similar achievements should be noted in education, in spite of the recent setbacks. School attendance is mandatory from age 5 to 16 and free through age 18, though less than half obtain matriculation which serves as a passport for higher education. Higher education with over 270,000 students is well regarded and plays a pivotal role in the development of the country. The universities are well known and developed and serve together with other R&D (research and development) institutions as vehicles for scientific achievements and technological development. Today, the percentage of Israelis engaged in scientific and technological inquiry and the amount spent on R&D in relation to its GDP are among the highest in the world.
The described achievements are related to economic success. After having enjoyed for many years one of the fastest GDP growth rates of all world economies, Israel is now continuing the economic recovery that began in 2003. Israel’s GDP has been rising at about 5 percent a year, per capita income reached about $21,000 (in 1980 it was about $5,500), unemployment has steadily decreased to 6.6. percent in 2007, inflation is under control, and foreign debt has been eliminated, with Israel becoming a creditor in recent years and very attractive to international investors. This was achieved with very tight budget control and cuts in public expenditures.
International level strides have been made in the fields of medical electronics, agro-technology, telecommunications, fine chemicals, computer hardware and software, food processing and solar energy. Hi-tech industries, which accounted for only 37 percent of industrial product in 1965, grew to 70 percent in 2006 ($29 billion plus another $5.9 billion of hi-tech services) and almost 80 percent of hi-tech products are exported.
In noting the half full glass it is necessary also to look at cultural achievements. The society succeeded in developing out of a dying language a culture that can pride itself on many positive indicators: writers whose works are translated into many languages, films getting awards in major festivals, plays that are performed on prestigious stages of the world. Some 2,500 titles are published annually and may be found, alongside republications of classics and imported books, in many bookshops in every town and city.
All these achievements are taking place under conditions of continuous threats and dangers. Israel is coping with a conflict that broke out prior to its birth. Through the years of its existence Israel has fought at least six major wars and suffered from ongoing hostile violent activities and terror. To be successful in withstanding its enemies, Israel invested enormous efforts in satisfying its security needs, and at present it has the strongest and best equipped army along with becoming a regional power which has great influence over the events in the region.
The Empty Half of the Glass
In discussion about the half empty glass I would like first to highlight two colossal failures of Israeli society and then to elaborate on more specific major defaults.
The first failure consists of the fact that since the establishment of the state many hundred thousands of its citizens (it is estimated about 800,000, but no one can provide a validated figure) emigrated to various countries in the world, mainly to United States, Canada, Germany, Australia and even to Russia. Although the emigration was done in different periods and because of different reasons, this number is staggering and indicates that the state did not succeed in creating satisfactory conditions for its citizens.
The second colossal failure relates to the continuation of the occupation of the territories conquered in the Six Day War in 1967. This occupation underlies many of the problems that Israel is facing and has many negative implications on life in Israel. The continuation of the occupation of the territories touches first of all on the security problems and on the moral soul of the state. The fact that the occupied territories were settled by Jews adds special folly. This act not only negates international law but also constitutes one of the biggest barriers to solve the Israeli-Arab conflict peacefully. In addition, it is estimated that directly and indirectly Israel spent through the years at least 100 billion shekel to build the infrastructure, settlements, and roads and maintain their security, which violate both the Fourth Geneva Convention and Israeli laws. This act will either bring an end to the nature of the state the founding fathers dreamed about, or Israel will have to spend almost a similar amount of money to pay compensation to those who will have to leave their homes, feeling alienation, frustration and anger.
Looking deeper into the crises that the society is going through, I will identify the most serious problems that in my view and in light of my values pose a challenge to the state of Israel today.
The Dominance of Neo-Liberal Policies
When neo-liberalism was questioned for its severe consequences in various parts of the world, Israeli society accelerated its attempt to institute this economic-social policy—a move that began already in the 1980s. With the celebration of the sixtieth birthday the outcomes of this policy are well known. The state is diminishing its role in the life of the citizens, abandoning social responsibility towards them but favoring the business sector. Through the years the government has been decreasing its expenditure on education, health and welfare and as a result these systems are constantly deteriorating and require increased personal spending, which still does not provide the solution to the destructive policies. Also, the economic growth is not equally beneficial to all classes. Over the past twenty years, income inequality has been rising and social disparities have grown to the extent that Israel is now ranked second in the Western world (after the U.S.) in terms of growing gaps between rich and poor (at present one percent of the citizens account for 60 percent of the wealth in Israel). This widening gap between rich and poor coincided with a significant narrowing of the middle class in Israel and a dramatic increase in poverty, even among the working families. In 2007 24.7 percent of Israelis in general and 35.8 percent of the children were found to live below the poverty line (in 1998 only 22.8 percent of the children lived below this line).
