Ideals The World Ignored

126 years after the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago on September 11, 1893, the whole world is suffering from hatred, jealousy and intolerance

The Russell-Einstein Manifesto published on July 9, 1955, sixty-two years after Swami Vivekananda’s speech at the World Parliament of Religions which was held in Chicago on September 1893 stated: There lies before us, if we choose, continual progress in happiness, knowledge and wisdom. Shall we, instead, choose death, because we cannot forget our quarrels? We appeal as human beings to human beings: Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new Paradise; if you cannot there lies before you the risk of universal death.

Earlier, Russell had written ‘The Bomb and Civilization’ which was published in the Glasgow Forward on August 18, 1945, where he maintained that “The prospect for the human race is sombre beyond all predicament. Mankind is faced with a clear-cut alternative: either we shall all perish, or we shall have to acquire some slight degree of common sense. A great deal of new political thinking will be necessary if utter disaster is to be averted”.

On August 6, 1945, the US dropped Little Boy on Hiroshima and three days later Fat Man on Nagasaki killing at least 100,000 people.

To set up a peaceful world, Swamiji’s philosophy needs to be followed in life. He was a person without a frontier and time has really come to break the barriers that do not widen the mental horizon. Vivekananda takes the mind to a higher plane and makes individuals the citizens of the world

No one knows how many people have died in the wars that have taken place after the World Parliament of Religions. Besides the two Great Wars, hundreds of wars have taken place since the Chicago conference 126 years ago and the main reason behind any war is hatred and the desire to annihilate the opponent. The situation has worsened over the years as little attempt has been made to reduce violence and develop mutual respect.