LIVING WITHOUT CRUELITY
1. Every human being, regardless of political or economic
persuasion, is worthy of love. If one cannot love the neighbor
one has seen, how can one love the God one has not seen?
2. Nuclear weapons represent the greatest potential for
death ever devised, and the most profound evil ever performed
by humanity.
3. The United States and the Soviet Union are two disparate
organizations with a combined nuclear arsenal equivalent to four
tons of TNT for every man, woman and child on the crust of the
earth.
4. While we love Americans as people, we think that the
nuclear arsenal of the United States proves that this nation is
an organization prepared to extinguish all life on Earth in an
attempt to spare its political or economic existence from having
to change.
5. We also agree that it is not possible for us to serve
our God of life while contributing to or participating in an organization
that considers the potential elimination of life from the planet
to be a viable option under any conceivable combination of circumstances.
6. Therefore we have all decided to devote our lives to
the promotion of Peace on Earth.
To our minds, the Earth is a big ball of dirt hurtling
through space. We believe that the Earth was created by God. We
believe that the Earth is functioning precisely as God intended
it to function, and, at least in that sense, it is perfect.
We further believe that the Earth is composed of a finite
number of elements, and that those elements join in various combinations
to form every thing in nature. Rocks, trees, and elephants are
merely combination of these elements. To our understanding each
of our bodies contains traces of every one of these elements.
To us these elements, this Earth, are reality.If words
have any meaning there is only one Truth, only one reality. Although
we are each presently perceiving reality from different perspectves,
there is a difference between a perspective of reality and reality.
In our minds we draw a firm distinction between the Earth
and the world.
As we see it, the world is not reality, nor is it perfect.
Rather, the world is a construct built upon the Earth. The world
is the sum of the elements, the ideas of humanity, and humanity's
ability to manipulate the elements.
From our perception, the ideas upon which humanity founds
its world fall into three basic categories: technological, ideological,
and mythological. Not all of humanity's ideas are reasonable,
logical, sane, or constructive.
Ideological ideas produce institutions like governments,
religions, economic theories, etc.
Mythological ideas produce fantasies like national boundaries,
money, and ego-centric whimsies like ethnic or cultural superiority,
which often result in war.
We believe that harmonious change may be brought about
only by fostering understanding through communication, and that
attempts to achieve or prevent social change through force or
violence can only result in long-term destruction.
Live by the Sword, Die by the Sword.
We also believe that, down through history, many individuals
have failed to recognize that the principle of Action/Reaction
is absolute. Because of that failure in recognition many individuals
have viewed Live by the Sword, Die by the Sword as hyperbole.
However, technology evolved the novel concept of Live by the Bomb,
and humanity has moved a great step closer to Absolute Death.
We still think the Earth is perfect, so we conclude that
crazy ideas can really mess up a perfect reality.
We do not believe that violence can ever bring peace. Only
through patient and honest communication will we ever be able
to realize stronger unity and a more objective picture of reality.
If our perceptions are correct the issues we seek to communicate
in front of the White House are of crucial importance to humanity.
Yet some people doubt the validity of what we're saying
or dislike the manner in which we're saying it. We try to remain
objective. In effect our writings and our symbolic actions say:
this is the way we see things, and ask: if you see things differently
please explain your perception. It is our hope that by working
together through communication we may all draw closer to a clearer
understanding of reality and the resolution of all our errors,
insanities, problems and discomforts.