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Peace on Earth: A Season for Repairing our World
An Editorial by H. Roy Kaplan, Ph.D. |
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BY H. ROY KAPLAN Department of Africana Studies University of South Florida Each year at this time we are asked to give thanks for our bountiful harvest, share our good fortune with others, and talk about peace and brotherhood. What a wonderful idea. If only we could live this way for an entire year! Just think if everyone smiled and said hello to strangers, shared their food with and made larger charitable donations to the poor, practiced the Golden Rule, and intentionally sought to create a more peaceful community, nation and world. Last year I had the good fortune to hear Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak--someone whose life reflects the spirit of the "season" year round. His message was one of understanding, tolerance for differences, the pursuit of justice and peace. But he also discussed the challenges he, Nelson Mandella and others faced in establishing the Truth and Reconcilliation Commission in South Africa. It took courage and compassion to listen to the testimony of victims and perpetrators of monstrous atrocities--and even more to forgive. Forgiving one's enemies for their inhumanity is an essential element on the path to reconciliation, for one cannot embrace the principles of non-violence and peaceful co-existence unless one comes to terms with the enemy within. It is the enemy within that must be conquered before we are able to address the overt manifestations that spring from it: materialism, consumerism, and greed that produce alienation, cultural and social violence and war. We cannot begin to embark on Tikun Olumm, the Hebrew phrase which means repairing the world, without first healing ourselves. We cannot expect others to embrace concepts that we speak of until we practice them. We cannot begin to change the world until we change ourselves, becoming the model that demonstrates a capacity year round for respect, compassion, sharing, love and peace. If you want to change the world, start small, with yourself. If your cause is just others will want to emulate you. Great social change often occurs by the concerted actions of a few dedicated people. Unfortunately, history is replete with the destruction caused by the masses following demagogues. Yet, virtually every religion in the world, as well as people and societies that do not believe in deities, adheres to certain core values: truthfulness, honesty, freedom, equality, fairness, justice, and peace. And we must assume that people would rather emulate that behavior than the obverse perverse view of human nature. It is our obligation to create a society that promotes these core values. In the words of Morgan Heritage: "We're crying for freedom for all mankind We don't care about color Racism is not our style We're fighting for a better world For the young boys and girls This is our contribution towards a better world" We are now at a point in our nation and around the world when we can no longer ignore the violence that is being perpetrated on humans and the environment. We must work harder than ever to demonstrate our commitment to core values in the way we speak and, more importantly, behave in our homes and community. We must exercise the power that is within each one of us to establish peace in our time on our planet, for as Archbishop Tutu noted: " We will always have desperate people as long as we have conditions that make people desperate." In the spirit of this season, and reflecting on the words of Reverend Tutu and the Morgan Heritage group, let us continue to work together to repair our world. -H. Roy Kaplan Department of Africana Studies University of South Florida |
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| Copyright 2004 The University of South Florida and The Africana Heritage Project. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. For more information, contact the Africana Heritage Project via e-mail. | |||||
