The Culture of Peace -- What It Means to Us

Article by Cecilia R. Mejia

The culture of peace seems somewhat elusive in the world we live in today， but we keep working towards it. We keep moving forward， we keep pushing on because we believe we can attain it. We must. We have to work together. It will take a whole global movement to make real efforts towards creating the true culture of peace.

Creating such a world begins in our own homes， in our villages， in our towns and in our cities. Caesar Chavez once said that， “You know， if people are not pacifists， it’s not their fault. It’s because society puts them in that spot. You’ve got to change it. You don't just change a man - you've got to change his environment as you do it.” Changing and shaping the environment， in which we live in， can greatly influence the inhabitants to become active global citizens who not only care about the world but strive to make it better so that the humanity as a whole benefits.

In building the culture of peace， we must give special focus on and attention to the youth. Extent of their impact on the future and on society will depend upon what they learn， what they are taught， the opportunities they are given and the choices they ultimately make. A colleague of mine says that we can just as easily teach someone to hate as we can to love. I had never thought of it that way but she is right. Children， especially， are most vulnerable. We should therefore do everything possible to let them grow up equipped with a set of values that make peace and non-violence a part of their life.

和平文化在我們今天生活著的世界似乎有些難以捉摸，但是我們一直在朝著它努力。我們不斷前進(jìn)，我們持續(xù)推動(dòng)，是因?yàn)槲覀兿嘈趴梢詫?shí)現(xiàn)它。我們必須實(shí)現(xiàn)它。我們要同舟共濟(jì)。創(chuàng)造真正的和平文化需要全世界的共同努力。

這種創(chuàng)造始于我們的家庭、我們的村莊、我們的城鎮(zhèn)和我們的城市。凱撒·查韋斯曾經(jīng)說過，“你知道，人民如果不是和平主義者，那錯(cuò)不在他們，而是社會(huì)將他們放在了那樣的位置上。你必須改變它，你要改變的不是單個(gè)的人——你需要改變他所處的，同樣也是你所處的環(huán)境?！备淖兒退茉煳覀兙幼〉沫h(huán)境，可以對(duì)居民產(chǎn)生極大的影響，會(huì)促使他們成為活躍的全球公民，不僅關(guān)心世界而且會(huì)努力讓它變得更好以使全人類受益。

構(gòu)建和平文化，需要特別關(guān)注青年。他們對(duì)未來及社會(huì)的影響程度取決于其所學(xué)的，所被教的，所獲得的機(jī)會(huì)以及最終所做出的選擇。我的一個(gè)同事說，我們可以很容易地教一個(gè)人去恨，就像我們能夠教他去愛一樣。我從來沒有那樣想過，但她是對(duì)的。特別是孩子，他們是最脆弱的。因此我們需要竭盡所能使他們?cè)诔砷L過程中建立起一套讓和平與非暴力成為其生活一部分的價(jià)值觀。

We live in a world where child soldiers exist; where young girls are trafficked; where a girl can be shot for wanting to go to school; and even in an advanced country like the United States innocent kids continue to get gunned down in their schools. What can be done to stop these? How do we change so that these do not happen? We should and we must do better for today’s young. Global peace builder， Louise Diamond said， “The greatest gift we can give our children is to raise them in a culture of peace.”

Understanding and solidarity are key in attaining the culture of peace which the United Nations laid down in the Declaration and Program of Action adopted by its General Assembly in 1999. Mutual respect is an essential element for making progress in that direction. Everyone should be able to enjoy all fundamental human rights， in particular the right to education for all. Women and girls make up 50% of the world population and respect for their rights and for their equality is an absolute must. We need to also begin respecting the environment， the planet in which we all live in and are equally responsible for its preservation.

For me， the culture of peace begins with education. We can learn to respect other cultures， customs and history. That is important. We can get respect by learning and by having the patience to share and to make others understand. During my undergraduate days， I was active in the student government. I remember one colleague of mine saying something rather insulting to me as an Asian-American， but instead of getting defensive， as I had done in the past， I chose to step back and understand the circumstances. I realized the context in which she said it， and possibly she was not aware of how she came across. I spoke to her a few days later and turns out she really did not know that her remarks were offensive because she had never really been exposed to the Asian culture. That’s when I fully realized how we have to understand to be understood. To be understood and ultimately embraced， I believe is very essential for the culture of peace that we all aspire for.

