Is a World Without War Possible?

By Jane Hughes Gignoux

Cynics scoff at the notion of a world without war. Yet every year more individuals and groups in different parts of the world demonstrate their belief in universal peace by commemorating Universal Peace Day (UPday) - Aug. 5th/6th. Its founder, NYC photographer and designer SuZen, continues to inspire people with her vision—remote as it may seem given widespread reported violence in so many parts of today’s world.

The first UPday was held on August 5th, 1984 in Central Park. The day-long event included meditations, ceremonies, music and dance, performers offering poetry, children drawing visions of peace — all in commemoration of the US bombing of Hiroshima (the morning of Aug. 6th in Japan). In subsequent years, the idea spread to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Mexico City and Georgia in Eastern Europe where people created their own ceremonies to honor the vision of Peace and a World Without War (see: www.universalpeaceday.org).

The ritual of ringing bells for peace was added to the celebration in 2007, at the stately Riverside Church, host to UPday that year. Last year, in 2013, bells were rung around the world on August 5th from nine NYC churches, as well as other houses of worship throughout the US, and worldwide. Last year one Georgian proudly wrote, “With ringing of bells and lighting of candles [we] commemorated the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and, as the Universal Peace Day folk in New York say, ‘Join[ed] people around the world who wish to transform the remembrance of horror into a rededication of life.’”

“Transforming the overwhelming horror of the US nuclear bombing of Japan at the end of World War II into a dedication to live in a world without war, is no easy feat,” says SuZen.  The dedicated peacenik has faced many skeptics who have dismissed her idea as a romantic fantasy. Yet, she persists in her goal to increase the number of bells ringing in different parts of the world.  History is on her side. Several major shifts in consciousness have moved social issues from obscurity and dismissal to greater acceptance and international prominence during the last century: civil rights, women’s rights and gay rights. Sustained energy and persistence on the part of committed activists have transformed the status quo of these social issues. Once the general public realized that change was possible—real change was inevitable.

In the early days of those movements, a common response by the public and politicians to activists was, “That will never happen! That’s just the way life is!” Yet, despite extended and sometimes violent opposition, people kept joining these causes for justice and human rights. Now that technology has made it possible for anyone on Earth to instantly connect with others, ideas and commitment for social change spread rapidly.

In 2008 SuZen first became familiar with Peace Museums, when she was invited to Kyoto, Japan, to give a presentation on UPday at an International Network for Peace Museums Conference. That inspired her to add the idea of establishing a New York City Peace Museum (NYCPM) to the concept of UPday, (see http://nycpeacemuseum.org/). The NYCPM now has a board of trustees, and holds concerts and other events, while developing its plans for a brick and mortar site and a full-fledged museum, like those already in Europe (20), Japan (17), USA (7), other countries (9).

Today, an increasing number of books, articles, and serious public dialogues exist on the possibility of a world without war, showing that the actual possibility of creating a world without war is steadily gaining credibility. Since 2001 three books were published with the same title of The End of War. David L. Robbins in 2001; Paul K. Chappell and Gavin de Becker in 2010; in 2012, John Horgan. A number of other books with the same theme of human society moving toward a world without war also have been published. As Horgan says, "The first step toward the abolition of war is believing it’s possible."

Since the 1970s, the practice of mediation—inviting a neutral person to facilitate disputants to resolve their differences—has evolved from a little-used but ancient practice to become a highly respected craft practiced worldwide. Mediation is a good example of people choosing non-violent means to resolve disputes, be they individual, community, corporate or international. Seasoned practitioners know that mediation can be extremely difficult when views are rigid and deeply rooted, or when disputants believe in competition rooted in dualism—where everything is either right or wrong, good or bad, true or false. In recent decades, science has contested this approach, showing that all forms of life are actually interconnected and interdependent, largely rooted in cooperation. An increasing number of the public is gradually grasping the full meaning of that reality. Since this requires a complex shift in consciousness, it will take multiple decades.

This August 5th UPday participants in NYC will again be ringing bells at exactly 7:15 PM, EDT – the time of the bombing, which will be 8:15AM on August 6th in Japan. The event at the Gandhi statue in Union Square Park, will start with a Native American ceremony, continue with musical, word and dance performances by peace activists from many parts of the world, concluding with a World Peace Prayer Flag Ceremony. This year, participants in NYC will receive “Tools for Peaceful Living” -- a card listing five simple yet powerful suggestions to help shift attention from hostility—personal to international—towards collaboration. (Partial examples: “Why do I feel threatened? * Breathe deeply * Suspend judgment”)

Also, people are invited—wherever they are—to join in, to ring bells and sing Imagine after a minute of Prayers for Peace in their communities, to show their commitment to a World Without War. Participating in movements such as Universal Peace Day are an important part of acknowledging the emerging great news of the twenty-first century, as SuZen says, “Peace is possible, and our ultimate destiny.”

To learn more about and to participate in Universal Peace Day, click here.

Jane Hughes Gignoux
FoulkeTale Publishing
www.janehughesgignoux.com
janehg4@verizon.net

Jane Hughes Gignoux, a native New Yorker, is the author of An Insistence on Life: Releasing Fear of Death to Fully Live and Some Folk Say: Stories of Life, Death, and Beyond, a collection of stories and poems from cultures around the world and throughout time, with commentary and original color illustrations.

She offers workshops, courses and talks on: "Embracing Life, Death and Beyond;" “Is Death My Enemy?”; “Stories that Heal;” "Visions and Stories of the Afterlife;” “EXIT Plan – for people who love life;" throughout the USA, in Federal Prisons, as well as in San Paulo, Buenos Aires and Bali.

Her new book, An Insistence on Life, is a collection of inspirational real-life stories of how accepting death transforms life. Ms. Gignoux hosts two monthly Death Cafés, informal gatherings whose purpose is "To increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their  precious and finite lives."

In August of 2013, she was featured in a national TV news program on Death Cafés and on a Huffington Post live chat. Ms. Gignoux appears in the forthcoming film, “Death Makes Life Possible” being produced by the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Petaluma, CA. She was an advisor for the Viewer's Discussion Guide accompanying the PBS series that aired in September of 2000 – “On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying”. Her book, Some Folk Say, is listed as a resource in that Guide.

For a full bio of Jane Hughes Gignous, click here.