Earth – Engaging Peace

Where it all begins, Part 2

Posted on July 24, 2017July 25, 2017 by kathiemm

By Kathie MM

As noted in my last post , if people want to move their countries from a preoccupation with war, hatred, power, threat, and punishment to the pursuit of peace, brotherly (and sisterly) love, social equality, justice, and reconciliation, the place to start is the home.

Suggestions for starting can be found in the work of Robert J. Burrowes and his “promise to children”:

“From today, I promise that I will try to no longer inflict this violence on you, including that which I call ‘punishment’ so that I can pretend that I am not using violence…

I also admit that we adults have done a bad job at looking after each other, including all of our children, and planet Earth, your home, and that you are going to have an increasingly difficult life as the natural world continues to break down. So I promise to participate in efforts being made to address all of these problems, such as that outlined in ‘The Flame Tree Project to Save Life on Earth’….

Most importantly of all, I promise that I will listen to you as best I can. See ‘Nisteling: The Art of Deep Listening’….

Oh, and finally, as best I can, I promise to love you and to respect you as a unique, beautiful and compassionate creation with a great deal to offer the world (as long as adults don’t get in your way)….”

After presenting his pledge to children, Burrowes asks, “As an adult, would you be willing to make this promise too? To whom would you make it?

He then comments, “There is no doubt that giving every child (or adult, for that matter) all of the space they need to feel, deeply, what they want to do, and to then let them do it (or to have the feelings they naturally have if someone or something prevents them from doing so) will have some dysfunctional outcomes in the short term.

This is because we have all been dysfunctionalized, to a greater or lesser extent, by the violence we have already suffered throughout our lives. But listening deeply to a child from birth (or starting today), and supporting them to act out their own Self-will, will lead to an infinitely better overall outcome than the system of emotional suppression, control and punishment of children which has generated the incredibly violent world in which we now find ourselves.”

Again, as I asked in my last post, what do you think about these ideas?

If you wish to join the worldwide movement to end all violence, including violence against children, you can sign online ‘The People’s Charter to Create a Nonviolent World’.

Double-duty death: War and environmental destruction

Posted on April 25, 2011March 11, 2021 by patdaniel

Book review of Barry Sanders’ The Green Zone: The Environmental Costs of Militarism
By Pat Daniel, Ph.D., managing editor of Engaging Peace

We are all too familiar with war’s impact on people and politics, but how often do we consider its damage to the Earth? The Green Zone: The Environmental Costs of Militarism provides a frightening glimpse of the ecological menace known as the U.S. armed forces.

Barry Sanders’ research met obstacles at every turn. Information is secret, not measured or recorded, not available to the public. Nevertheless, this Pulitzer Prize nominated author substantiates a sobering and terrifying conclusion: The U.S. military is not only the greatest polluter on the planet, but also is playing the lead role in speeding us toward a global warming catastrophe.

The Green Zone is a must-read for members of both the peace and environmental movements. The arts community, too, will be awakened by the stunning images contributed by students of Pacific Northwest College of Art. Here is just a sample of the horrors that Sanders exposes, primarily from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan:

Radiation poisoning

We fight conventional wars—not nuclear—right? Wrong.

Most U.S. munitions are made with depleted uranium that leaves behind radioactive dust. Easily absorbed, the dust is responsible for alarming increases in deaths, cancers, birth defects and other medical problems among citizens in war-torn countries, as well as U.S. veterans. Indigenous wildlife endures similar impacts.
Because of the long half-life of radioactive residue, the ecological destruction will continue for decades or centuries to come.

Air, soil and water contamination

Fragile soils, agricultural lands and natural vegetation have been destroyed by the impact of heavy vehicles, or made unusable by firebombing, land mines and unexploded cluster bombs.
Toxic chemicals from weapons, vehicles and military targets such as fertilizer plants pollute the air, fresh water supplies, and ocean habitats.

Energy use and carbon pollution

Ironically, while the U.S. military devotes much of its efforts toward insuring the flow of oil supplies, the institution itself is the world’s largest consumer of fuels:

In military speak, fuel consumption is measured in “barrels per hour,” “gallons per minute,” and “gallons per mile.”
The M-1 Abrams tank gets 0.2 miles per gallon; the Apache helicopter, 0.5; the Humvee, 4.0. The F-16 Fighter Jet uses 28 gallons per minute; the B-52 Stratocruiser, an astonishing 500 gallons per minute.

As Sanders demonstrates, if every aspect of the non-military sector instantly stopped generating greenhouse gases, the military’s carbon footprint alone will propel the world toward catastrophe.

“Indeed, if scientists are correct in telling us that we must reduce the burning of fossil fuels by seventy percent…then surely they must see the obvious: We must put a stop to war.”

Pat Daniel, Ph.D., managing editor of Engaging Peace

Earth Day and peace (Stories of engagement)

Posted on April 21, 2011April 19, 2011 by kathiemm

[Note from Kathie Malley-Morrison: Today we welcome guest contributor Abbie Jenks, who founded the Peace, Justice and Environmental Studies program at Greenfield Community College (GCC) in Massachusetts.]

It is hard to believe that 41 years have passed since the first Earth Day celebrations. Reading an article from Look magazine, published on April 21, 1970, I recognized it could have been written today. We might be saddened and burdened by that knowledge, yet it is becoming increasingly clear that fundamental social change is taking place.

More people are recognizing the need to change behavior in order for our world to sustain itself, now and for future generations. Facing such challenges as global climate change, environmental degradation due to wars, harmful corporate practice, personal consumer habits, and resource depletion, we must learn how to work together collaboratively instead of competitively.

The Peace, Justice and Environmental Studies program at GCC is an example of approaching these issues from a systems or ecological perspective. We strive to understand the social and cultural forces that work in conjunction with science and technology, and to create an integrated path to positive social change through nonviolent means.

With so much ambiguity, anxiety and denial about our future, we must engage in fundamental change, change that will create sustainable systems to meet our collective needs, without causing harm. We must learn that no one or no living thing has more value than another. We must learn how to share power to solve our problems.

Until we see ourselves as fully interconnected, we will continue to cause harm. Our world and our people are traumatized and we need to heal and consider how to prevent the damage done through violence towards others, the Earth, and ourselves.

If we understand that what we do affects everyone, and nurture an ecological perspective, we will be able to create a just and stable world.

Abbie Jenks, MSW, creator and advisor for the Peace, Justice and Environmental Studies program at Greenfield Community College