While we watch the latest round of appalling violence and mayhem spilling across our screens it is worth considering its cause.
Trillions of dollars and thousands of hours of media time are being spent in the spiralling escalation of brutality, but the real problem is not the terrorists, it is us, says Australia's World Peace Society.
"We are constructing a society that alienates," say Sunirmalya Symons, the society's secretary.
"A materialistic society so fundamentally fanatical about its possessions and about striving for the ownership of more, that any price will be paid to protect them, even human life."
Sunirmalya says that the real problem is a culture of alienation and fear. "Whether it be refugees that we alienate because they have the wrong address, or indigenous peoples, or our youth or more obviously, so-called 'terrorists'."
"Yesterday's freedom fighters are today's terrorists, depending on who governments are supporting at the time", says Sunirmalya.
The World Peace Society believes that the 'war on terrorism' cannot be won by violence, but dialog.
"We have created this problem by alienating people, and there is no wrath greater than that of the misunderstood," says Sunirmalya.
"How many of us have asked why so many people would be so desperate to be heard that they would be willing to give their lives to do so? How many of us have considered the desperate methods we use every day to alienate and demonize? How many of us have been through war and found that rather than there being devils on the other side, there were human beings, sisters and brothers just like us, with families and grandparents and babies that just wanted to be listened to."
Sunirmalya says we should consider the problem as we would one family.
"Get Dr Phil in", he says. "He would tell us that violence is not going to solve our problems. That alienating our children is not the way to encourage their development. That we have to spend less time at work and more time with our families and communities, developing relationships and communicating."
"Our policy of alienation, of jailing or isolating any perceived threat to our 'relligion of the dollar' we cannot and will not succed because as we build bigger and smarter weapons to create more alienation, we are also creating more and more alienated sisters and brothers ready to give their lives to be heard."
The society says that the problem of terrorism is our problem.
"We would be far better served if instead of us demanding the titillation of the latest round of bombs and deaths on our news screens, we demanded to understand why? Why are people willing to give their lives to kill others, so that they can be heard?" says Sunirmalya
Rather than jailing the 'terrorists' perhaps as a mother would tell us 'that he isn't really a bad boy, he' just misunderstood', we should be discovering how we alienated this group of people and how we can re-engage them in a society, that will listen and act with compassion and empathy.
Sunirmalya Symons
World Peace Society of Australia
http://www.worldpeace.org.au
tel: 61-7-4156 6765
For additional information: please contact Sunirmalya Symons
http://worldpeace.org.au
Ed: Violence vs Non-violence
Someone once said there are six billion versions of Non-violence ;)
What does Non-violence mean to you?
http://perth.indymedia.org/index.php?action=newswire&parentview=12818