在我們生活的世界有童兵；年輕女孩被販賣；女孩子會(huì)因?yàn)橄肴ド蠈W(xué)而被槍殺；即使是在美國這樣的發(fā)達(dá)國家，會(huì)不斷有孩子們?cè)谒麄兊膶W(xué)校被射殺?？梢宰鲂┦裁磥碜柚惯@一切呢？我們?cè)撛鯓痈淖円允惯@樣的事件不再發(fā)生？我們應(yīng)該也必須為今天的青年而做的更好。全球和平的建設(shè)者路易絲·戴蒙德說，“我們能給孩子們的最好禮物就是讓他們?cè)诤推轿幕鲁砷L。”

理解和團(tuán)結(jié)是實(shí)現(xiàn)和平文化的關(guān)鍵，這一點(diǎn)在1999年聯(lián)合國全體大會(huì)上通過的宣言和行動(dòng)計(jì)劃里已被提出?；ハ嘧鹬厥浅莻€(gè)方向取得進(jìn)展的必要因素。每個(gè)人都應(yīng)該能夠享受基本人權(quán)，特別是受教育的權(quán)利。婦女和女孩占世界人口的50%，尊重她們的權(quán)利和平等是絕對(duì)必要的。我們也需要開始尊重環(huán)境，我們都生活在地球上，都有責(zé)任保護(hù)它。

在我看來，和平文化始于教育。我們可以學(xué)著尊重其他的文化、風(fēng)俗和歷史，這是很重要的。我們可以通過學(xué)習(xí)、有耐心地分享以及讓別人理解而獲得尊重。大學(xué)期間，我積極參加了學(xué)生會(huì)。我記得一個(gè)同事說我是亞裔美國人，這讓我感到被侮辱。但是我并沒有像過去那樣奮起防御，而是選擇退一步了解情況。我注意到她說話的背景，有可能她沒有意識(shí)到為什么會(huì)那樣說。幾天后我跟她說了這件事情，結(jié)果她真的不知道自己的話冒犯了我，因?yàn)樗龔膩頉]有真正接觸過亞洲文化。那時(shí)候我完全認(rèn)識(shí)到我們必須去了解如何被理解。我認(rèn)為，從被理解到最終被接納，對(duì)于我們所追求的和平文化來說是很有必要的。

Article by Li Wang

Peace， in my opinion， means that in our generation， we don’t need to live in the fear of war. I hope to see a world without conflict and chaos， and a world where everyone lives peacefully. Luckily， as a Chinese， I grew up in a harmonious environment where I was told to “respect others if you want others to respect you.” My parents tried their best to provide me with a college education that they could not even dream of when they were at my age. Thus， today， I have the chance to study in an American classroom receiving the best education， half a globe away from my home.

However， I have seen many teenagers at my age who live in poverty and have no chance to get education. The desire of acquiring knowledge and education reflected from their eyes. Most of them are malnourished from lack of food. For them， peace means an opportunity to get some food to eat， to have a shelter to stay and to get some education to prepare for life.

在我看來，和平意味著在我們這個(gè)年代不需要再活在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的恐懼之下。我希望看到的是一個(gè)沒有戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)和災(zāi)難的世界，每一個(gè)人都可以平靜的生活。幸運(yùn)的是作為一個(gè)中國人，我從小就生活在一個(gè)和諧社會(huì)中，并被灌以“敬人者人敬之”的思想而長大。我的父母盡他們最大的努力供我讀大學(xué)，這是一個(gè)在他們那個(gè)年代遙不可及的夢(mèng)想。因此今天我才有機(jī)會(huì)在距離家鄉(xiāng)半個(gè)地球的美國接受最好的教育。

然而，我也見過很多像我一樣的同齡人，他們生活貧困，也沒有機(jī)會(huì)接受教育，因?yàn)槭澄飬T乏而變得營養(yǎng)不良。對(duì)于他們來說，和平就是有飯吃，有地方住，并且有書讀。

