Can We Work for Peace and Justice Together

Can we work for peace and justice together? We better say yes, or our world's in trouble! Look at all the wars and problems in our world today, in the name of religion! Yet, we've learned about other faiths, and do any of us believe that war and violence is the answer! No! (There are factions in every religion that promote war and violence! In Christianity, there are hate groups who promote violence and do it using Biblical teachings. But let's be clear! These are not the majority of the believers!)

Let's look at some ways youth are working for peace and justice in our world. And let's pray that together we can make a difference!

Interfaith Group Builds Walls

On August 3, 2002, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on an interfaith group building houses for Habitat for Humanity. In the meantime, they’re also building relationships.

“They say they’re tearing down walls by erecting a few. For the next seven Sundays, an interfaith group of 400 Baha’i, Baptist, Episcopal, Jewish, Methodist, Muslim, Seventh-day Adventist and Unitarian congregation members will build a house on behalf of Atlanta Habitat for Humanity on a blighted corner off Metropolitan and University Avenues,” reported the daily newspaper.

Each Sunday, one of the groups kicks off the work project with a worship service led by one of the congregations. Those participating in the project say that otherwise, their faith groups are very segregated. This project brings them together around a common concern and allows them to begin to know each other.

Working for Peace through the Arts: The Bahai Faith

In Washington, D.C., youth from the Bahai faith participate in arts workshops. These workshops let them use drama, dance, music and storytelling not to entertain, but to change people's hearts and deeds. Their performances confront social issues:

racism
equality of men and women
breaking free of materialism
love and fellowship among all humans

These Bahai youth are working for peace in our nation and world through the arts!

Zeenat (Muslim)

Zeenat believes that faith begins personally at first. Then, you have a responsibility to become a socially responsible person. How do you do it?

"You have to become aware of what is happening around you," she says. "You need to know and understand the issues at work in the world B people suffering, human rights issues, peace and justice issues."

Then, you take your religious beliefs and become active in society. For Zeenat, this has meant political advocacy with young people from other faiths on campus and in Washington, D.C.

"As people of faith in this country, because of Freedom of Speech, we have more power to influence our government than any other nation," she says. "Anyone who has a belief in God doesn't want to see people suffering, so we have to let our government know when this is happening and that we want changes."

Jon (Evangelical Lutheran)

On his summer vacation from college, Jon, 20, has been living in Juarez, Mexico, building houses for poor and displaced families.

"To me, my faith is what keeps me alive. I doubt many people would work in 100+ degrees for free if they didn't believe in what they were doing," says Jon. "I come from an Evangelical Church, which means that we believe that it is only the Grace of God that saves us. This is important to me, because I often fall short of where I should be!"

Ghandi: (Hindu)

One of the greatest and most influential Hindus of the last century was Mahatma Ghandi.

Peace from a Hindu Perspective

The great leader, Mahatma Ghandi, wrote "Seven Blunders that Lead to Violence." They are:

Wealth without work
Pleasure without conscience
Knowledge without character
Commerce without morality
Science without humanity
Worship without sacrifice
Politics without Principals

His grandson added "rights without responsibility."

Ghandi also said:

There is more than enough for everybody's need, but not enough for everybody's greed.
Live simply so that others may simply live.
And on Ghandi's gravestone: "Think of the poorest person you have ever seen and ask if your next act will be of any use to him."

Go to http://www.mkgandhi.org/students/story1.htm . Read the five-page story. How did Ghandi work toward a world of peace and harmony?

Interfaith Work for Peace and Justice:

What have we learned? How can we get involved? What's out there?

This page has some ideas, but there are lots of places to research how to become involved in working for peace and justice in the world, as a Christian, and with people of other faiths! Here are some ideas:

Temple of Understanding - http://www.templeofunderstanding.org/ . This global interfaith organization has as its goal “to promote understanding among the world’s religions; to recognize the oneness of the human family; [and] to ‘achieve a Spiritual United Nations’.”
Religions for Peace - http://www.wcrp.org/ Produced by the World Conference on Religions for Peace, this web site explores the variety of possibilities for interfaith work and dialogue. The World Conference on Religion and Peace is the largest international coalition of representatives from the world's great religions who are dedicated to achieving peace. The mission statement says, “respecting cultural differences while celebrating our common humanity, WCRP is active on every continent and in some of the most troubled places on earth, creating multi-religious partnerships that mobilize the moral and social resources of religious people to address their shared problems.”
Guidelines for Interfaith Dialogue with People of Living Faiths and Ideologies http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/interreligious/glines-e.html “Dialogue begins with a single act: one person’s decision to be open to another person of a different religious tradition.” If you’re really serious about being a part of an interfaith dialogue, this indepth website with give you very good guidelines. Produced by the World Council of Churches, it’s a site for Christians who want to participate openly in such dialogue.

Websites for Interfaith and Political Advocacy

Jubilee 2000 - www.jubileeusa.org This diverse assemblage of faith groups and others urges canceling the debt of the poorest nations of the world, so that they may come out of poverty.
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility - www.iccr.org Made up of more than 200 faith-based organizations, this group ensures that corporations act responsibly.
General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Affairs of the United Methodist Church - www.gccuic-umc.org This United Methodist commission advocates for Christian and interfaith relations and dialogue.
Ecumenical Women 2000 - http://www.ew2000plus.org/ This women’s network works for women’s rights and human rights within a variety of faith traditions.
The National Youth and Student Peace Coalition - http://www.nyspc.net/home.html .An interfaith and student organization dedicated to advocacy for peace and justice issues.
Act Now to Stop War and End Racism - http://www.internationalanswer.org/ This is a good example of interfaith communities joining with one another to end war and racism. The group’s coalition partners include everyone from the Protestant “Pastors for Peace,” to Roman Catholics, to American Muslims for Peace, to the Jewish Rosenberg Children’s Fund.
Partners for Peace - http://www.partnersforpeace.org/ Partners for Peace seeks “to educate the American public about key issues in the quest for peace and justice in the Middle East. Major projects include intervention on behalf of U.S. citizens detained in Israel; organizing the speaking tour, ‘Jerusalem Women Speak: Three Women, Three Faiths, One Shared City’; and advocacy with the media.”
Jewish Christian Relations - http://www.jcrelations.net/index.htmFrom a global perspective, this site will give you the issues, information, and insights about an on-going Jewish-Christian dialogue.

Teen Volunteer Website

America’s Teenage Volunteers – http://www.independentsector.org/programs/research/teenvolun1.pdf More than half of United States teens volunteer time and services, and 65 percent do it for religious organizations. The results of this survey link religious involvement among teenagers with volunteerism.