World peace; how do we get there? Dr. David Thompson

Transcription

1 World peace; how do we get there? Dr. David Thompson Text: In the days to come nation will not lift sword against nation, they will hammer their swords into ploughshares, their spears into sickles. There will be no more training for war. Each person will sit under their vine and fig tree, with no one to trouble them. Micah Blessed are the peacemakers. They shall be called the children of God. The Historical Jesus Did you ever wonder whether we will ever get to world peace? In Jerusalem, a female CNN journalist heard about a very old Jewish man who had been going to the Wailing Wall to pray, twice a day, everyday, for a long, long time. So she went to check it out. She went to the Wailing Wall and there he was! She watched him pray and after about 45 minutes, when he turned to leave, she approached him for an interview. I m Rebecca Smith from CNN. Sir, how long have you been coming to the Wall and praying? For about 60 years. 60 years! That s amazing! What do you pray for? I pray for peace between the Christians, Jews and the Muslims. I

2 pray for all the hatred to stop and I pray for all our children to grow up in safety and friendship. How do you feel after doing this for 60 years? The old man paused and a slow smile spread across his face. How do you say in America? I feel like I m talking to a wall. Today is the Second Sunday of Advent on which we remember that candles for peace have been lit in churches all around the world. In these United States we light these candles against a backdrop of war in Afghanistan. This week our President faced with many poor choices has decided to authorize another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. Our country is debating this move and is probably roughly split over the issue with strong opinions on both sides. I would like to talk about peace and how we might get there. But first we need to have a hard look at the justifications of war as a strategy to solve problems. Aristotle said That we make war in order to live in peace. John Adams an early President of the United States said: I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. John Kennedy echoing Aristotle said; It is an unfortunate fact that we can secure peace only by preparing for war. John Stuart Mill the English philosopher said: War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. This past week we heard justifications from our President for continuing the war against the Taliban and al Quaeda. The problems are that innocents are being targeted every day in Afghanistan by the Taliban. Afghanistan is the failed state from which Al Qaeda flourished and the place from which the 9/11 attacks were planned

3 from safe havens. Al Quaeda has made it clear that they would use nuclear weapons if they got hold of them. Pakistan is threatened by attacks from the border area of Afghanistan and Pakistan is a nuclear state with weapons. Can the United States permit Al Qaeda to get atomic weapons with which they could threaten the world? The President thinks not and there are many with him. So the strategy is to destroy safe havens and harry the Taliban and Al Qaeda and drive them back while attempting to train police and the Afghan army to protect the citizens of Afghanistan. This will cost billions of dollars at a time when the economy is stressed. When asked what we would do instead of going to war the answers are difficult. Can we stand idly by and let the Taliban friendly to Al Qaeda take over the country against the will of the citizens? Can we permit safe havens to be redeveloped from which the United States could be attacked? On the other side of the question there are some rather ugly truths about war that cannot be denied. Benjamin Franklin said; There was never a good war or a bad peace. Colman McCarthy once said: Warmaking doesn t stop warmaking. If it did our problems would have been stopped millennia ago. General Douglas Macarthur said; I know war as few other men now living know it, and nothing is more revolting. I have long advocated for its complete abolition, as its very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a method of settling International disputes. John Kennedy, cognizant of the nuclear weapons threat, said: Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind. Omar Bradley agreed: Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we do about living. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount.

4 The texts with which we began today s sermon promise a future of peace. They are beautiful words but are they realistic? A woman was walking along the beach when she stumbled upon a Genie s lamp. She picked it up and rubbed it, and a Genie appeared. The amazed woman asked if she was going to receive the usual three wishes. The Genie said, Nope... due to inflation, constant downsizing, low wages in third-world countries, and fierce global competition, I can only grant you one wish. So... what ll it be? The woman didn t hesitate. She said, I want peace in the Middle East. See this map? I want these countries to stop fighting with each other. The Genie looked at the map and exclaimed, I m sorry, lady! These countries have been at war for thousands of years. I m good, but not THAT good! I don t think it can be done. Make another wish. The woman thought for a minute and said, Well, I ve never been able to find the right man. You know one that s considerate and fun, likes to cook and helps with the housecleaning, is a good lover and gets along with my family, doesn t watch sports all the time, and is faithful. That s what I wish for... a good mate. The Genie let out a long sigh and said, Let me see that map!

