Posted by
JTB on Tuesday, September 11, 2007 11:09:00 AM
We all want peace. But if we hold any beliefs strongly, we will find
others who disagree--sometimes violently. Whether National Identity,
Religion (or freedom thereof), or any other creed, someone will
denounce what we believe.
The only way to always avoid conflict is to always surrender,
always acquiesce. That is the way to become a slave. And that is worse
than war...
True peace comes not from avoiding stress or conflict but from
learning how to live with diversity. We enjoyed a great deal of
diversity in our days at Humboldt State University (HSU)! We met people from all around the world.
We took classes with and from them. We got along. I never saw a
fistfight at HSU; but we did have a lot of passionate debates about
many topics.
THAT is the message of peace we need to share ("Lux Veritas"). We
are NOT one big family. We do not all love each other, even in America
(or haven't you read the comments about Bush, Cheney, etc.). BUT, just
because we don't have to raise our voices or our fists to defend our
beliefs in a free socety doesn't mean we can allow others to suffer
under tyranny and oppression.
Crying "We Want Peace!" without honoring all humans (including the
Christians in Darfur, the Falun Gong in China, and the whites in
Zimbabwe) is a craven lie. We are all slaves while one of us is (like
the "mules" used to smuggle drugs across borders). We owe our freedom
to others who gave it to us (often at great cost to themselves) and we
owe the same sacrifice to those who are not free.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and many others were not
afraid of "fighting" for their freedom, even though they did not see
the "Peace" they sought after. We should not be so eager for "Peace"
that we forget the rest...
We signed a pledge when I graduated in 1988, to be true to our beliefs. I, at least, will be.