Question 188: About Preventing Genocide
Question 188: How does the Gospel of Oneness help prevent genocide?
Genocide is the deliberate attempt to annihilate a racial, ethnic or cultural group of people. Some of the cases of attempts at genocide have been the Nazi’s program against Jews, the Khmer Rouge’s war against the educated classes in Cambodia, the Turkish campaign against Armenians, and the Hutus assault against the Tutsis in Rwanda. Those are well-known examples, but genocide is not a thing of the past. Around the world, there are potential genocides. Genocidewatch.com is a website that keeps track of current attempts at genocide,
Genocide breaks every tenet in the Gospel of Oneness. People are divided into “us” and “them.” People are dehumanized. Stories and rumors are spread against the target group. Special laws are passed that make it easier to identify the target group. National ID cards may require that people list their religion or ethnic origin. Blasphemy laws may be passed that restrict the freedom of speech. All such laws serve to magnify the illusion that people on earth are divided by outer conditions.
The Gospel of Oneness teaches that all life, indeed, all creation is a manifestation of Spirit. The main spiritual law we follow is the golden rule: Whatever we do unto others we do unto ourselves. This law has been known for ages, yet it is not emphasized in the schools, cultures, and religions of the world. The two biggest religions in the world divide people into believers and non-believers. This has led to conflict for centuries.
Political and economic pressures have also led to genocides because the people in power have felt threatened by other people with different political and economic ideas. A government that is secular, materialistic, and maybe atheistic is not restrained by religious ideas of morality. Examples of this are Stalin’s purge against the middle classes in the USSR in the 1930s and Mao’s purge against the nationalists in China. They had no consideration for the Golden Rule of how to treat people,
To summarize, the way for the Gospel of Oneness to stop or greatly reduce genocide on earth is to emphasize in every way the reality of the Golden Rule of behavior. This law of natural consequences needs to be put at the top of all creeds, dogmas, rituals, holy days, and guidelines for living. All ideas that promote the superiority or inferiority of one or more types of people need to be challenged immediately.
The Gospel of Oneness is not an organized institution or group of people who can lobby for changes; it is an idea whose time is coming as more and more people abandon the outdated ideas of outer ways of human identifications. Changes in societies will happen gradually as people awaken to their inner identities as immortal souls.
“But history does matter. There is a line connecting the Armenians and the Jews and the Cambodians and the Bosnians and the Rwandans. There are obviously more, but, really, how much genocide can one sentence handle?” ~ Chris Bohjalian
“The 20th century taught us how far unbridled evil can and will go when the world fails to confront it. It is time that we heed the lessons of the 20th century and stand up to these murderers. It is time that we end genocide in the 21st century.” ~ Allyson Schwartz
“When I was very young, biology, the diversity of life, was one of my main interests. I know there’s this image people have that I’m this spoiled, cocky punk of an actor. Honestly, that’s not who I am. I really care that so many species have been wiped out, like the genocide of entire races. I believe in the divine right of all species to survive on this planet. So I decided I want to be active as an environmentalist. I learned. I asked experts. I got active.” ~ Leonardo DiCaprio ,
“An ideology that divides the world into those who are worth more and those who are worth less, into superior and inferior beings, does not have to reach the dimensions of the German genocide to be wrong.” ~ Amira Hass
“Historically, the most terrible things – war, genocide, and slavery – have resulted not from disobedience, but from obedience.” ~ Howard Zinn
“As much as the world has an instinct for evil and is a breeding ground for genocide, holocaust, slavery, racism, war, oppression, and injustice, the world has an even greater instinct for goodness, rebirth, mercy, beauty, truth, freedom and love.” ~ Desmond Tutu
