"Love One Another"
Why are Wars even necessary when all we need do is care for each other?

Rising to our Higher Selves

War and Militarism is So 20th Century!

It's Time to Shed It — And Instead...

"Make Gentle the Life of This World" — Robert F. Kennedy

With the American Ideals

“A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies” — Martin Luther King, Jr


Meeting each other and all through the spirit of:

*Equality

* Brotherhood

* Respect

* Friendliness

* Openness

* Empathy

* Understanding

* Generosity

* Caring

* Sharing

* Wisdom

* Creativeness

With the Founding Fathers of America

"Be People of Virtue" — George Washington

What Does it Mean to be Free?

What Did the Founding Fathers Mean By Liberty?

What is the Purpose of Ethics?

Where Do Human Rights Come From?

What Part Does Conscience Play in All the Sorrow and Uncertainty?

"Conscience is a little spark of celestial fire" – George Washington

Individuality Defined and Refined

Knowing Yourself

* Hu-Man

** Independent

** Empowered

** Sovereign

** Individual

**Creative

** Unique

**Infinite

** Noble

**Brave

With the Invitation of John F. Kennedy

Seeing the Light that Supports and Moves Life

On a Human Level and in a Human Way

"And You will Know the Truth and the Truth Shall Set You Free" – John 8:32

"God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all" – 1 John 1:5

"Build Light Upon Light" – Islam



Rise to the Light

The Spiritual UN

A Seamless Reflection and Journey of the Inner & Outer Worlds and Moving Toward "Other" Through the Knowledge of our Oneness with All Life
 

How we can move from war, hunger and poverty to peace, happiness and plenty for all! Love is stronger than death   Humanity and nature are One Life, indeed!   It's in All of Us! Making an Even More Perfect Union of Life, Liberty and Happiness for All The Spiritual UN's Heart Centered Holistic Paradigm The coming together of East with West, of the indigenous and modern in the Brotherhood of Man, with the onward noble principles, Ideals and Light of the American Founding, with freedom, liberty and happiness at its finest in a spiritually based economic system, and a thriving natural Planet that cares for the needs of all and connects with the Source and Love from our Soul—ALL as the Creator made Life to be, One and Whole—joyous, thriving learning and loving, compassionate and humane. Build it TOGETHER as a Brotherhood of Man Peace, Love, Light, Compassion  & Humaneness is THE ONLY WAY for Humanity Mothers' Day Proclamation of 1870 — Thinking of Ourselves in Terms of Simply the Human Race as One Family The Place for Our Ultimate  Union — Human * * * Contemporary Poetry  for a Failing Time Send us Your Submissions Islam Reveres Jesus and the  Blessed Virgin Mary Our Voice with Your Voice Mom and Pop Stores Lifting Up the Love Vibe: The Invitation Another World is Possible — Simply Waiting Your Consent We Don't Need Prisons One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for Mankind God and Prayer — Our Third Force in the World Animals Show the Way and Debunk Darwin's Theory with the Alignment to our Highest and Greatest Potential * * * "Faith goes up the stairs that love has built and looks out the window which hope has  opened" —  Charles  Spurgeon Join The Spiritual UN in its Humanities Vision The Vision The Framework The Ladder of LOVE A Kinder, Gentler Planet  YOU Reflections on a Drought Ridden Nation A Nation in Dis-GRACE What Does it Mean to be "Under the Pledge" and Why Do Muslims Fast? It has Been Said Over, and Over "A nation that continues year after year to spend more on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death" – Martin Luther King, Jr, Riverside Church 4 April 1967, New York City A war planet is the error of our way:  The Quran, Islam's revealed text, states: "O my people! Seek forgiveness of your Lord and turn to Him in repentance. He will send you from the sky abundant rain." (Quran, 11:52)   War is Not the Way The Way to Make Peace Real— Peace, Light and Love Getting our Groove Back on Planet Earth   Join with Us in the Right Kind of Vision Love Unites with Rights "America's Destiny is Not Power, but Light" — Benjamin Franklin Carrying Forward the Founders Universal Ideals Through the Rejection  of Revenge, Aggression, Racism, War and Violence

"Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation.  The foundation of such a method is love." .... "Darkness cannot drive out darkness:  only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate:  only love can do that." — Martin Luther King, Jr "Turn Away Evil with That Which is Better" — Islam —  Quran, 41, 34 – 35 The Religious and Rational Person's Response to 9/11: Make Something Better With Us — The Way for Love in a "More Perfect Union" of Humanity  We Can All Get Along Getting back to Margaritaville

Turning September 11 into an Act of Non-Violence
 and the Abolition of All War

"Satyagraha" – The Pursuit of Truth

"It is contradictory to try to use unjust means to obtain justice
 or to try to use violence to obtain peace."

"Speak the Truth Because  Truth is God" – Gandhi Food for Thought – Reflections on an Atheist System

Two Greats of Inner Change Make Justice the Outer Change

“The theory of satyagraha sees means and ends as inseparable. The means used to obtain an end are wrapped up in and attached to that end.  The bottom line of Satyagraha therefore, is that it is contradictory to try to use unjust means to obtain justice or to try to use violence to obtain peace.  Satyagraha is a synthesis of the Sanskrit words satya (meaning 'truth') and Agraha ('pursuit of').  Martin Luther King Jr. defined Satyagraha as 'Love in Action." – Carol Brouillet, on Sheth haji Habib, an old Muslim resident of South Africa who was inspired to consciously speak out and state his decision to act in defiance of an unjust law that targeted the Indian population of South Africa

Justice and Love

"Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice.
 Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love" — Martin Luther King, Jr

What's Wrong with This Picture?

Widening Economic Disparity All Across the Planet
64 MILLION Brand New Empty Homes in China	In America 3 million families foreclosed upon; 30 million people in need of employment; 43 million people on food stamps; 52 million people in poverty; 59 million people without healthcare; 239 million living paycheck to paycheck; $144 billion in Wall Street bonuses; $13 Trillion in investible wealth within 1% of US population

And This?

Why Is War and Militarism More Important Than Life Itself?

What the War Economy Has Done to the
 Lives of Americans

"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." – Martin Luther King, Jr.   A Word for the Children "To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical." –Thomas Jefferson

 War is a Crime Against Humanity
Not Fit for a Human World

"War is the greatest suppressor of civil liberties. War is the greatest destroyer of religion, morality, and decency. War is the greatest creator of fertile ground for genocides and atrocities. War is the greatest destroyer of families and young lives. War is the greatest creator of famine, disease, and homelessness. War is the health of the state." — Lawrence Vance, Christianity and War

Real Men Don't Kill

A Talk on Values

"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes … known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.… No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare." — James Madison, Political Observations, 1795

"War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes." — Major General Smedley Butler, USMC

The Universality of the Liberty Bell

Welcome! Welcome back to thy hallowed resting place, From whence thou proclaimed Liberty to every race!
Forever may the North, the South, the East, the West, As brothers and Patriots, guard thee in thy rest!

“We are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems
 so close around us"— Martin Luther King, Jr

War and Poverty No More —
Doing Our World Right

Should Monolithic-Monopoly Business Take Over the Natural Earth? Some Things Should Just be Unacceptable Have You Been Scared Silly About Islam?  Check Out This Did You Know That War is a Forced and Fabricated Condition into Humanity's World? Social Credit vs Usury Social Credit is a Spiritually Agreeable Mode of Economic  Upliftment of the People and of the Nation

Can We Refresh Our Common Humanity? Deciding Something Better — Caring for Everyone's Needs Religions Have a Purpose Did You Know That All Things Are Connected Through a Moral Law of the Universe? The Land Beneath Us and Moral Principles Go Hand-in-Hand The Hopi Prophecy and Message to the World: We're Listening

Humanity Coming Together Beyond Our Contrived Divisions

How to Get The Spiritual UN Manifesto Here

Proceeds of the Book will Go toward Building The Spiritual UN
for the New, Ploughshares World Through the Natural Way
 

"There is no fear in Love, but perfect Love casteth out Fear ...." – 1 John 4:18

"Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace. "  – Buddha (560-483 B.C.)

