CHAPTER THREE

PROBLEM NUMBER ONE

I never could tell the difference between a "Good Christian" and a "Good Jew." From the time I was six years old one of my best friends was Bob Meyer. His dad ran People's clothing store in Sheboygan. Bob had one of the best Lionel train setups in the city in his basement and I spent a lot of time there. We walked the eight blocks to North High together frequently.

I tell you this because it explains in part from where I am coming. You see, I grew up with a very Christian mother and a very close Jewish friend. My situation could get a kid confused at times. Whenever my mother told me to "be a good Christian" I wondered what Bob should do?

SOLUTION NUMBER ONE.

I suppose one answer is that Bob should "be a good Jew." But wouldn't it be better if we could both be good "Human Beings" together? Draw a little larger circle and make "insiders" out of the "outsiders." You can do it if you want to and I challenge you to want to! After all, we are all human beings with the same human feelings aren't we? How would you like to be treated?

Think also "human". Don't leave any human being out of your newly conceived larger circle. Be whatever you are - but be a good one! It's the ones with destructive ideas and negative attitudes in every group that cause the problems. The ones with constructive ideas and positive attitudes (THE GOOD GUYS) can get along!

PROBLEM NUMBER TWO.

Two thousand years of Christianity and we still have wars. How come?

SOLUTION NUMBER TWO.

Nobody alive today was alive only one hundred twenty-five years ago. Who really knows accurately what happened two thousand years ago? BELIEVING SOMETHING DOESN'T MAKE IT TRUE! We may have different beliefs but we can't change the truth! Let's acknowledge our different beliefs but let's not look for a fight about them! It is better to look for the truth together than to fight over conflicting beliefs.

Look at the idea -- not only the author. Debate the message and not the messenger! Who cares who said it? If it is right it is right. If it is good it is good. Live the spirit of your religion. Respect the rights of others to do the same. Live the Golden Rule. All religions have it! Look for similarities - not differences. Look for constructive ideas and positive attitudes and good friends. THERE ISN'T ANY PERSON WHO WAS BORN BAD...so when you find one acting foolishly sell him or her on changing his or her ideas and attitude but don't attack his or her person, race, religion, nationality, or color. Each of us has a right to be proud of who he or she is.

Don't join those who organize hate campaigns in the name of race, religion, nationality, color, or whatever. How can they lead a parade if they have no followers?

Belong to what you will but BE ALWAYS ALSO HUMAN! Don't be a blind follower. Think for yourself! One may not belong to our club, our race, our religion, our team, our color. But he or she does belong to our human race and that is most important of all! Play hard or cheer hard for "Our Side" to win each game but remember when it comes to life and death, it is no longer a game and "Our Side" then must become "The Human Side!" Or the nuclear bombs will fall. We no longer have a choice.

People have drawn boundaries for years for their common good. With nuclear weapons now here it is for mankind's common good that we now in our individual minds draw one more larger circle ... The Human Circle, and insist that our religious, political, union and business leaders do the same! The technology has arrived. The time is now!

PROBLEM NUMBER THREE.

Where does belief end and truth begin? How can there be so many different beliefs by so many well meaning and sincere people, and how can they all be right?

SOLUTION NUMBER THREE.

Don't be a slave to history. Glean the best from all of history and all the prophets of history. Ask yourself, "Is it a good idea or isn't it?" You decide. Don't let someone else decide for you. Why not think HUMAN IN ADDITION TO DENOMINATIONAL? Wouldn't we all be better off?

PROBLEM NUMBER FOUR.

There are so many different religions in the world. There are so many different nations in the world. There are so many different groups in the world. Each has its leaders. All are sincere and well-meaning but where are they leading us? All in different directions! Whose parade are we going to follow? Who has the answers? Whom are we going to believe?

SOLUTION NUMBER FOUR.

We are going to believe "Our Side" and "Our Answers"...right? The side you and I are on. Right? But what if you are Jewish and I am a Christian, Muslim or Hindu? What if you are a Communist and I am a Capitalist? What side are we on? It depends on who's the enemy and what game you and I choose to play. Let's not play war. Let's play peace and look for a common enemy (See AXIOM TWELVE) that puts us on the same side. Don't just be a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Budhist, a Sikh, or a Hindu. Be also a Human Being! Don't just be a Communist or a Capitalist. Be also a Human Being!

PROBLEM NUMBER FIVE.

For a while the Germans and Japanese were on the other side and the Russians were on our side and then the Germans and the Japanese were on our side and the Russians were on the other side. Who is changing the signals on us? Why? Who is doing this thinking for us? How do you and I gain from all this? Who does gain? Who pays? Who gets shot? Good intentions don' t always work out.

SOLUTION NUMBER FIVE.

Let's choose our own side — let's choose the Human Side as "Our Side" and ask our religious and political, union, and business leaders to do the same. Until then we are but the innocent, well-meaning, loyal pawns in someone else's power struggle. In war the wrong people die, and what a waste of resources and human life! Just think what we could do if we declared "Peace" instead of "War" and threw in the same money, ingenuity, energy, and resources to feed, clothe, and house the poor, and mend the sick, and to root out the causes of war! All of us HUMANS working TOGETHER on this common cause. How does that sound?

