In concluding my book, I emphasize the need for changes in the cultural values of citizens around the world. These changes include truly independent judicial systems that are founded upon the universal values of compassion toward all others and actions that emphasize fairness and equality of opportunity to live a good life. This implies replacing the tribal-scale systems of honor with larger-scale trusted systems of justice organized at state, national, and global scales. It is the clan and tribal systems of honor that often lead to violence, torture of others, and nepotism. The foregoing considerations apply to peacemaking in the Middle East, in other third world nations, and in Western industrial nations, including America. Closed minds and tribal (small) scale commitments are found in all of these areas. Limited influence, power, and frustration at not knowing how to negotiate peaceably with ones oppressors and exploiters who are in power often lead to violent responses. Such responses are found in street gangs, rebellious outcasts from society with little hope in their future, regressive believers of orthodox religious and/or political beliefs, and the like.
Updating political and religious traditions to make them more relevant will not be easy. I believe that some kind of independent and trustworthy judicial hierarchy guided by universal moral principles is needed to provide checks and balances for the narrow perspectives that sometimes dominate religious, political and corporate organizations. Poorly educated leaders in third world countries mislead their people, especially those with little or no education. They mislead them to use religious justifications to support evil actions. Somewhat similar problems arise among Christian believers wherein clerics follow a selective literalist approach to theology, one that is often slanted by extremist political tactics.
When political perspectives dominate the religious ones, tactics such as single-issue politics can take over, especially before elections. It is important to separate the tribal aspects of traditional cultures from the basic human values that are propagated by the main world religions. The intent of the basic and universal political and religious values can be maintained as the old cultural traditions are changed.
The counseling and teaching of young persons and adults must include providing road maps that help each person navigate their own paths of life. Such navigation requires commitment to ever-increasing scales of perspective taking and community, and climbing their own path toward transcendent perspectives and relations to transcendent powers while maintaining a balance between commitments to personal development and community development.
Development of strong personal identities requires extending compassion to others and serving the welfare of diverse others. Emotional energy should be channeled toward helping, nurturing and caring for others, not by dominating their lives, but by training and teaching for self-sufficiency within supportive communities. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's) provide many opportunities for serving communities in positive and constructive ways.
Religious leaders need to learn how to build a sacred set of memories and stories about persons with good characters that their followers will internalize to some extent. Sacred symbols can be in the forms of songs and poetry, but they should not sacralize violent acts from the past, which often serves to perpetuate hatred, or lead to the idea that one's group is a chosen people. Marc Gopin made these latter points in his book "Between Eden and Armageddon".
Immigrants can follow paths to: assimilation, reorientation (rather than regression), and some mix of assimilation and reorientation. How much of the culture does one change through assimilation? What parts of the culture should be de-emphasized and which parts strengthened? Who will teach critical thinking - public schools, mosque, church, parents, or some combination of the four? How should parents control exposure to television and movies, pornography, consumer habits, credit buying, conspicuous consumption, and the like? How can the government help parents in the foregoing? Which interpretations of the sacred writings should be de-emphasized and which should be emphasized? How is this best accomplished? Which elements of laws and customs are mandatory for all faithful followers and which allow for flexible applications and interpretations? The answers to these questions cannot be generalized, but must suit the particular needs of individuals and communities in their respective contexts.
