The Culture of Heart

What is the "Culture of Heart"? The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language defines culture as "The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought." This column is dedicated to the belief that the ethical underpinning of a peaceful "culture of heart" can and should be the concept that "unselfish love for others" has the highest value. I believe that human beings are driven by their strongest desires. If one desires to care for and love others more than any other desire, and considers that way of life to be the best way to live, then -- even though we're all flawed -- our thoughts, emotions and actions will change and progress toward the better. A society and culture that adheres to that commonly shared value system will become, one hopes, a "culture of heart". To that aim, I offer these columns.

Universal Foreign Policies of Unselfish Love

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, April 28, 2008

It is in this environment of a looming global catastrophe that the peaceful nations of the world must rise up and adopt universal foreign policies of unselfish love. While we continue to stand strong, with total commitment and absolute military vigilance against violent and dangerous tyrants like Ahmadinejad, we must also adopt a much more comprehensive and far-reaching foreign policy that deals with the breeding ground of violence: the human heart. more

The Golden Sphere Inside Us All

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, April 13, 2008

What is it that we love, in ourselves and in others? At first, our answers might include a variety of personality traits, such as humor and wit and charm. We are drawn to others for many reasons, both noble and ignoble. Even though we may be temporarily fascinated by glitter or power or celebrity, is it not common to us all that we recognize that a person’s true value is found in their internal world? more

The Mowgli Factor

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, March 2, 2008

The Mowgli Factor is the strange phenomenon that occurs when a child is partially or completely denied access to the thousands of years of culture, civilization, knowledge, ethics and spiritual teachings that have brought humankind forward to its relatively enlightened state. more

A Basic Tool Kit for a Renaissance Life

~ a proposal for a curriculum of creativity and imagination for children ~

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, February 18, 2008

I propose that schools everywhere adopt a very comprehensive program of creativity and imagination, from the earliest grades, that will provide every student with a Basic Tool Kit for a Renaissance Life. With training like this, I believe that children will leave behind the phenomenon of being stuck in cultural deserts with no vision, and instead gain a magnificent view of their own potential and capability to benefit the world. more

A Rich Life of Joy and Beauty

~ an alternative to philosophical and religious totalitarianism ~

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, February 10, 2008

One of the questions facing the world today is how to mesh the moral imperatives of religion with the rights of all individuals to pursue happiness in a free and democratic society. more

Love, Democracy and the Survival of the World

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, January 28, 2008

Is there any reason to hope that we, as individuals, can impact the world by walking the path of love? Can one person make a difference? more

What Would I Have Done?

~ An Offering of Repentance and Love to the American Indian Community ~

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, November 7, 2007

“What would I have done?” If I could have directed and controlled the movement of white Europeans to the American continents, over five hundred years ago, what would I have done? more

Looking for Love in the Muslim, Christian and Jewish Worlds

~ the global renunciation of religious violence and bigotry ~

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, July 28, 2007

What will happen to the Muslim world if radical Islamic terrorists destroy the Western world, through nuclear or biological terrorism? What will happen to the Muslim world if all the Western “infidels” are killed, or converted at the end of a sword? Will it be a world that the vast majority of Muslims will enjoy living in? more

The Power of Eternal Goals

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, May 29, 2007

Our work and creativity and contributions to others don’t stop at the point of “death”, but continue forever. more

"Dark Energy", A Clean Sky and Personal Flying Vehicles

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, May 27, 2007

In a previous column, “How Personal Flying Vehicles Will Change Society”, I wrote about the idea that personal flying vehicles could use some type of “antigravity” solution to stay aloft. This was based on my layman’s view (for I am not a scientist) that the first priority of a personal flying vehicle (PFV) is to not fall down and go “boom”. more

El Matrimonio Trino y Eterno como la Nueva Definición del Matrimonio

The original column ("Eternal Triune Marriage as the New Definition of Marriage"), is published here, in English.

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, May 21, 2007

more

Let's Sever the Decapitation Scenes

An examination of graphic violence in television and film.

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, May 20, 2007

Now, in 2007, the graphic violence that is often a part of horror films and slasher movies seems to have taken root in mainstream television programs. Many movies that are not billed as horror movies have adopted extreme standards in their depictions of graphic violence. more

Losing My Beard for John Adams

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, May 11, 2007

On May 7, 2007, I went with three of our children and acted with them as extras at the "John Adams" mini-series shoot (Part 2), in Goochland, Virginia. I played a "Boston Towns Person". (Our fourth child, Tymon, was an extra in Part 1.) This page shows the absolutely horrible tongue in cheek trauma that I suffered, as I was *forced*!!! to shave my beard (after six years!) — since Boston Towns Persons didn't have beards. Drat them! Oh, the Tyranny of Fashion! Here, for your potential amusement, is the pictorial history of my dreadful loss. Who knows — perhaps one day I'll be an actor. more

Creating Beauty

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, April 15, 2007

My mother once said to me, “It’s much harder to create beauty than it is to create ugliness.” She said this to me during the depths of my antisocial hippie dippie years, when I was seventeen and remarkably ignorant. I don’t remember what I had drawn, or written, but it must have been just south of putrid, for I offended her artistic sensibilities. For some reason, perhaps because she was an art teacher and my mother, I listened to her, and abandoned the project. I also have never forgotten what she said. more

Artists and their Inheritors Should Get Paid Forever

proposing a new standard of payment and a contract for “commissions in perpetuity”

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, March 25, 2007

To me, it just seems wrong that the original artist doesn’t profit when a painting is resold over and over again, all the while going up in price. It must be particularly galling for a living artist to watch his or her paintings fetch astronomical prices years after the artist sold it for a much smaller sum. more

The God Prayer

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, March 18, 2007

I believe that the God Prayer is a practical method that will draw us closer to God, and effectively control and banish the selfish thoughts and feelings that plague human beings every day. more

Loggers Who Lay Waste to Beauty

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, March 4, 2007

The first time we saw the desolation caused by their handiwork, we were driving down a road that we had traveled many times, when suddenly we turned a corner and saw a vast expanse of broken tree stumps and piles of dirt, mixed with wood chips and underbrush. It had been a beautiful stretch of woods, inhabited, I’m sure, by a variety of now displaced creatures. more

Nations at Peace

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, February 25, 2007

The World of True Peace is a world of family relationships under God. Nations will live in peace when the overriding desire of each nation is to serve the citizens of all nations as true brothers and sisters, bound together by a common heart of love. more

The Beautiful Gifts of the Spirit World

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, February 5, 2007

One of my favorite topics of reflection and discussion is the question of what happens to us after our physical bodies let out their last gasps and become fodder for worms and other crawly things. more

Where the Bees Don't Sting

by Peter Falkenberg Brown, February 4, 2007

It was in between waking and sleeping that the images came to me. My wife, Kimmy Sophia, and I were standing in a beautiful English garden, overgrown a bit, but rich in color and fragrance. The images came as a response to my yearning that night to know what life would be like in the spirit world at some point in our future. more