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The weapons
are active care, compassion, concern and focused efforts to confront the
causes of violence, bigotry, hatred and depravity. The vehicle encompasses
successful initiatives that address the ills of conflict, ignorance, poverty
and disease.
In the context of The Ultimate Objective : "When campaigning,
be swift as the wind; in leisurely march, majestic as the forest; in attack,
like fire; in standing, firm as the mountains. As unfathomable as the clouds,
move like a thunderbolt." -- Adapted from Sun Tzu. "The Art of War"
THE ULTIMATE OBJECTIVE
by Stephen Michael Apatow,
Founder, Humanitarian Resource
Institute
and the United Nations Arts Initiative.
In Christianity, the true test of a connection with divinity is the manifestation
of love (agape: Greek) in the context of care, concern, compassion and benevolence.
The significance of this character trait is found in the bible, I Corinthians
13: 1-3:
1. Though
I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not charity (love:
agape), I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2. And
though I have the gift of prophesy, and understand all mysteries, and all
knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,
and have not charity (love:agape), I am nothing.
3. And
though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body
to be burned, and have not charity (love: agape), it profiteth me nothing.
To comprehend
the significance of love (agape), we need only to refer to the scripture
that explains the substance of God, I John 4:8: "God is Love." It is
in this divine conception that the importance of every human being
is expressed, Matthew 25:40: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto
one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
In Buddhism, as
expressed by the Dalai Lama: "Compassion and love are not mere luxuries.
As the source both of inner and external peace, they are fundamental
to the continued survival of our species." -- The Four Immeasurables:
Love, Compassion, Sympathetic joy, Rudy Harderwijk, A View on Buddhism.
In Baha'i: "You
must manifest complete love and affection toward all mankind. Do not exalt
yourselves above others, but consider all as your equals, recognizing them
as the servants of one God." -- Abdu'l-Baha: Promulgation of Universal
Peace, page 453.
In Confucianism:
Chang Tsai’s Western Inscription (eleventh century) was inscribed on the
western wall of hang Tsai’s study and was enormously influential in Neo-Confucian
thought. Describing the essential kinship of all beings with heaven and
earth, it maintains that compassion is the highest expression of kinship.
-- Confucianism Sacred Texts, Harvard University Center
for the Environment, Forum on Religion and Ecology.
In Judaism: The
Torah commandment to love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18), which
Rabbi Akiba described as the essence of the Torah. -- Judaism 101, Love and
Brotherhood.
In Hinduism, Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself'-- because thy neighbor is thyself; God is in both thee and thy
neighbor, and both are in God. He who acts in this spirit need not fear that
his acts will bind him to further existence." -- The Bhagavad Gita, trans.
Franklin Edgerton, p. 165. Hinduism: Ethics and Society, World Religions Area/Country
Studies Cultural Awareness Language Resource.
In Islam: "You
will not enter paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until
you love one another." Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, Selected and Translated
by Kabir Helminski.
In Jainism: Nonviolence
is based on love and kindness for all living beings. Nonviolence in Jainism
is not a negative virtue. It is based upon the positive quality
of universal love and compassion. One who is actuated by this ideal
cannot be indifferent to the suffering of others. -- Five Great Vows (Maha-vratas),
Complied by Pravin K. Shah, Jain Study Center of North Carolina.
Love inspires
an interest and focus on every need, plea or cry for help and prompts a
desire to provide assistance. This standard, applied to a local community
is a microcosm of the application needed for a state, country or global region,
and includes:
(1) the need
to recognize the importance of every individual;
(2) to understand
the full scope of every individuals needs, mentally, physically and spiritually;
(3) to place
ourselves in the shoes of the suffering and afflicted and;
(4) to provide
help in the same capacity as if we were in their circumstance.
In the grand picture
of divinity at work in all facets of the interfaith community, love is the
common theme that unites and encompasses the true potential through which
the scope of suffering and affliction can be alleviated and peace achieved
(International Interfaith Peace Declaration).
THE THEME OF EASTERN AND WESTERN CULTURAL RELIGION
The work of divinity
in all faiths is embodied in the golden rule as the universal objective
of the interfaith community:
- Christianity:
"So in everything, do to others, what you would have them do to you, for
this sums up the law and the prophets" -- New Testament: MT 7:12 NIV
- Buddhism:
Treat not others in ways that yourself would find hurtful.-- Udana-Varga
5.18
- Baha'i:
Lay not on any soul a load that you would not wish to be laid upon you, and
desire not for anyone the things you would not desire for yourself. -- Baha'u'llah
Gleanings
- Confucianism:
One word which sums up the basis for all good conduct...loving kindness.
