A couple of weeks ago I witnessed another example of America’s collaboration with international terrorism. The event was a talk given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene.

All those entering the arena had to go through metal detectors or submit to body scans. I don’t know if these security measures were in response to the Boston marathon bombing or just to all other terrorist attacks that have happened in the last dozen years, but the metal detectors seem to have been built in to the entrance gates of the building. Everyone attending was told to get to the event early enough to go through the screening process.

We have gotten used to getting to the airport early to undergo screening, and all the time that we spend doing so represents another minor victory for the terrorists. These screenings keep the awareness of terrorism alive in the minds of the people, and the hope of the ruling class is that this fear will numb people to the reality of their disappearing constitutional rights and the perpetual wars being waged by and for the military industrial complex.

As a response to the wars and terrorism that have been feeding on each other and gaining momentum, I have decided that the one thing I can do as an individual is to declare peace. This means that I will not base my actions on fear of a terrorist attack or an invasion or a government tending towards tyranny. I will do what I can to live peacefully and hope that others will do the same. This doesn’t require ignoring the wars, it just requires excluding the fear of war from our lives.

The more people who can follow this path, the more likely it will be to succeed. It has to start from within each individual, and it needs to happen worldwide.

There should be an international declaration of human rights to protect people from whichever form of government has control of a country. We need to establish that everyone in the world has the right to live peacefully. This declaration should include freedom from governmental violence of any kind. Killing should be considered to be a crime whether the killing is done as an act of war or an act of governmental “justice”.

Freedom of (and from) religion should be included in this declaration. Much of the violence in the world could be eliminated if religions were not allowed to impose their views on the people of any country.

I am interested in hearing from people who have ideas of what to include in this declaration, and how to go about getting enough people behind it for governments to take notice without any implied threats on our part, since this must be a strictly peaceful declaration. Obviously this has to be a worldwide effort, but with the power of the internet, it might be doable.