Today is February 14, 2003.  Today the UN Weapons inspectors, Hans Blix and Muhammed ElBaradei, gave their statements to the United Nations regarding the weapons inspections they have been doing in Iraq.

Our family has been following the events involving Iraq and the United Nations with great interest.  Each day we watch Fox News to see what new events have developed.  Our children have been engaged daily in discussions of right and wrong, war and peace, and the merits of respecting the point of view of others with whom you disagree.

As I follow these events, I cannot help but wonder to myself, why are people so easily persuaded that war, or any type of violence for that matter, is the answer to their problems?  Why is our country, and specifically our President and many of our leaders, pressing so hard to wipe out Saddam Hussein and his regime?  Isn't it obvious to them that by using violence to stop him, we are no better than him, trying to force another human being to do our will?  We say its for the purpose of self-defense, to stop him before he gets us.  But the fact remains, a person, and by extension a country, must live by principles, not by might.

Where would a human being get the idea that forcing someone else to do what they want is acceptable?

The first place that a human being learns how to interact with others is in the arms of his or her mother.  Baby wants something, mother says no.  Baby learns to get up and walk to get what he wants, mother or father slaps his hand or bottom.  What would possess them to do such a thing?  Why?  Because they are bigger and stronger than baby, and realize that baby cannot fight back against their physical strength.  They know they can make baby do what they want, so they do.  Many don't even stop to think about whether they SHOULD.

Many people do not even stop to wonder whether forcing their children to do what they want is acceptable.  In most cultures of the world, some form of physical punishment is routine, standard child care.  Do we stop to wonder how this "standard" came about?

Many people cite religious training as the source of their childrearing ideas.  It is no wonder that the majority of mainstream, organized religions, all of which originated in the Middle East, incorporate some kind of force into their childrearing ideals.  Judiasm, Christianity, Islam, and their offshoots.  Is it any wonder that we are now planning a war with one of those Middle Eastern countries?

I can hear parents complaining, "How do we get across to our babies and young children that certain activities should be avoided?  If we can't punish them, how will they learn?"  The answer is, they learn by your example, and by you showing them over and over.  Also, by letting them experience the consequences of their actions whenever possible.

For example, if I am mopping the floor, and I don't want my two-year old to walk into the kitchen on the wet floor, there are three ways I can handle this that do not involve violence.  First, I can take the child into the other room and get them interested in some other project so they will forget about the wet floor long enough for me to finish it.  Second, every time they start to step on the wet floor, I can stop, pick them up, and set them back on the carpet.  They will undoubtedly try to step out on the wet floor again, because they don't yet have the message that this is unacceptable.  You may have to set them back on the carpet 20 times before they get the message, but they WILL get the message eventually.  They question is, will you have the patience to carry through with good parenting, or will you cave in and use the tool of lazy parenting, spanking?

And third, you can just let them walk on the wet floor.  It's not that big a deal, and you can go around behind them and mop up the little footprints if you feel moved to do so.  Otherwise, make it a non-issue, continue to mop as you would if no little person was there, and don't sweat it.  In many issues, this is the wisest course of action because it teaches us, the parents, a very important lesson.  Not everything that we think is a major issue actually is one.  It teaches us to not sweat the small stuff.  Pick important issues to use as teaching points, forget the rest.

With continual reinforcement, anybody, even an adult or a foreign power can be taught a lesson.

Each and every person has the right to make their own decisions.  Period.  We parents may like to decide for our children what is right, or what they should or shouldn't be involved in, but unless it involves actual physical harm, like walking into the street in front of a car, we parents should learn to respect our children's right to their own ideas and their right to decide for themselves how they will live.

The same goes for foreign powers.  We in the United States have a bad habit of thinking that our way of life is the best and most desirable.  This is truly a matter of opinion.  We also think that because we are powerful, that we can and should get involved in forcing people to choose what we deem to be "best" or "right".  We don't stop to think that what is right varies from culture to culture, and that we don't have the right to decide for someone else what is right for them.

Now someone will undoubtedly spout, "But what about Saddam Hussein?  What if what he wants is to destroy us all?  Shouldn't we try to stop him?"  Yes, absolutely, but not by destroying him in the process.  Our country refuses to acknowledge that there are MANY ways to peace, not just one.

Those of us who are spiritually-minded often forget that we have been given the perfect example of how to deal with conflict - by JESUS CHRIST.

It amazes me that those who say they are Christians usually reject their perfect example when deciding how to behave toward others.  Why?  Because they aren't really committed to the kind of radically different life that Jesus represented and advocated.  AND, most importantly, they aren't willing to die for their ideals as he was. Jesus was spat upon, scourged, whipped, called names, degraded, and what did he do?  Nothing.  When they were coming to arrest him, and Peter raised his sword, Jesus told him to put the sword down because "he who lives by the sword will die by the sword."  It is clear that his followers got the message, because after Jesus was gone, his followers in the book of Acts put forth the same kind of behavior.  When they were persecuted, tortured, imprisoned and martyred, they did not fight back.  His followers obviously understood his teachings, because they adopted lifestyles of non-violence too.

Jesus and the Jews lived under the oppression of the Roman government.  It is clear by many of their statements in the Bible that they WANTED someone to liberate them from that oppression, and expected Jesus to be that person.  But that isn't what he came to teach us.  We are told in the Bible that "the weapons of our warefare are not carnal (physical, natural)."  If we aren't to use weapons we can touch with our hands, what kind of weapons are we to use?  Rather than calling them weapons, we should call them tools.  We have devoted a whole section on our spirituality site to explaining how to use these tools for our protection, betterment, and the betterment of humankind.  Click here to learn about the non-violent, multidimensional  tools for effecting change.

The bottom line is, I am NOT in favor of war under any circumstance.  But what about Hitler, somebody asks?  If the non-violent, multidimensional tools for effecting change were used on him, it would have worked too.  But very few, if anybody, tried to use them.  These tools were not well publisized until the late 70's, except in the Bible, and some of the Masonic orders and mystery schools, and few Christians really understood or were taught to use them.  You don't have to be a Christian or even believe in God to use these tools, they work for anybody.  It's just that Jesus came to be an example of how they can work.  Very few paid attention.

It's not that these tools are magical or forbidden either.  They are simple physics.  They are built upon principles that can be easily found in nature.

Where does war mentality come from?  Ultimately, from how our parents dealt with us as children.  That's why we must be Parents Committed to Excellence.

Where did our parents get their ideas about childrearing and punishment?  From their own parents, or from erroneous and misunderstood spiritual teachings.  Even the Bible does not teach that we should hurt or punish our children with violence, although many religious sects teach that it does.  There is no way a Christian can advocate war and still hold to the ideals of Jesus Christ.

Please learn about the multi-dimensional tools for effecting change.  They can change your life, and maybe save it someday.  Look at the world around you.  Don't you agree that the "traditional" ways of handling things are not working?  There is some fundamental principle that people are missing.