We started the Think Peace Club in 2011. We would like to see it develop in other settings, in particular Colleges and High Schools. This would help us to raise awareness about the practice of peace. It would also help us network as it is crucial that we communicate with and support each other. Here is out Mission. If you can get one started that would be great. Let us know about your progress.
“Those of us who love peace must organize as effectively as the war hawks. As they spread the propaganda of war, we must spread the propaganda of peace. We must combine the fervor of the civil rights movement with the peace movement. We must demonstrate, teach and preach, until the very foundations of our nation are shaken. We must work unceasingly to lift this nation that we love to a higher destiny, to a new plateau of compassion, to a more noble expression of humaneness.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
Think Peace Club Mission Statement
The Think Peace Club Has Four Simple Goals:
- Helping promote peace through patience, equality, awareness, civility, empathy, and compassion.
- Helping promote peaceful/nonviolent methods of resolving conflicts.
- Helping promote peace by respecting the dignity, diversity, and human rights of all people.
- Supporting the practice of civility individually, in the school community, and in the local community.
How this will be accomplished:
- Through practicing compassionate communication (setting an example).
- Continuing to learn about the conditions which allow peace to manifest.
- Practicing peaceful means of conflict resolution.
- Partnering with other clubs/organizations that are interested in supporting peace and human rights.
- Participating in activities such as: the International Day of Peace, Random Acts of Kindness Day, International Human Rights Day, etc…
P – Patience
E – Equality
A – Awareness, Acceptance, and Assertion
C – Civility and Compassion
E – Empathy
Visit us on Facebook at: The Building Peace Initiative or FMCC’s Think Peace Group
Contact:buildingpeaceinitiative@gmail.com
What is Peace?
In their book: “An Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies” David Barash and Charles Weber do an excellent job of defining peace. They delineate two perspectives. The first is the most common definition called negative peace. This is defined as an absence of war. The second, positive peace, is defined as “a social condition in which exploitation is minimized or eliminated and in which there is neither overt violence nor the more subtle phenomenon of underlying structural violence. It includes an equitable and just social order, as well as ecological harmony. Structural violence is built into our social,cultural and economic institutions. It usually has the effect of denying people important rights such as economic well-being: social, political, and sexual equality; a sense of personal fulfillment and self-worth; food, clean water, and medical care; environmental rights.” This focus on human rights is an important shift as it is provides us with specific components of peace.
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