Stephen Kaufman, M.D., Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA)
Peacemaking, part 1: The Need for Peacemakers
I’ve heard it said, “The only thing you learn from history is that people
don’t learn from history.” Much to humanity’s grief, people seem unable to
avoid violence within families, within communities, and between communities.
I think this is in large part because we often find that our desires
conflict with those of others, and frequently violence seems the best or
only way to resolve these conflicts.
Violence has several unfortunate consequences. First, of course, it results
in harm to individuals. If we believe that God cares about God’s Creation,
then this harm also has a spiritual dimension. Second, violence damages
communities, and humans need communities for practical and psychological
reasons. Communities have helped humans survive and have provided the
company that humans, as social beings, crave. Third, violence is often
associated with injustice. Christianity offers an eschatological (end of
times) vision of peace and justice to which we should strive and which is
undermined by violence. Finally, human ingenuity has permitted the
development of powerful technologies that, when used violently, threaten
human civilization. [Swords have proven just as effective as atomic bombs as
tools of genocide, but atomic bombs threaten to destroy the remarkable
physical, social, and intellectual infrastructure that humanity has built
over the last centuries.]
In addressing our call to be peacemakers and to participate in the
reconciliation of all Creation (Isaiah 11:6-9), should we be pacifists? I
will consider this question next essay.
Go on to: Peacemaking,
part 2: Peacemaking and Pacifism
Return to:
Reflection on the Lectionary, Table of Contents