Dysfunction of Liberal Democracy
Although the state of Israel succeeded in establishing a well-functioning structural democracy it still suffers from many deficiencies, especially with implementing democracy's spirit and its values (human and civil rights, respect for the law, equality, treatment of minorities, and preserving basic freedoms). One of the major problems is the disregard of laws and ethics practiced by the public at large and even by the state institutions and leaders. A diagnosis of the situation is presented by jurist Moshe Negbi, who describes the process being undergone by the Israeli political culture in recent years as “a slope leading from a government of laws to a banana republic”. A specific example can be seen in the report by attorney Talya Sasson, appointed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to investigate the functioning of the state institutions with regard to building outposts in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. She concluded that public authorities such as ministries, the Israeli army, and the settlement division of the World Zionist Organization, as well as municipalities, used their authority illegally to actively assist and/or did not prevent the establishment of the unlawful enterprise. A recent report shows that about one third of the settlements were built illegally according to the Israeli law. In addition, according to the reports of Israel's state comptroller governmental institutions are plagued by protectionism, politicization of the public service, and use of public resources to advance personal-political interests. In this vein of special danger, close connections are observed between the government, capital and mass media, as well as penetration of criminal groups into party centers and the extensive economic and political power of several dozen very wealthy families. Furthermore, a study that was recently carried out determined that Israel ranks sixth among developed countries around the globe in terms of the scope of its black market.
This failure is related to the deterioration of Israeli leadership in the last decade. The leaders have been accused of corruption, lack of accountability, lack of vision, and manipulation of the public and as a result they have been losing the trust of the society members. In a recent survey it was found that 86 percent of the citizens state that the government is not dealing adequately with the country’s problems and 68 percent believe that the people running the country are motivated by personal interests rather than the public good.
Another deficiency with which the Israeli democracy must cope is the growing political power and influence of anti-democratic groups. The centers of these groups within Jewish society are found mostly in the ultra-religious sector, which rejects democracy both as a value and as a mechanism for governing. This view is expanding as about half of the public reject the democratic system. On another level, the trend of undermining democracy is reflected in steady and continuous attempts to undercut the legal system and especially the Supreme Court (even by the present Minister of Justice) by trying to limit its functioning and politicizing its control.
Moral Deterioration
The problem of democratic deficiencies is related to the deterioration of the moral values and standards in the state of Israel. Beginning with the internal problems, corruption has been on the increase dramatically through the years. While in 2001 Israel was in sixteenth place among the world states in the Transparency International Corruption Perception, in 2007 it fell down thirtieth place. In the last decade all the prime ministers, some of the ministers and over a dozen lawmakers were accused in various affairs of corruption. In addition, trafficking by migrant workers became an industry with a staggering annual turnover, officially estimated at no less than $300,000,000 annually. This includes illegal trafficking of women for sex as Israel became one of the major sex trade centers in the world. Moreover, various practices towards them by the mediators, the employers and even the government indicate a consistent violation of human rights.
Institutionalized Discrimination of Arab Minority
Problems of democratic dysfunction are also reflected in the way Israel is treating its Arab citizens, who are an indigenous minority. Israel is probably the only current state among the developed countries that is practicing institutionalized and cultural discrimination of the Arab minority, including legal discrimination. This discrimination has created, in essence, an ethnic democracy and not a liberal democracy—a reality in which structural preference is accorded to the dominant Jewish majority.
Formal discrimination of Arabs by Israeli law and practices is not only restricted to symbolic areas, but is inseparably linked to continuous discrimination in every aspect of life. As a result there are continuously growing gaps between Arabs and Jews in socio-economic and living conditions in all major areas of life such as housing, health, education, land, welfare, employment, and more. The governmental Orr Commission Report, published in 2003, presented for the first time an official recognition of the depth of discrimination and institutional exclusion experienced by Israel’s Arab citizens since the establishment of the state. The report stated that, “the state and all of its governments have failed to cope deeply and with the difficult challenges posed by the existence of a large Arab minority within the Jewish state. The governmental handling of the Arab sector is mostly characterized by neglect and deprivation. The establishment has not demonstrated enough sensitivity to the needs of the Arab sector and has not done enough to assure equal allocation of state resources also to this sector. The state has not done enough, and has not tried enough, to grant equality to its Arab citizens and remove manifestations of discrimination and deprivation”. A special failure is the substantial support of the discriminative practices by Jews in Israel and normative discourse of Arab delegitimization. For example in 2007 it was found that about 45 percent of the Jews in Israel deny existence of Arab discrimination in Israel; about 56 percent of them supported full equal rights between Jews and Arabs, citizens of the state, but only 22 percent support political equality for the Arab minority and about 55 percent support a governmental encouragement of Arab immigration from the state.