Peace is one thing that always gets international attention. However， it is not countries or governments’ responsibility alone to promote peace. Each one of us as individuals should also take the responsibility to promote peace in our community and neighborhood， but most importantly in each one of us. The best way an individual can to foster peace is to think peace and to act peace -- in short， to make peace a part of your daily existence. Peace in mind means that we should keep non-violence in our mindset， and also pass on the idea of non-violence to others. In addition， we should try to convert negative energies into positive ones. Peace in action means that we should promote peaceful outcomes， such as simply give others a smile， resolve a conflict， or encourage others. Also， we should selflessly give others a hand when necessary， regardless of the others’ nationalities， gender， races or religions.

From the small steps of building the culture of peace in our personal lives， we will continuously contribute peace building in our families， our communities， and our countries. As a global citizen， I will continuously promote peace and also encourage my peers to involve in peace building actions.

In my generation，

I hope to see a world without wars.

I hope to see all the people treat each other with respect.

I hope to see all individuals in the world have access to the basic needs of life.

And， most importantly，

I hope all of us get the education we deserve as it plays an important role in preparing us for THE CULTURE OF PEACE.

和平一直是國際社會(huì)廣泛關(guān)注的話題。然而和平的推動(dòng)并不能單單只是一個(gè)國家或者一個(gè)政府的責(zé)任，我們每一個(gè)個(gè)體都需要承擔(dān)起在我們的社區(qū)、在我們的身邊去推動(dòng)和平的責(zé)任。而最好的方式就是思考并且實(shí)踐推動(dòng)和平的進(jìn)程，簡(jiǎn)而言之就是讓和平文化成為我們生活的一部分。時(shí)刻牢記和平文化就是謹(jǐn)記反暴力思想在心，并且將這個(gè)思想傳遞給身邊的朋友。同時(shí)我們也必須努力將我們身上的負(fù)能量轉(zhuǎn)化為正能量，那么實(shí)踐和平文化就是實(shí)踐一些有和平價(jià)值的行動(dòng)，比如給他人一個(gè)微笑，解決一個(gè)沖突或者鼓勵(lì)他人，在他人有需要的時(shí)候我們應(yīng)該無私的伸以援助之手，無論他們是否與我們擁有一樣的國籍，性別，民族或者宗教。

從小事做起，逐漸在我們的生活中，在我們的家庭，我們的社區(qū)以及我們的國家中建立起和平文化。作為一個(gè)國際公民來說，我也會(huì)以身作則，并且鼓勵(lì)身邊的同齡人一起加入到建設(shè)和平文化的行動(dòng)中來。

在我們這個(gè)時(shí)代，

我希望可以看到一個(gè)沒有戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的世界。

我希望可以看到大家互相尊重。

我希望可以看到每一個(gè)人都能夠得到基本的生活保障。

更重要的是，

我希望我們獲得的教育可以幫助我們?cè)诮⒑推轿幕习l(fā)揮巨大作用。

Article by Jessica Robinson

When I dream about the culture of peace， I immediately reflect on a black and white image of people marching down a street with signs in their hands. I also think about 7.5 billion individuals adhering to the principle of non-violence and living in a world as envisioned by Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King. Gandhi and King would ask us to be blind to differences and see ourselves in each human being we meet. Living in a world where everyday each human strives to live up to those expectations is my personal vision of a culture of peace. I instinctually understand having a culture of peace means different things to different people: it’s generational， it varies by age， geographical location， family history， cultural history， and one's own personal set of experiences.

To have a culture of peace， that in itself implies a collaborative effort. According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary， as a noun， culture is defined as a way of thinking， behaving and working that exists in a place or organization. As a verb， culture is described as the maintenance of (cells， bacteria， tissue) in conditions suitable for growth and/or to grow something in controlled conditions. What is needed is the collective establishment of conditions for cultural growth to occur as defined by all parties involved - whether it is in a family， a society， organization， or country.

Above all， patience is needed. As all humans are different in their each individual growth process， similarly， so are societies and communities different in their growth and evolution. We cannot expect a man or woman to suddenly change or evolve， nor can we commit that expectation to a society.

