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| A Larger View |
How Current Events Reflect
The Spiritual Movement of Humanity
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| Volume X Edition 6 |
November/December |
2005 |
We deviate from our regular format for our yearly "good news" issue, items that speak of some achievement toward all that enhances our humanity-and therefore reveals our divinity; items that address our problems, and work towards solutions.
In this issue:
Less War, Less Violence
Bees And Land Mines
Making an Ethical Will
A Peace Park For The DMZ
Progress On Repairing The Ozone Layer
The Spirituality of Animals
The Benefits of Ending Child Labor
Storing Carbon Dioxide
Global Anti Corruption Treaty
Linking People To Discuss Poverty
Restorative Justice
Less War, Less Violence
A three-year study by a group of international social scientists shows that the world is becoming less violent. There are now fewer wars and fewer people killed by war than there has been in the past. While our present concern revolves around international terrorism, it has killed fewer people per year than wars have. The success of such decline in violence is attributed to "global conflict prevention and post-conflict peace-building", jargon for the many international efforts that have been put in place. The report issued by the UN credits them with an "explosion of efforts" in conflict prevention and preventive diplomacy. Another reason for the success, may be, as one researcher put it, that the idea of an international community is changing the world's understanding of when war is acceptable. Although the report is realistic in not saying that war is disappearing, it is asserting that global security is not deteriorating.
Could this be a new way of thinking about war?
Bees and Land Mines
Few things are as dangerous as locating and deactivating land mines. Fifteen to 20,000 lives are lost each year to explosions triggered by any number of ordinary activities, like someone taking a stroll or children playing. Dogs have been used to find land mines, but their lives too can be unnecessarily lost. To avoid such accidents and tragedies, scientists at Montana universities are making progress on using honeybees to detect land mines. They are conditioning bees to think they're finding food when they sense the chemicals used in explosives, essentially harnessing the bee's acute sense of smell. The scientists add traces of explosive byproducts to the bee's food. After a couple of days the bees naturally become attracted to the smell. When released into a minefield, they then find their way toward the mines. The bees are also tracked through a laser emitter. In controlled situations, the bees had 97% accuracy. Several glitches have, however, to be worked out-bees don't fly at night or in cold weather, and laser emitters only work for flat surfaces. Still, we may very soon owe more to bees than just honey, perhaps safeguarding lives.
Making An Ethical Will
Most people makes wills with care as to how their property shall be passed on or divided, sometimes with minute details. Increasingly, this is becoming as old fashioned as analog clocks. Recognizing that perhaps there is more to a will than just tangibles, one's values and philosophy now come into play, and are often used in estate planning and as a way to communicate or make a statement after one's death. Ethical wills stress the importance of family relationships, religious values, forgiveness, the importance of education, the need for a sense of what it means to be human. They share life learning and general reflections. Sometimes they include regrets. Things that may have been difficult to say in person can then more easily be said. While many people draft their own, some seek professional help. The wills can be written, recorded or increasingly videotaped. Regardless, they show us that people are more than their possessions.
A Peace Park For The DMZ
Ted Turner is at it again, this time suggesting a Peace Park for the DMZ, the demilitarized zone that separates North from South Korea. The 250-kilometer belt that has separated the two nations for 52 years is, he says, an ecological treasure and would be ideal for tourism. Turner has visited both capitals and talked about his idea to both leaders, neither of which has said no even though the way he sees it the Peace Park would come after a Peace Treaty between the North and the South. Turner presented his idea at a forum on the DMZ held near Seoul, recently. So far Nelson Mandela is his most ardent supporter-but then dreams must sometimes be the precursor of reality.
Progress On Repairing The Ozone Layer
For the last 20 years the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol have worked quietly to stop the damage to the ozone layer, the layer that filters out the sun's ultraviolet rays and causes skin cancers and other unwanted consequences. Through mobilizing and coordinating world action, the 189 members of the Montreal Protocol have succeeded in eliminating more than 1.5 million tons in the production of the chemicals that harm the ozone layer. Much more, of course, needs to be done: Developing countries are at about the halfway mark of where they should be, and developed ones still have several chemicals to be phased out. Besides the progress to the ozone layer, what is equally important is that these pacts mark a success for the UN, who has spearheaded and worked with them and demonstrate the success this often criticized world body can have.
