As Romania holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first half of 2019, a peace conference was held on 1-2 April in Bucharest. The conference was hosted by the ISACCL in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Romania, HWPL, Centre for BBS, University of Bucharest, SNSPA, FRD and Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for Global Ethics.
HWPL was on 31st World Peace Tour. I’ve never heard of a private organization in a far and small country doing this. This is really a huge thing.
Hon. Emil Constantinescu, Former President of Romania, said “It is necessary to have political and military cooperation based on the mutual trust for the unification. If we plan with the foundation of the precedents of Eastern Europe’s transition from communism to democracy, along with international exchange, it will be of great help for us to establish worldwide governance that the whole world needs.”
Mr. Man Hee Lee, Chairman of HWPL, said “How would the world think of a people who point guns at each other? North and South Korean leaders should bear this in mind. As seen in the case of Germany, reunification should be achieved by the people, not politics or law. If North and South Korean people come forward to reunify, nothing will stop them.”
Mr. Dragomir Marian, President of Master Peace, said “Through Peace Education over 5 terms, we have educated children how to prevent and resolve conflicts and violence. Peace exists in the context of family, fellow groups, and societies. Through education, we have realized that teaching the principles of peace in the early stage of life can transform the youth to embrace peace.”
Mr. Man Hee Lee, Chairman of HWPL, said “Who should first be the teacher of children in the world? It is their families, their neighbors, and the society. For a peaceful world, it is not too late to start this work of peace now.”
According to Yonhap News Agency on 21st of April, Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, and its surrounding areas have seen eight explosions since the morning of that day. In particular, Catholic churches and hotels frequented by foreigners during Easter worship were attacked in downtown Colombo or nearby. Police said at least two explosions were believed to have been caused by a suicide bomb, but no group claiming to be behind the attack has emerged.
Sri Lanka has a painful history of losing more than 100,000 lives by the end of 2009, 26 years after the civil war between the Sinhalese (74.9%) and Tamils (11.2%).
Religious Reason > Ethnic Reason
However, there is a strong possibility that the attack was caused by religious reasons rather than by ethnic conflict. This is because Catholics, who account for more than 6 percent of Sri Lanka’s population, often served as mediators when it comes to ethnic conflict, as they are a mixture of Sinhalese and Tamils. It is also more persuasive to this argument that the timing of the outbreak was timed to coincide with Easter worship, the Catholic anniversary.
The majority (70.2 percent) of Sri Lanka’s residents believe in Buddhism, with Hindus and Muslims accounting for 12.6 percent and 9.7 percent, respectively.
Sri Lanka’s Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims are said to be antagonistic toward each other, but they are said to have shown common hostility to Christianity due to their experiences of being oppressed during colonial rule of Portugal, the Netherlands and Britain since the 16th century.
In addition, during the civil war, Tamil massacred Muslim civilians, saying that Batacaloa belonged to them, and the number of ultra-rightist Buddhists cracking down on minority religions has increased recently. There is a possibility that it could be the ISIS, an international terrorist organization.
Of the global wars so far, 80 percent are caused by religion and ideology. This alone shows how many people have suffered. Besides, when eight bombs go off, who can compensate for the casualties(258)? What are you going to do with that trauma and anxiety? What if my family died? Whatever the circumstances, the result is a terrible tragedy.
So… What is religion? Is teaching in religion a war? Not at all. Everyone teaches peace, how to live well. They want to live morally. But why does religion have this effect? So religious leaders got together to fix it. It is the HWPL WARP Office.
Leaders of each religion gather to talk about what the religion should do and peace. It is shocking to see different religions come together. However, since there are differences of opinion, don’t you think they can fight? Here comes the most innovative way of HWPL. It is a comparison of the “scriptures of each religion”.
Recently, on June 15, “The 6th Inter-Continental World Alliance of Religions’ Peace Office Meeting” was held to discuss religious teachings on human life written in scriptures through YouTube by religious representatives from Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.
This interfaith dialogue was based on the study on religious scriptures by religious leaders from Portugal, India, South Korea, Sri Lanka, the United States and Yemen. It would be much better for you to see for yourself. Below are some of their conversation.
Did you see session 1? It was very exciting. I had hoped on the one hand that they wouldn’t fight, but this was a useless worry. They answered honestly and sincerely.
Let’s look at the first question for a rich explanation. “Is your scripture recorded about the first person?”
