The Peace Walkers' Personal Pledge
The inspiration to create this Peace Pledge came about after I attended the "Council For A Parliament Of The World's Religions" in Melbourne, Australia.
The Culver City Area Interfaith Alliance offers you this Peace Pledge. Copy it, print it, sign it, share it with the world.
May Peace Prevail on Earth Now and Forever!
PEACE WALKERS' CALL FOR GLOBAL ACTION AND PERSONAL PLEDGE *
"There is no way to peace -- peace IS the way." --A.J. Muste 1885-1967
WE, the undersigned, as persons of spiritual conviction, hereby declare to all world leaders and international citizens of good will and conscience that all wars are categorically unjustifiable and obsolete -- destroying lives, shattering the collective human psyche, and immorally and recklessly squandering so much of the world's common wealth.
WE further declare the following propositions as imperatives that we can and must embrace for the good of all humanity at this time of unprecedented global challenge, namely, that:
1. PEACE IS A POWERFUL CHOICE. It is a personal pledge: "I take the vow of peace in my thoughts, my speech, and my actions." Whenever conflict arises I have the power to choose the way of peace, and renounce violence of every kind.
2. PEACE IS TRANSFORMATIVE. When faced with the choice between love and fear, peace chooses love. This principle has practical consequences in all spheres of our lives. It is the process whereby the peaceful wayfarer becomes the peaceful way-shower.
3. PEACE IS LIBERATING. Each person is born with the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The path of peace guarantees these rights and affirms freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from fear and freedom from want, inspiring us to speak truth to power.
4. PEACE IS COURAGEOUS. Pursuing peace is neither pacifism nor appeasement. Non-violent resistance is a force more powerful than violence. By declaring an end to war as categorically unjustifiable and obsolete, each of us is challenged to become a spiritual warrior in the cause of peace.
5. PEACE IS ETHICAL. A global ethic of peace and justice already exists in all major faith traditions. "The Golden Rule", simply stated, is "Treat others as you would have them treat you." When this rule is practiced and applied, it heals.
6. PEACE IS HOLISTIC. It acknowledges that no person is an island entire and sufficient unto oneself. We are inter-dependent upon one another; therefore what hurts one hurts all, and what benefits one benefits all.
7. PEACE IS NATURAL. There is nothing more orderly, more lovely or more mysterious than the natural law of the Universe; for out of the pool of silent harmony and light flows unlimited peace, creativity and abundance of which we are each a part, and a child of the Mother Earth who nurtures us all.
8. PEACE IS PRAYERFUL. We each become an instrument of peace by connecting with a greater universal authority, called by many names, or no name. Meditation and prayer are communion with the All in All. Peace seeks reconciliation; it both gives and receives forgiveness.
9. PEACE IS UNITY. We are one family of mankind, one race of people, without strangers or enemies. When we perceive ourselves in this way we build a culture of peace based upon good and beneficial interactions on all levels of human endeavor.
10. PEACE IS DIVERSITY. Peace is unbiased. It abides equally with all, in all, and as all, honoring all paths and origins. Just as the ocean accepts all rivers, so peace welcomes us all.
11. PEACE IS PRACTICAL. Peace requires wise stewardship of the planet's precious resources for ecologically sustainable uses in shared humanitarian causes.
12. PEACE IS ACHIEVABLE. The desire for peace will bring peace and the beginning of endless possibilities. The seed of peace dwells within us all, awaiting the birth of a new paradigm that transforms violence by nurturing loving kindness.
13. PEACE IS A SACRED TRUST. It is not for ourselves alone that we pursue peace, but as an essential legacy unto all generations. Our planet cries out for a livable future with each of us serving as responsible co-creators. Our children deserve no less.
THEREFORE,
I _________________________________on this ____ day of _____, ________ (month year)
hereby pledge to walk in peace, and count myself among "the men and women of a generation to whom the chance is given to build in time a world of peace." **
* © 2010 by the Culver City Area Interfaith Alliance.
For information call Jahan Stanizai, President, (310) 467-3337 or e-mail [email protected]
** Dag Hammarskjold, 1905-1961, President of the United Nations.
THE CULVER CITY AREA INTERFAITH ALLIANCE was formed in December 1998, as a partner with Culver City (California, U.S.A.) to function in areas of community need. Before the Culver City Council on January 21, 2001, the Alliance -- consisting of about 15 local religious and spiritual organizations, from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Baha'i, Buddhist and New Thought traditions -- made the following Peace Proclamation: "The Interfaith Alliance calls upon all of the people of the Culver City Area to join with us in adopting and incorporating into their lives the following statements:
Culver City will be a city of Peace.
We choose to live in harmony and to walk in forgiveness.
We join together to reject violence as a response to disagreement.
We affirm that we shall all work together to promote peace and trust
between individuals and communities in our country.
We pray for guidance in seeking reconciliation with each other."
Since that time the Alliance has grown increasingly more global in its outlook, while continuing to function on a local level. In 2006 the Alliance became a "Cooperation Circle" of the United Religions Initiative (URI), aligning with its mission "to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings."
The following members and associates of the Culver City Area Interfaith Alliance were instrumental in creating this declaration, first published on July 4, 2010:
| Jahan Stanizai -- Muslim, President of the Culver City Area Interfaith Alliance Lucy Bailey -- Christian Science Penny Choy -- Methodist Sura Dasa -- Hare Krsna Rev. Doris Davis -- Interfaith minister / Unity Rev. Stephen Longfellow Fiske -- Interfaith Unity and Diversity minister Jennifer Glaser -- Christian Science Rabbi Yehuda Grundman -- Jewish |
Thomas M. Hedberg, Ph.D., LMFT, Interfaith Chaplain Sister Mary Jensch -- Roman Catholic Simran Kaur Khalsa - Sikh Dharma of L.A. Karen Macedonio -- Kabbalah student Anthony Manousos -- Quaker Mariam Nahapetyan --Armenian Orthodox Church Rev. Paul Nugent -- The Aetherius Society Gene Rothman -- Jewish |
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THE PEACE WALKERS' URGENT CALL FOR GLOBAL ACTION AND PERSONAL PLEDGE was inspired by - and emanates from - the Divine Consciousness flowing through us, and the spiritual ideals and writings of countless thinkers, leaders, peacemakers and traditions, but most notably: (In Alphabetic Order)
Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, Deepak Chopra, A Course in Miracles, John Donne, Dwight D. Eisenhower, St. Francis of Assisi, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Thich Nhat Hahn, Dag Hammarskjold, Rabbi Hillel, Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, Thomas Jefferson, Jesus of Nazareth, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Hans Kung, Mother Theresa, A.J. Muste, Native American Traditions, Osho, Quaker Tradition, Jalaluddin Rumi, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Unity and Diversity World Council.
The Culver City Area Interfaith Alliance
Invites you to participate in
THE PEACE WALKERS'
URGENT CALL FOR GLOBAL ACTION
AND PERSONAL PLEDGE