May 24, 2014
LOS ANGELES– In the wake of the tragic Santa Barbara shooting last night, 500 students and local community nonprofits marched the streets of Venice Beach to rally against violence and war on Saturday, May 24.

Hosting the event is Heavenly Culture, World Peace (HWPL), an international nonprofit with a branch in Los Angeles that promotes peace initiatives through culture, arts, policy, and religion for the cessation of war.

“We're immersed in news of violence and war daily. That’s why today we're representing one urgent issue: the need to unite and start a generation and culture that believes that peace is possible,” said HWPL volunteer and UC Santa Barbara student Ally Chu. Chu and 10 other volunteers drove 2 hours from Santa Barbara to participate in the rally.

The march is a part of a global movement of peace rallies held around the world today by over 200 youth organizations on May 25, 2014, to also commemorate the one-year anniversary of the first International Youth Peace Walk in 2013, which gathered 27,000 youth in Seoul, South Korea to witness the inaugural presentation of the Declaration of World Peace.

The Chairman of HWPL is 84 year old Korean War veteran and peace advocate Mr. M.H. Lee, who also wrote the Declaration. An excerpt of the document reads:

“We call on all youth to unite in an effort to stop wars and pursue the restoration of peace by
agreeing not to fight one another. For World Peace to become a reality, this is the duty of all
youth everywhere. The only way to stop the fighting and pointless tragic deaths is to stop
fighting. Nobody can ask for anything greater than this, and know that your efforts - the efforts of the young people of the world today in pursuit of peace - will remain as a never fading light of life for all future generations.”

Mr. Lee has traveled to over 73 countries in the last two years and is currently on his 10th World Tour, having visited Washington D.C., New York, Mexico, and Los Angeles this month to speak with leaders and to have them sign the HWPL Peace Agreement. The agreement, which has been signed by over 300 dignitaries, is a pledge to work together for peace across nationalities and religions. In September, Mr. Lee and HWPL will host the World Alliance of Religions for Peace Summit in South Korea, a G20 format global forum of influential leaders from the religious, political and non-profit spheres working for peace.

“With shootings like this in the news, it may be hard to believe in ‘peace,’ but Mr. Lee’s passion and sincerity to end violence and war is gathering leaders and youth together. And that is evidence that peace is possible,” said Chu.

For more information, contact Amy Nguyen: 714-584-5114

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Here are a couple links that explain who organized this. It's probably a cult. Their leader, Man Hee Lee, is fixated on Revelation, which is also known as Apocalypse or Armageddon. It's a totally confusing book.

"They came up over the surface of the earth and surrounded the encampment of the saints, the beloved city. Then fire came down from heaven and consumed them." Revelation 20:7-9

Here's a link to the book of Revelations: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/k/kjv/kjv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=5379618

If you're not the Bible-reading type, here's a link to some contemporary posters based on that book, by a believer:
http://www.revelationillustrated.com/contentpages/23938/340d0cee-1469-403d-bf99-1d251bfaa559/RevelationGallery.aspx

Here are some more, I think from Watchtower:
http://www.quotes-watchtower.co.uk/armageddon_art.html

That Watchtower art is awesome. You have to figure anyone this deep into considering the destruction of all reality is going to be at least a little bit "off".

Well, since I'm going to be destroyed in fire and end up in hell, that stuff looks pretty malicious, but people who are believers always say stuff like "I'm not worried about the end times." LOL. Talk about "the sin of vanity." How do they know that they are going to be saved? Seems presumptuous.

The believers imagine themselves living in paradise afterward, but in their vision of death, paradise seems dependent on the existence of the apocalypse and hell.

I wonder if these peace walkers think their "peace" requires the existence of war and destruction? And to make it more mundane, do they think peaceful lives on earth require the hell of poverty and privation -- because in the capitalist system, it most definitely does.

So called "libertarian" Art Pedroza has a soft spot for the old man. I suppose if you're in one cult, you are going to be open to being in other cults. (Is that why the peace walk people put this post onto LA Indymedia? Because there's some culty stuff up? Because people worry about the ecological or political "end times"?)

http://newsantaana.com/2012/07/21/korean-bible-instructor-man-hee-lee-packs-the-crystal-cathedral/

The OJ Blog has the funniest post about this group.

Who ever thought that the youth could be such a unified and loud voice for peace?

Amidst the various crises occurring in the world, we can see through the work that HWPL is doing, that they really have a true message that is able to ring throughout the entire world.

How else do you know something is true unless you see hundreds and thousands gather together? Never have I heard of so many youth or people of different nationalities or religions come together as was accomplished through Mr. Lee.

Congratulations HWPL on your one-year anniversary of the first International Youth Peace Walk 2013! I hope to join you in the next one, and the many more following in the future.

wow HWPL is not a cult -___- If you actually see the work that they are doing or know how big this organization is you wouldn't be saying that- it's simply peace work that hasn't been done before- it's admirable ^^.

HWPL and the work of Mr. Lee prove that peace can be established. It really gives me the hope that in the wake of such a terrible tragedy such as the horrific shooting at UCSB people can still join together to promote peace. Mr. Lee promotes the youth joining together in order to create a future that is bright. As youth we can change the future if we stop fighting, pursue peace, and shine a bright light to future generations. After traveling around the world 10 times Mr. Lee )who is 84 years old) obviously has something ground breaking to say, and I cannot wait to see peace be achieved. Peace is possible.

