Lesson 2: Does Peace Begin With Me?

Recently I received a long Facebook post from a young man who grew up in our congregation and now serves as an officer in Iraq. He was responding to the incident when a lady in a burka was thrown out of a Trump rally after she stood up. I received the post while pondering why we no longer have any kind of organized peace efforts like those during the Vietnam Nam war. At that time, my interfaith community put up money to hire a Roman Catholic sister to run a peace center. Our goal was not to protest the war so much as to hold our leaders accountable. I can not remember ever standing in a protest line. I do recall organizing classes and preaching sermons on just war theory as well as writing letters opposing the use of agent orange and napalm bombs. Sadly, that kind of cooperative program is long gone. Our efforts are pretty much reduced to speaking out as individuals. The young officer’s words are an excellent example of this. They remind me of the old song that begins, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” “So it is a bit ironic that on the day I find out that my Iraqi interpreter has won his six-year battle to bring him and his family to the United States, I also wake up to see what happened at the Trump rally last night in South Carolina. I feel like there is a lot I want to tell my old interpreter about his new country, from what chain restaurants to avoid (sorry, Golden Corral) to what sports teams he needs to support (sorry, Yankees). However, before we get to all of the beautiful things about his new country that we need to discuss, I am sad to say that we will need to start with a few apologies. “First, I apologize for the State Department’s bureaucratic incompetence and inability to execute the laws set in place to protect your family and reward your sacrifice. You and your family deserved better and I am truly sorry that you spent the past six years wondering if you would survive the collapse of Iraq and the numerous terrorist groups still searching for those that helped Americans. You protected American soldiers for years in Iraq and I am still embarrassed that there was not more I could do for you when you needed our help. “Second, please know that what you saw on television this morning is as hard for some Americans to watch as it must be for you and your family. I wish I could tell you that the ugliness you witnessed was limited to a miniscule and insignificant corner of the American political landscape, but I find myself questioning that on a daily basis now. Regardless of how large this poison is growing across our Nation, know that on the other side are those committed to not letting their country devour itself with fear and anger. You just escaped a place where hatred poisoned the wells and consumed the mind, and I promise you that there are still good men and women on this soil that will not let that happen here.” Our government has so efficiently suppressed any kind of real opposition that many people around me regard the officer’s words as treason. Even worse, I have heard people in church label such talk as satanic, arguing our enemy represents the devil. It seems to me the democratic experiment always encourages honest critique of all governmental policies. Our political parties go to absurd lengths attacking the opposition in all areas except defense. Perhaps it is time to organize peace efforts once again. If that is not going to happen in the near future, individuals must then begin speaking out to counter the bombastic calls for immoral activity we hear too often. I believe that should include encouraging our pastors to preach prophetic messages that carefully address the difficulties of the current situation from the perspective of Christianity as a peace movement.