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Absolute Values & World Peace
Written by Mr. Adel Jamati, director, UPF-New Zealand
Friday, September 21, 2018
The following is an address delivered at UPF-New Zealand’s 2019 celebration of the UN International Day of Peace held in West Auckland, New Zealand on September 21, 2019.
Respected leaders, Ambassadors for Peace, brothers and sisters:
It is wonderful to see you all here today. Peace is a commitment to God, to each other and to the next and future generations.
I would like to share with you this great news from the newsletter of the Religious Diversity Center:
“Has the time come for a textbook about religions? The social studies textbook ‘Discovering Diversity' was written by Jocelyn Armstrong and published by Pearson.
Following on from the Prime Minister’s meeting, the Religious Diversity Centre is assisting the Office of Ethnic Communities in planning a series of follow up government dialogues with interfaith groups to be held in different parts of the country. The Centre will work with the Minister to identify and agree on specific actions to promote greater social inclusion and wellbeing, and to counter racism, discrimination and religious intolerance.”
God is alive. God works through good people regardless of their religious or political affiliation.
With the support of political leaders, interfaith will play an important role in creating a new environment for children, youth and family. There are many good people in New Zealand. New Zealand is blessed with religious and ethnic diversity, which is maturing towards harmony, fraternity and cooperation.
When the political realm and the interreligious realm work together good things can happen. In the bigger picture, theism and humanism must harmonize. There lies the future.
When we deny God, the value of life and love becomes subject to individuals’ state of mind and intellectual speculation; that is relativism. The noticeable decline in Western democracies is due to the prevalence of moral relativism that has created a view of life and a way of life, harmful to children, youth and family.
The sexualization of children and youth, the loss of the absoluteness of marriage and the destabilization of the family unit are the greatest tragedy of our time.
This has happened because humanism has gone astray due to its denial of God. Humanism needs theism in order to stay on a right path and bring prosperity. A view of life that acknowledges the Absolute Creator is imperative.
God is the Absolute Being, the backbone of human existence and coexistence, and the center of balance. The balance between rights and duties, between freedom and responsibility, between private and public and between physical and spiritual, makes us peaceful and prosperous.
God endowed us with two minds: The physical mind responsible for our physical wellbeing and the spiritual mind responsible for our spiritual growth. God also endowed us with two purposes: the purpose of the self and the purpose of the whole. The unity of these two minds and the harmony between these two purposes form the wholesome person God intended us to be.
The human being is an extraordinary being, simultaneously autonomous and interdependent, capable of fulfilling the purpose of the self which is personal development while pursuing the purpose of the whole which is the family, community, society, nation, world and God. This purposeful manifold being is a peaceful, loving and harmonious being reflecting the essence of God.
The purpose of the self and the purpose of the whole become completely harmonized through the virtue and philosophy of living for the sake of others. Service and sacrifice are core virtues taught by all religions.
Why are such virtues so central? The fundamental force by which God created the universe is His irrepressible force of selfless giving. The act of creation is an act of total giving. The entire creation is infused with that essence. Life and the universe are governed by the sacred law of giving; we are to emulate God’s act of creation. We should be trained to care for others from an early age. When “caring for others” exceeds “pleasing one’s self,” the foundation for a peaceful home and a peaceful and prosperous society will be secured. UPF advocates the principle of living for the sake of others centering on God’s love for humanity. When we elevate others with our love, God elevates us with His love. God’s love is the heart of the absolute value perspective and the force behind world peace.
Thank you.