Christianity:
“From a Christian point of view, we believe that it began 6,000 years ago, and Moses wrote it 2,500 years after the beginning of history, which was recorded in Genesis, and in Hebrews 3. But then creation and the first human perspective changed within Christianity, causing internal division. We can divide man into physical and spiritual creation.
On Genesis 5:1, Adam’s genealogy came out, and that’s where the first human being was recorded. Many humans have been born, but only one descendant has been recorded, because God has chosen one from history to work. I’m putting more emphasis on spiritual creation. It’s not just because it’s physically created, it’s because it’s talking about people who can talk to God.”
Zoroastrianism:
“Yes, it’s written in a book written before 500 B.C. and difficult to understand because of the language. And it’s hard to fully understand because one word contains many meanings. The first person named Gayomat (Keyumars) is recorded. He was the first man on Earth, the first king of Iran, and ruled for 30 years, born in Iran. The Iranian atmosphere, ethnicity, began with Gayomat.”
Moderator: “It’s interesting to have a first person named Gayomat (Keyumars). So did he start a man, or did he already rule people?”
Zoroastrianism: “He is also listed as the king of the earth, Gilsha. Today, in the eyes of the spirit, it’s very interesting, he could hear Auramazda. It was recorded that human beings Gayomat was created by the demise of evil spirits, and he ruled for 30 years.”
Sikhism:
“It’s not just about religion, it’s about evolution written in the scriptures. Because scriptures deal with everything, not just religion. In Sikhism, God created the world and man. It’s written in the scripture, and it says that one made many things. It’s proof of God’s creation of the universe. And he made everything. Of all animals, we are listed as having sovereignty. And the book also records how people have evolved. And it’s recorded that he is reincarnated through his actions.”
Islam:
“Let me answer the first question. Yes, it’s well documented in the Koran. As for the first person, he is Adam and he is recorded in many places. Allah said to Muhammad, he created a man. It’s not written in the Koran about a person’s appearance, but you can guess from the records. The scholars wrote a note that Adam modeled after Allah, but not Allah. It doesn’t look exactly the same, it’s just what it looks like, and the details of the eyes and ears are different. He made Adam out of Allah’s image, but he never looked the same.”
How is it? It’s exciting, right? 🙂 Various views aroused the curiosity.
The second session will be held by a total of seven people, including the host, moderator, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Christianity. What impressed me most in Session 1 was the “attitude” of the panels. They didn’t think the knowledge they knew was all, and they didn’t attack their opponents. It’s so cool to see such gentle religious leaders.
<Session 2> Question List
Is your scripture recorded about the first person? So, what is his name?
Does your scripture record what the Creator did for him after he created the first man?
Is there a record in your scripture of the first person’s genealogy and the solidarity of the descendants?
The number of viewers at the same time was over 200. I’m more curious about Session 2. The wind of peace is blowing!
The Intercontinental Online WARP Office meeting is a special platform. Experts from each religion will participate as a panel. They ask each other questions and talk to each other about the same topic.
The reason why this meeting is more special is because it is broadcast live all over the world in real time. And listeners from all over the world can participate directly online. Do you want to know what we’ve been talking about so far? 🙂
History of TOPIC
“What Religious Texts Tell You” 1. How to Get Rid of Evil 2. The Beginning and Origin of All Things 3. About God 4. AfterLife 5. About Creation 6. About the Beginning of Man
Isn’t that what you’ve been curious about? Don’t you happen to think about that? Wouldn’t there be no answer to that kind of debate? They’re just saying what you think and ending it, aren’t they? You’re right and I’m right, and that’s how it ends?
Of course, I thought so too.Of course, I thought so too. But HWPL WARP Offcie was different. They talk with exact criteria. What do you think it is? The secret is a “Scripture.”
Religion without a scripture is recognized as a culture, and everything is spoken around a scripture. Then it becomes much easier to talk. Because when comparing the scriptures of each religion, the answer comes out. Is there content in the scriptures for each subject? If so, what does it mean? If you do this, you can’t have an argument and you can agree with each other.
So far, wars caused by religion and ideology have accounted for 80 percent of human history. Think about it in your head right now. Isn’t there too much? But you can’t fight by speaking on the basis of scriptures. How wise! It’s so amazing.
<Session 1> Question List
Is your scripture recorded about the first person? What is his name and when did he come about?
