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Michelle Rosenthal

social worker, Dr Susan Smith McKinney Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

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Help me begin a 12 Step fellowship for Peace to overcome our addictions and compulsive behaviors leading to war, conflict & self destruction

It may be helpful if we collectively say the Serenity Prayer: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference!

Lets start a global 12 Step Anonymous Fellowship for Peace: Let's collectively utilize Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Step program as a guide. It has been used and modified to help millions of people around the world to recover from all sorts of compulsions such as drinking, overeating, smoking, gambling, etc. We can adapt it on a global level so we can sooth our hearts, put our dukes down and put our weapons down so we can begin saving our own lives striving 4 nonviolent interactions between any two people.
We may :
1) Admit we were powerless over conflict, fighting, war, greed, power, control etc and that our lives became unmanageable.
2) Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3) Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God/Higher Power as we understood Him.
4) Made a Searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5) Admitted to God/Higher Power, to ourselves and to another Human Being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6) Were entirely ready to have God/Higher Power remove all these defects of character.
7) Humbly ask God/ Higher Power to remove our shortcomings.
8) Made a list of all the persons we have harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
9) Make direct amends to such people when ever possible except when to do so would injure them or others.
10) Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11) Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God/Higher Power as we understand Him.
12) Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to compulsive fighters/warriors and to practice these principals in all our affairs.

Can a global 12 step fellowship for peace be effective?

Related Talks:
Topics: Addiction addictions addictive behaviour aggression behavior change changing collaberation collaboration peace social change
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    Michelle Rosenthal

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    Sep 5 2011: The concept of a higher power in the 12 step fellowship does not necessarily have to be God but rather anything that the person feels is his or her higher power. It can be the strength he or she gets from a source outside of him or herself. For many people their higher power may be their understanding of God but it does not have to be. There is no right or wrong concept of a higher power any one can select their own, atheists and agnostics may fully participate without changing their belief or non belief in GOD. The concept of a higher power may be difficult for some people to get at times but this idea has been helpful to millions of people participating in the various annonymous programs. People of any religion from anywhere in the world can participate together since no one concept of GOD or a Higher Power is ever selected for you. You pick your own higher power. It is what ever works for you!

    • Joanee Tarshis

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      Sep 7 2011: Michelle I would like to help you. I understand what you are trying to do. Maybe that's because I was raised in Brooklyn! :) If you are on FaceBook friend me at Joanee A. Tarshis -- my avatar is The Creative the first hexagram from the I Ching. There are just too many women with your name....or I'd try to friend you.
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        Michelle Rosenthal

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        Sep 8 2011: I sent a friend request to someone with your name. I hope it is you!
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    Hakana Williams

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    Sep 5 2011: I agree with Don McCann's comment.

    The concept of the 12 steps to peace is a good idea, steps that outline how peace can be achieved between people and nations. However, it seems too forced and more focused on surrendering one's self to a higher power such as God. It seems more like a list of reasons to persuade people that God is the one who can achieve peace in our world, if we choose to live through Him.

    I think these particular steps may have more of an influence on those who believe in some type of religion or another higher power, however not so much with those that don't. But like I said, the concept of creating a 12 step guide to peace is a good idea.

    • Joanee Tarshis

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      Sep 7 2011: You do not have to believe in any HP or religion to use the steps. Many atheists use them.

  • Don McCann

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    Aug 31 2011: Michelle,
    It appears you have hijacked and repackaged the alcoholics anonymous program.

    While I applaude the sentiment to do things to promote peace, giving myself up to a "higher power" suggests that I have no control or responsibiulity myself. There is zero evidence to suggest prayer does anyone any good. I am certain there are people in Libya and other troubled hot-spots praying to the same "alleged god" for victory.
    I think there is nothing wrong with this world that could not be cured by two successive generations of well raised children. By well-raised I mean well fed, well cared for, well treated, well educated, and well loved. I would also prefer them to be kept away from all religions until they are at least 50, perhaps 80. After a couple of generations, well raised individuals would become a good habit and dinosaurs like me would die out, leaving the world to live in peace.

    For me the "fellowship" notion smacks too much of organized religion, the undisputed champion of divisiveness, thereby sewing the seeds of its own destruction.
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    Neil Menzie

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    Aug 30 2011: I would like to believe that a 12 step program would work for peace, but I know that when I was young, it didn't help me get off drugs. I know that it would not work for everyone, and that these types of programs work for many, but not all. The unfortunate thing about it is it only takes one bad apple to ruin the bunch, especially when it comes to peace.
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