PROBLEM NUMBER SIX.

Whose side are we on? When one enters the high school gym and the band is booming, the cheerleaders shouting along with everyone else, the whole atmosphere is electrified. The rafters are shaking. On one side is "South High" and on the other side is "North High". The rivalry is fierce. Tonight you are on one side or the other...believe me!

SOLUTION NUMBER SIX.

First of all, it's only a game. It's not war. Second, when North wins and goes on to the State Tournament, whom do you find cheering for North? Of all things... South students are now cheering for us! Miraculously they are now on "Our Side". Why? Because everyone from our city is on "Our Side" when we face the common foe.

If we don't want wars we must find a way to put the potential combatants on the same side against a common enemy so they will join forces. (see Axiom 12).

PROBLEM NUMBER SEVEN.

People are prejudiced. Why shouldn't the Jewish boy be allowed by his parents to marry the Protestant girl with whom he fell in love? Or the Lutheran girl marry the Catholic boy? Why are there these barriers to love? How can we get rid of them?

SOLUTION NUMBER SEVEN.

Different religions are different "languages" trying to fulfill the same human needs in their own way. There are two sides to everything...the inside and the outside. Things look differently from the inside than from the outside.

We must both get on the same side and take another look. We must WANT to get together. We must hear what the other person is really meaning...not just what he or she is saying or what we think he or she is saying. So often what we hear is not what was intended. If Mother Nature made us Human and attractive to each other why should we try to make ourselves different and exclusive from one another? "Human is Human" must take precedence over "Jewish is Jewish" or "Muslim is Muslim" or "Christian is Christian" or "Buddhist is Buddhist." There is nothing wrong with these statements -- only the priority must change if we want peace now. We can and we must set our "magnetic fields" to attract rather than repel one another!

PROBLEM NUMBER EIGHT.

The world has a major problem! People are killing people! There are too many "sides" today. Each side has leaders trying their best for their side. Each side has loyal followers. The direction of our world is toward nuclear war! Which side is going to "win?"

SOLUTION NUMBER EIGHT.

We change directions. We aim toward world peace! Each human being is a separate world, miraculously created. Your world began when you were born and will end when you die. It's not the gale, but the set of your sail that determines the course of your ship. So let each of us, as captains of our own ships, set our sails today toward a common goal of world peace.

PROBLEM NUMBER NINE.

We keep looking back and not forward. We keep repeating and arguing about the mistakes of the past. We think that things must continue to be the way they have always been. We honor the past. We cherish the past. We blindly accept and follow the old rules, boundaries, prejudices, and conflicts of the past. But what about the future? There is no uniform dream of a brighter future with hope and promise for all mankind. We face a grim possibility of Nuclear War. The only question is WHEN? There is a vacuum! People are too busy struggling to stay alive...or to pay the bills. Or to be the biggest or the best, but of what? There is no great magnetic force out there which is pulling all of us Human Beings together in one direction stronger than the forces tearing us apart. SO FAR THERE HAS BEEN NO COMMON GOAL FOR ALL OF US! Our goals are all different and conflicting.

SOLUTION NUMBER NINE.

Wouldn't it be better if we all looked forward together rather than at each other? Wouldn't it be GREAT if we could set a common goal and all of us Human Beings go forward in the same direction toward the same goal and eliminate war as an option?

How often do you hear "forget it - one person can never change the world!" Alone - no. But together we can change the world...you and I. How? We can set the COMMON GOAL and help the world join in one person at a time! We can plant the seed and nourish its growth.

We can start "UP"... "UNITED PEOPLE OF THE WORLD" - PEOPLE to lead OUR NATIONS and the UNITED NATIONS in the direction of WORLD PEACE! "UNITED PEOPLE" who give up nothing of their own heritage or beliefs but join with others in a LARGER CIRCLE bonded by a common goal of World Peace. We urge others to join us one by one until one day EVERYONE belongs. "UP" is a non-organization founded upon "OUR AXIOMS," "OUR CODE," "OUR COMMON GROUND," and "OUR MISSIONS AND GOAL" which follow. None of these need be controversial...they are intended to create a circle large enough to include all beliefs and all Human Beings...all going for the same goal from whatever starting point! Our goal is to have every Human Being on OUR SIDE fighting against our common enemies and not against each other! (see Axiom 12) Does it make sense? Then join "UP" now! And get your two best friends to join. In "UP" EACH OF US IS THE LEADER OF HIS OR HER OWN WORLD AND CHOOSES HIS OR HER OWN ROAD TOWARD ONE COMMON GOAL, WORLD PEACE..

In "United People" we marionettes operate the strings. We sheep lead the shepherds. We have five missions and one goal. If we help everyone buy these five missions and one goal our religious, political, union, and business leaders will one day wake UP and FOLLOW US on the road to world peace!

If we speak out together with conviction from the hometowns of the world the leaders of the states and nations of the world will listen. Let's sell them it is not "WHO " but "WHAT " our common enemies really are! (see Axiom 12). Ask the UN, each nation, each political. religious, and business leader to join "UP" and follow us!

Please do your part. Together we CAN change the world!