Essay On World Peace

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World peace is an ideal of freedom, peace and happiness among all nations and people and, as demonstrated by General Peter Cosgrove in the source above, advocates for safety, security and “prospects for a better future”. World peace is an idea of universal nonviolence in which all nations willingly cooperate. Christianity and Islam have responded to the issue of world peace to work towards building a culture of peace. Both religions aim for peace through different initiatives. For example, Christian initiatives include The World Council of Churches’ (WCC) ‘Decade to Overcome Violence’ and ‘Pax Christi International’. Muslim initiatives include ‘Muslim Hands’ and ‘Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality’ (WISE). The aforementioned initiatives aim to achieve peace on a global scale for a better future.

Launched in 2001 by the WCC, the ‘Decade to Overcome Violence’ (DOV) presents itself as an ecumenical opportunity. The initiative responds to the issue of world peace as it calls for repentance for involvement in violence and participation within the world to find alternatives. The Papal Encyclical ‘Pacem in Terris' (1963) and statements of Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II also call upon the churches to work towards building a culture of peace in a world filled with violence. The DOV sought to address five major worldwide themes, the lack of which were identified by the WCC as root causes of violence. These themes included; truth - re-thinking and re-imagining ways of peace; mercy - spreading power and forgiveness; justice - doing justice to all; community - growing communities that value diversity; reconciliation - recognising the ‘original’ sin of dispossession and rejoicing in our unity. As stated in their docum...

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... Islam has positively contributed to the growth of world peace through their initiatives, Muslim Hands and WISE. Therefore, with reference to General Peter Cosgrove, these Muslim initiatives have had an indispensable response to the issue of world peace by providing “prospects of a better future.”

Therefore, Christianity and Islam have both effectively responded to the issue of world peace through different initiatives such as The World Council of Churches (WCC) ‘Decade to Overcome Violence’, ‘Pax Christi International’, ‘Muslim Hands’ and ‘Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality’ (WISE). Furthermore, with reference to General Peter Cosgrove, Christianity and Islam have had an indispensable response to the issue of world peace through initiatives providing “prospects of a better future” for people who “want to live in peace”, safety and security.

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