The Ruthless Outcomes of Occupation
In my view the most salient sign of the democratic and moral deterioration of Israeli Jewish society is the lasting occupation. During the years of the Israeli occupation, a deep-rooted system of dual sets of legal norms developed in the West Bank: one for the Jewish settlers and one for the Palestinian population. These dual sets enabled the establishment of a system of segregation, discrimination and control on ethnic grounds in the occupied territories, with all the negative implications.
Through the years many thousands of Palestinians, including civilians and children who were not engaged in any violent activity against Israel, were killed or injured by the Israeli forces. More than 600,000 of the Palestinians were arrested through the years of occupation, many thousands spent years in prisons and as detainees, many were tortured, some were expelled and their houses demolished. Many aspects of Palestinian collective and individual lives are controlled by the Israelis and through the years this has had an immense negative effect on the development of their economic, societal and political infrastructure. According to UN 2007 report 57percent of the households in the territories live in poverty. In principle, this occupied population lives without basic human and civil rights under continuous humiliation and discrimination that cannot be accounted for by threats to the security of Israel. As examples it is possible to provide about 100 checkpoints and several hundred roadblocks that turn the lives of the Palestinians into a miserable experience, or the fact that many of the settlements and the outposts were built on private Palestinian land confiscated under false pretexts, or the attempts to build security the fence well beyond the green line in order to take hold of more Palestinian land.
One may claim that this behavior is a result of the threats that the Jews in Israeli society experience because of Palestinian goals and violent behaviors, and another one may claim that it is a necessary element of occupation and that Israel does not differ from other occupying states through the ages, and in fact is more restrained. These arguments, even if they are partially valid, cannot account in my view for the scope and extent of the violations of the Palestinian human and civil rights.
Influence of Religion
Israel is a state which did not separate itself from religion. This has an immense effect on the personal lives of the citizens and violates basic human and civil rights. For example, matters of marriages and divorces as well as of conversion to Judaism are under the monopolized responsibility of Orthodox Jewry. This monopoly creates tremendous problems for many of the citizens of Israel and especially for those who came in the last wave of immigration from the former USSR.
Of special importance is the fact that the ultra-religious sector is growing, with at least two implications. The majority of this sector does not serve in the army, constituting over 11 percent of the potential conscripts, and a substantial portion of this sector (over half of the men) does not work, relying on external financial assistance.
Objections to Peace
In contrast to the well accepted and shared belief among Jews that Israel never missed an opportunity to embark on the road to peace, the accumulated evidence indicates that Israel missed opportunities to solve the Israeli-Arab conflict peacefully and more than once carried out intransigent policies. Examples range from the refusal of Golda Meir to engage in negotiations with Egypt about the cease fire, or to accept the 1969 Rogers Plan, ignoring the possibility to try to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict proposed by various security institutions in 1967, the rejection of the London agreement with Jordan in 1987 by Itzhak Shamir, the decision to declare and treat Arafat as a non-partner after the failure of the Camp David meeting in 2000, ignoring the Saudi plan initiated in 2002, up to rejections of the Syrian attempts to begin negotiations in the recent years. Moreover as the stronger side in the conflict it is Israel that has much more power to move the conflict towards its peaceful resolution, but this supremacy rarely is translated into actions.
Conclusion
This essay aims to present the problems Israel is facing and encourage World Jewry to be aware of the challenges that preoccupy the great majority of their brothers and sisters in Israel, get involved in the debates and be part of the struggle about the direction Israel should take in view of the current crises. This involvement should be of great importance for the Jews of the world who would like to see Israel as a center for world Jewry, as an example to other nations, and as a place that in moment of emergency they will be able to find their refuge.
World Jewry cannot blindly observe Israel and disregard the problems that it is facing. Israel, on the other hand, should stop the unacceptable and detrimental practice of asking blind support for the Israel which is implied by the term “he/she supports Israel” and viewing any criticism as being anti-Israeli. This relates also to the frequent practice of hiding and omitting the problems that Israel is facing before the Jewish visitors, especially the tens of thousands of youth who come every year to Israel. On the contrary, I believe that supporting Israel means seeing Israel with all its achievements and deficiencies—and then engaging in the ongoing debates and striving to create a better society, which is the best indication of love and care. This is a true nature of patriotism. The clash over the future of Israel is a crucial struggle. Jews of the world should not stand as passive bystanders but be part of the forces that shape the nature of the place where our children and grandchildren live and yours may live in the future.