Wisdom Tell Us to Always Question Reality

The Crookedness of War Contemporary Reflections on Manufactured War "It is time to reassert the primacy of individual conscience, the voice of reason,  and the rightful interests of humanity" : Retired U.S. Air Force General, Lee Butler  Islamophobia In Western Media — By Stephen Lendman "Every country that seeks to obtain the consent of its citizens for war must construct  an enemy that is feared and hated." Oceans of Blood and Profits for the Mongers of War — Robert Fisk Perpetual War and Perpetual Peace — Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja 11 Steps to Create World Class Terrorists — Raja G. Mujtaba Say No to Nuclear War — Michael Chossudovsky Globalization and Militarization: The Root Causes of the Worldwide  War Against Humanity — by Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat "Neoliberal globalization is a conscious betrayal of the interests of  99% of the people on this planet."   Fool Me Once   Fool Me Twice War is the Enemy of All   The Full Story in Remembering the War Dead It is Better to .... "Remember the Lies and Liars that Killed Them" A Memorial Day Worth Celebrating by Andy Rooney "I wish we can dedicate Memorial Day not to the memory of those who have died at war, but to the idea of saving — the lives of the young people who are going to die in the future.  If we don't find some new way,  some new religion maybe, that takes war out of our lives,  that would be a Memorial Day worth celebrating." Afghan Child of Depleted Uranium Wars Truth in Media * * * Futuristic War Planners — A Future We, The People, of This Earth, Cannot Accept Let it Be Known   False Flag Wars and Exopolitics — Werner Von Braun & Dr Carol Rosin Cosmic Deception: Let the Citizen Beware — Steven M. Greer, M.D. "War in space, to replace war on Earth, is not evolution, but cosmic madness. A world thus united in fear  is worse than one divided by ignorance. It is now time for the great leap into the future, a leap that  moves us out of fear and ignorance and into an unbroken era of universal peace.  Know that this is our destiny. And it will be ours just as soon as we choose it." The Spiritual UN — Coming Together through Love,  and No Longer through Manufactured Fear

The Humanities Vision — The Other Possibility on the Planet

Not Your Wartime UN

"All Together in a Direction, in Which All Together Can Join and Find Completion!" The People's, "A More Perfect Union" so that we may, in the words of George Washington, attain "the last stage of Human perfection." About Vision Statement of Purpose And yes, individual rights count as God gave it to be.

Compassion Over War for the Joy of All End War, Heal the Great Religions, and Unite Humanity for it's Last Stage of Human Perfection Bottom Line: Let's Get a New Gig—The Age of Sacrifice is Over A Place and a Space for a Rebirth of a Peace Loving America The Spiritual UN Building Fund

Adjusting Our Spectacles for a New World View!

Claim Manhood with Nobility— Real Men Don't Kill

Claim Your Heart and Mind for  Humanity and the Earth

Claim Motherhood and the  Feminine Essence

Interpreting the Signs of Intelligent Life

Alton Barnes, Earth Separation Crop Circle , Wiltshire, July 26, 2010.

This elegant crop circle appeared during the time of a powerful lunar eclipse on that date.  Its image seems to illustrate the earth dividing into two planets, like a cell during mitosis.  The alien hieroglyphs on the top rim of the circle are seemingly designed to be read in a number of languages; in English it would seem to read, "Your Choice".

Our Choice:



Is it Militarism and War on This Planet, or Is it
the Unity and Oneness of All Life as the Creator Made It?

