Proposal to organize a "World Peace" day

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We received the following Email from Kenneth G. Dugan at: dugan_ken@hotmail.com on 2005-NOV-14, and are pleased to publish it with his permission:

I am writing to request your assistance in organizing a "World Peace" day.

I have a vision of individuals from various political sects, religious denominations and philosophical orientations joining together for one day of contemplation, meditation and prayer.  It is my hope that we can inspire thousands, hundreds of thousands of individuals to come to Washington D.C. and to fill the capital mall in order to request our nation's leaders to govern with greater wisdom,  compassion, ethics and dedication to non-violent means of resolving conflict.

I want to invite atheist and believer; Jew, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist; conservative and liberal, democratic and republican and independent; Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Indian, etcetera;  straight and gay, in other words, I want all people regardless of their identification to come together for one day in a spirit of love, tolerance and hope.  I see the capital mall filled with masses of humanity in largely silent prayer in meditation.  I envision a day of advocating peace. 

This is not a day of protest.  It is my hope that those interested in advocating peace can come together in as show of unity to send a strong silent message of demanding effort to create peace become a national and a world wide priority.  My wish is that all parties set aside their differences for just one day, to protest nothing at all while modeling peace in action.  I wish to use World Peace day to urge the our nation's leaders, and the leaders of all nations to develop the technology of peace.

I imagine a day during which there is a minimum of speech and lecture.  I see thousands upon thousands of individuals sitting calmly on pillows or cushions. World and religious leaders would be invited to come together and express a communal invocation for the day.  This would be followed by several periods of silent prayer and meditation lasting 20 to 25 minutes. People would then be asked to stand, stretch, and walk to circulate the blood.  At the end of each period of prayer/meditation, individuals, who have been selected at random from among those interested, will say a very short prayer/or philosophical request of one or two minutes in length to request peace.  The order of these presenters would also be randomly determined.  We will then continue with prayer and meditation.  During a lunch break, in which the crowd is asked to maintain silence prominent members of the community and religious leaders will say peace prayers (again set in random order) that broadcast thorough out the city.  The day would end after 6 or 8 hours with a brief re-iteration of our unified desire for ethical, wise, compassionate, and non-violent leadership. Those unable to come to the nation's capital can meet at their state capital, and those unable to come to the state capital can gather at their city/town halls across the nation.  It is also my desire to inspire other nations to hold the same type of activity in their nation's capitols on the same day.

I look forward to your response and support in bringing this vision to reality.  I am contacting various organizations, (e.g., the Carter Center, American Friends Service Committee, Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict, and several political & religious organizations involved in peace work) to request assistance and I hope you will join in our effort.

Kenneth G. Dugan, Ph.D.

Originally posted: 2005-NOV-14
Latest update: 2005-NOV-14
Author: Kenneth Dugan