每當(dāng)我夢(mèng)想著和平文化的時(shí)候，一張萬人游行的黑白老相片就會(huì)浮現(xiàn)在我的腦海里，游行的人各自手拿自由的標(biāo)牌。我也想到75億個(gè)個(gè)體堅(jiān)持反暴力原則，并希望可以生活在一個(gè)像默罕默德·甘地和馬丁·路德·金所描述的和平社會(huì)中。甘地和金都希望我們可以對(duì)差異做到視而不見并且將我們自己看作是和其他人一樣的人。能夠生活在一個(gè)人人為著這個(gè)期待而努力的社會(huì)中是我對(duì)于和平文化的愿景。我認(rèn)為，對(duì)于不同民族來說擁有一種和平文化的定義是不一樣的，它因時(shí)代不同而意義不一，它也因年紀(jì)，地理位置，民族歷史，文化歷史和個(gè)人經(jīng)歷的差異而相去甚遠(yuǎn)。

要擁有一個(gè)和平的文化環(huán)境意味著需要共同付出很多努力。根據(jù)Merriam Webster字典解釋，文化作為一個(gè)名詞，可以被理解為存在于一個(gè)地方或者一個(gè)組織里的同一種思想，行為和工作的方式。而作為一個(gè)動(dòng)詞，文化則可以被描述為為各種生物比如細(xì)胞，細(xì)菌或者生物組織提供合適生長的可控環(huán)境。而我們需要的是一種大家共同建立并被各方面都認(rèn)可的文化成長環(huán)境無論它是適用一個(gè)家庭，還是一個(gè)社會(huì)，組織或者國家中。

對(duì)于這個(gè)過程的建立最需要的是耐心。就像所有的人類因?yàn)閭€(gè)人成長過程不一樣，各個(gè)社會(huì)或者社區(qū)也會(huì)因它的成長和發(fā)展過程不同而相差甚遠(yuǎn)。因此我們不能期望一個(gè)人一夜之間就可以改變之前對(duì)待事物的觀念或者想法，這個(gè)道理同樣適用于我們對(duì)改變社會(huì)風(fēng)氣的期望。

As the eternal optimist， I think there continues to be much progress in this area， however， I think a culture of peace can be much further developed through education of differences， love， tolerance and compassion. Similar to Dr. King and Gandhi， people have to be motivated by something beyond themselves to move forward. For me， having a culture of peace is a continued awakening of human beings to a higher level of consciousness， and that there is a continual awakening with each successive generation.

A culture of peace， doesn’t mean something as utopian as the end of crime or hatred. It does mean that with each new generation there is a collective intelligence that is used to help our children to think and act differently to fear and power so we see progress with war， crime against women， the use of our natural resources， capital punishment and even how people treat themselves.

More importantly， a culture of peace embodies within each generation an increased sense of humanism to find more innovative ways to handle conflict and that people， collectively， are indeed committed to strive to live up to their own expectations of non-violence.

一直以來作為一位樂觀主義者，我相信這個(gè)領(lǐng)域會(huì)持續(xù)發(fā)生更大變化。我認(rèn)為和平文化可以通過差異，愛，忍耐和同情方面的教育得到進(jìn)一步的發(fā)展。和甘地與馬丁路德·金一樣，人們需要信念的鼓勵(lì)而始終向前。對(duì)于我個(gè)人而言，這種信念就是一個(gè)和平環(huán)境的實(shí)現(xiàn)是人類不斷向著更高層意識(shí)的覺醒，并且這會(huì)是每一個(gè)成功一代的不斷覺醒。

和平環(huán)境并不是像烏托邦所描述的那樣意味著罪惡或者仇恨的結(jié)束。它是每一個(gè)新一代人用自己的智慧去幫助孩子們?cè)诿鎸?duì)恐懼時(shí)，有自己的想法并采取行動(dòng)，因此我們會(huì)看到各種不同的進(jìn)步，包括戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的減少，性別歧視的降低，自然資源的合理利用，甚至于我們?nèi)祟惾绾慰创约骸?/p>

最重要的是，每一代有著新人道主義意識(shí)的人們所信仰的和平文化是用來尋找解決沖突的一種新方法，那就是人類為了他們所期待的無暴力社會(huì)而共同努力。