Re-Envisioning America's Dream
 — "A More Perfect Union"

Because War Deceives

Equality and Truth — East Meets West
Islam and Christianity Are Brothers in Principle

Unity in Diversity

Politics Divides, Love Unites

See it in Action

Extraordinary Christ-like Actions in Extraordinary Times
The Captives Feed Their Captors

An example of the Spirit of Human Brotherhood

A Peaceful and Healthy Planet is Possible

Should Monolithic-Monopoly Business Take Over
the Natural Earth?

Some Things Should Just be Unacceptable

Can We Refresh Our Common Humanity?
Deciding Something Better — Caring for Everyone's Needs

Religions Have a Purpose

Did You Know That All Things Are Connected Through
 a Moral Law of the Universe?

The Land Beneath Us and Moral Principles Go Hand-in-Hand
The Hopi Prophecy and Message to the World: We're Listening

Revisiting God — As the Oneness of All Life  and the Union of the Heart Centered Human Race

A Dive Into God and Unity
We are All One Life

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator
 with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" – Declaration of Independence

Malice Toward None

The Essence of a Human Being
Love is What We Are

"We are Spiritual Beings
 
Having a Human Experience, Not Human Beings Having a
 Spiritual Experience" ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Phar Lap – The Spirit and Heart in All of Us —
A Reminder of Our Individuality

Humans and All Living Things on the Planet in
 the Fellowship of the Sacred Circle



What Could the "Kingdom of God on Earth" Be Like?

"This is the sea into which our individual rivers flow where we like dolphins can play and be happy together without war, without usury, without one group always trying to take from the others when man is made for delighting others with what our unique being can create for each other's benefit.  Of such is the Kingdom of God.” – Dick Eastman

Our World is Empowered by the Sacred

Taking a Closer Look at Our Linked Humanity
 and Spirituality — As the Creation of Our Reality

Rising to a New Consciousness

"With God All Things Are Possible" — Matthew 19: 24 - 26

The New Earth Sacred Prayer

Science and Religion are Inwardly and Outwardly Connected

"Religion without Science is Blind, and Science
 without Religion is Lame" ~ Albert Einstein



Traditions with Deep Roots —
Where Life, Knowledge, the Human and the Cosmos Intersect

Work and Visions of a Planet in Harmony

Sharing in Sacred Space
Islam and Christianity

"You Cannot Serve God and Mammon"

Moral Clarity on Usury

"People are Going to Rise Up and Get Their Share"


Poetry Corner

A Salute to Truth

The Hurt of the Earth — This is No Way to Live —
Making a Return to the Earth's and the Body's Own Natural Order

“A partnership exists between humanity and Nature. When the relationship is optimum, they work for a mutual improvement whose result is paradise. When humanity bends Nature out of shape for the purpose of blind self interest then the result is Hell. Paradise on Earth and Hell on Earth are the two prime options, with a chiaroscuro fan that opens between them. Balance is the trademark of the one end and imbalance is the accelerating condition on the other.” — Dog poet

Featured Ethic:

"I am opposed to the system of society in which we live today, not because I lack the natural equipment to do for myself but because I am not satisfied to make myself comfortable knowing that there are thousands of my fellow men who suffer for the barest necessities of life. We were taught under the old ethic that man's business on this earth was to look out for himself. That was the ethic of the jungle; the ethic of the wild beast. Take care of yourself, no matter what may become of your fellow man. Thousands of years ago the question was asked; ''Am I my brother's keeper?'' That question has never yet been answered in a way that is satisfactory to civilized society. "Yes, I am my brother's keeper. I am under a moral obligation to him that is inspired, not by any maudlin sentimentality but by the higher duty I owe myself. What would you think me if I were capable of seating myself at a table and gorging myself with food and saw about me the children of my fellow beings starving to death." – Eugene V. Debs, Humanitarian

A Dive Into God and Unity

"A God of Liberty"