5 What I think that we have failed to realize is that peace making is a lot harder than making war. George Bernard Shaw was right when he said that peace is not only better than war but infinitely more arduous. One of the battles is in our mind. Is it not true that we have accepted that war although a curse is inevitable in terms of the human condition? Are not Herman Goering s words as true today as when he said them? Naturally the common people don t want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, It is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country. Has not Goering understood us only too well? Not according to Martin Luther king Jnr. King said; I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. One of the doctrines that is troubling to us all is the doctrine of progress. We all want to believe in a kind of progress with the human experiment on earth. We want to believe that we are getting closer to the day when there will be peace on earth. It is just that there are so many discouraging factors out there that get us down. Are there any sign of progress? I guess that depends upon which standards you use to compare things with. For instance in World war one there were 16 million deaths with 21 million wounded. That was followed by the deadliest war in history World War Two with over 70 Million people killed. No one could argue for progress there! In comparison to the two great wars Korea has between million dead and Vietnam between 2.5 and 5

6 million dead. Iraq and Afghanistan are wars on a much smaller scale with Iraq at about 4,685 dead and Afghanistan 1,533 to date and of course climbing. Churchill prophesied that the wars of the giants would be followed by the wars of the pigmies. Is that where we are in terms of History? Is that a hope? Is there a trend downwards? In the UN charter it is stated that the object of the United Nations is to save the world from the scourge of war; that armed force should not be used except in the common interest. Simone Weil has an insight that I believe is necessary to end war on the planet between nations. She said that A self respecting nation is ready for anything including war, except for a renunciation of its option to make war. ButI have come to believe that the way forward towards world peace will lead us nations to consider the renunciation of this option. If, in order to become a member of the United Nations, it became necessary to give up the individual option to make war and instead make it only available as a collective option to make war, we could indeed make progress towards world peace. Once every member nation agreed to this, it could be made binding, and thus force would only ever be used when a member nation of the United Nations was attacked. An attack against a member nation would be an attack against all as in the Nato charter. Thus any rogue groups like Al Qaeda would not be granted safe havens on the soils of any member nation without the world acting in a unified fashion to stop it. Historically speaking there is another very interesting connection between democracy and war. It can be asserted that democracies do not go to war with one another. If democracies fight it is only with dictatorships. This is indeed hopeful that if we can bring democracy to the world and in every nation we can move towards the dream of swords into ploughshares. There is another lesson for us this time from Kathe Kollwitz a German painter who often spoke about the human condition. She said that Every war already carries within it the war which will answer it.

7 When I was privileged to meet with Yehan Sadat here in Sacramento she said to me that We cannot build peace with war. Why? Kollwitz: because each war births its own war in answer. This goes against what Aristotle taught that we can use war to make peace. Perhaps the most graphic illustrations of the failure of war to make peace are the first and second world wars. The second war was inherent in the first and was much more deadly. The First World War did not lead to peace. It led unerringly to more war. In the teaching of Jesus he held that we were to love the enemy as the way forward. This is the way to end war, with kindness. It is rarely tried but when it is it works. If we were to look at why Europe has not gone to war again since world war two and to credit it to something that worked I think it would have to be the policies to rebuild Europe with the farsighted Marshall plan. If we are to become peace makers as Christ counseled us then the most important part of our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan will not be the use of force but what we do to rebuild Afghanistan and make it a place where people have meaningful work and prosperity. The goal should be every person sitting under their own vine and fig tree without fear. The Taliban will have no answer to that and it is doable. It will however be arduous. This past week I was present at an Afghan mosque in West Sacramento standing with my brothers and sister from Islam and Judaism and multiple faiths. We were in solidarity against a hate crime against a house of worship. Metwalli Amer, a Muslim, said words reminiscent of the Nato charter. An attack against any house of worship is an attack against us all. In the Vision for the Experience we read the following words: Unconditional love for the self, the neighbor and any perceived enemy is essential for our survival and for us to achieve our highest potential. As many of us know there will be no peace in the world until there is peace between world religions. The way forward is what we are about here in Sacramento. We are building bridges of understanding between faiths rather than walls of hostility. This is how to make peace.

8 We also need peace between human beings and the planet and its living things. We can no longer take the planet for granted. We must move towards sustainability and end the war between human beings and other life forms. We are called by the great faiths to steward the earth, to look after her so that she can look after us. We can do this! Lastly it must be clearly understood that there will be no peace between individuals until we have peace in our hearts. And the genie was right this will be the most difficult of all. The way forward to personal peace is to release all old hurts and forgive everyone including ourselves for everything Are we alone or is God present? Does God hear the prayer made at the wailing wall or at our bedsides? Is there a Loving Presence veiled behind all the chaos that encroaches upon the peace we seek? If you have been a person of faith as long as I have you will know that faith takes practice and that is what this world is about. It is here that we make our souls. Stephen Schwartz wrote a book with an intriguing title: Problems are the doors through which we walk to peace. All things can work together for our good. So is peace possible? Yes. Alan Cohen writes: We have seen the pits of depravity and now it is time for us to behold the majesty of love. Together we will awaken from the long sleep of fear, and establish kindness as the crowning virtue of our passage here. Peace will be arduous but as Advent teaches us With God all things are possible. Have a peace filled Advent!