The rational-choice theory that has been so popular up until now suggests that, given the right incentives and punishments, human beings and thus human societies will make rational choices. And yet, clearly, that has not been the case. War is not rational; violence is not rational; exploitative business practices are not rational; corruption is not rational.

Programs like Global Peace Volunteers, run by the Global Peace Foundation, engage youth in discovering shared values that span cultural and religious differences through workshops and volunteer work.

These are all limited, short-sided practices that result from a fundamental misperception of who we are and the ways of the universe. With this understanding, we seek a more holistic way of addressing the problems of human society through first establishing the common aspiration by which we can live, work, and organize society and its multiple sectors as One Family Under God.

The shootings at Garissa University in Kenya by a highly educated, privileged person suggest that it is not access to power, jobs or poverty that drive some to act in largely incomprehensible ways. Many – if not most – leaders of radical groups come from educated, privileged backgrounds. The many volunteers who travel at great risk to join the Islamic State from the developed nations are not simply underprivileged youth looking for jobs.

Certainly, poverty-stricken populations are very vulnerable to radicalization but perhaps it has more to do with its appeal as a way to achieve meaning and purpose in life, an inflated sense of power and a way to express one’s rage and frustration; humiliation of the human spirit. The proper response to this sort of spiritual violence is not found in political or economic solutions but spiritual ones. Perhaps understanding the spiritual principles involved allows us to create better political and economic policies and practices, but it does not work the other way around.

In short, political and economic incentives may affect human behavior on one level, but at the deepest level, we are driven by our most deeply held values. Values that are rooted in our spiritual faith, values that are rooted in the family, drive us in our choices, attitudes and behaviors at a level that goes much deeper than rational thought. It is the core of who we are; knowing this, the vision of One Family Under God “cuts to the core” by asserting our immutable, spiritual identity as the framework from which we can reform our social, political, economic cultures.

This approach seeks to change our perception of each other and ourselves as the first and most fundamental basis for change. It becomes the touchstone for all our other endeavors. It creates the basis for changing the way we do business, how political parties function, the way we educate our children, engage in service; the way we live our lives. This vision and approach are at the core of the vision of One Family Under God, and therefore is the basis for engaging multisectoral partners.

The vision, principles and values put forth in One Family Under God have been preserved and passed down through the ages of human history. People of faith resonate with the vision because it’s already familiar to them; its part of what they study and teach and communicate to their communities.  The unique value-add of we must take in an interfaith approach is to bring focus to the universal principles espoused by faith traditions and implicit in the vision, and stressing the vital common mission of faith leaders to promote the greater good in civil society.

Dr. Hyun Jin Moon at the Global Peace Festival Kenya in 2010 addressing members of 1% for Change, a student leadership organization that encourages students to contribute their time, skills and resources to address community issues.

As a central aspect of our initiatives in East Africa, we are proposing a focused engagement between spiritual leaders and the youth organizations, because youth are looking for “meaning and motivation” and grappling with fundamental questions about life and reality.  We need to provide opportunities to learn from, question and connect with those whose life work is rooted in these issues.  Ultimately our approach maintains that identity based conflict must be addressed at its roots, through recognition of our shared identity as part of the human family under God.

In shaping a new future in the era of globalization, youth of today can embrace our common human heritage, and can build cohesion in our diverse and pluralistic world through shared values as one family under God.  But they also need to connect with the wisdom of the past to make good choices for the future; the current trend of encouraging youth to “be who they want to be” or “take the lead” may lead to very dangerous consequences if they are not rooted in principles and values or the sense of a greater good!

Fundamentally, spiritual leaders have moral authority, distinct from power in that it is recognized from without rather than imposed by the person himself/herself. And rather than imposing desired behaviors through force or incentives, sparking the truth in others and helping them see a bigger picture and a greater dream of the future creates owners who will develop that vision in ways we could never imagine.

The world is now coming to recognize the problems caused by the poverty of the human spirit in the wake of secularization and globalization, but still struggles to reconcile the competing truth claims by the world’s religions. The One Family Under God vision and approach to interfaith balances these by working to articulate universal principles to create an ethical framework and create a consensus on shared values from which we can live and work together beyond perceived identities.

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Nearly 40% of the Korean diaspora lives in China. A large concentration resides in Yanbian, making up 32 percent of the prefecture’s total population.  The autonomy the region enjoys as a whole is also closely linked to the large Korean population. Korean is recognized as one of the official languages.  The majority of those who moved to the region from Korea arrived between 1845-1945, around the time of the Japanese colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula. Most of these residents have rarely, if ever, traveled to Korea.

Top to bottom: Bulgaksa Buddhist Temple, Daereungwon Tomb complex, Cheonseongdae observatory and Wolji Pon.

In March 2015, the Global Peace Foundation-Korea, the Korean International Trade Association (KITA) and the China-Korea Hanmaeum Association hosted a history and cultural education tour of Korea for 40 of these ethic Koreans from the Yanbian region.

The tour was appropriately themed “나를 찾아 떠나는 여행” or Traveling in search of one’s self, borrowing from the title of a best-selling novel by the same name. Over the course of two days and one night, participants traveled their ancestral homes through the Gyongju region of South Korea.

The group followed the footsteps of their ancestors. They visited the Daereungwon Tombs, burial grounds of the Silla Dynasty royal family; Cheomseongdae, built in the 7th century, claims to be the oldest astronomical observatory in East Asia; Wolji Pond, a man-made garden pond in Donggung Palace; and Bulguksa, whose impressive stairwells lead up to the heart of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism.