Daniel Bar-Tal is a professor of political psychology at Tel Aviv University
Why Now Is the Natural Time to Learn the "ABCs" of Spiritual Healing
(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Spring is in the air and with it comes an innate need to clean and declutter your emotional and spiritual world. Intuitive psychologist and author Susan Apollon shows you how to find inner peace and let the sun shine in.
It happens every spring. As sunlight reawakens tiny buds and fresh breezes dust the fields with lilacs, a strange compulsion kicks us out of our winter stupor. We actually want to clean. Floors suddenly seem grimy and corners cobwebby. The cluttered basement starts to really bug us. Even that previously insurmountable task—window washing—sounds like a good way to spend a Saturday. Intuitive psychologist Susan Apollon says our annual spring cleaning frenzy is more than mere tradition: It's the manifestation of a primal urge for renewal on a deeper level.
What exactly is spiritual healing? Apollon says it's about balancing our thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and actions. It's about becoming whole. Healing takes place when we reclaim our power, wisdom, or spirit, which we often bury during the process of life, and when we reconnect with our soul or higher self, as well as with the Universe or God.
On a more practical level, it means learning to live in such a way that you don't spend all your time fretting about the future, worrying about your kids, or obsessing over health issues. And it means coming to a place where you refuse to settle for a job, a relationship, a lifestyle—a life—that doesn't fulfill you.
Understanding the Law of Attraction
Spiritual healing happens when we work with the Law of Attraction, which is basically an understanding that energy attracts like energy. Apollon explains it this way: Given that everything is energy and vibrates, and given the Law of Attraction, wherever we are vibrationally, we attract to us experiences of a similar level of vibration. What we choose to focus on (thoughts, images, beliefs) causes us to vibrate at a particular level, resulting in either good or not good feelings. Focusing on thoughts or images that cause us to feel relatively good or better will enable us to be at a higher level energetically and, consequently, will draw to us a higher level of vibrational experience.
In other words, when you worry about your job, your grades, your children, your health—and that is what you do most of the time—your dominant energetic level is quite low. Being in this state causes you to experience events and situations which are of equally low vibrations.
The trick, of course, is to become conscious and aware of how we are feeling in order to allow ourselves to do the work of cleaning up (or out) our spiritual closets and bringing in what feels energetically better. This allows us to attract to us wonderful things and experiences that we want—our hopes and dreams—rather than those things and experiences we don't want.
To do this we need to be really clear about our intentions, says Apollon. We need to decide what it is that we intend to do or make happen in our lives that will make us feel good or better (happy, satisfied, joyful, peaceful). Once we have our intentions in mind, we can give them power and help to create them by giving ourselves permission to really focus on them.
Practice Your ABCs
Once you have clarity regarding your intentions, it's time to practice what Apollon calls "the Art of your ABCs." Intertwined with the ABCs technique is another one, which she refers to as the "Face, Embrace, and Replace" method. Here's how it works:
· A is for AWARENESS and ACKNOWLEDGMENT. Become aware of your thoughts and images at the "head" level that do not feel good at the heart or belly level. Here, you're "Facing" what makes you feel bad.
Put your hand on your heart or belly and ask yourself, Am I feeling good (or okay) or not good at this moment? If your answer is "not good," put the same hand on your forehead and ask yourself, What is my thought, picture, or image that makes me not feel good?
Now, take time to Acknowledge or "Embrace" the picture or thought. Give yourself permission to really feel the pain associated with your thought or image stored deep within you. Kick, scream, or cry it out—for a few moments, or more, if needed, but not too much more, if possible.
· B is for BREATH and BREATHING OUT YOUR PAIN. Learn to use the Gift of Breath and then use your ability to lift yourself energetically to a higher level of well-being. Take three deep breaths. As you breathe in, visualize yourself breathing in the colorful and magnificent energy of the Universe or God. (Yes, actually give it a color so you can "see" it more readily.) Watch and feel this powerful healing energy coming in and filling your body with amazing warm, relaxing energy, causing you to feel so relaxed and heavy and at the same time . . . so light that you are aware of your body shifting up energetically.
· C is for CHOICE and CHOOSING THOUGHTS AND IMAGES THAT FEEL GOOD or BETTER. Here's where you "Replace" your negative energy with positive energy. You choose thoughts and images that lighten your vibrations and enable you to allow in those experiences you have viewed as your intentions, hopes, and dreams. Every moment is about choice. Be conscious of how you are feeling, moment by moment, and choose to focus on anything and everything that brings you relief and feels better or good, including your kids, pets, loved ones, or your favorite funny video. (NOTE TO EDITOR: See attached tipsheet for some healing choices.)
"Practice your ABCs and Face, Embrace, and Replace often," advises Apollon. "They are the tools that lead to healing."