If Americans were to take advantage of their great religious and cultural diversity and find the leadership to use this diversity to expand shared experiences with others, for children in school, and for adults of all ages, then we will move closer to living peaceably in an inclusive pluralistic society. We did this after the Second World War through NGO's such as the International Institute, which was a social service NGO that helped Japanese and German war brides adapt and assimilate into the American culture. In addition, the major religious leaders should reorient the interpretations of their sacred writings to place more emphasis on compassion toward others with stories of constructive actions that built bridges of relationships with others, and on working together to live in peace. They should train leaders of independent citizen groups to de-emphasize conspicuous consumption, sacred violence, and other outdated cultural traditions. If Americans could succeed in achieving a cure for "Affluenza", we could become a true light unto the world. All these changes need to be accomplished with patience, respect, and tender loving care. Abuse and exploitation of individuals by: communities, and by corporations on national, global, and regional scales (such as neo-colonialism or ethnic cleansing) must not be tolerated. Such abuse is evil and requires a strong and immediate worldwide response, not only responses by local, national and regional politicians, leaders, and scholars. Too often, religious and governmental leaders do not speak out, for fear or lack of courage. I would extend this to say that early warnings concerning misuse of religion for selfish and evil purposes provided by a highly respected organization that has a global perspective, is a way of warning similar to that, which 2500 years ago, was done by respected prophets. The mass media and many mainline Christian leaders seem to be cowed by right-wing members in their own congregation and by the Patriot Act to the point of stifling dissent and debate, fearing loss of support, their job, and so on. We need more mainline religious leaders to take on prophetic roles.
I mentioned earlier in this description that some kind of judicial hierarchy is desirable, but also desired are forums for debate, dialogue, and reconciliation to assist governments, religious bodies, and communities in learning the perspectives of others around the world. Open discussion is an essential tool to provide transparency where secrecy is rampant. We need safe and open forums and round-table discussions. The media need to carry such forums into prime-time programming. But how does one reach those who avoid such programs and are captured by sport broadcasts, and violent and adolescent prime-time shows?
Our world has become so interconnected by widespread application of new electronic communication technology, it makes learning the ethno-religious backgrounds and perspectives of others around the world much easier to accomplish as long as the media moguls do not censor out such constructive programs. I believe that these technology-induced changes could, and hopefully will, lead us all into a new age of mutual appreciation and tolerance of ethno-religious differences and enable us to work together for peace. Also, exposure to different interpretations of universal values and their application presented by the new electronic media will lead to unification and reduction of differences in interpretation. Increasing activity in a global arena for learning and discussion; arenas such as the United Nations and the United Nations Association can help this unification over a period of many decades. Those cultural values associated with global business, travel and education will slowly change toward a more common language, though particular ethnic traditions and arts might remain as key parts of a society's historical and geographic base. The latter are likely to remain more important to those persons who prefer the support of familiar traditions.
I end this book description with the mission statement from a website that examines how we can build a world beyond war. The “… mission is to explore, develop, and promote effective ideas, methods and actions that will build a world in which conflicts are resolved nonviolently.” Their URL is: (www.beyondwar.org). A book with the title: Peace is Possible is described in the web site: (http://www.peaceispossible.info/). I quote from that website: “Peace, - who will invest energy and time in an impossible cause? “This question was the one Fredrik S. Heffermehl, a Norwegian lawyer and Vice President of the International Peace Bureau, after over a decade of international peace work, identified as the main obstacle for peace politics.” “Everyone is for peace - and sees that it is a matter of survival. Why then, are so many so passive? Why do so few invest time and money in peace? Is the answer that, even with sympathy for these goals, people see the military sector as a too well established, too powerful opponent?"
Comments from two readers of my book follow.
Professor James W. Fowler, a writer of many books on ethics and religious faith wrote the following after scanning an early web-version of my book, which he called a "vital project". "First I was struck by your having paid some attention to my "Faithful Change", and connected it to a larger body of literature that frames our present bitter world conflicts. Then I read much further, with growing excitement, about the perspectives you draw into the frame in which you work." Fowler continued: "... (You) quote the works of others (always with references), and make their salient points part of a larger and powerful effort to understand why we are in great difficulty as a human community. And then you share what tools and resources of faith can we try to marshal in the effort to try to close the evolutionary and developmental gap. I found it thrilling to think with you."
A retired United Church of Christ Minister, Arthur Orth has written the following to the leader of a local men's discussion group. "I would like to take some time to discuss what Charles Notess has been writing about and why. I truly believe that he is on the right wave length and moving in the right direction. I really appreciate his insights."
