Peace can be defined as the natural fruit of justice between people and between nations, with justice as a prerequisite for true peace among peoples. The promotion of peace requires that human dignity is respected, international cooperation is achieved, a more equitable distribution of the world’s resources is put into effect, and that the arms race ends. Peace is said to be only an idealistic dream and that it is nearly impossible to achieve in this time and world. Even if this is true, peace is something that should be strived for. Despite its uncertain future, peace is used to combat situations that arise in the world all the time.
In the developed world, peace would be much easier to achieve than in the developing world. The developed world has no need to raise arms with another nation because of its prosperity (the exception being the United States of America). The developing world, however, must work harder to achieve peace. With tensions and wars that have been enacted over trivial things like land or resources, there has been a vicious cycle put into place in the developing world. The clash between nations over dwindling resources and shrinking land borders continues to this day, one of the most recent disputes over resources being the American occupation of Iraq. With little motivation to end strife and conflict, it seems that hostilities will continue.
We think that peace is a dream that we will not see. We do not even think our children will see it in their lifetimes. The world is a violent place on a larger scale, never mind the peaceful protests and the rallies that litter the world, hoping for a peaceful Earth. The world is too caught up in materialistic greed, driving nations to quarrel and fight over land and resources. That effort would be much better used in driving peace efforts between nations. If nobody takes an initiative in stopping conflict, then there is no hope of peace for the world. It takes one influential power to strive for peace; the rest will follow. With one of the world’s superpowers embroiled in a violent occupation in Iraq, however, we don’t think this will ever come to fruition.
Peace can be linked to the modern social justice issue of the Darfur genocide. As it has been revealed, the conflict and resulting genocide has been a result of conflicting groups of people, as in the Rwandan genocide, and the hatred of one group towards another, as in the Holocaust. History has seemed to repeat itself again. With peace, this could have been avoided; with peace, now, it can still be stopped. Appeasement to the Sudanese military and the Janjaweed will not help the peace process, but stoke their egos and inflate their sense of self-importance. Only true peace can bring about the end of the conflict. The resolution of the conflict, like the ideal of peace, seems far away from fruition. The Darfur genocide, officially recognized in 2003, does not show any signs of ending.
Our own awareness of the issue, coupled with political participation, can help to amend the problem and ease the damages of the genocide. By letting the people know of the destruction in Darfur, and signalling to the government the issue at hand, it is possible to relieve those displaced and suffering from the conflict. True peace will not come about by awareness, however. Peace will only come about through intervention by a third party and even then it will not end the hostilities between the conflicting people.
As Christians, we know peace and love go hand in hand. There is not much we can do but to love others as Jesus has loved us. Love is the first step in the long walk to peace. By letting people know that peace is possible through love (and the resulting emotions such as forgiveness), perhaps a social movement can take place. If it is possible to have awareness for Darfur raised, perhaps it is then possible for a peace movement to build momentum, however idealistic it is.
In the developed world, peace would be much easier to achieve than in the developing world. The developed world has no need to raise arms with another nation because of its prosperity (the exception being the United States of America). The developing world, however, must work harder to achieve peace. With tensions and wars that have been enacted over trivial things like land or resources, there has been a vicious cycle put into place in the developing world. The clash between nations over dwindling resources and shrinking land borders continues to this day, one of the most recent disputes over resources being the American occupation of Iraq. With little motivation to end strife and conflict, it seems that hostilities will continue.
We think that peace is a dream that we will not see. We do not even think our children will see it in their lifetimes. The world is a violent place on a larger scale, never mind the peaceful protests and the rallies that litter the world, hoping for a peaceful Earth. The world is too caught up in materialistic greed, driving nations to quarrel and fight over land and resources. That effort would be much better used in driving peace efforts between nations. If nobody takes an initiative in stopping conflict, then there is no hope of peace for the world. It takes one influential power to strive for peace; the rest will follow. With one of the world’s superpowers embroiled in a violent occupation in Iraq, however, we don’t think this will ever come to fruition.
Peace can be linked to the modern social justice issue of the Darfur genocide. As it has been revealed, the conflict and resulting genocide has been a result of conflicting groups of people, as in the Rwandan genocide, and the hatred of one group towards another, as in the Holocaust. History has seemed to repeat itself again. With peace, this could have been avoided; with peace, now, it can still be stopped. Appeasement to the Sudanese military and the Janjaweed will not help the peace process, but stoke their egos and inflate their sense of self-importance. Only true peace can bring about the end of the conflict. The resolution of the conflict, like the ideal of peace, seems far away from fruition. The Darfur genocide, officially recognized in 2003, does not show any signs of ending.
Our own awareness of the issue, coupled with political participation, can help to amend the problem and ease the damages of the genocide. By letting the people know of the destruction in Darfur, and signalling to the government the issue at hand, it is possible to relieve those displaced and suffering from the conflict. True peace will not come about by awareness, however. Peace will only come about through intervention by a third party and even then it will not end the hostilities between the conflicting people.
As Christians, we know peace and love go hand in hand. There is not much we can do but to love others as Jesus has loved us. Love is the first step in the long walk to peace. By letting people know that peace is possible through love (and the resulting emotions such as forgiveness), perhaps a social movement can take place. If it is possible to have awareness for Darfur raised, perhaps it is then possible for a peace movement to build momentum, however idealistic it is.
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