Toronto, Canada - At the monthly meeting of Ambassadors for Peace in the Toronto area on November 19, A.R. Qureshi spoke on the topic of morality.

A. R. Qureshi started his session by stating that people in general have not disciplined themselves to become people of good character, a fact acknowledged at home, abroad, in business, in government circles, and in every sphere of administrative activity. Lack of character produces social imbalance and leads ultimately to national decline and disintegration. The malady has been undermining our individual and collective life.

The outward signs of a weak character are commonly believed to be licentiousness, injustice, bribery, corruption, and exploitation but they do not bring out the true significance of the term. It belongs to the realm of ethics, which defines character in terms not easily intelligible to the common man.

Human values might have different meanings in different settings. Take the word honor, for example. To say “God has saved my honor” means that I have not been disgraced before my friends. When someone says, “She gave her life to save her honor,” here honor signifies chastity. But the meaning of chastity itself might differ from person to person. In the East, if someone casts an evil glance at a veiled woman, her father or brother would not hesitate to get upset, angry, and outraged. In the West, however, if a girl flirts publicly, her father or brother, instead of having any qualms, may overlook the act all together. Again, one society might attach the greatest importance to a particular value which in the estimation of another society might not be a value at all.

Consider other examples: We respect and honor our parents, but there have been tribes for whom eating them constituted a sacred duty. The Puritans saw nothing wrong in stealing black children and shooting Irishmen. In an island of the Pacific there is a tribe with whom dishonesty is the best moral conduct and the cleverest cheat among them is held in the highest esteem. Thugs may take pride in killing poor wayfarers. Nationalism is recognized as a political and social creed and someone who promotes the well being of his nation by exploiting other nations is regarded a patriot worthy of being immortalized in metal and marble. Thus, morality and its social expressions differ from tribe to tribe, region to region, and country to country. However, a uniform code is needed so that international norms can be established.

The preservation of life is an animal instinct, but the preservation of honor is not. The concept of honor is unknown in the animal world. In fact, it forms the line of demarcation between animals and humans. Honor is a specific human value. The preservation of human values elevates one's level of life from the animal to the human. Thus the morality of our acts distinguishes us more than our external form. In a civilized society there interest in an international statute of morality agreed upon by all nations and promoted by the international community. Of course, religious and cultural diversity among people and nations shall be respected and accommodated.

A group discussion followed among the attendees, including Rev. Mitch Dixon, Rev. Thillairajan, Dr. Hoossen, Lito Paghubasan, and Auth. Qamrul A. Khanson.

Rev. Mitch Dixon voiced the opinion that Biblical morals should be inculcated first among the adherents, and violators of such laws, after being educated about them, could be subject to apprehension. Any apprehension without the proper inculcation of the moral code cannot be justified. He said he respects the Biblical moral code of conduct but insisted that people be educated before any punitive measures are implemented.

Auth. Qamrul Khanson mentioned that the Torah and the Qur’an have laws against adultery but such laws, when imposed on a state level, should be properly inculcated among the citizens before any penalty for violation is implemented. If someone violates the law, then those in authority should be held accountable first, for not having adequately communicated the law to the people. Letting people know about the moral code is more important than punishing people for violating something they may not have been aware of.

Rev. Thillairajan raised the issue of how people can resolve their inner conflicts; ideally, people agree to abide by moral codes for the greater purpose of pleasing God and unifying the community in serving God.

 

09: 45 AM: Dr. Hoossen Auckberaullee welcomed all the guests and invited them to Coffee and refreshments.  Dr. Hussein Auckberaullee asked Rev. Thillairajan to lead prayer to start today’s session. Dr. Hoossen briefed about the program and the topic of discussion today. There was a ten minute discussion about the future topics and also regret that Rev. Earl Smith could not attend due to a family engagement.

It was informed that Church of Scientology has been awarded permission to lead the Christmas celebration in Dec. 04th 2011 at Dundas / Yonge Street between 11: 30 AM to 04: 00 PM. Rev. Mitch Dixon would decide the speaker on behalf of UPF for the occasion.

10: 00 AM: Dr. Hoossen invited A. R. Qureshi to take his place in the podium to enlighten on the topic of Morality.

