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Peace of Pie: The News Sentinel, Ft Wayne IN |
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A guest column by Tim Tiernon
Join us at Courthouse and stand up for peace
My Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines activism as “a doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct vigorous action (as a mass demonstration) in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue.” The Iraq War has generated a resurgence of peace activism in the United States, but the quiescence of so many who disapprove of the war shows that they don’t understand activism.
Too many Americans call themselves peace activists when their only activity is talking with like-minded people in private. They feel peace is too controversial to support in public. Some even say peace rallies are “negative.” They claim to be too happy and positive to deal with problems. Opposing something negative is genuinely positive and conservative. Activism focuses attention on the issue and educates the public.
It seems the threat of the mushroom cloud can rush Americans to war, but not to work for peace. Parents claim they are doing their part by teaching their children to be peacemakers. Rearing children to deal with problems in the future only works if all our problems are in the future. The doomsday clock is at seven minutes ’till midnight. Our world is on fire. Training children to be firefighters is not a sane response. Economic and generational strategies for peace can only work if we have generations to achieve that goal.
Religious people claim that supporting their religious institutions constitutes peace activism. That claim is valid only if a religion actively works for peace. Too many religions give lip-service to peace while supporting war.
Many broad-minded people consider all issues equally important and accumulate information without acting on it. Breadth of thought becomes a detriment to activism when it results in the loss of focus, depth and priority. Americans need to consider whether the issues they are working on will be significant after global nuclear war.
Social service workers struggle for the scraps of a federal discretionary budget ravaged by the undiagnosed disease of war. Well-intentioned people, overwhelmed by unmet human needs, are too busy mopping up the floor to turn off the faucet.
People focused on ethnocentric issues need to appreciate that war is an equal-opportunity killer. Peace is more than a personal spiritual matter. We must take responsibility for wars waged in our name.
We must prevent wars of mass destruction in order to survive as a species, but war for peace is like sex for virginity. Wars of choice are obsolete, ineffective and counterproductive. Americans can make our country and our world safer by changing our foreign policy, reducing militarism and eliminating unnecessary wars. America needs a Department of Peace. Please join us on the Courthouse Green the first Saturday of every month at noon to rally for peace.
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