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Peace Education
Reflections on the International Day for Tolerance
Written by Yerofeeva Natalya Yurievna, UPF-Urals
Monday, November 16, 2009
Yekaterinburg, Russia - I’m one of many who dream about relief from all sorrows and misfortunes, both for myself and for my relatives. But if everyone is craving peace, why is it that the world has constantly been overburdened with manifold crises: ecological, economic, and social? Why is it that so soon after reconciliations take place, armed clashes break out again? Is there any possible way to overcome existing antagonisms?
Considering the urgency of getting to the root of the problems, the Founder of the Universal Peace Federation, Dr. Sun Myung Moon, points out that one of the fundamental causes of humanity's misfortunes is the sheer selfishness that dominates people’s hearts all over the world. In trying to solve conflict, people defend their own interests and (at best!) the interests of their relatives, organization, corporation, or country, giving little thought to what is to become of outsiders. But in fact, in order to transform the existing problems into world peace there is only one possible way: the interests of all the participants in the conflicts must be respected. Psychologists call this a win-win formula. This should be taken into consideration both in interpersonal and interstate difficulties. It must become the concern of politicians, diplomats, and in fact all of us.
To reach the needed standard we must diligently learn. We feel grateful to the UN for its ongoing peacemaking initiatives, one of which was to establish in 1995 the International Day of Tolerance, to be observed every year on November 16. On this day each of us should renew our awareness of our role in society as well as our responsibility to promote peaceful initiatives worldwide and the resources we can draw upon to do so.
UPF focuses on establishing world peace through creating One Universal Family under God. Sharing similar purposes to the UN, the UPF initiatives projects on commemorative occasions such as the UN International Day of Tolerance. Still, if people are called upon to be tolerant and mutually respectful only one day of a year, one can hardly expect prompt responses and immediate, enduring results. Cultivating tolerance requires ongoing attention, and I hope this is the case in many countries. It’s also significant when people throughout the world simultaneously think about friendship and mutual understanding, joining efforts to stretch the horizons of their hearts to others.
UN commemorative days such as the International Days of Peace, International Days of Families, and International Days of Volunteers are not widely celebrated in Russia. The Day of Tolerance is no exception; therefore, UPF activists decided to help popularize this day because tolerance is so important in promoting world peace.
“Nowadays, the need for tolerance is felt most acutely. … Under existing conditions of tough economic competition, migration of the population and space constraints, the issue of peaceful coexistence of different cultures and different religions of the world is of utmost importance,” – said the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan in his speech delivered on November 16, 2005, the tenth Day of Tolerance. Unfortunately, these words are still relevant. In reality, coercive methods of solving problems, as a result of an erroneous worldview, create worse relationships and concern not only the global community but also each of us. In his Peace Messages, Dr. Sun Myung Moon said: “Endeavors to establish world peace will be fruitless, unless harmony and peace are rooted in the mind of each person.”
One of the conditions to cultivate such spiritual qualities as tolerance and inner harmony is studying and practicing the Culture of Peace. Here are some of its componentsworld:
- Choosing dialogue as the best method of solving problems and resentments
- Willingness to forgive and reconcile
- Desire to live for the benefit of others
- Capacity for positive introspection
- Respect towards others, expressed in desire to learn more about them and to sincerely accept differences
I’d like to emphasize that the notion of “tolerance in accepting differences” should not be replace with “tolerance in the hope of remodeling the others according to certain patterns.”
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