The Spirituality of Animals
Many Jewish groups as well as churches from almost all denominations are now talking about animal spirituality. They perform animal blessings, funerals and in some cases, even weddings. Animal spirituality is far from new, but the new emphasis and legitimization is. While ancient Greeks believed that animals had souls, Thomas Aquinas did not, and for many centuries people have thought they had the right to do what they will with animals. More recent thought stresses that animals are the equal of humans in the eyes of the divine and ought to be treated accordingly. In the past Eastern religions have revered animals far more than has Christianity. For its part Islam teaches respect for god's creation and animals as part of it. Movies like Seabiscuit, or All Dogs Go To Heaven have played a big role in animal spirituality being now part of mainstream culture. A visit to most drugstores will quickly prove the point, a section will be reserved for pet cards. No matter in what ways, what is relevant is that animals are now being recognized in ways that enriches our understanding of what spirituality is.
The Benefits of Ending Child Labor
Eliminating child labor in South America is not only possible but also will create a $235 billion benefit as a result of children having better education, less need for health care, better futures, more productive lives. Actually, the overall benefit created would be $340 billion, but the cost of eliminating child labor would be $105 billion, hence the net of $235 billion-so says the International Labor Organization, who conducted the 19 country study. As one can surmise eliminating child labor will not come without effort, and the estimates for those figures plan for a 20-year program. Even if such a time frame is optimistic, going forward is still a must.
Storing Carbon Dioxide
New technologies now make possible the capturing and storing of carbon dioxide, the most dangerous of the chemicals harming the ozone layer and responsible for climate change. The process would still require current efforts to lessen the production of the emissions, and would only be a supplement to it. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report was written by 100 experts from over 30 countries and then reviewed by other experts. The process could capture 15-55% of carbon dioxide emission reduction that is needed to stabilize the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere between now and 2100.
Global Anti Corruption Treaty
A global treaty empowering nations to fight global corruption has just gone into effect. It enables countries to prosecute officials accused of embezzling funds and overrides bank secrecy laws to ensure that stolen funds can be recovered. Signed by 128 countries the treaty covers a broad range of issues including bribery by corporate bodies, extortion fraud and theft. It also has provisions to fight money laundering, a provision that will be of great use in fighting illegal drugs. Another provision allows for screening those officials whose wealth is not consistent with their income. It took four years for the treaty to become a reality. Many developing nations were behind it as a means to go after the wealth that was plundered from their countries, particularly where high level corruption led to the robbery of their national assets.
Linking People To Discuss Poverty
People from across the world are periodically linked with each other to discuss world poverty, hunger and health, or climate change. Using video conferencing The People Speak, an organization began in 2003 about the United States' role in the world and sponsored by a non-partisan group of organizations including the United Nations Foundation itself a group seeking to have people better understand the role of the UN in international foreign policy, periodically brings together what it calls "engaged citizens" from all fifty states and 40 countries, thus linking the Americas, Africa and Asia. The organization also has a program, Americans for Informed Democracy, which sponsors over a 100 town hall meetings discussing relations between Muslims and the West and exploring whether the two sides are on the right path.
Restorative Justice
As a rule the criminal justice system punishes the offenders and essentially closes the door on them. But many victims feel that is not enough. They feel they need to hear why the perpetrator did it and see some indication that he or she understands the consequences of their actions. Restorative justice offers that. It is a national movement helping victims come to terms with what happened, obtain the closure they seek and achieve at least a measure of forgiveness. It also helps offenders understand the repercussions of their crime and in some instances face their victims. As one victim, whose husband had been murdered, put it ' ..It's not excusing... but at some point I had to acknowledge he is not a monster."
To Ponder On
"Forgiveness may not take away the pain, but the act of offering it will keep us from being sucked into the downward spiral of resentment."
Sen. Hillary Clinton, addressing a Beverly Hills synagogue last Yom Kippur
A Larger View is published by the Inner\Outer Partnership, a tax-exempt educational organization probing how spiritual principles can be agents of individual and societal change. We are funded through donations. Please send any - as well as any comments - to P.O.Box 1293, Pac. Pal. CA 90272-1293. Also contact us by email at alargerview@earthlink.net or call 310-836-7710 or visit our web site at www.innerouterpartnership.org
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