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About |
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One Horizon Foundation A world that works for everyone |
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© 2008 One Horizon Foundation |
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Vision |
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A world that works |
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Our guiding image¡Xour ¡§one horizon¡¨¡Xis a world that works for everyone! We think of the world as a cooperative commonwealth and each of us as equal participants in its risks and rewards. Working together as individuals and communities we can achieve a fair, equal and sustainable human future.
One Horizon encourages cooperative action for the common good by
- Providing human and material resources to community-based non-profit organizations and initiatives.
- Supporting understanding and shared action through community building and networks of mutual interest. |
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Strengthening civil society |
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We believe that lasting change occurs through personal initiative, shared lives, commitment to local places, and support for institutions that serve the greater good. Such community building energy is the sign of healthy societies. It also provides the social underpinning for healthy political and economic structures. This non-political, non-commercial part of our societies is often called ¡§civil society.¡¨ And strengthening civil society is the focus of our attention.
One Horizon engages civil society through our own initiatives, through grants and assistance to innovative organizations, and through cooperative networks and coalitions. We embrace shared interests, combined efforts, collective actions, and mutual concerns. And we work to overcome the excessively competitive partisan interests that divide us.
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Guiding interests |
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Our work is organized with three interests in mind:
Community. We value the shared interests and interpersonal connections that bind people together as communities. And we believe that these community connections are the building blocks of change in the wider society. Equipping others to organize new communities in new places, along with cultivating existing ones, is our most important task. We are attracted to communities representing myriad interests, but we are especially attracted to those that put a high value on social justice, peace, reconciliation, hospitality, and sacrificial service.
Social relationships. Whether working with grassroots organizations to address local concerns or encouraging transnational cooperation to confront poverty, injustice, conflict, and environmental issues, we support initiatives designed to change destructive social patterns and to create healthy new ones. We support organizations that confront particular social issues. We also encourage public advocacy and collective action organized to transform social structures, practices and policies for the common good.
Cultural ¡§codes.¡¨ Social practices and policies are often supported by cultural biases and ideologies that may be discriminatory. These ¡§codes,¡¨ or patterns of communication, may be historically-based and inadvertent, or they may represent intransigent belief systems and cultural practices. Either way, they must be addressed for the common good and we support those who address them through consciousness-raising, writing, public speech, dialogue, the arts, research, and education.
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The common good |
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Our world is made up of countless human communities. Many of these are religious, ethnic or political in nature. Most are concerned with local issues. Some are global in scope. All together these communities create a world of diversity that we respect and affirm.
Often competing communities and their competing visions for the world create conflict and hinder cooperation. We believe that by linking communities through shared action for the common good, instead of dividing our efforts along the lines of our competing beliefs, we can overcome conflict and find a way forward to a cooperative future.
In saying this, we want to be clear about our own values. One Horizon is a faith-based organization. Our work is enriched by Christian tradition, a tradition that itself exists as a global community with a long history of humanitarian service and concern.
At its best, our tradition encourages common work for the common good, enhancing cooperation rather than diminishing it. We refer to this shared participation in the common good as ¡§missional ecumenism¡¨ and practice it as faithfully as we can.
One Horizon is committed to a cooperative global future shared by Christians, other faith communities, and those communities defined by issues that have little to do with faith at all. We are happy to work with those who share very different perspectives as we all embrace our responsibilities for ethical and cooperative action.
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