Harmony Institute Newsletter, February 2003 Greetings from The Harmony Institute, I hope this month's newsletter finds you in good health and spirits. Today's world is filled with uncertainty and there's certainly a lot we can worry about. But there's also much we can be thankful for. In this newsletter: 1) This months essay: Thoughts about the war 2) Gary to attend Interfaith Education conference at United Nations 3) More peace stickers available 4) Gary writes article for Wisdom Magazine 5) Winner of Discussion Forum prize 6) Last Month's Interview on Mysteries of the Mind 7) Website Notes 8) Links of the Month 1) This month's essay: Thoughts About the War In addition to news items and updates about things going on at The Harmony Institute, each edition of the newsletter will include one essay. This month I'd like to share some thoughts about the pending war with Iraq. It's been my policy to stay out of politics for the most part. I've always thought it's better to provide information and let people formulate their own opinions, than to tell people they should feel a certain way. Personally I am against a war at this point. I don't feel we've exhausted all peaceful means of resolution yet. And I feel that until, or unless, the UN inspectors find hard evidence of Iraqi weapons, we have no business going in there. But that's just my opinion and I wouldn't want anyone to change their mind just because I feel a certain way. I do think it's important, though, for more of the facts to get out. I've been disappointed by the media's coverage and I wish they would tell the whole story, so that people would be able to make objective decisions about how they feel. Over the last few months I've been trying to do as much objective research as possible and I would like to share with you some of the things I've learned. One of the untold stories about the last war with Iraq is the number of civilian casualties. Our leaders try to downplay this aspect of the war, and assure us that they are making every effort to minimize the death of innocent civilians, using "smart bombs" and the like. Now before you read on, stop for a moment and ask yourself how many Iraqi citizens died in the 1990-1 war. Most people believe there were few civilian casualties. I've spent hours looking for the answer to this question and it's not easy to find. Would you be surprised to know that most estimates are that over 100,000 innocent civilians were killed? The US military officially puts the number at 50,000+, but international and independent news agency reports range from 100,000 to 300,000. Before we start another war with Iraq, I think it is important for us all to know what happened last time. Not only were many thousands of innocent civilians killed, but our military also targeted the infrastructure that is vital to the society. Water systems, dams, transportation systems, and electric power plants were taken out. This left the society in very bad shape after the war was over, and many thousands of innocent civilians including women and children have starved to death since then because of this. If we start another war with Iraq, it is likely that it will be at least as bad. Because we are not only pushing them back across a border, but also aiming to take over the country completely, it will probably be much worse. Conservative estimates I've read state that if the whole job is done in 2 months, at least 100,000 civilians will be killed. If it takes longer, the number will be greater. While we're on the subject of numbers killed, let's turn our focus to Saddam. Our leaders remind us regularly that he used poison gas on his own people, and cite this as one of the major reasons to take him out of power. But do they tell us how many of his own people he killed? Again, it took me quite a while to find the answer to this question. The answer is approximately 5,000. So keep in mind that we have already killed twenty times more Iraqi civilians than Saddam has. I don't mean to defend Saddam. I acknowledge that he has done bad things and would do more, given the chance. I just think it's important to put everything in perspective. I feel that the truth about civilian casualties has not gotten out so that's why I brought it up here. The other thing I want to bring up at this time is how the war will impact the tension between the religions of the world. The leaders of our country tell us that this war will make the world a more peaceful place in the end. However, I want to share with you a quotation from the Koran: "To those against whom war is made, permission is given to fight, because they are wronged; and verily God is most powerful for their aid" (Sura 22: 39-40) I believe strongly that even if we defeat Iraq in a relatively quick war, that this action will only further enrage the terrorists, and incite more people to join their cause. I believe it will not make the world a more peaceful place. As we can see from the above passage in the Koran, Muslims are instructed to fight back when they are attacked. We can only wonder what long term consequences of a war with Iraq will be. I realize this is a complicated issue and I