A. R. Qureshi started his session by stating that people in general unless disciplined have no character and it is acknowledged universally, at home, abroad, in business, in government circles and in every sphere of administrative activity. Lack of character produces social imbalance and leads ultimately to national decline and disintegration. The malady has been eating up the vitals of our individual and collective social life too fast to withstand an unexpected shock.

The outward signs of a weak character are commonly believed to be unnecessary freedom, injustice, bribery, corruption and exploitation but they do not bring out the true significance of the term. It belongs to the realm of ethics, which defines character in terms not easily intelligible to the common man.

Human values might have different meanings. Take the word honour. “God has saved my honour,” means that I have not been disgraced before my friends. “She gave her life to save her honour”—here honour signifies chastity. But the meaning of chastity itself might differ from people to people. In the East, if someone casts an evil glance at a veiled lady, her father or brother would not hesitate to get upset, angry, and with the burst of emotional outrage. In the West, however, if a girl flirts publicly, her father or brother, instead of having any qualms, may overlook the act all together. Again one society might attach the greatest importance to a particular value which in the estimation of another society might not be a value at all.

We respect and honour our parents, but there have been tribes with whom eating them up constituted a sacred duty. The Puritans saw nothing wrong in stealing black children and shooting the Irishmen. In an island of the Pacific there is a tribe with whom dishonesty is the best moral conduct and among whom the cleverest cheat is held in the highest esteem. Thugs felt proud of killing poor wayfarers. Nationalism, by some is recognized as a political and social creed and one who helps the well being of his nation by exploiting the other nations is regarded a patriot worthy of being immortalized in metal and marble. Thus morality and its social value differ from tribe to tribe, region to region, country to country but a uniform code of morality is needed so that an international norm is established.

Preservation of life is an animal instinct; not so is the preservation of honour. The concept of honour is unknown to the animal world. In fact it forms the line of demarcation between the Animal and the Man. Honour is a specific human value. Preservation of human values elevates the level of life, from the animal to the human. Such is the morality of our acts by which we shall stand different than that of those who being in the shell of humanity act differently. In a civilized society of today, we shall universally agree to an international statute of morality agreed by all nations and mandated by the International community. Of course, religious and cultural diversity among nations shall be respected and taken care of.

For further details, please see the attached text of speech by A. R. Qureshi.

10: 30 AM: A group discussion started with questions and answers among the attendees including Rev. Mitch Dixon, Rev. Thillairajan, Dr. Hoossen, Lito Paghubasan and Auth. Qamrul A. Khanson.

Rev. Mitch is of the opinion that Biblical moral code of conduct shall be inculcated first among the adherents and violators of such laws after being educated about it could be liable for the apprehension. Any apprehension without the proper inculcation of the moral code of conduct cannot be justified. He said he respects the biblical moral code of conduct but insisted upon its education to the people before any punitive matter could be brought for implementation. The goal shall be eradicating immoral acts from the society.

Auth. Qamrul Khanson mentioned that the Torah and The-Qur’an have written laws against adultery but such laws when imposed on a state level shall be properly inculcated among the citizens before any matter of violation could be implemented. If someone did violate the law then those who are in the seats of enforcement should be first held accountable as how people violating the law could be held responsible when the enforcer has not provided sufficient knowledge to the community about of it. Letting the people know about the moral code of conduct is more important than punishing the people for the violation which they may have not known all about it. The goal shall be eradicating immoral acts from the society.

Rev. Thillairajan explained and put forward as how to resolve slavery of one own self. The conflict within shall be removed and moral values implemented on self for the greater purpose of pleasing God and unifying the community in serving God.

Lito Paghubasan explained of his recent visit to American Leadership Conference in Las Vegas which was attended by almost 200 people. He informed that such a meeting would be held in Chicago during Dec. 17 – Dec. 20 as well as in the last days of the year 2011 starting by Dec. 29 2011.

Dr. Hoossen Auckberaullee informed that Auth. Qamrul Khanson would speak on the topic of “Behaviour (Attitude)” in next UPF monthly session of GTA for which the date would decide very soon.

Rev. Mitch Dixon held the closing prayer for the betterment of UPF and the humankind.

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