Regardless what people say, I saw this myself the other day and they want really peace... It's in their eyes and voices! Many groups whether religious, political, or even non profits talk about peace all the time! But actually seeing peace being illustrated by the youth's actions of marching, I was inspired. Let's be nice to one another and even in the comments show respect for one another :) If the article is about peace, then let's keep even the comments peaceful and understand one another! To be honest I really have nothing to say whether good or bad because I should be doing things such as these marches. If I am not doing it, then I can't judge or point fingers. Let's support them regardless what people say because they are atleast doing something to promote peace :)

II glad that people are doing something to voice their poisoning to further peace. It is unfortunate that the youth are suffering because of peoples greed and selfishness. I am thankful for groups like this that are fighting for peace!!

Que maravilloso! Este movimiento que nadie esta haciendo pero solo HWPL. Yo soy desde de Sudamerica y deseo que hay un movimiento como esto. Porque hay mucha guerra y muchas jovenes se murrio en guerras. Por favor HWPL, cambiar la tierra

I was wondering what this was all about.. I saw them with my family at Venice and one of them talked to us about peace and the Nigerian woman

This is very inspiring. There's been so many news stories about shootings, abductions, murders, etc.. news like this never stop and keeps getting worse. It's so saddening that people's hearts are becoming so calloused from tragic events because it happens every day. And even worse, people are so calloused that they believe that peace could never be achieved.. but we can't be people who think that way. We should be people who are passionate about saving the world, saving people's lives... we all have to take part in peace..Then there will be no more religious conflicts, gender inequality, human trafficking, misogyny, hatred and other injustices against humans. Let's save lives and let's protect each other so we create a better world for future generations.

And since when did world peace = cult.. *eyeroll*

Keep up the good work! It's refreshing to see young kids passionate about things other than celebrity gossip and meaningless materialism.

It's so refreshing to see people gather together for an important cause. You usually see older people running for these kind of causes. I really hope and pray that HWPL can gather more youth. Let us know when we can get involved too. Thanks for the work.
Espero que todos los jóvenes tengan esa esperanza en la paz y sigan luchando.

It is amazing to see how youth are coming together to voice out for peace. One person's passion and sincerity truly inspired many people to come together to end the violence. It means that we have hope as long as we all have passion and sincerity for peace! I am actually very excited for how there will be a world summit in September! I think Mr.Lee's right. Bringing people together is the first big step to peace. Peace cannot come with violence. We cannot use violence to bring "peace."

I come from a family background of hardship and one of those was WWII. My grandma has literally was hit by an airplane bombing while she was shopping with her sister in the local market in Hong Kong. She nearly died, but was lucky enough to be one of a few survivors that day.

Now, I would like to ask the world: what are you doing to help the world be better?

War is one of the most destructive things ever in this world and can we just say "good job! keep it up!" to efforts such as these that at least have the courage and hope in their hearts to want to promote peace?

We live in a society that just is so judgmental and so pessimistic that when we see something good, we think it can't be, there's something wrong. But as a student myself, I'm so encouraged that other youth are partaking in this kind of movement. Honestly! Sometimes it's so depressing to see students with deadened faces in class--they're there just to succeed in their own personal lives. The world's problems are always thought so secondarily.

As such, I would like to congratulate HWPL and the youth of this peace work for their effort and perseverance. Many people will say things, but don't give up :)! Don't lose heart! And let's be hopeful for the world together!

Seeing these pictures, I can see the youth really wanting peace on this earth. I hope that there are many more walks to come so that I, too, can participate. I think in this world, we have forgotten what peace is, but I believe that peace is people gathering together with one heart and purpose trying to accomplish one goal that will help many generations to come. It all comes down to whether we ourselves want to change to see change in the world. I don't understand why people want to bash the idea of peace being possible - they need to be more optimistic!

Im not much for rally's but when I saw these guys last Saturday I felt really encouraged to do something for peace. I've been trying to get my friends and a few campus clubs to get involved. We could really get far if we put our differences aside. Never thought I'd see this day. Sure the 60s and 80s were filled with equality chants and rally's but it seems as though back in the 80s their idea of peace was only on the surface.

I was there and was handed a white paper dove. The rally came out of no where but was so loving and peaceful. We need more rally's like this one. We need more people to get involved and show the world that war and hate needs to stop. We need a world that loves one another no matter who you are. I feel very happy and hope this organization can spread this to the ends of the earth!

Peace is possible, we just don't want to believe it... Once we do, imagine how far we can go with it as our hope!

Peace is possible, we just don't want to believe it... Once we do, imagine how far we can go with it as our hope!

Peace is possible, we just don't want to believe it... Once we do, imagine how far we can go with it as our hope!

Peace is possible, we just don't want to believe it... Once we do, imagine how far we can go with it as our hope!

Yes! Peace is possible! I am so encouraged by this article and the comments of the people on this page... Activism is still alive today! The spirit of the youth still lives today!! I send words of encouragement from my campus of USC -- Fight ON!

Regardless of what people are saying I think we need to do more than just say we want peace, lots of nations are peaceful already and I think these rallies are taking us in a good direction! I hope these peace walks continue around the world! You either want Peace or you want War and by your actions you can tell!

PEEEAAAAACCCCCCEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im so glad facebook led me here, its nice to know that people are doing the work and bringing the world aware on topics we should focus on. I hope they do something in Davis soon. GO PEACE

Esto muy muy muy love the Peace walk!! I hope CA can have a bigger peace walk next time. that way all the news ppl can spread the word. Necicitamos Paz por Mundo

Peace needs to be spread across all nations!!! Everybody needs to join and make an effort for peace!

reading this article made me think twice about world peace. World peace wont just happen on its own but it truly depends on each individual and how much effort one puts in to truly establish world peace. The Chairman of HWPL is doing amazing work and I can see that this is work that is occuring all over the world. Great job HWPL!

Yeeees. World peace is needed.it is possible.peace on earth.

I think my title says it all....
these peace walks needs to keep occurring! we all desire for peace so it's about time we do something about it!!

this is exhilarating!!

Thank u for all your hard work guys!!
They look very passionate about what they are doing!
Hope that they continue and achieve world
peace sooner!

Thank u for all your hard work guys!!
They look very passionate about what they are doing!
Hope that they continue and achieve world
peace sooner!

The peace signs they are holding is so cute. I can see all the efforts and hope towards world peace. I love it!

The peace signs they are holding is so cute. I can see all the efforts and hope towards world peace. I love it!

Finally people are catching on! John Lennon said it a long time ago, "Give peace a chance!" You do NOT need war for peace! Big things start small. Hope this keeps happening, and to see more of it in the media

I'm totally against war and violence, it makes me sick to my stomach thinking about all the meaningless deaths and bloodshed. Where can i sign up for HWPL?!

Can we all just get along? What is the point of killing others? Isn't that somebody's child? Aren't we all humans? HWPL is trying to achieve things many have tried but hasn't achieved it fully. We should all do our part in doing what seems like impossible, possible.

To be honest... I'm speechless.. Seeing youth like this coming together like this brings so much joy to my heart. What Mr. Lee is trying to achieve is remarkable.. I hope there is something I can do to help.

This event looks awesome. Not many people can gather together and do something for peace in order to achieve it. AWESOME!

yay for world peace!

yay for world peace!

This walk was interesting because so many people observing had a mixed reaction-- in fact, some jeered and others became upset at the idea that people are walking for the cause of world peace-- something that is impossible if we do nothing to obtain it.

It took so much sacrifice of millions of people to create and fight for the society we have today, and generations wanted to leave a better tomorrow for their posterity. It's beautiful to see that others still want to live this out, and that they want to pass on a peaceful future to the current and upcoming generations as well.

Youth is a powerful thing! Don't loose that passion and these people can really make a difference. We were close in the 70s but drugs and sex got in the way. Now with that out of the way they can really make a difference!

awesome!!! go peace!!

world peace is possible!!

I had been invited to this Peace Walk by a pair of bright students who approached me at the local Starbucks. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend because of prior engagements; however the students still shared with me information about HWPL.

From what I understand, this organization is doing a huge work bringing about peace and stopping all wars. I am all for it! Who wouldn't be? Peace is something that human race has been hoping to achieve. We all desire it - as it is embedded inside us but it seems impossible.

First of all, looking at the smiles of these students after having a not-so-good morning and then being invited to a peace walk made me see that good is still out there. The very reason the organization was established is for a good cause. HWPL is working together with people - human beings- who have a heart and a desire to live and furthermore to live at peace. They are not seeking to gain anything besides to live in a better and more peaceful world like the rest of the population.

The only thing I regret after talking with these students was not being able to take part in this walk. I have their contacts and they will send me more information about how to participate and also volunteer for future events. I look forward to seeing HWPL in the future and would not be surprised to see its success and recognition.

Peace can happen here because there are still people like these guys, throwing themselves out there and rallying for a cause. Let's meet sometime someone from who organized it I can make it. Keep it up guys more power to you

It's so encouraging to hear about movements and organizations like hwpl! I'm sure in the near future more & more will get involved (including myself) because absolutely no one wants war. We all want peace! Shootings like the one in Santa Barbara have to come to an end!

Wow I'm surprised at how young this group is...peace is desired not just by us older folks, but people of all ages. Why can we all be like that? Let's work together to end all war and violence!

I am glad I was able to take part in this walk! Peace is what we all need. How wonderful and different this world would be if peace could be achieved? All the youth... let's refresh our mothers' heart by ceasing war!!!

Wow that is a ton of people! Wish I was there to witness that. And what's better is that the youth are the one rallying for peace!

Finally, an organization I can join that will work toward peace. Local clubs aren't going to do it. This is an international organization that goes to many countries , making it known how peace can soon be accomplished. It would be awesome to go see Mr Lee and attend an event in person. This is history in the making! Count me in! I will try to be there for all future peace walks to come! : )

Call it signs or what have you, but I have been seeing a lot of people standing on the sidewalks telling me to "Repent, or you're going to Hell. The end is near." I assume the participants are members from a local church, but don't you think there is a better way to bring about the love of your savior, Jesus? From what I know, Jesus was a young man who walked the earth showing the grace and love of God. Holding threatening signs and yelling definitely does not mirror the Jesus those people are trying to convey.

Conversely, I witnessed something quite fun and uplifting the past weekend while with my family. "Peace! No more war, we want peace!" I hear a crowd of young people wearing colorful shirts holding signs not telling me I'm going to hell, but instead signs about peace. Already, this was more inviting than the annoying loud speakers telling me to repent. These young people were shouting for "Peace" and they actually meant it.

