FIRST SECTION OF DISCOURSE BY ADI DA SAMRAJ ON
COOPERATION + TOLERANCE = PEACE
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I. Why War Must No Longer Be Allowed
Until the twentieth century, the destructive potential of war, though great, was (nevertheless)limited. There was a limit to the number of governments that had access to the
most powerful weapons, there was a limit to the destructive potential of those weapons, and there was a limit on the geographic range over which such weapons could be exercised. Therefore, the violence and devastation of war, though
horrific, were nevertheless (to some degree) contained.
Since the mid-twentieth century, the previous restrictions on the destructive potential of war have ceased to be the case. The ability to manufacture or obtain technologically sophisticated weaponry (whether nuclear, chemical, or
biological) is no longer limited to the few, to the governments of the wealthiest and most powerful nations. Indeed, such weapons can potentially be obtained even by small groups of people determined to further their own
particular agendas, at whatever cost. And the destructive potential of existing weaponry is now sufficient to cause unimaginable devastation. Thus, humanity is faced with two new and dangerous realities: The number of parties with
relatively easy access to extreme weapons of war is proliferating rapidly, and the destructive power of those weapons is virtually unlimited.
In the past, it was only the “superpowers” that had the most destructive weapons. Thus, there was a time when it was plausible for a superpower to presume that, by using
conventional weaponry, it could keep outbreaks of armed violence under control, at least to a “satisfactory” degree. However, that time has passed.
When sophisticated weapons of mass destruction are in the hands of many, war (and even armed conflict altogether) ceases to be something that can be “won”. The governments
of the world are, in general, acting as if they do not understand or accept this current reality. Since the twentieth century, war itself has become a threat to all of humankind—not merely to the parties directly involved
in any particular conflict. Therefore, just as slavery came to be recognized as inhumane and (thus) unacceptable, so also war must be made obsolete and no longer allowed. War is a past way of doing things that no longer makes sense
and can no longer be accepted as an appropriate instrument of policy in the modern world.
It may seem naive and idealistic to say that war must no longer be allowed, but this call for the eradication of war is, in fact, a necessary response to two basic realities:
(1) the vastly increased availability of the weapons of mass destruction and
(2)the ego-based (or self-centered) nature of the un-enlightened human being.
Given these realities, war must no longer be allowed as an option—because the potential destruction is far too great.
Therefore, in order to ensure its own survival, the human family must collectively make the choice to refuse and repudiate all acts of war. When that refusal and repudiation
occurs, the governments of the world (and even militarily oriented “interest groups” of all kinds) can be collectively called upon to reject the very
possibility of waging war. And, in order to hasten that collective rejection of
war, people everywhere, and (particularly) leaders in all fields of human
endeavor, must join in speaking this warning: War simply must be ended
now—before it destroys humanity and the Earth itself.
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The whole article is at:
Message 16451634
Or you can download it from:
adidam.org
Namaste!
Jim |
