Let Us Be Peace

The fastest way to go nowhere, or to get nothing done, is to point our fingers at someone and hold them responsible for our problem. It gets better, by angrily focusing our attention on the problem because we want it to “go away,” we actually make it bigger; we give it, or the people we’re holding accountable (other than ourselves), more power. The World Trade Center disaster (9/11) and our subsequent “War On Terror” is a massive case in point.

There is nothing I’m going to say concerning details leading up to 9/11 that haven’t been said before. I simply ask the question, are you feeling safer today with our response strategy as you did when it began? Is vengeance and military might reallythe way to peace? Does responding to violence with violence bring peace? Well, perhaps if you define peace as mutual annihilation. That’s the logical and ultimate conclusion of playing with this kind of fire. Someone gets burned.

Let’s be blunt about this: From the president down, the men and women strategists and advisors who are directing the war effort are not really protecting your or my freedom. They are protecting what they perceive as their positions of authority, privilege, and influence. They are sending impressionable sons and daughters of the citizenry — who have not yet lived, and have not yet gained enough maturity or wisdom to say “No! Killing is not the way, and I won’t do it!” — to do their bidding.

Said president, strategists, and even the congressional body and judicial branch, are operating under the mistaken presumption that they can or will survive any military reprisal that any political “enemy” of ours can launch at us. This form of delusion isn’t limited to “our side,” it is shared by those who call the United States “the Great Satan.”

Even with G.W. Bush as president, great, we are: Satan, we are not.

Although we are not Satan, our response strategy is tantamount to evil. It is just as evil as that of the Islamic extremists who live for the day when they can (1) bring the U.S. down, or (2) by way of the sword, theirs has become the one world religion. With all due respect, that won’t happen.

Neither Christianity, Islam, or any other religion will ever take over world beliefs. I say this, not as a Christian, Buddhist, or member of any religious group, but with an deep and profound sense of connection with God.

Diversity of opinion and perspective are as natural to humanity as breathing, and will live for as long as we do. Freedom to associate and interact are essential. Religions tend to repress human freedom and originality, which is at the core of our beingness. We will always express ourselves in ways that “buck” social conventions. Jesus of Nazareth certainly did in his day, and he didn’t use a sword. There will always be those who oppose repressive regimes, whether their instigators be overseas, or next door. At issue today, is how.

While the use of “weapons of mass destruction” is indeed deplorable, it is unwise to use said weapons of mass destruction to stop someone else.

The United States military is using WMD’s. What we’re getting for our money is is mass destruction, the threat of more mass destruction, and the increased willingness, desire, and determination by others, to use them against us.

We are furthermore giving people who are blamers by definition, a real excuse. Their argument, for anyone who will listen, now appears to be based on fact. On one side they’re saying, “Look at what they’ve done! Kill the infidels before they kill us!” On our side, they’re saying, “Look at what they’ve done, let’s kill the Islamic extremists before they kill us!” Both sides are one in thought, if not one in ability to execute. Both sides need the other’s current attitude in order to maintain the status quo. And the attitude remains.

The intent remains, and intent transcends time and space, and the limitations of physical existence.

Is self-defense really a rational reason to adopt and maintain a killing policy? If so, how is it working for us? What justice have we actually achieved in the aftermath of 9/11? The death toll is still rising, not only in the lives of Afghani and Iraqi citizens, but in over 2,000 soldiers from America, the U.K., and other countries. And let us not forget those who have been injured and maimed as a result of the conflict. The misery toll is much higher, and yet on the rise.

In fact, we revel in the misery that we can bring to our “enemies,” because in so doing, we tell ourselves that won’t be accused of killing when it comes time to meet “the Maker.” However, this is a good place to point out that what we focus our thinking and action on, we amplify and bring to life. By blaming someone else for our problem experiences, we give them power. This principle applies to all, including the President of the United States.

George W. Bush has been, and continues to be in a position to turn this around, but he must be willing to let go of the “woodshed” approach. Getting a switch from a tree and delivering the extremists a good spanking hasn’t worked, and is not going to get this done. I’m not holding my breath, but I’m still saying it.

Since conflict among various factions of Islamic people was going on for more than 1,000 years before we jumped in, it is naive to think that we’re going to stop it by simply using a bigger sword, especially if we say that peace is what we want.

Peace is what I want. It may not be what President Bush wants. He wants vengeance, an unquenchable black hole of a goal if there ever was one. He’s sending soldier after soldier, life after life into the abyss to extract something that is unextractable as long as we’re holding on to it.

The President wants control more than Peace. But he doesn’t have either. Years ago he said he wanted bin Laden, but with all our intelligence, we don’t have him. Before President Bush, President Clinton was offered bin Laden by the Somalians who had him in custody after the first World Trade Center bombing in ’93. He declined the offer. Peace isn’t at the top of the list for Washington bureaucrats; yet.

While it may be easy to “poo poo” this commentary as pacifist babble, no one has committed to a peaceful approach to resolving this conflict. The fact is that seeking justice without threatening, causing, or doing harm to another, is considered a sign of weakness by some when in actuality, it is the only way to peace.

When the annihilation of an entire nation, continent, or planet, is a real possibility, the time has come to decide whether escalating war is a gamble we really want to risk making. We — the United States through President Bush — can go a long way toward reducing the risk of further escalation by affirming that we will not use the very weapons we’re trying to take out of the hands of others. 

This does not mean that we lower our defenses. We simply let innocent people know that they no longer have to worry about us destroying them. We let them know that we stand ready to help them when and where they ask us to help. We let them know that they have our attention, and will continue to have it, but they must take an active part in their own peaceful self-rescue. In other words, we set the tone.

For a while, fanatics may continue trying to goad us into conflict (since we were so goadable before), but we will gain more cooperation from the rest of the world community that also want peace. We have to show faith in the process, and in the God we claim to be our motivator. Many religious people live on shaky grounds of faith. Fear is their companion far more than love or God, which are one in the same. Their lives are then reflections of this conflict.

Peace will mean more prosperity for more people. Peace will mean better health for more people. Peace will mean greater growth for more people. War favors a few at the risk of all. The few live under the mistaken impression that they will be unaffected by war, when in actuality, no one goes unaffected.

Peace favors all. Peaceful behavior quells fear, fosters confidence, not only in one’s own conscience, but in others. War is a total lack of conscience and confidence. It is a theater of fear, nothing more. Fear is familiar ground for us, and so we continue to cultivate it. But our greatest opportunity and growth yet remains through peace.

Let us be Peace.

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