If you're thinking it all sounds a bit too touchy-feely for you, don't. Apollon says these spiritual healing techniques work, even if you're a cynic. Feeling good is your birthright. Indeed, you've probably experienced the essence of spiritual healing at some point in your life—when you're so immersed in a project that you lose all sense of time and place, for instance, or when you're with friends or family and feel a surge of joy and gratitude and "rightness."
About the Author:
Susan Apollon is an intuitive psychologist, psychotherapist, and healer. For more than two decades, she has specialized in treating children and adults who are traumatized, ill (dealing with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses), grieving, and/or dying. As a master of several healing and energy modalities, a researcher of mind, consciousness, energy, and metaphysics, a student and teacher of intuition, and a survivor of her own challenge with breast cancer, she brings wisdom and compassion to those with whom she works.
A Christian Science perspective on daily life. from the January 30, 2008 edition
A few years after the Vietnam War, I left active duty and joined the Army Reserves. As a battalion chaplain, I noticed an interesting pattern with some of the other vets. It seems that they were returning to the military for no other reason than to sort out their war experiences with others who knew what they'd gone through.
Many of them had been exposed to such assaults on human sensibilities that sights and sounds were seared on their minds, haunting them. These soldiers had done whatever they could to get through their tour of duty, but when they got back home, they didn't leave behind the mental impressions and the emotional turbulence.
Often when I talked to a vet, he wanted to know if I was a vet too. Empathy helps. Certainly my tour in Vietnam broke open my shell of self-interest and evolved a greater sympathy for the sufferings of those around me. And I was so grateful for others whose sympathy let me know that I wasn't alone in encountering feelings I'd never experienced before.
Ultimately, I found that my sympathy was most helpful when I recognized something else we had in common: that we were children of a loving God, dwelling in a spiritual reality that was untouched by the imprint of war.
In a sense, all of us who have witnessed suffering that has pushed us to the margins of human stability are on a walk to Emmaus. The Christ is with us, doing what it has always done. The Christ, so fully expressed in Jesus, is the ever-present spiritual reality of being making plain to disturbed and disoriented human thinking our well-being in God's love.
Monitor founder Mary Baker Eddy glimpsed and then explored this reality that healed her in her desperate search for meaning in life's tragedies. She shared in her book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures": "Take heart, dear sufferer, for this reality of being will surely appear sometime and in some way. There will be no more pain, and all tears will be wiped away. When you read this, remember Jesus' words, 'The kingdom of God is within you.' This spiritual consciousness is therefore a present possibility" (pp. 573-574).
As you sympathize with soldiers struggling to recover, let your sympathy evolve into a prayer that acknowledges the presence of spiritual reality making itself known to them in a peace that is untroubled and unafraid.
Numerous studies have suggested that spirituality can confer a wide range of benefits.
It can lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety and confer a general sense of well-being, says Dr. Malcolm Herring, physician liaison for mission services with the Seton Cove Spirituality Center of St. Vincent Health in Indianapolis. For instance, a 2005 study of 3,050 elderly Mexican-Americans found that those who attended church weekly or more regularly had a 32 percent reduction in mortality. A 2006 study of Danish adults yielded a similar result.
And it isn't just at the end of life that such behavior appears to have an effect. A 2006 study of British teenagers found that religious observance lowered youths' risk of developing a meningitis-like disease just as much as a vaccination did.
It's not clear that any of this is directly attributable to religion or inner peace. But in general, the calmer and happier people are, the less frequently they fall prey to infections, hypertension, headaches and nervous stomach, says Indianapolis psychiatrist Dr. Marvin Miller.
"Having a sense of meaning, which is often derived from having a set of spiritual beliefs, is really important," says Miller. "Almost every culture in our world that's been examined has some evidence of people searching for that higher power and the search to attach meaning to their lives, and I think that is healthy."
The definition of what constitutes that spirituality varies, experts agree.
For one person, it might be regular attendance at church or another form of worship. For another, it may be something else that provides a connection with others, such as volunteering.
For Nikki Myers, owner of Cityoga, a Downtown yoga studio, that tranquility has come through the popular activity that combines exercise with relaxation.
She first tried yoga more than three decades ago. But life sidetracked her, and she didn't get back into it until the early 1990s, after a debilitating case of sciatica sidelined her. Her doctor recommended she try yoga to de-stress.
Within three or four months, her sciatica had disappeared almost altogether, and Myers, now 54, had made yoga a part of her life.
For her, yoga and inner peace go hand in hand. "I know when my life is in balance, one of the key things that shows up is a sense of peace," Myers says. "Stress is such a huge factor in taking us out of balance."