Do not do to others what you would not want done to yourself. -- Confucius
Analects 15:23
- Hinduism:
This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done
to you. -- Mahabharata 5:1517
- Islam:
Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for
yourself. -- The Prophet Mohammed, Hadith
- Judaism:
What is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole torah;
all the rest is commentary. -- Hillel, Talmad, Shabbat 31a
- Native
Spirituality: We are as much alive as we keep the earth alive. -- Chief
Dan George
- Janism:
One should treat all creatures in the world as one would like to be treated.
-- Mahavira, Sutravitanga
- Sikhism:
I am no stranger to no one; an no one is a stranger to me. Indeed, I am
a friend to all. -- Guru Granth Sahib, pg.1299
- Taoism:
Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbors loss as
your own loss.-- T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien, 213-218
- Unitarianism:
We affirm and promote respect for the interdependent of all existence of
which we are a part. -- Unitarian principle
- Zoroastrianism:
Do not unto others what is injurious to yourself. -- Shayast-na-Shayast
13.29
THE CHALLENGES
With all existant United Nations Programs, NGO's and Interfaith
Humanitarian Relief Operations
Global Overview
In developing countries, 91 children
out of 1,000 die before their fifth birthday. By comparison, in the United
States 8 children in 1,000 will die before turning five years old. (State
of the World's Children 2000. UNICEF)
More than 800 million people in the world are malnourished—777 million
of them are from the developing world. 2 And 177 million of them are children.
(State of the World's Children 2000. UNICEF)
Each day in the developing world, 30,100 children die from mostly preventable
and treatable causes such as diarrhea, acute respiratory infections or malaria.
Malnutrition is associated with over half of those deaths. (Mapping of
the Food Supply Gap 1998. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations)
In the last 50 years, almost 400 million people worldwide have
died from hunger and poor sanitation, according to the report. That's three
times the number of people killed in all wars fought in the entire 20th
century. (Bread for the World Institute on Hunger and Development)
Virtually every country in the world has the potential of growing sufficient
food on a sustainable basis. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations has set the minimum requirement for caloric intake per person
per day at 2350. Worldwide, there are 2720 calories available per person
per day. 54 countries fall below that requirement; they do not produce enough
food to feed their populations, nor are they able to afford to import the
necessary commodities to make up the gap. Most of these countries are in
sub-Saharan Africa. (State of the World's Children 2000. UNICEF)
The wealthiest fifth of the world's people consume an astonishing 86
percent of all goods and services, while the poorest fifth consumes one-percent.
(World Development Report 1998. World Bank)
Of the 6 billion people in today's world, 1.2 billion live below $1
per day. (State of the World's Children 2000. UNICEF)
2.4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation. (Human Development
Report 1998. United Nations Development Programme)
900 million people lack access to adequate health services. (Global
Challenge, Global Opportunity 2002. United Nations)
1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water. Contaminated water
kills 2.2 million people per year. (Human Development Report 2002, Deepening
Democracy in a Fragmented World, United Nations Development Programme).
United States
The Nation’s Food Bank Network (A2H), the nation’s largest network of
emergency food providers has completed in-person interviews with 52,878 clients
served by the A2H National Network, as well as on completed questionnaires
from 31,342 A2H agencies. The A2H system served an estimated 24 to 27
million unduplicated people annually, with a midpoint of 25.3 million.
42% of clients served by the A2H National Network report having to choose
between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel. 35%
had to choose between paying for food and paying their rent or mortgage.
32% had to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical
care. (Second Harvest: Hunger Study - 2006).
As many as 3.5 million
people experience homelessness in a given year (1% of the entire U.S. population
or 10% of its poor), and about 842,000 people in any given week. (Wickpedia
2008: Homelessness in the United States, Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration: Who is homeless?)
Approximately
40% of homeless men are veterans, although veterans comprise only 34% of
the general adult male population. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans
estimates that on any given night, 200,000 veterans are homeless, and 400,000
veterans will experience homelessness during the course of a year.
(National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, 2006).
Homeless youth are individuals
under the age of eighteen who lack parental, foster, or institutional care.
These young people are sometimes referred to as "unaccompanied" youth. The
number of the homeless youth is estimated by the Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention in the US Department of Justice. Their most recent
study, published in 2002, reported there are an estimated 1,682,900 homeless
and runaway youth. -- (National Coalition for the Homeless, June 2008).
Approximately 5,000 runaway and homeless youth die each year of assault,
disease, and suicide. (National Runaway Switchboard Statistics)
It is in pursuit of strategic planning and project development,
to address the size and scope of unmet needs that exist in the global landscape,
that Humanitarian Resource Institute exists today.
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