While many movies and church goers and even the latest news broadcast about the world coming to an end through various forms of many methods, I like to see more of events such as peace walks. Perhaps even having a follow up conference of how to make something like this happen.

My kids and wife took many pictures and rather than turning the other direction at angry sign holders, we decided to join and participate for a small portion of the walk. We were welcomed right away, the group around us were cheering and they handed us some props to hold and taught us to join in their clever cheers: "End of War, not the World. End of War, not the World." To me, my family, and from the crowd around me, this was heavenly.

I am currently a student attending the University of California, Irvine and I am a proud volunteer of Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light; HWPL for short.

This organization was first introduced to me as just a volunteer group who helps within the local community. The volunteers involved are enthusiastic and they loved the organization and the majority of them were actively involved for all events. This made made interested to what reason they have to be such supporters.

As I also became an active member, I soon learned HWPL wasn't just about food drives and trash pick ups around the community, but it was an international organization with branches all around the world seeking to bring about peace.

The founder of the organization, Mr. Man Lee is the most passionate elder I have ever seen. To my amazement, Mr. Lee is working together with all religions, youth groups and women's group to encourage the world to live in peace. Through the agreement of all peoples coming together to stop war, we hold peace walks, conferences, we have private interviews, news broadcasts, and an upcoming Peace Summit.

Our latest project for the Peace Summit will be the largest summit to bring about major religious leaders from all religions. As the organization is growing exponentially over hundreds of thousands, peace is possible and peace is coming. Until that day, I pray for an end to war by letting go of my own ego and working to bring about a world of love and finally...peace.

This is what the world need peace. I really support and agree with this heavenly culture world peace movement; working toward peace to all human race. I believe peace is possible if we all take part to work together such as this. Let us work for peace and make the world better place for all of us.

I was here with my boyfriend and our daughter... I just want to say thank you to those who helped me load up all of our belongings into the car. If you guys were a restaurant, I would be yelping to say thank you but I couldn't so I extend my words of thanksgiving to you here. I think it was Brian and Rebecca that helped me out. Thank you once again. We were truly touched by your act of peace and how you guys really walked the talk.

That's a tremendous response.

Seems like a cult to me.

Its really not everyday that you see so much youth gather together for a beautiful cause. I really hope this group brings more awareness to world peace and gets more support to continue the good work.

I'm so happy to see a peace rally like this. HWPL is really taking action on achieving world peace and I think it's awesome. You don't see this kind of thing too often and I really feel like things are starting to change! Let's join and follow HWPL and make a difference!

..in the role of feel-good useless activities to manage people's longing for social change

"if marching for peace changed anything they'd make it illegal"

- you know, like the occupy tactic



and the irony of meeting at starfucks was especially rich -

"the president of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, is a ‘propagandist for Israel’, a blatant Zionist and of actively supporting WAR CRIMINAL George W Bush’s policies in the Middle East."

LOL. They're nutty.

I hope they make it through this phase in their life okay.

Wow, I'm amazed at what gathering a hundreds of youth can do. This organization is doing all the right things and this needs to be spread to the youth of the world. HWPL, keep on doing what you're doing, you've got my vote! And Mr. Hee, you are amazing for all you have done and continue to do even in your elderly age! wow!

Yes, 100 million plus legal gun owners in the USA did not participate in ANY gun violence in the last day or the last week, or the last month or the last year or the last decade or at any time in their lives.

Yet, we are told to believe that 100 million plus gun owners ARE violent criminals who kill others left and right.

Well, if that were the case, there would not be 340 million people in America. We would have been killed off decades, years, months, weeks days ago.

Obviously, someone is trying to use fear porn to get you to follow their agenda. Feel free to follow them. If you would challenge my right to defend myself, then you deserve to live in fear for all eternity.

look at meeeeee !

the above 'author' seems to need to resort to pointless,ad hominen attacks, using NRA strawmen.
Typical gun grabber.

..but projecting fear onto those who don't feel the need for them is self-defeating


the issue isn't guns but the mindset of those who want them - the constant fear of "gun grabbers", minorities, women - anyone OTHER than angry white males (by far the most common gun nut)


not a matter of counting the millions of guns but the mentality of fear of those who own those millions of guns, and how they attempt to infect others with their fear mentality - "you deserve to live in fear" - with it's undercurrent of domestic terrorism

no we don't live in fear, YOU do

they say we have a gun problem in this country - no - we have an angry white male problem

This great event had nothing to do about guns but about harmony and cooperation.
Can't believe this was used like that to promote other agendas.

..which is why I added the comment "look at meeee !"

gun nuts are of the same mentality as war mongers however, and addressing the mental state of war mongering would go a long way towards actually dealing with the issue of war

I address the war profiteers and their lobbying plus congress critters that have investments in war contractors and their public relations budget - the actual core issues

hollywood works closely with war profiteers to shape and manage public perception about endless war, to normalize it, so going after them would be useful too

So the above 'author' is again using ad homenin attacks and strawmen to insert its own agenda.
Good to know who the players are.