What is written about the person’s appearance in your scripture? In some scriptures, it is written that man is made according to the shape of God.
Did a man come first or a woman first?
The first session will be held by a total of six people, including the host, headmaster, Muslim, Sikh, Zoroastrian and Christian leaders. I think the conversation is going to be so exciting, I’m going to watch it live. Let’s see! Also, you can see it again after the event is over.
If something happened in 126 places in 77 countries around the world, what would you do? Aren’t you curious? What is going to happen to people? What if the reason they’re gathering that isn’t making money, and it’s really personal? The reason is “PEACE.” Can you believe it’s just that?
That means there are so many people who want peace. Looking around now, no one wants a war. But the majority of people live their daily lives. They are the ones who realize that the world is too big and doesn’t move my way.
As we grow up, everyone seems to be like this. When I was a teenager, I thought I could do everything, but when I became an adult, I put it down one by one. Increasingly, I realize that there is less I can do. Those who are at their disposal are only the top few percent. It’s not a pity. They just live their lives in their own way.
But there are those who realize that one voice has no power, but one voice that has become one has enormous power. HWPL Australia held the first one-of-a-kind Peace Festival at Centenary Square, in Parramatta.
This year, on the 25th of May, the HWPL Australia Peace Festival, ‘Spreading a culture of Peace’, was held to re-iterate and celebrate the Article 10 of the DPCW.
Imran Maqsood, Founder of the Faisalabad School for Peace shared an account of the pivotal role HWPL and the Faisalabad School for Peace has played in creating and implementing peace education program in schools. The crowd was also addressed by powerful speeches by Ashak Nashwani AM, Founder of the Ismailli community in Sydney, Dr. Yadu Singh, Chairman, Federation of Indian Associations NSW, Abbas Raza Alvi, Founder & President, Indian Crescent Society of Australia.
These precious moments of the peace festival were extensively captured by our community-media partners, Ashok Kumar, Editor, The Indian Sub-Continent Times, Harmohan Walia, Associate Editor, Desi Australia and President, Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), Mamdouh Sukkarieh, The World Observer and Indian Link Radio.
Not only Australia, but there were many articles from other countries.
People around me all support the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW). They are surprised that there is such an innovative and practical international law.
There are two reasons that I and my friends agree on. One is that 21 prominent international law experts have created the law, and because they recognize it. And it is because former and incumbent presidents and ambassadors praise it as a perfectly balanced document.
The Other is the power of HWPL. The problem with existing international law is that it is not “legally binding.” So HWPL emphasized “Civil Society”, to complement this. HWPL works for peace with IPYG, which represents 1.8 billion young people, and IWPG, which represents 3.7 billion women. So they are supported by citizens around the world.
Not only do we, but there are people who have answered this question.
Religious Leaders “Why Do We Need DPCW?”
On 16th of May, 35 leaders of Hinduism, Buddhism, Protestantism, Islam, and Abrahamic religions from Berlin answered. Their answers were amazing, and they really had a lot to learn. The leader was not a leader for no reason. Their views were closely related to reality, and every word was persuasive. I’d like to introduce the most impressive speech among them.
Monk Phramaha Monchai Saitanaporn, from Wat Phra Dhammakaya Berlin, said “all religions speak of peace, but unfortunately religion has become one the causes for the greatest conflicts in human history. However, these conflicts along with ethnic issues are difficult to find a common ground for agreement and resolution.
For example, the Israeli-Palestinian war lasted for more than 70 years, the Kashmir war for more than 70 years, the civil war in Syria continued for more than 6 years, and there are places still currently at war.
Regarding one of the examples mentioned earlier, if Israel and Palestine were to meet once or twice every year to have talks, then how would things have resulted? Also for Kashmir, if forums were frequently held once a year between the two religions (Hinduism and Islam) to communicate together, then how would things have resulted? Would armed conflict continue as they are now?
Just last month, on February 15, there was a bomb terror in the Kashmir region resulting in the death of 46 police officers. Due to this, the Indian and Pakistani people in that area had to live in fear. There is no sure guarantee that such tragedies won’t happen again, and there is no assurance that conflicts would end in the next year.
Article 8 of the DPCW contains provisions to deal with these things. Like so, the DPCW contains the necessarily legal provisions to cut off religious conflicts, protect the freedom of religion, and encourage inter-religious dialogues. To put these rules into application, HWPL is operating and managing WARP Offices as a platform of dialogue and exchange. I, too, am frequently participating in the WARP Office since February 2017 and interacting with various people of religion. DPCW Article 9 states that if such disputes are prevented but are not resolved and continue to be caused by religion, then strong legal actions will be taken against them.