"The fire he (Prometheus) claims to have gifted to man, actually came from God, through the light of conscience. The fact that men deny their conscience in their pursuit of pleasure, power and a sensual existence, cannot be blamed on God. If God were to deny men their Liberty and Free will, He would defeat His own Divine purposes and the mortal education of His children. After all, we are here in this temporary condition to learn how to prize the good above the evil." "Anything less would make God the very essence of tyranny, and change Him into a foolish mortal or a fallen Lucifer, a virtual impossibility. Our God is a God of Liberty." – Paul Drockton

The One God of All

The Oneness of God is Not in
 a Geographical Location

Uniting Our Spirit with Nature

Nii Gaani Aki Inini – Leading Earth Man
Anishnabe Nation, Eagle Clan

God and You

New Glory Flag — No Other Nation on Earth But HUMAN
in the Fellowship of the Path of Non-Violence on the Planet



Religion

Many Pathways to the One Universal God Over All

"Every Heart Melts in the Rapture of the Beloved"

Malice Toward None

 

"Touched ... by the Better Angels of Our Nature"  – Abraham Lincoln
First Inaugural in Trajectory to the Second Inaugural ("Malice Toward None")



A Young Rachel Corrie – Touched by Her Better Angels

"Love alone can unite living beings so as to complete and fulfil them... for it alone joins them
 by what is deepest in themselves. All we need is to imagine our ability to love developing
 until it embraces the totality of men and the earth." – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

"Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and Morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great Nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence"  – George Washington

"A New Birth of Freedom"
 – Abraham Lincoln

"Non-Violent Co-Existence
 – Martin Luther King, Jr

"The Common Enemies of Man: Tyranny,
 Poverty, Disease and War"
– John F. Kennedy

"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why...
 I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"
 – Robert F. Kennedy

 

The Essence of a Human Being

The Story of a Journalist and a Sage
 

Rising to a New Consciousness

Taking Up the Great Double-Sided Seal
 of the United States of America in a Gentle Way:

E Pluribus Unum –  Out of Many, "One"
— Creative Move Forward in Total Health, Healing, Harmony, Happiness,
  Prosperity and Fulfilling Life for America and Planet-Wide

 

The Human Race Can Rise Above Fear of Itself – "A More Perfect Union" as the American Founders Brought into Our Vision

We can rise to create a Human foundation for the world that recognizes that we are all human beings with the same hopes, dreams, issues and concerns regardless of race, religion, color and creed ~~

We can rise to engage and express the diversity of the human race, the best in us all, for the just solutions that enable equality, prosperity and the well being of all which includes—in one seamless whole—the animals, the environment and the ecosystems ~

We can rise to enable and share new ideas, knowledge and concepts to take us further into living and learning and expanding our consciousness with all life on the Planet that harms none and joyfully lifts all ~~

We can rise to know that war is a worthless, self-destructive and harmful enterprise and would disappear completely if it is an educated and highly informed choice based on truth and not a way of life based on lies—"no standing armies" as the American Founders laid down to prevent deceptions and tyranny ~~

By all this The Spiritual UN stands up and stands apart to rid ourselves of our mistake of War empire and its incumbent toxicness to ourselves and all life on this Planet once and for all—for we are all interconnected and thereby have this one Planet to care for and enjoy together.

A Liberating Vision –  The Light of Liberty to Shine Again – Better and Stronger through The Spiritual UN!

We, The People, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish:

An enlightened, healthy and peace-loving pathway where time is now our own and money is abundant for all as we have seen to.  By this,

We are truly learning and living freedom and health:  self and planetary.  We are expressing our immense diversity of enterprise and creativity all over the Planet that harms none and helps all.

With equity and equality everywhere in the world advanced without war—we are free to move where we wish where we are all doing what we love through the full potential in us all as a turn to exploring the vastness and wonders of our inner space where spirituality and science have merged.

All our money and creativity for the advancement, well being and the highest potential in ourselves, for all people everywhere, sharing and caring, helping and upholding all that is good, true, beautiful and right, along with the care of the Earth.

All this as the true and only meaning of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” as the American Founders desired and began for the Human Race. 

