An aid to justice and prosperity

"... WITHOUT A FOCUS on moral development—often ignored by thinkers and activists—the noble objectives of social justice and prosperity promised by the human rights and development agendas will never be fully realized.

"This is so because the establishment of peaceful and progressive modes of living requires a reordering of the norms and social arrangements created by society's members. Such a reordering occurs only when people's inner lives are transformed. ...

"In a very real sense the international human rights regime is the fruit of an ongoing process of moral dialogue among diverse nations and peoples. This cross-cultural undertaking has gradually given rise to a new ethos of human solidarity and collective responsibility."

"Linking Rights with Development"

Reprinted from One Country, the newsletter of the Bahai International Community
April/June 2000

Solar cookers: a boon to forests

Slightly over ten years ago, Solar Box Cookers International was founded by 15 educators, public health administrators, and engineers during a meeting at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. These men and women belived that teaching people to use solar cookers, which use the sun's energy to cook food, would not only help meet human needs but would also reduce deforestation in many parts of the world.

Since then, the group has grown in number and influence. It has done a great deal of work in Guatemala and has sponsored three World Solar Cooker Conferences—in the United States, Costa Rica, and India. Thanks to their pilot projects in Central America and Africa, over 40,000 people now eat solar-cooked meals.

Work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has led them to a refugee camp in Ethiopia where families—and trees—are being helped by reliance on the sun instead of on wood for fuel. (See Peter Tonge's article on energy in this issue for more ideas on this subject.)

Reprinted from The Herald of Christian Science, (French Edition)

Internet doesn't isolate

Contrary to earlier reports that the Internet may isolate people from one another, "Surveying the Digital Future," released last fall by the University of California at Los Angeles, reports the opposite. More than 75 percent of those using the Internet said that they do not feel as if they're being ignored by relatives and friends because of this activity. In fact, chat rooms are helping them, in a modest way, to make new friends. And e-mail helps them communicate more with their families.

The study's lead researcher, Jeffery Cole, urged caution in interpreting these findings because of the Web's relative newness. Given that nearly two-thirds of all Americans are Internet users, however, the results are significant.

Researchers studied the responses of 2,096 individuals from different parts of the country.

'Two important ingredients for healing'

Churches are getting involved in health-based ministries, often offering health education and monitoring. The individuals providing these free ministries are looking deeper, however, than just the human body.

Susan Fuentes, the vice president of QueensCare Health & Faith Partnership in Los Angeles, says, "Health is integration of all aspects of a person. The spiritual is the core, the defining part of who a person is; all other parts of life integrate with that. ..."

An article by Emily Dossett reports, "Fuentes believes that the two important ingredients for healing are already present in the church: hope and relationship. Hope provides the motivation to heal, while social support helps a patient through the process from sickness to health. All the factors that make health ministry unique—scriptural motivation to serve, emphasis on the whole person, the health benefits of religion, and the hope and relationships found in churches—work together to make them a compelling alternative to our crisis-ridden health care system."

"Healing the Sick And the System"
Reprinted with permission from
Sojourners Online
800–714–7474, www.sojo.net
September/October 2000