Even before someone falls ill, religion or spirituality may help ward off disease, numerous studies suggest. Research has shown that older adults who attend church regularly are at lower risk of losing the ability to care for themselves over time. A 2005 study found that middle-aged and older Israeli adults who lived in communities that had more people with religious affiliation had a lower mortality rate than their less religious counterparts.
Tariq Ramadan took part in a debate on inter-faith dialogue two weeks ago. The dialogue between the panel of three (Tariq Ramadan, Soondursun Jugessur, Michael Atchia) some days ago and the audience (at Q-Bornes Town Hall under the auspices of the Conseil des religions) pointed to these:
? Inter-faith dialogue is possible and desirable;
? it is a vehicle for the spiritual and moral dimension in society, the family and an important factor for peace in the world;
? it must include everyone, even those with no declared faith and agnostics;
? it must go to villages and suburbs, to those in need, the masses, the young, and not remain among the elite and already convinced.
?Rooted in one’s own faith (which each must deepen), inter-faith dialogue enables each one to reach out, know, understand and share in other faiths, with huge results for everyone’s ability to better serve society and live in peace.
What is inter-faith dialogue?
The term refers to “co-operative and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions”. Its aim is to unite global communities by sharing common elements, while accepting the differences (in religion and culture) to achieve harmony and enable people to live in peace.
A changing world
The face of religion on Planet Earth is rapidly changing. As a result of world-wide movements of people (whether for tourism, international workforces or immigration), most cities and many countries are fast becoming environments of multicultural and multi-faith environments, not to mention multilingual, as is the case in that inner London primary school where there are kids totalling 56 mother tongues, besides English! This worldwide movement of people has provoked a meeting of cultures and religions, a new phenomenon in history.
This historic encounter of religions is accompanied by another remarkable process: the interfaith dialogue movement. People belonging to the great faiths of the world are now talking to one another and understanding one another as never before, rather strongly contrasting with the set image of religion as a source of friction, conflict, terrorism (refer to the times of conflicting relationships in history between Christians-Muslims, Muslims-Hindus, Jews-Muslims, Catholics-Protestants, Christianity and science, etc.
New visions
I will take the concept of peace as an example: a typical western definition is that peace equals “freedom from war or violence” (Oxford dictionary). Peace activists in the west (and indeed the world over) prefer the eastern view of peace as a state of accord, understanding, harmony, fellowship, tranquillity, serenity, order, a state of non violence, unaggressiveness and uncontentious behaviour, as a state of plenty, of health, of happiness, etc. That definition combines elements from different religious traditions, as a sort of inter-faith, operational and multi-faceted. The former (Oxford definition) understandably arises from the aftermath of two World Wars, at the end of which peacetime was celebrated, after 80 million unnecessary deaths!
Religion and secularism
We must differentiate here between lip-service to religion (or the blind practices of formulae/rites, whether in Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism or any of the hundreds of new faiths-sects-religions) and being a true believer in search of meaning to life, essential values to live by and the intimate relationship with God. This is a paramount difference between wearers of the signs and badges of a religion and believers, who are always humble in the face of the immensity of the universe and the universal.
Modern society is fast replacing all references to revelations from sacred books or guidance for life obtained from divine inspiration by a huge set of secular laws, rules and regulations. But these belong to two different spheres, which can certainly co-exist. For example, most states are secular, meaning that affairs are conducted without reference to one or any religion. This is the case in France, India, the USSR of old, China, Mauritius, according to the Constitution. But surely and certainly those men and women elected or appointed to do the job can be (and should be) people of faith (not necessarily religious people).
The difficulty arises when a state defines itself as an Islamic State (Saudi Arabia, Pakistan), a Jewish state, a Hindu kingdom (Nepal until recently), a Buddhist one (Tibet, until 1950) or any of the numerous Christian kingdoms of Europe from the middle ages into the 20th century, with sequels showing in the struggle between Catholic and Protestants in Northern Ireland.
So, homage must be paid to movements like those of Mother Teresa or that of the Brahma Kumaris. Each is inspired by one religion (Christianity and Hinduism respectively) but are universal in their openness to all and service to all.
We therefore see the necessity of inter-faith as well as inter-cultural dialogue in modern society. This dialogue can be a determinant factor for the ability of communities to live in peace and harmony, especially important in multi-religious societies like ours and in recent years in very many societies.
As a man of science, I am searching for truth, I try to understand the mechanisms and processes operating in nature. I do this purely by using the experimental method of observation, detached, neutral objective. Such is the scientific method, the example par excellence of secularism. It is only at this price that science can produce results which can then be applied to improve the quality of life of man. As a believer, I have neither nightmares nor conflicts between my work as a scientist and the grace of God in my life. The key word that comes to mind is complementarity.
