My philosophy of doing what is best for all is based on
the
mystical oneness of all life in the infinite God or Spirit.
I
believe that as individual souls we are all eternal and divine
beings,
and we are each responsible for the consequences of our
actions.
Death of the physical body is a temporary escape of the
soul from life on Earth,
but each entity goes on to other experiences.
The spiritual law of karma is that every action by a spiritual
being eventually returns
to its source because souls are eternal
and must live with
the consequences of their actions forever.
By this process we each learn how to be responsible creators.
Groups such as nations are also responsible for their collective
actions;
but unlike individuals they have no escape in death,
though they may change their forms.
As human beings we are more
responsible for the fate of the Earth
than any other species because
we are both more creative and more destructive.
This increased
awareness and creative ability give us the freedom to choose
based
on our ethical values.
In my view our ethical decisions are the
most important aspect of our behavior
because they determine the
future well being of all humanity
and other forms of life on this
planet.
I suggest that we are at a critical stage in our spiritual
evolution in which we must learn
how to act in ways that are best
for all.
If humans continue to act in selfish ways as we have
done through most of our history,
we may come into such conflicts
that
could destroy ourselves and damage life on Earth.
All the great religions and philosophies have taught the golden
rule
to act toward others as we would like them to act toward
us
and the silver rule not to do to others what we would not want
them to do to us.
Thus we can love our neighbors as we love ourselves,
and by doing so our immense social and political problems may
be solved and healed.
The freedom of democracy implies that every
individual has the right and responsibility
to choose what is
best, and today nearly every nation in the world is either
some
form of a democracy or claims to respect such human rights.
However,
actions often do not live up to our ideals,
and we need to be
constantly vigilant and active
to preserve these rights for ourselves
and others.
Some individuals may abuse the power they gain in
government,
but the people by using their democratic means are
always responsible
for holding them to account.
We need to evaluate
our own actions and those of others,
especially those who are
claiming to represent us.
The basic ethics of not doing harm can
guide us, and we must be wary of those
who try to give reasons
for using force and killing people.
We need to realize that a
bad means does not bring us to a good end,
because for some people
the consequence of the bad means is the end.
I believe that in this evolutionary crisis many more people
will be awakening
to these spiritual values and that by working
together we can save our planet
from destruction by ignorant and
selfish people.
The near future does look very challenging, and
many sacrifices
may have to be made in this process of awakening;
but I believe that by our living example we can inspire others
to join us in the loving ways that lead to justice and peace.
Most of the great religions have prophesied the coming of a
divinely enlightened being
who will lead humanity into a golden
age of love.
The Hindus believe that God incarnates in avatars
such as Vishnu and Shiva.
The Buddhists have been looking to the coming
of the Maitreya Buddha.
The Jews have been expecting the Messiah
who will establish the sovereignty of God on Earth.
Christians
believe that Jesus is
this Messiah or Christ and will come again in the final days.
Muslims look to the Mahdi to fulfill the teachings of the prophet Muhammad.
I believe that
all of these prophecies are coming true as each of us realizes
that we are divine beings and act accordingly.
God or the Spirit
is within each of us.
If anyone convinces you that it is only
someone else outside of yourself,
then you are not truly free.
Following a master that is outside of oneself is more like slavery;
but following the spiritual master inside ourselves is true freedom.
Thus the ultimate enlightenment only comes when each person
realizes
inside oneself the divine directly.
As more people come to this
realization and practice it in their daily lives,
then society
will greatly improve.
In my opinion those who claim they have
the only truth in one particular religion
are merely demonstrating
their own intolerance and lack of true enlightenment,
for God
is in everyone.
Those who love God love every person and all life
on Earth.
We need to realize that people in different cultures use different
terms
and names for God or the divine or goodness.
Even those
who are agnostics or atheists usually believe
in the betterment
of humanity by our own actions.
We can learn to respect the various
beliefs that people have
while we may evaluate the actions of
each.
Let us not judge persons but only their behavior.
I do not
believe that anyone is evil, though some may do evil actions
in
the sense that they have bad or harmful consequences.
Thus we
need to purify our hearts and open our minds so that
we can love
everyone and forgive those who repent for past misdeeds.