World Peace is possible if we dream it and pursue it. People think peace is not possible without war is because they are greedy and selfish. If the effort of warring against each other is put to a much more positive activity like peace walk, peace run, peace dialogue, etc. then maybe we'll forget why we fight in the first place. We don't have to put such a negative light on our differences rather we can celebrate our differences and elevate our commonality as human beings. Love and compassion still exist in every human being I believe. Those who criticize and put down any type of work for peace are the ones who forget his/her humanity. Of all the living beings in the world, we are the most capable of creating peace. Animals and plants live so harmoniously so why can't we.

without addressing the root cause of endless war these efforts only serve to make the participants feel good about themselves while endless war goes on - exactly what the PR agencies the war profiteers employ intend

that none of the core issues are being addressed by the above movement speaks for itself

greed barely skims the surface, who is responsible for making greed a virtue in popular culture - the same people profiting from endless war perhaps?

the too-big-to-fail, too-big-to-jail bankster crooks that print the money which funds wars and loan it at interest to both sides of the conflicts

endless war is the product of a tiny group of people - the .01 % which the occupy tactic attempted to address

the banks were behind the nationwide sweep of occupy encampments - the very same banks which were given trillions of dollars completely against the public's wishes in the so-called 'bailout' and the situation has only gotten worse since then

protesting some abstract notion of greed in a vacuum devoid of these facts then pretending it could solve the problem if only more people also engaged in such wishful thinking and futile actions, while the world burns, the war profiteers profit and the banksters make out like bandits - again - is exactly what their PR operatives want

if you were doing or proposing anything actually effective it would be illegal, you're simply doing exactly what they want

What does all the comment that you put up with peace?
this is an awesome event, and what you are talking about, is about guns out of nowhere, this event isn't for criticizing some people, or a thing. This event is for all the youth who are trying to bring PEACE back into this world where it belongs.
so, please know what we are commenting about, and know what you are talking about and post it somewhere else where who can listen to you. but, not here. you are talking about something that doesn't fit here.
so, please respect others who are visiting here!!!!

that says it all

but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all

Whoa cool! I was there when this happened! It was really amazing seeing youth so excited for peace! We definitely need more people like this. I dont know how people could leave so much hate and negative comments on an article like this. Thanks for the post! I really enjoyed it!

This was amazing! I was there and the group was even singing songs about peace. Normally I wouldn't call a walk or protest thing beautiful but this really is.

Seeing this article, I was really inspired...until I saw the comments under that immediately called it a cult. I am constantly shocked at how many negative, horrible things are done and reported versus the small amount of positives. And yet, when something positive like this is reported, the first thing people do is try to find a way to make it negative. They are doing something positive, working towards peace, so why can't they possibly just be normal people who are compelled to try and make a change in the world? I'm sad for all of the hateful people who, instead of helping to make the world a better place, just sit and comment on everyone else, saying it can never make a difference. If all of those people helped, too, instead of saying it will never happen, who knows where we would be today! Let's take some responsibility as a member of this earth and realize that expression is true: if we are not a part of the solution, we are part of the problem. If I hear about the next peace walk, ill be painting my sign to go join them!

It's encouraging that people are working torwards peace.. Especially the younger generations. Hopefully more people actively involve themselves with achieving peace so there can truly be a peaceful world!

Written by Chris Floyd
Tuesday, 10 June 2014 16:29

The moral insanity of the Terror War continues to spawn more violence, more extremism, more repression, more injustice, and the total subversion of the "Western values," all of which it is ostensibly designed to defend.

A new piece by Patrick Cockburn in the Independent provides a grimly illuminating look at this insanity in action on a specific front: Syria. It's worth reading in full, but here is an excerpt:

The Syrian war has turned into a Syrian version of the Thirty Years War in Germany four centuries ago. Too many conflicts and too many players have become involved for any peace terms to be acceptable to all.. … It has become increasingly obvious over the past year that al-Qa’ida type movements, notably Isis, Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham, have come to dominate or can operate freely in a great swathe of territory across northern Iraq and northern Syria. This gives Isis a vast hinterland in which it can manoeuvre and fight on both sides of what is a largely nominal Syrian-Iraqi border. …

Europeans have not yet woken up to the significance of these anarchic zones opening up on the shores of the Mediterranean in Syria and Libya. This is because the threat has been largely abstract but it is getting less so with the attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels by a French jihadi who had been in Syria. US and European politicians do not want to explain why, 13 years after 9/11, when the “war on terror” was supposedly launched, thousands of al-Qa’ida militants have been able to carve out enclaves so close to Europe.

US and European politicians won't explain it because any honest explanation would expose the emptiness at the core of all their proffered reasons for the Terror War. They can't explain it because the Terror War system -- including the increasing militarization and repression in their own countries -- has now become organizing principle of Western society. Or rather, it is the latest incarnation of what has been the guiding principle of Western society since World War II: organizing society and the economy around war, either active war or the ever-present "threat" of war (assiduously exaggerated -- or even manufactured -- at every turn). For government and big business, the immense power and profit and control they inevitably accrued from conducting total war on a global basis was far too enticing to give up once the war was over. The full mobilization of society's resources for war simply carried on; indeed, was expanded and amplified.

However, the war also had a life-transforming impact on many of its survivors. The savagery and loss -- and the class-effacing comradeship -- they had experienced during the war imbued millions of people with a burning desire to change society for the better, to do away with the poverty and injustices of the past, and build a better, more decent, more peaceful world. This spirit is evoked with remarkable power in a new book, Harry's Last Stand, by Harry Leslie Smith, a 91-year-old WII veteran enraged to see the neoliberal extremists that have held sway in the US and Britain for more than 30 years sweeping away the progress toward a more just society that his generation tried to build on the ruins of the war. (Some of Smith's writing can be found here and here.)