respect everyone's right to have their opinion about the war. But I think it is important for people to be properly informed so that they can make objective opinions. I hope that I've provided some information here that will help you make your own decisions about how you feel. I realize that many people still are unsure about how they feel. I encourage everyone to do as much independent research on the issues relating to the war until you feel strongly about your position. Don't just watch CNN. Search for facts, and try to recognize propaganda when you see it. A couple informative links I've come across are offered here: Basic facts about the Gulf War: http://www.nowarcollective.com/gulfwarfactsheet.htm SEPTEMBER 11th FAMILY MEMBERS RETURN FROM IRAQ: Delegation Challenges World Leaders to Win Without War http://www.peacefultomorrows.org/pressreleases/index.shtml#011503 2) Gary to attend Interfaith Education conference at United Nations On March 17th and 18th there will be a conference at the United Nations focusing on Interfaith Education. I feel strongly that the world will be a more peaceful place when the religions come together and focus on their bonds. I'll be attending the conference and I hope to make connections with others that feel this way. The conference is open to the public and I invite you all to consider attending. If you do decide to go, let me know. Perhaps we can meet for lunch. More information on the conference: http://www.aril.org/CIE.htm 3) More peace stickers available The peace stickers on the Harmony Institute website have been going fast and we ran out of a few choices. I just received a new supply, including a few new ones, including "Namaste," and a few others. Check them out at: http://www.theharmonyinstitute.org/peaceshoppe/stickers.shtml 4) Gary writes article for Wisdom Magazine The February issue Wisdom Magazine, which is mainly distributed in the Northeast, features a full paged article I wrote. Many health food stores and "New Age" bookshops in New York City to Pennsylvania, and New England offer Wisdom Magazine. If you live in the area, pick up a copy, which includes much more good information besides my article. 5) Winner of Discussion Forum prize In the last issue of The Harmony Institute Newsletter, I unveiled the new Discussion Forum at the Harmony Institute's web site. I'm glad to say that it's gotten a lot of use. You may remember that I promised a prize to the person who contributes the most to the forum in the first month. The winner of the prize is "hollymom" and her prize is a Harmony Institute T-shirt, a copy of my book, and a Namaste sticker! The good news is that I've decided to offer a prize again this coming month. So if you want some free goodies from the Harmony Institute, all you have to do is go to the Discussion Forum and raise some issues, or respond to what other people have said. Here's a direct link to the Forum: http://theharmonyinstitute.org/bbs/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi 6) Last Month's Interview on Mysteries of the Mind On January 16th, I was interviewed for over two hours on the respected radio program, Mysteries of the Mind. A few of you emailed me afterwards to let me know that you had trouble listening online. I've since found out that they did indeed have trouble with the uplink to the Internet during the broadcast. I'm sorry if you tried to listen but couldn't. The good news is that the interview was recorded and archived, and you can go to their website at any time and listen to it. Here's a link to their archive page; scroll down to my interview on Jan. 16th: http://www.mysteriesofthemind.com/archives.htm 7) Website Notes The Newsletters are now being archived and offered in the Peace News section of the website: Not much more to report on the website, other than (as previously mentioned) there are more stickers available in the Peace Shoppe. Also a reminder that the "Friends of the Harmony Institute" discount store is still open. You can get discounts on everything we sell there. Remember the username is "coupon" and the password is "namaste". Here's a link to get you there: http://theharmonyinstitute.org/coupon/index.shtml 8) Links of the Month Here are some interesting and informative links I've come across recently: Learn how to meditate: http://www.meditationsociety.com/ Learn how to run your diesel car on vegetable oil! http://www.greasecar.com Important facts about the Gulf War http://www.nowarcollective.com/gulfwarfactsheet.htm United Nations Conference on Interfaith Education http://www.aril.org/CIE.htm That's it for the newsletter this month. I wish you all peace until next time. Please stay in touch. Namaste, Gary Beckwith ====================================== the Harmony Institute "exploring the common bonds between the world's religions" PO Box 12 Huntington, VT 05462 gary@theharmonyinstitute.org http://theharmonyinstitute.org phone (802) 434-4939 fax (509) 479-0825 At the Harmony Institute, we respect your privacy. We never rent, sell, or share your email address with anyone. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter please send email to news@theharmonyinstitute.org