The spiritual dimension is an integral part of true and complete education, no doubt about that! How does this operate in school systems is an ongoing and difficult subject. Extremes are regrettable, such as in French state schools where religion is ”out-of-bounds” or in some religious schools where adhesion to a given faith is a must. In both cases faith (which is a way of life “proposed”, not “imposed’ ) can develop freely. The experiment conducted by some of us (including Henri Souchon) in the QEC of the 1970s is still vivid in the minds of many: side by side with sectoral religious education (each one in her own faith), we devised and proposed courses in the encounter of religions, an attempt to learn the “facts and deeper meaning” of the religions of others. This was in a small way a good beginning to inter-faith dialogue. Where has this dialogue reached now?
Can one agree on a principle that can serve as the basis for the establishment of genuine peace and harmony in the world? Some people think that if the whole world became good Muslims or good Christians it would create true brotherhood and sisterhood.
Now, considering that both groups comprise more than a billion each (Islam in its various sectarian forms is given as 1.3 billion and Christianity 1.9 billion) converting one to the other may take a very long time.
Also, we would still have 650 million Confucians (mainly Chinese), 700 million Hindus (including the upper castes, the other backward castes and the scheduled castes and tribes), 400 million Buddhists, 20 million Sikhs, 13 million Jews and then smaller groups such as the Bahais, Ahmadis, Jains, animists (if any have been allowed to survive) and others who have no specific religious affiliation or who choose to denounce their religious beliefs. To make humanity as a whole adhere to one comprehensive religious faith with its doctrines and dogmas is impossible.
One need not be very clever to realise that we will have to find a principle that does not require total conversion of people to a particular belief or detailed code of conduct in order to establish mutually respectful relations among all groups and individuals within them.
We very often tend to believe that within groups strong emotional bonds and ties of solidarity exist. This is a myth and has always been a myth. Except for very small communities comprising a few households close contact between people does not take place and when it does it is not always friendly and deeply loyal. We therefore need a principle which is simple and practical and one that everyone can accept as fair on the basis of which the foundations of mutual respect and peace can be laid.
The German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) proposed the ‘Categorical Imperative’ as the overarching principle that can serve such a purpose. The categorical imperative says that one should act only on those rules of action that one wants to be made universal laws. It would declare as immoral a rule of conduct that implies that one person may do something but another, in similar circumstances, may not. In other words, it demands consistency. In other words, what’s alright for me is alright for you if our relevant circumstances are similar.
Therefore, one cannot legitimately demand a ban on one religion without demanding the same for other religions, but one is perfectly justified in demanding that human rights violations should not occur in the name of religion and that should apply to all religions. Similarly if I can occupy someone’s home then it is alright for the other bloke to try to do the same. But of course I would not want him to do that, so it would be wrong for me to do the same.
The categorical imperative also states that one should treat humanity or rational beings as an end and never as a means only. Human beings are uniquely capable of reasoning about their choices and therefore are inherently valuable and worthy of respect for this reason. For human beings to realise their inner worth it is important that they enjoy meaningful autonomy vis-à-vis state and society. Autonomy makes it possible for us to make rationally and morally correct choices, which according to Kant is all about protection of our basic interests.
If such a principle were to be made not only on the basis of conduct between human beings but also states then the occupation of Iraq by President Bush and his allies would not take place. On the other hand, it would be perfectly correct to wage war on those who are responsible for 9/11.
But others argue against rationality alone as the basis for claiming and enjoying rights on grounds that there are human beings who are not able to reason in accordance with a conventional understanding of rationality. These include children and those suffering from impairment of their reasoning abilities. Also, not very long ago women, working people, and some ethnic and racial groups were also considered incapable of acting like rational human beings.
The emphasis on rationality is, therefore, not the true basis of rights. It can confine the right to enjoy rights arbitrarily to some groups or class of people. Therefore, it is asserted, that the true basis of peace among human beings has to be human sympathy and solidarity, or in other words, the human conscience.
Proceeding along such lines some argue that the right to rights should not be confined to the Homo sapiens: animals and nature should also be embraced because specie-ism (that is privileging one’s own species) is irrational and immoral. Moreover, it is argued, from a practical point of view that humankind’s supremacy over other forms of nature is untenable in the long run. We have to learn to live as part of nature and in communion with it.
Some people go further and urge that we have to start working on this principle now. Global warming is the wakeup call we must heed and change our lifestyles to recognise that human beings, animals and nature in general have to live in communion and harmony with each other.
Thus, the age of rights has to be re-defined in the light of the objective reality around us. The philosophers are extending the theoretical horizons and frontiers of discussion on rights in directions which are as yet unclear, but I would argue that concern for the rights of human beings and the organisations and institutions that represent their interests should remain of paramount concern because even if a paradigmatic shift from the rights of human beings to the all-inclusive idea of the rights of different forms of nature may be on the way, it need not be seen as a mutually exclusive arrangement.
