Conflict, war and violence are the norm in today's world. But, fortunately, there are also peacemakers around who offer another path, one that brings meaning and transformation and hope to a weary planet. Ken Beller and Heather Case spent five years researching and writing this inspiring and salutary resource, which presents the true stories of 20 peacemakers. The book is organized into five sections:
Choosing Nonviolence
• Henry David Thoreau: Living Deliberately
• Mahatma Gandhi: Nonviolent Resistance
• Martin Luther King, Jr.: Daring to Dream
• Anderson Sa: An Instrument of Change
Living Peace
• Mother Teresa: Love in Action
• Thich Nhat Hanh: Being Peace
• Colman McCarthy: Teaching Peace
• Oscar Arias: "Us" Refers to All of Humankind
Honoring Diversity
• Bruno Hussar: Interfaith Harmony
• Desmond Tutu: All Belong
• Riane Eisler: Partnership, Not Domination
• The Dalai Lama: Universal Compassion
Valuing All Life
• Henry Salt: The Creed of Kinship
• Albert Schweitzer: Reverence for Life
• Astrid Lindgren: A Voice for the Voiceless
• Jane Goodall: Realizing Our Humanity
Caring for the Planet
• Rachel Carson: The Balance of Nature
• David Suzuki: Redefining Progress
• Nader Khalili: Sustainable Community
• Wangari Maathai: Planting Seeds of Peace
This is an invaluable resource for youth who need many more models of the different ways to bring peace into our world of savagery. Each biographies concludes with a section of quotations from the peacemaker. We highly recommend Great Peacemakers and hope that it will find its way into religious libraries of all types.