We invite and welcome all into this life-giving, liberating and joyful vision on the only Planet we have to fully express our lives and our light to fulfil a better destiny for Humankind that no longer involves war. 

Indeed, this is why we have a better kind of UN right here, in the Teilhard de Chardin visionary track for the Earth and Humanity to pick up where the American Founders signed on.
 

Prayer for a New Earth

When Great Things Happened

George Washington in Prayer

The Power of Love in Prayer And the Humility of Great Men

Abraham Lincoln in the Call for a National Day of Fasting and Prayer April 30

A Unified Planetary Prayer-Meditation-Visualization for Renewing
 Our Partnership with God in the Global Implications
 of the Gulf of Mexico Disaster and Other
 Preventable Catastrophes

"With God All Things Are Possible" — Matthew 19: 24 - 26   The New Earth Sacred Prayer In the Stillness of Our Breath Connected to Eternity We Ask Thee God to Neutralize All Harm on the Planet Earth, Sky, Land and Sea Through all Bodies That Live Through Thee and Thy Creation In Praise and Liberty We Visualize Your Being Your Goodness, Greatness and Mercy In the Birth of a New Earth Happy and Free Where All Are Guided by Thee Through the Angels of Our Better Nature Always Looking Up to Thee  In the Progress and Uplift of our Humanity In the Great Cosmic Mystery Amen

Sharing in Sacred Space

A Christian and Islamic Start to the American Nation "Under God"
— Protector of All Human Rights and Freedom
Against All Tyranny and Tyrants

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  – The American Declaration of Independence, 1776

"In the eyes of my Lord, All People are Equal."  – The Prophet of Islam, 610 A.D.

The Peace and Civilization of Islam
“There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world ..."

Christmas – The Celebration of the Christos in the World

Everyday

Islam and the Christians

Muslims and Christians together constitute over 50 percent of the world. If they lived in peace, we would be half way to world peace. One small step we can take towards fostering Muslim-Christian harmony is to tell and retell positive stories and abstain from mutual demonization.

In this article I propose to remind both Muslims and Christians about a promise that Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) made to Christians. The knowledge of this promise can have enormous impact on Muslim conduct towards Christians. Muslims generally respect the precedent of their Prophet and try to practice it in their lives.

In 628 AD, a delegation from St. Catherine’s Monastery came to Prophet Muhammed and requested his protection. He responded by granting them a charter of rights, which I reproduce below in its entirety. St. Catherine’s Monastery is located at the foot of Mt. Sinai and is the world’s oldest monastery. It possesses a huge collection of Christian manuscripts, second only to the Vatican, and is a world heritage site. It also boasts the oldest collection of Christian icons. It is a treasure house of Christian history that has remained safe for 1,400 years under Muslim protection.

The Promise to St. Catherine:

“This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them. Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them. No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’ houses. Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God’s covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate. No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants. No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world).”

The first and the final sentence of the charter are critical. They make the promise eternal and universal. Muhammed asserts that Muslims are with Christians near and far, straight away rejecting any future attempts to limit the promise to St. Catherine alone. By ordering Muslims to obey it until the Day of Judgment the charter again undermines any future attempts to revoke the privileges. These rights are inalienable. Muhammed declared Christians, all of them, as his allies and he equated ill treatment of Christians with violating God’s covenant.

A remarkable aspect of the charter is that it imposes no conditions on Christians for enjoying its privileges. It is enough that they are Christians. They are not required to alter their beliefs, they do not have to make any payments and they do not have any obligations. This is a charter of rights without any duties!

The document is not a modern human rights treaty, but even though it was penned in 628 A.D. it clearly protects the right to property, freedom of religion, freedom of work, and security of the person.

I know most readers, must be thinking, So what? Well the answer is simple. Those who seek to foster discord among Muslims and Christians focus on issues that divide and emphasize areas of conflict. But when resources such as Muhammad’s promise to Christians is invoked and highlighted it builds bridges. It inspires Muslims to rise above communal intolerance and engenders good will in Christians who might be nursing fear of Islam or Muslims.