The power structure was forced to deal with these aspirations. And, yes, some among the commanding heights shared these sentiments as well, to varying degrees. Thus for a a brief period -- scarcely more than two generations -- there was an attempt to balance two opposing organizing principles at once: war and human betterment. The presidency of Lyndon Johnson was perhaps the apex -- and tragic denouement -- of this conflict. Johnson's Great Society and War on Poverty programs, and his muscling through of the Civil Rights Act, were profoundly transformative for millions of people, and even with their limitations and compromises could have laid the groundwork for a continual refinement and recalibration of society in the general direction of justice, opportunity and social peace. But Johnson was also a product -- and propagator -- of the war system: a hawk, eager to "project dominance," subvert and overthrow "recalcitrant" states and employ violence on a massive, indiscriminate (and lucrative) scale. The Vietnam War destroyed his presidency, crippled the momentum of his social programs, and accelerated the triumph of the war principle.

Now those who remember what the world was like before the Second World War -- the ugly, despairing poverty and inequality that Smith writes about so movingly -- are almost gone. Even those of us who remember when the idea of human betterment seemed a realistic possibility for society, a practical goal to be pursued despite many difficulties, not a pipe dream scorned by the "savvy," are fading away. There are now generations well into adulthood who have never known anything but the war principle and the neoliberal ascendancy as "normality," the natural state of things. Indeed, in a very few years, we'll see the first generation of adults who will have lived their entire lives under the reign of the Terror War. The relentless assault of the elites who have thrived under the war principle, increasing the unequal proportion of their wealth and power to unimaginable levels, have left these new generations very little to build upon. On so many fronts, so many levels, they will essentially have to start from scratch, re-discover old skills and insights that have been lost, re-fight old battles, and of course, create new ways of trying to go forward (like the Occupy movement).

And they will have to do it against a power structure that is far more powerful, more pervasive and implacable than before. A power structure that every day is darkening the future of its own children, creating a dystopia of chaos and fear, of aggression and blowback, repression and revenge. No leader can "explain" what is happening because none of them can admit the truth: that the world they are making -- the world that has made them powerful, has lifted them up on a finely-meshed web of interlocking elite interests and will sustain them, and their families, among the elite for the rest of their lives -- is organized around violence and loot. Not security, not prosperity, not liberty, not democracy, not justice, not peace. These are not the aims of the system, these are not the products of the system.

The Terror War -- and the concomitant degradation of society and individual lives -- shows in stark relief that the system is producing exactly what it aims to produce: death, despair -- and record-breaking profits.



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this ^ is an example of critical thinking - notice how it's totally absent from the sock-puppet brigade comments - they are all without exception only about feeling good.

and look at the timestamps - notice how close together they are and _how they all say the same thing_

and how any display of critical thinking is framed as negative - the hallmark of a cult

As a current college graduate, it really does take a lot to unite people my age together for any cause. It's impressive that these people are continuing this movement here in the United States.

If anything, I think peace needs to be here in the United states, and then the world!

BRIGHT-SIDED

How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America

by Barbara Ehrenreich


Accomplished social critic Ehrenreich eviscerates the positive-thinking movement, which she blames for encouraging us to “deny reality, submit cheerfully to misfortune, and blame only ourselves for our fate.”

The author argues that the promotion of unwarranted optimism began in the early days of the American republic, was taken up by 19th-century philosophers and mystics—William James urged people to repeat to themselves “Youth, health, vigor!” while dressing in the morning—and entered the American mainstream in the 20th century, when it became an integral part of consumer culture. Ehrenreich’s quarrel is not with feeling upbeat but rather with the “inescapable pseudoscientific flapdoodle” of life coaches and self-improvement products claiming that thinking positively will result in wealth, success and other joyful outcomes. Such magical thinking has become a means of social control in the workplace—where uncheerful employees are ostracized—and prevents action to achieve social change. With life coaches, business motivators and evangelical preachers promoting delusional expectations—“God has a plan” for those who have lost jobs and homes in the current economic crisis, says Christian preacher Joel Osteen—positive thinking can claim partial credit for a major role in such recent disastrous events as the Iraq war and the financial meltdown. Ehrenreich’s many interviews include meetings with psychologist Martin Seligman, whose “positive psychology,” she finds, offers little credible evidence to make it any different from the wishing-will-make-it-so thinking of writers from Dale Carnegie (How to Win Friends & Influence People) to Rhonda Byrne (The Secret). The author’s tough-minded and convincing broadside raises troubling questions about many aspects of contemporary American life, and she provides an antidote to the pervasive culture of cheerfulness—reality-based critical thinking that will encourage people to alter social arrangements in ways that improve their lives.




Bright-Sided: Barbara Ehrenreich Examines the American Love of Positive Thinking

By HANNA ROSIN

I must confess, I have waited my whole life for someone to write a book like “Bright-Sided.” When I was a young child, my family moved to the United States from Israel, where churlishness is a point of pride. As I walked around wearing what I considered a neutral expression, strangers would often shout, “What’s the matter, honey? Smile!” as if visible cheerfulness were some kind of requirement for citizenship.

