Theos-Talk Archives (March 2003 Message tt00323)

Hi Zack and all of you,

My views:
Thanks Zack for sharing this very important information.
I happy for that.
And I also have had similar - thoughts - as Robert Muller expresses in your
below email.

But, one or two issues are missing as I see it.

1. Has USA not in the past weeks sort of been to war with Iraq, while they
have been
bombing some of their positions from planes near the no-fly zone in Iraq ?

2. Is The United Nations Security Counsil not it self, an incompetent body ?
A body where some countries are permanent members whereas others are not ?
I.e. just like in the book "Animal Farm" by George Orwell.
You know: All men are born equal, but some seems to be born more equal than
others.
Or at least they think so !
There seems to be (and that on different levels) a special kind of
"ubermensch" mentality in certain circles around the globe - for instance
between countries and ideologies.

Else I agree very much with Robert Mullers words, when we talk about the
words in the below.
He has made other statements, which I am not so keen on.
But those in the below seems very good.

from
M. Sufilight with peace...




----- Original Message -----
From: "Zack Lansdowne" <zackl@sprynet.com>
To: <theos-talk@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 11:28 AM
Subject: Theos-World Waging Peace


> The following remarks by Dr. Robert Muller are being circulated around the
> Internet. I don't know who the original author is.
>
> Zack Lansdowne
>
>
> >Dr. Robert Muller, former assistant secretary general of the United
>
> >Nations, now Chancellor emeritus of the University of Peace in Costa Rica
> was one of
>
> >the people who witnessed the founding of the U.N. and has worked in
support
>
> >of or inside the U.N. ever since. Recently he was in San Francisco to be
>
> >honored for his service to the world through the U.N. and through his
>
> >writings and teachings for peace. At age eighty, Dr. Muller surprised,
even
>
> >stunned, many in the audience that day with his most positive assessment
of
>
> >where the world stands now regarding war and peace.
>
> >
>
> >I was there at the gathering and I myself was stunned by his remarks.
What
>
> >he said turned my head around and offered me a new way to see what is
going
>
> >on in the world. My synopsis of his remarks is below:
>
> >
>
> >"I'm so honored to be here," he said. "I'm so honored to be alive at
such
>
> >a miraculous time in history. I'm so moved by what's going on in our
world
>
> >today."
>
> >
>
> >( I was shocked. I thought -- Where has he been? What has he been
reading?
>
> >Has he seen the newspapers? Is he senile? Has he lost it? What is he
>
> >talking about?)
>
> >
>
> >Dr. Muller proceeded to say, "Never before in the history of the world
has
>
> >there been a global, visible, public, viable, open dialogue and
>
> >conversation about the very legitimacy of war".
>
> >
>
> >The whole world is in now having this critical and historic
>
> >dialogue--listening to all kinds of points of view and positions about
>
> >going to war or not going to war. In a huge global public conversation
the
> world
>
> >is asking-"Is war legitimate? Is it illegitimate? Is there enough
evidence
>
> >to warrant an attack? Is there not enough evidence to warrant an attack?
>
> >What will be the consequences? The costs? What will happen after a war?
How
>
> >will this set off other conflicts? What might be peaceful alternatives?
>
> >What kind of negotiations are we not thinking of? What are the real
> intentions
>
> >for declaring war?"
>
> >
>
> >All of this, he noted, is taking place in the context of the United
Nations
>
> >Security Council, the body that was established in 1949 for exactly this
>
> >purpose. He pointed out that it has taken us more than fifty years to
>
> >realize that function, the real function of the U.N. And at this moment
in
>
> >history-- the United Nations is at the center of the stage. It is the
place
>
> >where these conversations are happening, and it has become in these last
>
> >months and weeks, the most powerful governing body on earth, the most
>
> >powerful container for the world's effort to wage peace rather than war.
>
> >Dr. Muller was almost in tears in recognition of the fulfillment of this
> dream.
>
> >
>
> >"We are not at war," he kept saying. We, the world community, are WAGING
>
> >peace. It is difficult, hard work. It is constant and we must not let
up.
>
> >It is working and it is an historic milestone of immense proportions. It
>
> >has never happened before-never in human history-and it is happening
> now-every
>
> >day every hour-waging peace through a global conversation. He pointed out
>
> >that the conversation questioning the validity of going to war has gone
on
>
> >for hours, days, weeks, months and now more than a year, and it may go on
>
> >and on. "We're in peacetime," he kept saying. "Yes, troops are being
moved.
>
> >Yes, warheads are being lined up. Yes, the aggressor is angry and upset
and
>
> >spending a billion dollars a day preparing to attack. But not one shot
has
>
> >been fired. Not one life has been lost. There is no war. It's all a
>
> >conversation."
>
> >
>
> >It is tense, it is tough, it is challenging, AND we are in the most
>
> >significant and potent global conversation and public dialogue in the
>
> >history of the world. This has not happened before on this scale ever
>
> >before-not before WWI or WWII, not before Vietnam or Korea, this is new
and
>
> >it is a stunning new era of Global listening, speaking, and
responsibility.
>
> >
>
> >In the process, he pointed out, new alliances are being formed. Russia
and
>
> >China on the same side of an issue is an unprecedented outcome. France
and
>
> >Germany working together to wake up the world to a new way of seeing the
>
> >situation. The largest peace demonstrations in the history of the world
are
>
> >taking place--and we are not at war! Most peace demonstrations in recent
>
> >history took place when a war was already waging, sometimes for years, as
>
> >in the case of Vietnam.
>
> >
>
> >"So this," he said, "is a miracle. This is what "waging peace " looks
> like."
>
> >No matter what happens, history will record that this is a new era, and
>
> >that the 21st century has been initiated with the world in a global
> dialogue
>
> >looking deeply, profoundly and responsibly as a global community at the
>
> >legitimacy of the actions of a nation that is desperate to go to war.
>
> >Through these global peace-waging efforts, the leaders of that nation are
>
> >being engaged in further dialogue, forcing them to rethink, and allowing
>
> >all nations to participate in the serious and horrific decision to go to
> war or
>
> >not.
>
> >
>
> >Dr. Muller also made reference to a recent New York Times article that
>
> >pointed out that up until now there has been just one superpower-the
United
>
> >States, and that that has created a kind of blindness in the vision of
the
>
> >U.S. But now, Dr. Muller asserts, there are two superpowers: the United
>
> >States and the merging, surging voice of the people of the world.
>
> >
>
> >All around the world, people are waging peace. To Robert Muller, one of
the
>
> >great advocates of the United Nations, it is nothing short of a miracle
and
>
> >it is working.
>
> >
>
> >
>
>
>
>
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>
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