Still fresh in my mind is the May 13, 2011 Newark New Jersey Peace And Education Summit. Now skeptics would say Newark is a mess-up of a city and why should anyone care? But the Dalai Lama and Noble Prize winners, Jody Williams and Shirin Ebadi, as well as Somaly Mam and Martin Luther King III, cared enough to partake in the event. Numerous Human Rights Activists made Newark a platform to speak up.
At one point in the opening of the conference a debate took place between the Dalai Lama and Jody Williams. The Dalai Lama’s strategy of non-violence focuses on the individual transcending inner conflict, urging his Buddhist followers and world admirers to let go of anger and achieve tranquility. However, Williams and Shirin Ebadi caution us against easy forgiveness, suggesting that anger at oppression could be a tool for fighting injustice. “Forgiving the oppressor while he is committing injustice, is permitting him to continue.” Almost parallel reflection, Christianity’s ideal of paying for your sins after you die allows certain individuals falsely to conclude to continue to sin throughout his or her life without ever feeling guilty. The misunderstanding allows the crimes to continue.
“It is not that I am just an angry human being, it is anger at injustice” Williams continues, “I am still struggling with inner peace and I am not sure I will ever work it out.” I can agree with Jody Williams’ perspective at this time as well; she is worried that too much talk of tranquility contributes to the stigma that Peace Advocates are seen as ‘wimps’ in the public eye. But she retorts, “Shirin Ebadi is no wimp. His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, is no wimp. Martin Luther King Jr. was no wimp. Gandhi was no wimp.” Shirin Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace prize because she was a lawyer in Iran who fought for women’s and children’s rights under the repressive regime of the Ayatollah, and she was unable to keep quiet. The Dalai Lama has been living in exile from Tibet most of his life, but has not been silenced. Somaly Mam as well, continues in Cambodia to save women and children from being trafficked into forced prostitution.
Jody Williams added in that Peace had become synonymous with weakness. The Dalai Lama agreed, saying that Tranquility should not be confused with Ease. Jody Williams advocates that compassion of activists must continue to push the voice of the people; refusing those in power to enjoy their luxury on top; making noise; and nonviolently forcing compassion onto those who cannot see humanity in themselves or others.
Also at the event was Martin Luther King III, the son of the infamous preacher, and he noted, “There is a great disparity between what we imagine our society to be, and what is really going on, … We preach peace and yet practice war, … We say we care about our children, but we pay our Athletes more in one year then we pay our Teachers in a whole lifetime.”
“We can think of Forgiveness only after the Injustice ends,” Ebadi confirms. Timing is important, “Justice is a way to overcome Injustice. Recognizing Revenge would only perpetuate Injustice. Trial and Court would address the crime” (Williams).
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Book recommendation on forgiveness: Simon Weisenthal “The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness.” Regarding the challenges of a Jewish Holocaust Survivor and his confrontation with a German during WWII.
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