Local tour volunteers took extra care to explain the significance and historical background of each stop to this group of long-lost brethren. The program also included lectures by historians and experts. Historian Lee Jae Hee walked the groups through the history of the Three Kingdoms and United Kingdoms.

Korea International Trade Association chairman, Kim Young Sun, noted the significance of Koreans in China coming back to learn and experience their history and culture.

At the conclusion of the tour, Global Peace Foundation Korea President, Mr. In Taek Seo called on participants to take an active role in reuniting their homeland. Many participants expressed support for the Global Peace Foundation’s approach to Korean unification that focuses on shared principles stemming from the ancient Korean philosophy of “Hong-ik Ingan”, living for the benefit of humanity. They also had spirited discussions on the role that the Korean Diaspora in China could play in securing unification.

The Global Peace Foundation – Korea plans to continue similar programs to engage the Korean Diaspora scattered around the world in the unique mission and spirit of Hong-ik Ingan.

For the original story visit: www.globalpeace.org 

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Global Peace Foundation – Paraguay volunteers and the Paraguayan Army deliver supplies to flood victims in Alto-Paraguay

Volunteers from the Global Peace Foundation – Paraguay,  Lions Club, local schools and the Paraguayan Army held a daylong Artistic Marathon to collect supplies for flood-stricken regions in Alto Paraguay. The event featured 300 students from 11 different schools in the area. Throughout the day, volunteers approached locals and surrounding residents for donations of clothing, toiletries, and non-perishable items.

Alto Paraguay has experienced constant flooding since the beginning of the year. Thousands of people have lost their homes. Roads have been damaged and construction projects have been stalled. Many parts the already remote regions of Alto Paraguay have become inaccessible. Indigenous families, who make up the majority of the population in the most remote areas of Alto Paraguay,  have been particularly hard hit.  They have lacked basic supplies like clean water and food.

An Army truck that the Paraguayan Army donated for the particular service project, delivered the supplies to families in Remancito, Puerto Falcón, and Bo. Del Niño Asentamiento of Hayes Village. This was one of many relief efforts that Global Peace Foundation-Paraguay has been involved in.

When Dr. Moon established the Global Peace Foundation in 2009, he introduced service as a means to an end. Not merely as an activity or program.

• Service taps into human creativity and new partnerships.
• Service opens unexplored solutions to long-standing problems.
• Service transforms relationships
• Service builds a global ethic based on universal values like altruism.

The response from the volunteers of the day of service illustrates that service is not merely an activity, but a tool for transformation. During a ceremony that recognized their service, volunteers from the supply-drive expressed their commitment to serve again with the Global Peace Foundation. Another volunteer described how serving helped him feel connected to the families struggling to recover from the flooding. The initiative also forged meaningful relationships with organizations like the Paraguay Army, the Lions Club of Haiyan Village, and the local schools to support ongoing volunteer efforts.

Volunteers recognized for their service.

Their testimonies demonstrate that service is a tool for long-term development and peacebuilding.

For the original article visit: www.globalpeace.org

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Gundong Lee (right) with a local volunteer (left) from Sharili drive mobile libraries to circulate Dream Catcher Library books to remote areas.

Summer is well underway and the Global Peace Foundation, Global Peace Youth Corps and affiliate organizations like Service for Peace are sending young volunteers overseas.

Service brings out the best in young people:

• their ability to see beyond long-standing divisions,
• their innovation, 
• their hope
• and most of all, their power to dream.

In 2010, Dr. Moon challenged Korean youth, “What will your generation do with your capacity to dream? Will you dream a small dream or will you dream the greatest dream of all?” Serving abroad is the perfect way to expand one’s capacity to dream.

Meet, Gundong Lee, featured on Chosun.com in 2011. At the time, he was 28. He initially came to Nepal as an international volunteer with Service for Peace Korea. He told Chosun, “The Nepalese staff thought I was too meddling, especially because they thought I would not stay here forever.” Contrary to the Nepalese staff’s assumption, he stayed and become project director of the Children’s Center and Dream Catcher Library in Sarlahi, a district about 12 hours from Kathmandu.

In 2012, Nepal ranked 157 out of 186 nations in the UN Human Development Index. According to Hon. Ram Hari Joshy, former Secretary of Education and Secretary of Tourism of Nepal, the key to development is “Education…Unless people change, this world will not get any better.”

The Service for Peace projects in Sharili focus on education. Behind book covers, and within the warm shelter of the Children’s Center, dreams are taking flight.

The Dream Catcher Library houses 6,000 books and a computer lab that offers computer classes. After school, children and college students gather at the library to study and read. Local volunteers support a mobile library system that circulates the books by bicycle and car to families in remote areas. A women’s literacy program also operates from the Dream Catcher Library. To date, hundreds of women have learned to read and write through the program.

The Children’s Center offers a haven for orphans of the 14 year Nepali civil-war. The brunt of violence passed through the Sharili region leaving many children parentless and homeless. Chosun.com wrote, “The children of the center call Gundong Lee “Appa” or dad in Korean.”  He come as a foreign volunteer, but remained to heal and raise his adopted Nepalese children. Today, international volunteers frequently join local program coordinators for months at a time to care for the orphans. They forever remain a part of the Children Center’s growing extended family.

Experiences like Gundong Lee’s, forge deep bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood with communities abroad. Young volunteers are placed on the job and immediately expected to find common goals while working and learning with people who speak different languages and come from different cultures, religions and lives. What manifests is the dream that pulses through every human vein.

The world’s current and future leaders dreams are expanded to “the greatest dream of all”.

This video by Service for Peace Korea highlights the dreams of people who use the Dream Catcher Library and Children’s Center. Your Dreams, my dreams, our dreams.

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