Regarding the bomb terror in Kashmir earlier, if there are attacks but no proper action is taken, then conflicts would continue and more innocent lives will be taken. However, if legal measures like search and seizure of weapons and surveillance over terrorist groups are taken, then the use of armed force can be eliminated from conflicts. Instead of giving up or ignoring the issue when conflicts arise, we need a legal device that can deal with them in order to make peace. Through this, the role of true religion can be practiced and the entire world can work together for that goal. That is why the DPCW is needed.”
On May 25th, the “6th Annual Commemoration of the Declaration of World Peace and Peace Walk” was held in around 126 locations in 77 countries around the world, including Australia, China, Germany, India, Russia, South Africa, the Philippines, and United States of America. The theme is the “The World’s Call for Peace, Urging Support for the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW)”.
525 Peace Walk and 918 WARP Summit is the core where the power of the citizens is gathered. In addition, the letters and signatures of support for the DPCW, which were collected from approximately 1.3 million citizens, have been sent to their respective President or Prime Minister in 192 countries with the expectation of a response from these heads of state.
This huge wave will engulf the world, and soon the united voice will be unstoppable.
While in the Philippines, HWPL collaborated and merged with Volunteers Individuals for Peace (VIP), United Runners of Cavite, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Kaakibat Ng Autism Society Phil Multi-purpose Cooperative to raise funds for different activities such as disaster-relief ventures, center for autism, hosting youth empowerment activities among others.
Mr. John Rommel Garces, HWPL’s Secretary General in the Philippines, said “HWPL is working together with different organizations to mobilize a worldwide network of youths and citizens to promote DPCW and establish cooperation for building sustainable peace in the global society. This day will mark HWPL Philippines’ 100,000 peace letter campaign addressed to our beloved President Duterte urging to support DPCW.”
H.E. Difie Agyarko Kusi, Ambassador of Embassy of Ghana to Korea, encouraged the active participation of the civil society for the enactment of the DPCW. She said “I can’t think of any one region in the world where there isn’t some conflict playing out or erupting. We should all, therefore, be grateful to HWPL for being in the forefront of the crusade to ‘construct the defenses of peace in the minds of men’ with their push for the adoption of the DPCW by the international community.
I would strongly urge all right-thinking people to write letters to leaders, lawmakers, policymakers, heads of states, governments, and kings or queens, to tell them how much we are pinning our hopes on them to support this declaration and make it real.”
+) Washington D.C. News
Names of Press: Vienna and Oakton Connection, Fairfax Connection, Alexandria Gazette Package, Arlington Connection, Springfield Connection, Potomac Almanac, Centre View, Chantilly Connection, Mount Vernon Gazette, McLean Connection / Washington D.C.
On May 25, the “6th HWPL 525 Peace Walks” was held in 126 cities in 77 countries around the world including Australia, China, Germany, India, Russia, South Africa, the Philippines, and the United States of America.
Nearly 500 citizens from Washington, D.C. hosted a peace walk from the United States Capitol building to the U.S. Supreme Court building. Can you see them? They look excited. Especially, children. 🙂
“Knowing that you’re taking part in making the world a better place is an amazing feeling for any person,” said Danielle, a peace walk participant from Washington D.C.
“I walked for peace because I refuse to sit back as a bystander. I want to make history so that our future generation can be proud of our decision to take a stand for peace.”
“I think our differences are what unite us — it’s our strength,” says Michael Sarpong from Woodbridge, VA. “There is no religion, no nation that doesn’t want peace.”
A HWPL volunteer said, “That’s why we have all come together today to urge our elected officials — the public servants that have been put in position by the people and for the people — to support the DPCW. We all want the same thing.”
Since HWPL Peace Walks were held in 126 cities in 77 countries, the world’s media outlets are very interested. This can be seen as a huge flow of peace. Can anyone stop this? No one wants to, and no one can. Because the person who blocks it becomes the person who wants to go to war. A person’s voice can be powerless. But what if it’s tens of thousands of voices?
What if we have the power to bring it together? So HWPL ran a Peaceletter Campaign. Young people and Women sent letters of peace to the leaders of 192 countries. They will know that the world will change soon.