Towards Less Adversarial Cultures
By Ray Cunnington
Towards Less Adversarial Cultures shows how the cultures into which people are born can exert a lifelong grip on what they believe and how they act. Rather than feeling free to follow their mature consciousness, many are driven to implement the same ideas they were taught as children. What goes unnoticed is that what was deemed an eternal truth in the time of the Pharaohs may appear quite different in today's world, particularly in matters relating to war, law, money and the media. For the sake of future generations, it is vital that humans reflect upon their evolutionary heritage and matters like climate change, and not remain locked in narrow national animosities, battling it out for the last fish, the last tree, and the last piece of land. It is strongly suggested that ordinary people will swing the balance back to a more cooperative, less violent, society.
Ray Cunnington is a resident of Dundas who was a founding member of Culture of Peace Hamilton, is a member of the Department of Peace Initiative and the UNA Canada Hamilton Branch Board – to name a few of his involvements in peace and social justice over the last decade and a half. At 94, Ray established the United Nations Culture of Peace Fund with the Hamilton Community Foundation, at 95 he received the Hamilton Burlington YMCA Peace Medal and this year he has self published his thoughts in a book entitled Towards Less Adversarial Cultures.
Ray is optimist about the human ability to change – or in his words “I am biased in favour of humans”. In his book, it is strongly suggested that ordinary people will swing the balance back to a more cooperative, less violent, society. For many of us who have been inspired by Ray, he is a living example of the impact one person can make.
Gail Rappolt (for Culture of Peace Hamilton) October 2015