How far have we come in our humanity?

Each scientific advance, technological breakthrough or political victory seems to foretell of a better day only to pale beneath the cycle of violence. Wars, murders, genocide - the killing goes on unabated. Yet there is hope.

Are nonkilling societies possible?

Some say "No!" and that killing is inevitable because of human nature, competition over scarce resources, and other factors. However, in 2002, a resounding "Yes!" was asserted in Nonkilling Global Political Science published political scientist Glenn D. Paige.

The important work of the Center

Paige and colleagues have been in touch with thousands of respected scholars and activists to study this question, including interdisciplinary research committees -- anthropology, science, neurology, the arts, and many more. They have compiled an impressive body of knowledge that has uncovered some remarkable conclusions... [more about the story].

Member of the WHO Violence Prevention Alliance

Friend of the World Summits of Nobel Peace Laureates

Permanent Secretariat of The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates

The Human Right for a Dead Person’s Body To Be Respected, by Francisco Gomes de Matos

Recently, the media showed the body of a country’s ruler who had been killed. His face was a horror movie scene: covered with blood, disfigured. From a Human Rights perspective, there was a violation of a dead human being’s body. Why wasn’t that person’s body -- a corpse -- treated with dignity? Why were public anger, hate, indignation expressed so brutally, so shockingly? When will Humankind learn to respect the body of both living and dead persons?

When a dead person’s body is butchered, desecrated doesn’t human dignity die a little? Why was revenge used as a pretext for deforming a person’s face? What lessons can be drawn from such public actions? What do we learn about relational INdignity?

May this also be a plea for dehumanizing scenes such as those seen recently on visual/printed me not to be shown -- how will they impact on children, for instance? --and, more importantly, not to take place anywhere. The right to public protest should be dignified, humanized. Will that come true, will it make all of Humankind worthy of the identity "human being"?

As a peace linguist, I see the concept HUMAN as part of a semantic family: HUMANE, HUMANIST, HUMANITY, HUMANITIES, HUMANIZE, HUMANIZATION, HUMANITARIAN, .... HUMANIZER!

A Way to Follow Through on Your Values

Nonkilling is the Alpha and Omega of life. It is a prerequisite, an a priori condition, an ethical imperative, and a guide to action for individual and societal transformations to achieve the highest human potential. Your help has never been more important [continue reading].

New publications

Nonkilling Psychology
Edited by Daniel J. Christie and Joám Evans Pim (2012)

Nonkilling Korea: Six Culture Exploration
Edited by Glenn D. Paige and Chung-Si Ahn (2012)

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