We all
make some mistakes, and we need to learn how to forgive ourselves
as well.
We know that we can change, and we need to allow others
that opportunity as well.
In my view what we believe is not as important as what we do.
If one respects all people and life on Earth and acts in loving
ways for justice and peace,
it does not matter what religion or
lack or religion one has.
So I am not prophesying or calling for
a religious awakening but a spiritual awakening
that will mobilize
millions of people to dedicate themselves
to bringing about peace
and justice in every country.
In my two-volume History
of Peace I have written
about many exemplars of peace
and justice, both individuals and groups,
and I have suggested
that we can learn from them and find guidance in the ways of peace.
The prophets of Israel told people to beat their swords into plowshares.
Chinese sages such as Lao-zi,
Confucius, Mo-zi,
and Mencius taught the
wisdom
of solving problems without violence.
The Buddha and his
followers gave up worldly goods
to pursue enlightenment and peace.
So did Mahavira and the Jains.
Jesus and his disciples
traveled and preached the way of love.
Jesus
was crucified for telling people not to pay taxes to the Roman
empire,
and he told his apostles not to accept any Roman money
nor carry any with them.
Thus the misunderstood saying, “Render
unto Caesar” meant
not to have anything to do with the Roman
money system.
Even when facing death, Jesus
showed it is
much more powerful spiritually to forgive and not
use violence.
Many early Christians sacrificed their lives rather
than
worship or fight for the Roman Emperor.
After the Christian
religion was corrupted by Constantine’s
exploiting it for military power,
the Christian leaders that had
been elected by their congregations
often cooperated with state
violence.
Francesco of Assisi revived a more spiritual way by
following the example of Jesus
and his disciples, renouncing wealth in order to help the poor.
He even traveled to Palestine to try to stop the violence of the
crusades.
In Islamic culture many Sufis
also demonstrated the love of God
by living simply and helping
others.
During the religious wars of the Protestant Reformation,
Erasmus and pacifist
Anabaptists and
Mennonites showed
there is a better way than fighting.
George Fox and William
Penn practiced the way of friendship, were called Quakers,
and founded the colony of Pennsylvania that flourished
on a frontier
without using armed forces.
Abolitionists
like William Lloyd Garrison
took the teachings of Jesus
seriously
and practiced non-resistance, which means not fighting
back with physical violence
even when one is abused.
Yet they
had the courage to stand up against the evils of slavery,
and
abolition was accomplished, though by a foolish and bloody civil
war.
Women in the United
States, Britain, and other countries all around the world
worked
for seventy years to gain the right to vote
by using nonviolent
but active efforts to reform society.
Mohandas Gandhi experimented
with more massive nonviolent methods
in South
Africa and India to gain
equal rights for all races, religions, and those pariahs
of the
caste system he called children of God.
Hindus united with Muslims
in a tremendous nonviolent struggle that eventually
was successful
in removing British imperialism from India.
These nonviolent methods
were taken up by Martin Luther King
Jr. and others
in the United States to protest actively against
segregation and arouse a
civil rights movement that gained important
legislation.
The peace movement that has challenged the genocidal
dangers of nuclear weapons,
the Vietnam
War, the proxy wars in Central
America, and the illegal U. S. invasion of Iraq
have awakened many to the need to change the policies of a violent
national government.
Thanks largely to the enlightened leadership
of Mikhail Gorbachev,
the Soviet
Union was able to undergo a radical transformation to a more democratic
commonwealth while allowing the nations that had been dominated
by this superpower
to become independent.
This left the world
with one superpower that has so far refused
to renounce its genocidal
weapons of mass destruction.
Just as Gorbachev’s restructuring (perestroika) and openness (glasnost) allowed
a
nonviolent revolution, so too enlightened leadership in the United
States could
lead the world to universal disarmament, peace, and
democracy with justice.
Yet so far the United States has not lived up to the opportunity
made possible
by the end of the Cold War, but instead the plutocratic
parties have sought to increase
their domination of the world
and have attacked remaining socialist nations such as
Yugoslavia
and Iraq.
Yet in February
2003 millions of people marched for peace,
and even the major
press began to realize that a second superpower had emerged.
