DECEMBER 2009

We live now with constant threats of terrorism. We have two wars going on, but we have often had wars going on. In fact, we have always had troops stationed somewhere in the world. That seems very unfortunate to me. The Roman General said that if we want peace we should prepare for war. The Romans always had war. They called it Pax Romana. That is an enforced peace at gunpoint. That is not peace. We need to raise our children in a world at peace. They have a right to live their lives in peace and to find their own direction and fulfillment without having to engage in warfare. We all have a right to find our way in life without engaging in warfare or suffering the effects of war or terrorism. The question is, how do we find or create world peace?

Rather than preparing for war, we need to begin preparing for world peace. People who are closed out of societies are the ones most likely to become angry and hostile towards others. We need to make room for all members of every society as a first step towards creating peace. We have to see that children are fed, educated, and loved. We have to stop espousing hatred towards those of other political views and stop fearing them. I am not saying we should not fear terrorism. I am saying that we should not fear people of different religious beliefs or different sexual orientations. We have to look to ourselves and find THE COURAGE TO BE, (a book by the Christian theologian Paul Tillich.) We need to be free to be ourselves and stop fearing and bullying those around us who are trying to be themselves. Terrible bullying goes on in schools. This needs to be stopped. Bullying goes on by other nations and national leaders. These bullies also need to be stopped. I remember when Yassar Arafat announced that he was going to train an entire generation to hate. We are now living with the results of this training of hatred. We have to train all generations to love. We have to begin today.