International Day of Peace

How do you get there from here?

Posted on September 21, 2016September 21, 2016 by kathiemm

by Kathie MM

Consistent with its goal of promoting peace within and among nations, the United Nations, in 1981, established the International Day of Peace; in 2002, September 21st became the permanent date for the International Day of Peace.

Did you know today was the International Day of Peace? If not, why not? You would know if it was Labor Day, or Memorial Day, or Halloween, right? So why is there no hoopla about a peace day?

At any rate, today is an internationally declared Day of Peace, and here we are again, most of us hoping for, praying for peace, which probably seems as elusive as ever. How can we get there, in our daily lives, our relationships, our messages to our government? Here is one suggestion, from my friend Tom Greening:

RISE UP

Don’t be an angry, hurtful troll.

Rise up and show you have a soul.

Don’t waste your strength in violence,

don’t do cruel deeds that make no sense.

The world needs men, not angry boys.

Help others have life’s thrills and joys.

Explore the ways in which you can

show that you are a loving man.

As years go by you will be proud

you rose above the madding crowd.

Tom Greening

And to learn more about what YOU can do to help move the world away from war and more towards peace, today and every day, check out this World Without War website

Tom Greening was educated at Yale, the University of Vienna, and the University of Michigan. He has been a psychologist in private practice for over 50 years, and is a retired professor from Saybrook University, UCLA, and Pepperdine. He was Editor of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology for 35 years. He is a Fellow of five divisions of the American Psychological Association and Poet Laureate of the International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry.

International Day of Peace: Make your voice heard!

Posted on September 15, 2011September 14, 2011 by kathiemm

It is time for an antidote to the widespread suffering associated with the protracted tenth anniversary of 9/11—which, apparently, the extreme religious right in this country would like to convert into a religious holiday for their brand of conservative Americo-Christianity.

The United Nations International Day of Peace is coming (September 21) in time to provide that antidote, and “Make Your Voice Heard!” is its theme.

There are many ways to shift your focus from a look back at destruction and loss to a move ahead towards peace and justice for all.

You can join a free global telesummit with famous peace activists from around the world, which is taking place from September 15 to September 21. Go to this site to register and to learn more about the peace builders (including Alice Walker, Deepak Chopra, Arun Gandhi, Paul Chappell, Reverend Bob Chase, and Rabbi Justus Baird) who will share their ideas by telecommunication during this week.

Singing is good for the soul and liberating to the heart. Sing along with the children who produced the winning song for the International Peace Day a few years ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy7JcfPZtqo

And for those of you who remember Cat Stevens, who has become a Muslim and has taken the name Yusuf Islam, sing along with him at his International Peace Day celebration:

http://www.nme.com/nme-video/youtube/id/Q7iLPnDCQ1g/search/Yusuf

Finally, to bask in a brief and gentle feel-good message about peace–both inner and outer–go to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z80vbhWjsEU&feature=youtu.be&mtcCampaign=16025&mtcEmail=64718728

and to see compassion in action, visit Sept11Families4PeacefulTomorrows and see:

http://www.internationalpeaceandconflict.org/profiles/blogs/family-members-call-for-compassion-to-extend-beyond-9-11-victims

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

Principled moral arguments (Moral engagement, part 3)

Posted on September 20, 2010July 6, 2011 by kathiemm

Since World War II, several wars involving the United States (for example, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan) have been launched with initial public support. However, these conflicts lost their popularity when more and more Americans became aware that their government had been less than honest in linking invasion and occupation with noble principles such as bringing democracy to brutalized people.

Japanese Peace Bell of United Nations — Japanese Peace Bell at U.N. Headquarters (Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 2.5 Generic, from Wikimedia Commons)

Rejecting the pseudo-moral arguments for these wars, many people have embraced principled moral arguments–asserting, for example, that war is a violation of the Golden Rule, that no human being has the right to decide who will live and who will die, or that war and torture violate the hard-won international human rights agreements that grew out of the unrestrained violence of World War II.

Recognizing and rejecting pseudo-moral arguments and living by life-affirming principles is a challenge, particularly in a fear-mongering environment, but millions do it.

Tomorrow is the International Day of Peace. Established by a United Nations resolution in 1982, the celebration begins with the ringing of the Peace Bell at the U.N. The Day is often celebrated with greater enthusiasm and hope in other parts of the world than in the U.S.

Do your part this year. Consider the words of Miss Nida Ashfaq, member of the International Young Catholic Students (IYCS) from Pakistan, “Peace is not the absence of war; it is respecting and accepting each other and promoting human rights.” Then light a candle and formulate your own moral argument in favor of peace. Please share your thoughts with us.

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology