Peace, Justice, Care of Earth: The Vision of John McConnell, Founder of Earth Day

A summary of John McConnell's biography by his biographer, Robert M. Weir

John McConnell - visionary

John McConnell is a visionary, a man who, starting in the 1930's, was able to look far into the future. With vitality and verve and a speaking style that punctuated key words, he offered the world advice and guidance for a better quality of life for all species. John McConnell is a man of symbols. He gave to the world two great and lasting symbols: the original Earth Day on the vernal equinox and the Earth Flag. Yet, he is little known by most people. John McConnell is a man who sees connections. He was among the first to draw a relationship between peace through understanding, social justice as a sharing of resources, and environmental preservation. He summarized his life-long mission with the simple phrase: "Peace, Justice, Care of Earth."

Loyalty to our planet can best be achieved through voluntary efforts to understand its life systems and processes, and then with love for our planet to help nurture and sustain the amazing web of life that covers our globe. - John McConnell, "77 Theses on the Care of Earth, 1985

John McConnell's vision and mission

"Peace is not the absence of war," John first declared in the 1960s, making him among the first to pronounce what has now become a catchphrase among peace speakers today. Continuing, he said, "The absence of war is more properly defined as a truce, an armistice or a cease fire. It is often a time of anxiety and lack of peace as people await an impending war. True peace comes from gaining an honest understanding of another person's point of view." In other words, John McConnell is an advocate of peace through dialogue, discussion, diplomacy and détente. In similar fashion, John proclaimed, "Justice is not an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. That is legalized revenge that comes from the Code of Hammurabi, written 1,800 years before the birth of Christ. True justice," he said, "is an equal sharing of all resources by all people for all species." And of Earth care, John McConnell simply stated, "Without peace and justice, the environmental movement is a one-legged stool."

We must make the important decision between thinking about peace and thinking deeply and seriously about ways of turning the world toward peace. - John McConnell, interview with United Press International, October 1966

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