When I look at Islamic sources, I find in them unprecedented examples of religious tolerance and inclusiveness. They make me want to become a better person. I think the capacity to seek good and do good inheres in all of us. When we subdue this predisposition towards the good, we deny our fundamental humanity. In this holiday season, I hope all of us can find time to look for something positive and worthy of appreciation in the values, cultures and histories of other peoples.

Dr. Muqtedar Khan is Director of Islamic Studies at the University of Delaware and a fellow of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding.

The Christmas Truce

On Christmas Day, 1914, in the first year of World War I, German, British, and French soldiers disobeyed their superiors and fraternized with "the enemy" along two-thirds of the Western Front. German troops held Christmas trees up out of the trenches with signs, "Merry Christmas." "You no shoot, we no shoot." Thousands of troops streamed across a no-man's land strewn with rotting corpses. They sang Christmas carols, exchanged photographs of loved ones back home, shared rations, played football, even roasted some pigs. Soldiers embraced men they had been trying to kill a few short hours before. They agreed to warn each other if the top brass forced them to fire their weapons, and to aim high. 

A shudder ran through the high command on either side. Here was disaster in the making: soldiers declaring their brotherhood with each other and refusing to fight. Generals on both sides declared this spontaneous peacemaking to be treasonous and subject to court martial. By March, 1915 the fraternization movement had been eradicated and the killing machine put back in full operation. By the time of the armistice in 1918, fifteen million would be slaughtered.  

Not many people have heard the story of the Christmas Truce. Military leaders have not gone out of their way to publicize it. On Christmas Day, 1988, a story in the Boston Globe mentioned that a local FM radio host played "Christmas in the Trenches," a ballad about the Christmas Truce, several times and was startled by the effect. The song became the most requested recording during the holidays in Boston on several FM stations. "Even more startling than the number of requests I get is the reaction to the ballad afterward by callers who hadn't heard it before," said the radiohost. "They telephone me deeply moved, sometimes in tears, asking, `What the hell did I just hear?'"  

I think I know why the callers were in tears. The Christmas Truce story goes against most of what we have been taught about people. It gives us a glimpse of the world as we wish it could be and says, "This really happened once." It reminds us of those thoughts we keep hidden away, out of range of the TV and newspaper stories that tell us how trivial and mean human life is. It is like hearing that our deepest wishes really are true: the world really could be different.  

Excerpted from David G. Stratman, We CAN Change the World: The Real Meaning of Everyday Life (New Democracy Books, 1991). Available for $3.00 from New Democracy Books, P.O. Box 427, Boston, MA 02130.  

Comment

From Patricia Doyle, PhD

12-24-06   ... 

The top brass really did not know how to handle the situation at the time. Lone voices rising out of the trenches saying 'Merry Christmas.' Amazing. One opposing soldier was given a German helmet by a German soldier who said he needed it back for a parade the next day. He trusted the his opponent to give it back to him.  

These folks had so much trust in their hearts for one another. They were, on all sides, total victims of circumstance and greed and international 'politics'...  

Sadly, the aftermath of WW1 was the direct cause of WW2, and is the cause of much of our troubles today.  America was duped into entering WW1. That hideous war should have never happened at all.  

America, War Deceives   

"Beyond Vietnam:  A Time to Break Silence" — Martin Luther King, Jr's Pivotal Speech

 One should always strive to seek the truth wherein lies the basis for all good, just
 and lasting peace and for goodness to truly prevail on the Earth.

"WAR – Waste of muscle, waste of brain: Waste of patience, waste of pain:
  Waste of work, waste of wealth: Waste of beauty, waste of health:
 Waste of blood and waste of tears: Waste of youth's most
 precious years:  Waste of ways the saints have trod:
Waste of glory, waste of GOD"

– Geoffrey  Studdert Kennedy, Anglican priest and poet, World War 1

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"Still Falls the Rain"

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