Now, in Barbara Ehrenreich’s deeply satisfying book, I finally have a moral defense for my apparent scowl. All the background noise of America — motivational speakers, positive prayer, the new Journal of Happiness Studies — these are not the markers of happy, well-adjusted psyches uncorrupted by irony, as I have always been led to believe. Instead, Ehrenreich argues convincingly that they are the symptoms of a noxious virus infecting all corners of American life that goes by the name “positive thinking.”

What started as a 19th-century response to dour Calvinism has, over the years, turned equally oppressive, Ehrenreich writes. Stacks of best sellers equate corporate success with a positive attitude. Flimsy medical research claims that cheerfulness can improve the immune system. In a growing number of American churches, confessions of poverty or distress amount to heresy. America’s can-do optimism has hardened into a suffocating culture of positivity that bears little relation to genuine hope or happiness.

Ehrenreich is the author of several excellent books about class — “Nickel and Dimed” is the best known. In this book she also reaches for a conspiratorial, top-down explanation. “Positive thinking,” she maintains, is just another way for the conservative, corporate culture to wring the most out of its workers. I don’t exactly buy this part of her argument, but the book doesn’t suffer much for the overreaching. I was so warmed by encountering a fellow crank that I forgave the agenda.

Ehrenreich’s inspiration for “Bright-Sided” came from her year of dealing with breast cancer. From her first waiting room experience in 2000 she was choking on pink ribbons and other “bits of cuteness and sentimentality” — teddy bears, goofy top-10 lists, cheesy poetry accented with pink roses. The sticky cheerfulness extended to support groups, where expressions of dread or outrage were treated as emotional blocks. “The appropriate attitude,” she quickly realized, was “upbeat and even eagerly acquisitive.” The word “victim” was taboo. Lance Armstrong was quoted as saying that “cancer was the best thing that ever happened to me,” while another survivor described the disease as “your connection to the divine.” As a test, Ehrenreich herself posted a message on a cancer support site under the title “Angry,” complaining about the effects of chemotherapy, “recalcitrant insurance companies” and “sappy pink ribbons.” “Suzy” wrote in to take issue with her “bad attitude” and warned that “it’s not going to help you in the least.” “Kitty” urged her to “run, not walk, to some counseling.”

The experience led her to seek out other arenas in American life where an insistence on positive thinking had taken its toll. One of the more interesting chapters concerns American business culture. Since the publication of Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” in 1936, motivational speaking has become so ubiqu­itous that we’ve forgotten a world without it. In seminars, employees are led in mass chants that would make Chairman Mao proud: “I feel healthy, I feel happy, I feel terrific!” Corporate managers transformed from coolheaded professionals into mystical gurus and quasi celebrities “enamored of intuition, snap judgments and hunches.” Corporate America began to look like one giant ashram, with “vision quests,” “tribal storytelling” and “deep listening” all now common staples of corporate retreats.

This mystical positivity seeped into the American megachurches, as celebrity pastors became motivational speakers in robes.






Ehrenreich discusses the effect of positive thinking on business, psychology, health, and religion. But she is relentless as she considers what all that positive thinking did as the economy failed in 2008. In fact, she believes that the bright-sided thinking may have caused the real estate bubble as well as the failure to understand what was happening when it burst.

What our country needs, Ehrenreich suggests, is a big dose of realism, “relentless hard-nosed empiricism.” She says that we expect our doctors to be realists, as well as our airline pilots and educators. We don’t expect them to be filled with optimistic affirmations; we expect them to do their jobs.


On a recent fall day in Texas, a large crowd gathered for the well-known Get Motivated! business seminar. Before the keynote speaker emerged, 11,000 attendees danced to “Surfin’ USA” while swatting beach balls around the auditorium. When the music subsided, former President George W. Bush emerged to give one of his first speeches since leaving office. Among other feel-good themes, the President-turned-motivational speaker encouraged faith, optimism, and principled living.

Why would Bush make his most prominent post-presidency appearance at such a hokey venue? For Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America (Metropolitan), his decision made perfect sense. In its many forms, the positive thinking movement—everything from “possibility thinking” to The Secret, Your Best Life Now, and the Chicken Soup for the Soul series—has reached complete saturation within American culture.





Ehrenreich first noticed positive thinking's pervasiveness when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Immersed in a world of pink ribbons, cancer walks, and motivational stories from survivors, she quickly found there was no place for her outrage at the disease. Anger or melancholy, it was insinuated, only aided the cancer. As in all forms of positive thinking, the key was to ignore the negative emotions and realities and focus instead on your desired outcomes—health and wealth being the usual. After this encounter, Ehrenreich set out to discover how positive thinking became such an accepted and disseminated American narrative.



Selling Jesus to Optimistic America

How the positive thinking movement has shaped the church.




On a recent fall day in Texas, a large crowd gathered for the well-known Get Motivated! business seminar. Before the keynote speaker emerged, 11,000 attendees danced to "Surfin' USA" while swatting beach balls around the auditorium. When the music subsided, former President George W. Bush emerged to give one of his first speeches since leaving office. Among other feel-good themes, the President-turned-motivational speaker encouraged faith, optimism, and principled living.

Why would Bush make his most prominent post-presidency appearance at such a hokey venue? For Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America (Metropolitan), his decision made perfect sense. In its many forms, the positive thinking movement—everything from "possibility thinking" to The Secret, Your Best Life Now, and the Chicken Soup for the Soul series—has reached complete saturation within American culture. It has also crept into American Christianity, and that, says the author, is nothing to feel good about.