Whatever we think about who should and who should not have rights is after all dependent on the human conscience because neither animals nor other forms of nature are burdened with the problem of being at ease with one’s conscience. It is a human predicament and not a predicament of all living things or for that matter of nature.
The writer is professor of political science at the University of Stockholm, Sweden. Email: Ishtiaq.Ahmed-@statsvet.su.se
By Tunde Awe Posted to the Web: Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Worried with the spate of negative reports emanating from the Niger-Delta areas in recent times, a group of mothers from the Ijaw tribe, “Ijaw Mothers Initiative” has resolved that it is time to step in and restore sanity, security of lives and properties in the region.
This position was made at a press conference last week in Lagos, where the group stated that the issues of oil pollution, deprivation, poverty, kidnapping and hostage takings among others have dominated the scene of activities in the Niger-Delta region, and as a result, the Ijaw Mothers Initiative is in a further attempt and a complimentary effort to other interventionists and organisations to bring a lasting solution to the crisis in the region, has vowed to travel through the nooks and crannies of the Niger-Delta creeks to interact and listen to the Ijaw youths whose voices echo pain.
The interaction will afford the women the opportunity to offer counsel to the youths while delivering the message of a need for the development of the region.
The leader of the group, Mrs. Beatrice Agama said that “as mothers, we gave birth to the youths and we believe that they will listen to us, it is our desire to reach out to our children (the militants) in their hideouts.
...peace is very vital for real development to be attained in any society.
The Ijaw Mothers Initiative vehemently condemned the prevailing situation where some individuals/groups ride on the back of Niger-Delta emancipation to seek personal financial benefits at the expense of peace and the collective wellbeing of the people in the area.
The group believes that there is time for everything, time to bring to the fore our grievances of deprivation, underdevelopment and marginalisation and appeals to the Niger-Delta youths to embrace peace as the time to give peace a chance is now.
Many of the worldwide celebrations of Easter reported in the Coloradoan focused on bringing peace and a better future for this fractured world. But many see religion itself as a primary cause of the fracturing. And this is unfortunately true in many places.
But there are other instances where people of faith do try to be true to the ideals of justice and peace of their founders. This is true of the U.S. Christian leaders' mission (United Methodist, Episcopal, Catholic, Baptist, Evangelical, Quaker, Mennonite, National Council of Churches and others) to Tehran several weeks ago, an event little-reported in the media. Their objective was "to meet with religious and political leaders in Iran to help diffuse tensions and explore ways to forge peace between Iran and the U.S."
Here are excerpts from the U.S. religious delegation's wrap-up statement on the Tehran mission, words we hope will be echoed in faith communities across the land:
"As Christian leaders from the United States, we went to Iran at this time of increased tension believing that it is possible to build bridges of understanding between our two countries. We believe military action is not the answer, and that God calls us to just and peaceful relationships within the global community.
"We were warmly welcomed by the Iranian people, and our time in Iran convinced us that religious leaders from both countries can help pave the way for mutual respect and peaceful relations between our nations.
"During our visit, we met with Muslim and Christian leaders, government officials, and other Iranian people. Our final day included a meeting with former President Khatami and current President Ahmadinejad. The meeting with President Ahmadinejad was the first time an American delegation had met with a sitting Iranian President in Iran since the Islamic revolution in 1979. The meeting lasted 2.5 hours and covered a range of topics including the role of religion in transforming conflict, Iraq, nuclear proliferation, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"What the delegation found most encouraging from the meeting with President Ahmadinejad was a clear declaration from him of no intention to acquire or use nuclear weapons, as well as a statement that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be solved through political not military means. Finally, he said, 'I have no reservation about conducting talks with American officials if we see some good will.'
"We believe it is possible for further dialogue and that there can be a new day in U.S.-Iranian relations. The Iranian government has already built a bridge toward the American people by inviting our delegation to come to Iran. We ask the U.S. government to welcome a similar delegation of Iranian religious leaders to the United States.
"As additional steps in building bridges between our nations, we call upon both the United States and Iranian governments to:
Immediately engage in direct face-to-face talks;
Cease using language that defines the other using "enemy" images;
Promote more people-to-people exchanges including religious leaders, members of Parliament/ Congress, and civil society.
"As people of faith, we are committed to working toward these and other confidence-building measures, which we hope will move our two nations from the precipice of war toward a more just and peaceful settlement."
Peace between the United States and Iran is both possible and essential. People of faith in both nations can help make it happen.
Will we?
Eliza Carney is a member of the Peace and Justice Committee at the Fort Collins Mennonite Fellowship.
Xerpi