Thirty Day Global Peace Campaign

November 22 - December 22


by John McConnell, Founder of Earth Day, EarthSite.org

When President Kennedy was killed forty years ago (November 22, 1963), the whole world shared a feeling of compassion at the loss of this one man. This was above and apart from any political consideration of his life and work.

If, through modern communications, an equivalent feeling for peace could be generated, new solutions to global problems would be quickly found. Perhaps we would finally demonstrate that the power of the spirit is greater than the power of the sword.

It is, therefore, proposed that on November 22, the fortieth anniversary of the death of President Kennedy, the United Nations initiate a global 30-day campaign for world peace.

During this campaign all the people of the world would be asked to join each day in thoughts, words and deeds of peace. To further this purpose, the United Nations would request leaders of all nations to urge their citizens' participation in an all-out effort to create a global climate for peace. This period could be declared a "season of peace" in which humanity's best hopes for the future would be proclaimed and aided.

It would be a time to report, feature and encourage --

Deeds of compassion, friendship and cooperation;
A time for emphasis on government and non-governmental activities that heal, build and unite;
A time to remind ourselves that if we work together in good will, this planet, this nest in the stars, will be a happy home for the whole human family.

It is further proposed that to implement these aims all mass media assist this campaign with headlines for human interest stories of the many great endeavors which further understanding and cooperation. And that the United Nations request the people of the world to acclaim as peacemakers all those who refrain -- even at loss of personal or national advantage -- from acts of violence, and whose deeds reflect the pursuit of harmony and accord.

(While in human history -- and today -- powerful leaders have spent billions for bombs, and pennies for peace, this peace campaign will seek to convert the warmakers to peacemakers.)

This will be a period to join in one spirit the common elements of different points of view. For this purpose all people will be invited to take at least a minute each day to think, each in their own way, about peace and good will -- looking for ways to implement this objective.

This will be aided by radio and TV. They will each choose a minute that will be broadcast each day. It will be repeated each day at the same time. This "Minute for Peace" may contain the sound of a bell, followed by the announcement that this is Minute for Peace. This can be followed by music, or a brief statement about the attitudes and actions that foster peace.

In this daily MINUTE FOR PEACE people in all religions who believe in the power of prayer will be joined together and at the same time joined with others who believe in the power of thought and mind, and also with those humanitarians of no religion who believe in the value of serious reflective thinking about peace. In this way, individual thoughts and prayers for peace will be strengthened by the growing consciousness of being joined by all the others.

This campaign will begin on November 22, and conclude on December 22, with an Hour of Peace in which the artists of the world will join the children of the world in local and global radio and television broadcasts of good will. These will be broadcast at 1900, 0300, and 1100 GMT.

Bells will ring at times chosen locally to call attention each day to Minute for Peace. On December 22 bells around the world will signal a new beginning for the whole human family.

Minute for Peace can bring to the global mind a shift from the present dangerous, mutual fear to a new and growing measure of mutual trust. Then we will begin to really build the new world of which poets and prophets have dreamed -- a world or freedom, order, beauty and peace.

More at: http://www.earthsite.org and http://www.wowzone.com

 



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