I've never heard of this organization.. I want to know more. I think this organization is doing a good job taking an active step forward.. Thanks for the post. Btw, don't pay attention to what people say against you.. what you guys are doing is pretty awesome.

it's like, tubular


no, I'm not a sock-puppet

I think it's funny, but there are people who look forward to the "end times" or armageddon, because they think they are going to be saved.

They don't worry about WW3.

They don't worry about terrorists.

They don't worry about war.

They don't worry about environmental collapse.

They are convinced they are going to be "saved."

Now, me... I don't really worry about these things per-se, except to either protest them, or to do my best to not perpetuate them. I want to die with some peace. That's all.

Shinchonji, alternately called "Serving Christ Jesus", was founded in 1984 in South Korea and now exporting itself worldwide. Most significant impact in USA is currently in Orange County, California, one of many Korean groups focusing on the apocalyptic portions of Scripture. Man Hee Lee claims to be the only person who can explain the Revelation in the New Testament. He teaches that the world has already ended and that we are now all in the afterlife.

...

Man Hee Lee has been accused of tax evasion and of sexually harassing teenage girls. He vigorously fights these charges, and his lawyers routinely threaten those who criticize him.

Followers are recruited into "Bible Studies" and are allowed to join a secret church after 6 months of indoctrination.

...

Shinchonji people have a practice they call "duty" which is when everyone gets together during the middle of the night to do military training and bootcamps. They do this because they are the one true church for the one true kingdom and it is their duty to remain sharp. The leaders crawl along the ground, run long laps, etc. When they are worked to the bone, they are told that they must work harder for THIS kingdom in the Word than they are working right at that moment physically.

more at the linked site.

..but since it's so obvious there's a programmed zombie sock-puppet brigade here to recruit, there was no need to

better to raise real issues like who profits from war and real activism like the occupy tactic

that all other responses _and responders_ were rejected out-of-hand while the same talking points kept being posted like an information operation - information warfare style - and blatant hypocrisy like criticising shootings then saying "it's not about guns" and criticising war then saying it's not about criticising the actual war mongers or profiteers

-- this shows a complete lack of critical thinking but instead programmed canned talking points - a PR effort


PR will never solve anything

It's just a discussion and back and forth, and some "revelations" about this possible cult. Maybe it'll help someone in the future.

rather than addressing the message

the message is "magical feel-good thinking will solve the problem of war profiteering" - which is of course useless

worse than useless since it distracts and diverts time & energy from real actions like the occupy tactic

notice there's no nationwide fatherland INsecurity sweep to stamp out "marching for peace" - because it's not a threat to the too-big-to-jail bankster crooks and the war contractor CEO's

The message is vague and appealing. It's nothing. Hollow ideas for hollow people.

Activity without meaning.

People are working for peace all the time. The people who are thinking of joining up with this organizaton need to consider finding other tendencies.

Great step forward World Peace and World Unity~!

Great step forward World Peace and World Unity~!

..and two steps for cults

another one ? a similar korean group think was exhibited with positive sounding messages but the focus was then and probably is now also to recruit young people into joining a group... with the MAIN focus on on just good-old-peace [whatever that means in real life vs on line words and pix ].

These groups lure others = young, often lost, some idealistic, some just wanting to "belong" people to come together =.... to parade, to sing, to fund raise, to follow...

and it is not immediate that the interior essential message is displayed:

remember the 100couple-marriages at one ceremony by the top guy?

remember Reverend Moon who claimed to be the next JC and was so revered ? and who became so rich that he owned a NY newspaper of his very own too ?

remember the every-corner begging for money in which volunteers who lived in a huge nice group home were forced to daily participate = to support the unity 'church' as it was called ?

remember that similar plots and plans and patterns repeat ...
especially to those who were not around and dont recall the previous similar or same versions.

the photos here show all asian-decendents proudly and excitedly showing off 'their stuff'....which is not real unity but ethically limited even if a few 'others' do join in, of course, they do.

so, the display is fine. the intentions may be more than advertised and promoted. the PR is freee on venice beach, a likely place where many come to show off their 'stuff' and get seen/ in the news/ photographed.

so what is new about this ? another version of what is trying to recruit the youngsters == those who dont remember and dont care of what was 'before' their exuberant times ? those who think they are being different and superior to their parents ?

naaaaaa

Shinchonji. It is a cult!

Please be aware that they will follow you and will harass you in anyway so you can join. And they WILL STEAL your information as well.

a cult is

wonderful on the outside but on the inside are very manipulating and authoritative.
All they want is your time, money, and OBEDIENCE.
mind control and recruitment techniques are used.
Some are already immune but they all come in different forms like you and me to recruit people. They will try to relate to you in any possible means.
They will recruit you at the lowest point of your life…though…foreigners, they will take advantage of you because you don’t know the country well.

http://helendn.studentsgoneglobal.com/blog/4/mannam-cult-awareness/

Blessed be the name of Man Hee Lee our promised pastor true shepherd of this era

World peace is only attainable with promised pastor Man Hee Lee and disciples work the 144000 in Rev. 7 and 14 as promised in scriptures

World peace is only attainable with promised pastor Man Hee Lee and disciples work the 144000 in Rev. 7 and 14 as promised in scriptures