photo by me

“I firmly believe that free societies are peaceful societies, and I believe every person desires to be free.”
~ President George W. Bush ~

Today is a fitting day to think about peace. Coretta Scott King, wife to the venerable Martin Luther King, Jr., passed away in her sleep. It is the end of an era in the United States.

We live in a time when peace is not being respected or treated as something that we want to aspire to, no matter what rhetoric is being thrown about by politicians.

“I don’t see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate the destruction of a country as part of your platform. And I know you can’t be a partner in peace if you have a — if your party has got an armed wing.”
~ President George W. Bush ~

Our highest officials advocate peace but we, too, have an armed wing and in the light of Afghanistan and Iraq, I cannot but think that the citizens of those nations may see us as promoting the destruction of their nations.

What could have been different if we had taken more time to affirm the lack of WMDs? What could have happened if we had had more patience? What could have happened if oil and revenge hadn’t been at the center of a war that is not necessary (as if any war is really necessary)? We will never know. Those opportunities were never given a chance to grow to fruition. It was so much easier to send in troops and take a country by force.

The bombings continue. Civilians are being killed in the streets. Just two weeks ago intelligence thought the number 2 al-Quaeda man was in a village and it was bombed, killing dozens of innocent people but missing him (and he laughs at the United States about this, according to al-Jazeera).

It’s time to stop. It’s time to focus on non-violent means of solving our issues.

What will our children learn from our leaders rushing in to fight fights instead of approaching situations with non-violence in mind? Will they, too, learn that picking up a stick, a knife, or a gun will solve the fight?

“But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”
~ William Butler Yeats ~