Peace in the face of violence

At just 14 years old, a Talib fighter boarded a bus, pointed a pistol at Malala Yousafzai’s head and pulled the trigger. But she survived, made a full recovery in England, and has become and transformative figure in human rights.

She appeared on The Daily Show this week and when asked about being threatened by the Taliban, Yousafzai painted a powerful picture for peace:

I started thinking about that, and I used to think that the Talib would come, and he would just kill me. But then I said, ‘If he comes, what would you do Malala?’ then I would reply to myself, ‘Malala, just take a shoe and hit him.’ But then I said, ‘If you hit a Talib with your shoe, then there would be no difference between you and the Talib. You must not treat others with cruelty and that much harshly, you must fight others but through peace and through dialogue and through education.’ Then I said I will tell him how important education is and that ‘I even want education for your children as well.’ And I will tell him, ‘That’s what I want to tell you, now do what you want.’

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Peace is not merely a distant goal

eucatastrophe
eucatastrophe | illustration by Jonathan Blundell

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.

Through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can’t murder murder.

Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can’t establish truth.

Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can’t murder hate.

Darkness cannot put out darkness. Only light can do that…

We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the positive affirmation of peace. We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody, that is far superior to the dis-chords of war.

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.

– Martin Luther King Jr.

Today, I’m reminded of the speech President Bush didn’t give on Oct. 1, 2001.

The speech was written by Brian McLaren as an illustration on the different path America could have chosen in a post 9/11 world (the above quote from Martin Luther King was included in the speech).

I encourage you to read it the entire speech. To chew on it and consider how different the last 10 years might have been had the speech been given.

(read the speech)

May God bless the entire world.

Be a blessing

…Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble.

That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless — that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, Here’s what you do:

Say nothing evil or hurtful;

Snub evil and cultivate good;

run after peace for all you’re worth.

(1 Peter)

Leading through a nuclear free tomorrow

nuclear winter
nuclear winter | Photo/art by Jimmy Brown

My college newspaper recently shared an opinion piece on Obama’s recent nuclear negotiations…

President Obama signed a nuclear arms control agreement with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday to reduce the stockpiles of nuclear weapons of both nations. The agreement, called the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, builds on a previous Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that expired in December. If passed, it will cut the number of both countries’ nuclear weapons by about a third.

With policies like the START agreement, the public health care bill and charging terrorists in American civilian courts, the Obama administration is weakening the United States’ power to influence other nations. We are stepping down from our destiny instead of rising to the potential of a world leader.

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