Maui Forum . net

by Dieter Duhm of the ZEGG Community (www.zegg.de)
(slightly modified for American culture)

Twelve Principles for a Non-violent Culture:

1. Home for the Children. In a non-violent world children grow up in confidence and trust. The future of humanity depends on the fate of its children. A childhood marked by distrust and violence will not produce humane beings. Provide a home to children where they can again trust their parents.
   
   
2. Love and Trust. Love is the source of humane thinking and non-violent action. Love comes from trust and trust comes from truth. Create living environments where human beings have no reason for lies and fear. Create the social and ecological conditions for love. Confidence and love are the most fundamental powers in all of creation.
   
   
3. Sexuality. Sexuality is an elementary force of life and of the joy of existence. Sexuality is autonomous. It can neither be controlled by patriarchal marriage pledges demanding obedience, nor by tight external moral constrictions; instead it needs truth and trust. Create the moral and social conditions for healthy sexuality.
   
   
4. Partnership. Partnership is the highest form of relationship. It has its roots in a common way of thinking. In no way is partnership in opposition to a consensus-based sexual morality, because it is itself free of jealousy. True partnership is the most radical model for a relationship between human beings that is free of violence and fear. Create the mental basis for a partnership free of jealousy.
   
   
5. Community. The organic environment for human beings is the community. Natural values like truth, trust, solidarity and responsible participation without philosophical nit-picking can only be realized within communities that have developed organically. The non-violent society of human beings is a network of communities who value consensus and a common unity, and whose ultimate goal is a world where everyone's needs are met nonviolently. Only in this way can the original concept of socialism be brought to reality in a humane way. Create functioning communities.
   
   
6. Freedom and Autonomy of the Individual. A free world comprises individuals who say what they think and share what touches them. They are not subordinate to anything but their own knowledge and consciousness. The mature community is a grassroots democracy of free individuals. It is a human collective that is not collectively led in the name of a leader or an ideology. The individual and the community are equal and complementary forces in a non-violent world.
   
   
7. Thinking. The reflecting intellect is a young and powerful fruit on the tree of evolution. Free and creative thinking dissolves all rigid ideologies. The secrets of existence are beyond all scientific or religious terminology. Individual autonomy is a direct result of a thinking that is free of fear. Overcome all creeds and dogmas of scientific and political systems. Create universities for the powers of growth inherent in free thinking.
   
   
8. Religion. Just like Eros and the intellect, spirituality is one of the elemental powers of human existence. We live in an endless radiant Universe. Everything we are and everything surrounding us has roots in the Universe. Spiritual love is the connectedness with the whole. Therefore we do not need a religious confession nor predetermined answers. The answer will come through the spiritual opening of the mind. Create a free religious spirit without laws and without dogmas.
   
   
9. Nature. Nature is our link with creation. We are its offspring, like a child that is born from its mother's womb. The secret of human existence is part of the secret of nature. Whatever we do to nature we do to ourselves. The outer and inner environment are two aspects of the same world. Let us take care of Mother Nature and become aware of the processes of growth and their rhythms and interrelatedness. Cooperation with all vital energies and respect for life are the prerequisites for a non-violent and humane civilization.
   
   
10. Animals. Stop all cruelty toward animals. Like us they are part of the living organism of the biosphere. Like us they are beings with souls, just at a different level of evolution. In a non-violent culture, whales are not killed, animals are not kept for slaughter, and fur farming does not exist. Create spaces for a coexistence of human beings and animals that is free of fear. Animals do not exist for us to slaughter but to help us to learn to see.
    
    
11. Biotopes for Healing. All of the thoughts above join together to form a new biotope for healing. Such a biotope contains the informational totality for a non-violent existence on planet Earth. Create pilot models for this informational totality. Create international centers where the social, technical, ecological and spiritual structures are such that the healing powers of life - trust, Eros, Logos and symbiosis - are promoted in the best possible way.
    
    
12. Networks of Human Beings. Today, within all countries and cultures on earth, there are people who have irrevocably understood the necessity of a positive inner and outer revolution. They all contribute certain thoughts, certain convictions, and certain aspects to the overall view of the tasks at hand. It is not machines but people who decide if a future worth living is possible. In that spirit we want to invite you to join the network for a non-violent earth.
    
    

Our intention is to create an evolving Maui Community where:

• Each member is valued and appreciated, rather than some people being devalued or taken for granted.
  
  
  
• Truth, openness, and awareness are appreciated and valued, rather than manipulations and hidden agendas.
  
  
  
• People empower each other, rather than diminish the other.
  
  
  
• All points of view are heard and respected unless they devalue other people or points of view.
  
  
  
• Interpersonal relationships are central and valued for their own sake, rather than subordinate to other agendas.
  
  
  
• The structure is based on a low-archy, rather than hierarchical power over others.
  
  
  
• People of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, spiritual orientations, genders, sexual orientations, races, financial status, etc., are welcome, valued, and respected.
  
  
  
• Violence in all its forms is recognized and named, rather than normalized and approved.
  
  
  
• New structures, decision-making processes, communication methods, distribution systems, etc, are continually evolved to replace unconscious support of dominating and power-over styles.
  
  
  
• We evolve our own beliefs, values, structures, and practices, rather than blindly accepting those of any other group.
  
  
  
• A loving heart and mental clarity are both valued and nurtured.
  
  
  
• We develop communication styles and other ways of relating that support the inherent value of all people.
  
  
  
• We can heal ourselves from ignorance, faulty thinking, and unrecognized assumptions of entitlement.
  

• The first step in conflict resolution is for all sides to really, really listen.
  
  
  
• Those without the ability to speak are heard, and that which has been invisible is seen.