∎ [PDF] I'd Rather Teach Peace Colman McCarthy 9781570754302 Books

I'd Rather Teach Peace Colman McCarthy 9781570754302 Books

Download As PDF : I'd Rather Teach Peace Colman McCarthy 9781570754302 Books

I'd Rather Teach Peace Colman McCarthy 9781570754302 Books

That's the name of the book too. If you read this book, you may find yourself agreeing. Don't read this book if you'd rather not find a place for your ideals in your life. That's how many people will conclude they need to be. We are conditioned and rewarded to abandon our principles in the quest for success and in our striving to dominate and eliminate perceived threats to survival.

Coleman McCarthy understands that we have it upside down. Don't read this book unless you want to be inspired. We are taught violence from the moment we are born and McCarthy describes a simple alternative that he has been living for more than twenty years; teach peace. He leads students of all ages - including elementary age, where we most need to begin - and prisoners, including the many young, black male victims of culturally ingrained injustice - to the study of Ghandi, non-violence, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Jr., Daniel Berrigan and others like them. He suggests, yes illuminates, the fact that we can and must act on the ideals of peace and non-violence that exist in us all, but are only buried by the current institutions of our culture and the world.

Don't read this book if you want to stay asleep. Right now, in today's world, as the US financial system spins quickly into oblivion, we need to orient to the values of peace; need to quickly develop a felt understanding of the quality of life available to each and everyone of us if we teach peace, live peace, give peace, are peace. But we will naturally respond differently to the catastrophe. We will grip even harder onto that which we know, are comfortable with, have been taught. We have been taught violence. We will need to learn something new or suffer greatly.

In this book, Cole McCarthy describes his life of teaching in schools and prisons the elements of peaceful conflict resolution. He teaches the absurdity and ineffectiveness of pursing peace through violent means.

As we struggle in the coming years to resolve our personal confusion between survival and success, we will need to grab hold of peace and nonviolence lest we simply fall back into the dead end beliefs of fighting and overcoming instead of collaboration, compassion, relationship - not only with each other, but with the natural world as well. Our violent beliefs have brought us to where we are now, a catharsis of civilization.

Read this book. Pass it on and go forth into the emerging paradigm with an evolved consciousness. And if someone tells you that you are being too idealistic, politely, lovingly, emphatically teach peace. Suggest that they read the book too!


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I'd Rather Teach Peace Colman McCarthy 9781570754302 Books Reviews

Longtime and now retired Washington Post columnist Colman McCarthy was for many years one of the most prominent voices writing about peace and social justice issues in the mainstream press. In 1982, he was invited to teach a course on writing at a public high school in a poverty-stricken area of Washington D.C. But rather than teach about writing, he responded "I'd rather teach peace." This simple declaration set in motion a series of events that has now led to him teaching over 5000 students about the principles of nonviolence, pacifism and conflict management. This slim volume (140 pages, including an excellent, concise bibliography) recounts several of his experiences in a variety of settings. As word spread of McCarthy's resourceful and engaging teaching, and the positive responses of his students, many other schools and organizations saw an opportunity to have him come to share his insights. Here, McCarthy takes a representative sampling and weaves it together smoothly, demonstrating how practical and applicable a nonviolent ethic is in all walks of life.
The settings that McCarthy taught in run the gamut of contemporary society, and he shows no favoritism as his experiences are recounted with equal compassion and critique of the various audiences with whom he interacts. From prestigious graduate schools (like Georgetown Law) to youth detention centers, private religious academies, alternative high schools, and other settings, McCarthy recognizes that no matter what the circumstances his students may find themselves in, they (and we) all share a common humanity that puts whatever differences may exist among us in perspective. He blends humor, intriguing anecdotes of pacifism in action, and a more than infrequent use of confrontational questions to get students to, as he says, not merely ask questions, but question the answers that they and so many of us have been conditioned to receive about many of the social and cultural dilemmas facing us in today's world. McCarthy is truly a master at getting people to reconsider their old assumptions, and this may be among the most valuable contributions of this book. His confidence in the ultimate value and wisdom of a determinedly non-violent approach is unshakeable, event to the point that I sometimes wonder how he was able to put up with all the examples of people around us who not only are so quick to concede the "necessity" of violence but often seem to prefer it to anything resembling even a mildly pacifistic approach. In the current circumstances of the "war on terrorism" (which McCarthy alludes to in the book's introduction, written in November of 2001), we need voices like his to speak forth in the public arena, as well as to offer us encouragement when it seems like so many around us are all too ready to plunge further into a violent struggle aimed at somehow promoting "peace and security."
Anyone interested in getting some good tips on how to communicate principles of peace to an audience that isn't necessarily already committed to a lifestyle of non-violence will find plenty of helpful material here. But the appeal of the book doesn't stop there. McCarthy also addresses a range of significant socio-political issues including the death penalty and the criminal justice system, the effects of US foreign policy on other nations over the past 55 years, the benefits of a vegetarian diet, racism, substance abuse and its treatment, communication and cooperation skills, and a host of other topics, all delivered in the casual, easily readable style of one who has been studying and living out these values for decades. Never at a loss for an opinion on something, and able to produce the facts to back himself up, Colman McCarthy is a man committed to realizing a vision of a world where peace is taught as the first, best and only justifiable response for young and old alike. His book offers us a needed boost of encouragement that we who share his vision are indeed helping to create a more harmonious and sustainable world.
Came in a timely manner, if it were shipped out a day earlier it would've been better. But the book came in perfect condition. I would reccomend this seller to anyone!
Very heart-felt, and gets to the core of many issues affecting us as a nation, and really does make you wonder "Why don't they teach Peace in school?".
Everyone who reads this thinks everyone else should read this.
An alternative to thinking "war" is the answer..
McCarthy's book is inspirational. I'm working on a manuscript on peace and writing, and sometimes the realities of the world raise serious doubts. When it becomes hard to believe in the possibility of peace, I open this book.
I read this book many years ago and reread it several times. The theme of this book is so relevant for our world. We teach about war and conquest---we don't teach about peace. And just look at our world!!
This is a wonderful book written by a Washington Post columnist who was offered a job to teach writing at a school in Washington, D.C. His reply was, "I'd rather teach peace." The author went on to teach courses in peace to prisoners, high school students in depressed, economic areas, and future lawyers from big name schools. His contention is that when we teach history in public schools, we teach about war. Almost all of his students knew, for example, who Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee were, but almost no one could identify Dorothy Day, Jane Addams and other worthy peace activists. This is a small book, but one that should be included in every high school curriculum!
That's the name of the book too. If you read this book, you may find yourself agreeing. Don't read this book if you'd rather not find a place for your ideals in your life. That's how many people will conclude they need to be. We are conditioned and rewarded to abandon our principles in the quest for success and in our striving to dominate and eliminate perceived threats to survival.

Coleman McCarthy understands that we have it upside down. Don't read this book unless you want to be inspired. We are taught violence from the moment we are born and McCarthy describes a simple alternative that he has been living for more than twenty years; teach peace. He leads students of all ages - including elementary age, where we most need to begin - and prisoners, including the many young, black male victims of culturally ingrained injustice - to the study of Ghandi, non-violence, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Jr., Daniel Berrigan and others like them. He suggests, yes illuminates, the fact that we can and must act on the ideals of peace and non-violence that exist in us all, but are only buried by the current institutions of our culture and the world.

Don't read this book if you want to stay asleep. Right now, in today's world, as the US financial system spins quickly into oblivion, we need to orient to the values of peace; need to quickly develop a felt understanding of the quality of life available to each and everyone of us if we teach peace, live peace, give peace, are peace. But we will naturally respond differently to the catastrophe. We will grip even harder onto that which we know, are comfortable with, have been taught. We have been taught violence. We will need to learn something new or suffer greatly.

In this book, Cole McCarthy describes his life of teaching in schools and prisons the elements of peaceful conflict resolution. He teaches the absurdity and ineffectiveness of pursing peace through violent means.

As we struggle in the coming years to resolve our personal confusion between survival and success, we will need to grab hold of peace and nonviolence lest we simply fall back into the dead end beliefs of fighting and overcoming instead of collaboration, compassion, relationship - not only with each other, but with the natural world as well. Our violent beliefs have brought us to where we are now, a catharsis of civilization.

Read this book. Pass it on and go forth into the emerging paradigm with an evolved consciousness. And if someone tells you that you are being too idealistic, politely, lovingly, emphatically teach peace. Suggest that they read the book too!