They
called it world public opinion; I call it the world peace movement.
This is the movement that will save the world from the foolishness
of violence
by using nonviolent methods to awaken people and bring
about universal disarmament
and global democracy so that we can
alleviate poverty, protect the environment,
and establish justice,
health care, and education everywhere in the world.
This movement
will require the dedication of millions of people working diligently
to educate ourselves and others as to how we can reform our societies.
This movement coalesces with a spiritual awakening because of
the transcendent
principles of love and justice that need to be
applied on a massive scale.
This movement does not depend on one
or even a few great leaders,
though such do and will emerge.
Even
when the forces of darkness kill such leaders, many more will
take their places
and continue the struggle.
No one can stop this
movement that is the goodness in all people
working for the good
of all people.
The greedy, selfish, and ignorant may delay the
process,
but it is only a question of time before
enough people
will awaken and act boldly to save the planet.
Enlightened people need to expose the hypocrisy of those who
claim to be religious
and for life but support politicians who
promote aggressive wars
while neglecting the needs of the poor.
If even half of those people who claim to be Christians would
actually practice
the teachings of Jesus,
this society could be transformed in a short time.
Why do Christians
let themselves be led astray by wealthy evangelists
who distract
them with hatred and fear of homosexuals, attempts to make government
intrude itself into the bodies of women in the name of life, and
efforts to impose
creationism in biology classes?
In my view the
natural selection of evolution helps explain
the intelligent design
of the Creator,
because selection implies consciousness and free
choosing.
If people value life, why do they kill and eat mammals?
Why do they support killing in wars and capital punishment?
Did
not Jesus teach repentance
and forgiveness?
Is it not hypocrisy to try to teach people that
killing is wrong by killing people?
Souls are eternal and can adjust and find another opportunity
if a tiny fetus is aborted.
No one can kill a soul.
The soul usually
does not enter the body until birth with the first breath.
A fetus
is part of a woman’'s body and is unable to act as an independent
organis
until after birth.
Why not support better birth control
as well as abstinence
so that unwanted pregnancies can be avoided?
No one wants to have an abortion, but does government have the
right to criminalize
what women and their doctors may choose to
do within their own bodies?
Abortion may prevent that child from
being born,
but contraception and abstinence also prevent children
from being born.
In a time when many scientists believe that the
human population
is already surpassing the carrying capacity of
the Earth,
we need to plan intelligently how we can stabilize
human population in order to
prevent enormous misery for millions
if we do not.
Wise and compassionate family planning with good
health care and education
can greatly reduce the number of abortions
in the world.
Surely Jesus
taught people to be peacemakers and not use the sword lest we
perish.
He urged people to help take care of the poor and warned
that
one cannot worship both God and money.
He challenged a rich
man to sell all his possessions,
give the money to the poor, and
follow him.
People can refuse to pay taxes to governments that promote
war
and give their excess income to the poor or charities or nonprofit
organizations
to further their values.
These are the kinds of
sacrifices that do not harm anyone but help many;
even those who
give will be much better off spiritually.
Those who understand spiritual principles need to reach out
to people of various faiths
and help educate them so that we can
all work together for the peace and justice
that Jesus
and all the prophets teach.
Gandhi’s
leadership has shown that Hindus and Muslims can practice nonviolence
together to achieve major political reforms.
Buddhists such as
the Tibetan Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Han have been tireless
advocates
of peace, and many Buddhists practice the way of compassion.
Ultimately
I believe that most people will come to recognize that we are
all one in God
or whatever one chooses to call the ultimate reality
that has created all the universes
and that we must learn how
to live in friendship
with all people and in harmony with all
life on Earth.
This chapter has been published in the book
BEST FOR ALL:
How We Can Save the World.
For information on ordering, please click here.
Global Emergency
Alleviating Poverty
Disarming Weapons of War
Creating Global Democracy
Reforming the US Constitution
Restoring Justice
Sustainable Economics
Freeing Communication
Spiritual Awakening
Nonviolent Strategies
Appendix:
Global Disarmament Treaty (first draft by Beck)
Constitution of the United Nations Democracy (first draft by Beck)
Constitution of the United States Revised (first draft by Beck)