Shellys commentary: War, peace and the conflict between
The concepts and realities of peace and war/conflict rest on the difference between life and death. We know what war/conflict looks and sounds like. We know its destructive power. Understanding peace is more elusive, yet we know it when we experience it. In 1834, Edward Hicks painted “The Peaceable Kingdom,” John Lennon wrote “Imagine,” and “Peace be with you” sends us on the way to understanding.
Wars are about death and suffering, displacement and loss. Wars have been glorified, and some wars have been named “just wars” fought for righteous causes. Wars have been justified for many reasons – greed, power, control, land, religion, climate, culture, and politics, but too many wars have been the result of madness and delusional thinking. Such was the case in Nazi Germany. German Pastor Martin Niemoller wrote a poem titled, “First They Came.” “First they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist….” He follows with Socialists, trade unionists, and Jews. He concludes: “Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.” Today replace those groups with the marginalized, migrants, people of color, poll workers, and judges. Conflict, loud and destructive or quiet and dangerous, is a form of war, which robs us of the peace necessary for life. For brief moments, we abhor violence and react with condemnation, but then we go on with our lives.
War has always fascinated us and captivated our imagination. Little boys played “cowboys and Indians” and “soldiers” and it was viewed as innocent play. Science fiction has taken war into space and young people play virtual war games. Weapons of war have invaded our safe spaces. About sixty years ago, we decided that the word “war” had utilitarian purposes, and we understood that war was meant to destroy, eliminate, and kill. The government declared War on Poverty, Drugs, Discrimination, and Terror. War found its way into our literature, poetry, art, music and into academia. In 1869 the Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy wrote "War and Peace," and in 2013 Malala Yousafzai wrote "I am Malala," her story about growing up as a girl in Afghanistan.
We aren’t very clear in our understanding of peace. Strangely, “war and peace have politics as a common element. War is politics with volent means and diplomacy is politics with peaceful means.” But how do we define or understand peace? Albert Einstein said, “Peace is not merely the absence of war, but the presence of justice, of law, of order – in short, government.” Or, is it simply the absence of violence, or a state of harmony, or freedom from civil commotion, or freedom from annoyances, distractions, and anxiety? “The absence of war and conflict is a pre requisite of peace.” According to Martin Luther King, Jr., “Real peace is not reflected in the cessation of tension, but in the present of justice.” All of these perceptions of peace are rooted in the need for survival, well-being, identity, and freedom. “Peace is what every normal person dreams of.”
My guess is that most of us have not experienced much peace in the last eight years. We feel the absence of peace of mind, peace in our relationships, and a peaceful society. While we may not see war every day, we experience conflict in just about everything we do.
The concern we feel is not hyperbole, nor is it a figment of our imagination. Insurrection and violence played out right before our eyes on January 6th, and we have looked behind the curtain at the forces which caused it. We have now witnessed a former president indicted four times for crimes against this country and its Constitution. We have seen the rule of law at work. Accountability is real, and we have been reminded that ALL people must be held accountable before the law. Maybe we are beginning to wake up from sleepwalking through these past eight years and normalizing that which is not normal.
Some have called us out to “Do something.” We aren’t out of the woods yet, because one major political party will most likely offer the perpetrator of these dangerous times as a third-time candidate for president, who promises to do it all over again. Many of us have sung “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin we me.” At one time that song resonated throughout the land and the world. Now it’s time to raise our voices again. Remember Pastor Niemoller’s admonition to speak out before it is too late. Let’s choose life.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Shellys commentary: War, peace and the conflict between
