Peace Quote of the Day - does pacifism suffice?

“Does pacifism suffice? I don’t think it is enough.

…When in Asia millions of people starve to death while in North America and elsewhere millions of tons of wheat are stockpiled, isn’t that war?

When thousands of women prostitute their bodies and ruin their lives for the sake of money; when millions of babies are aborted each year, isn’t that war?

When people are forced to work like slaves because they can hardly provide the milk and bread for their children, isn’t that war?

When the wealthy live in villas surrounded by parks, while in other districts some families have only one room to share, isn’t that war?

When one person builds up a huge bank account while another earns scarcely enough for basic necessities, isn’t that war?

When reckless drivers cause thousands of traffic deaths every year, isn’t that war?

…I cannot agree with a pacifism whose representatives hold onto the root causes of war: property and capitalism. I have no faith in the pacifism of businessmen who beat down their competitors, or husbands who cannot even live in peace and love with their own wives…

I would rather not use the word ‘pacifism’ at all. But I am an advocate of peace. Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers!’ If I really want peace, I must represent it in all areas of life.”

Eberhard Arnold, quoted in Johann Arnold, Seeking Peace

Peace Quote of the Day - Who has the peace of Jesus?

“Here I should point out that despite my own faith in Christ, and despite the vocabulary of this book (which some may find 'churchy'), I do not believe that one must necessarily be a Christian to find the peace of Jesus. True, we cannot ignore Jesus’ statements: ‘He who does not gather with me, scatters’ and ‘He who is not for me is against me.’ Yet what does it mean to be ‘for’ Jesus? Doesn’t he make it clear that it is not religious words or other expressions of piety that matter? He looks for deeds of compassion and mercy – for love. And he says that even a cup of water to a thirsty person will be rewarded ‘in the kingdom of heaven’.”

“Jesus is a person, not a concept or an article of theology, and his truth embraces far more than our limited minds can comprehend. In any case, millions of Buddhists, Muslims, Jews – and agnostics and atheists – practice the love Jesus commands us to live out with more conviction than many so-called Christians. And it is hardly our place to say whether or not they possess peace.”

Johann Arnold, Seeking Peace

I share this quote because Jesus is one who is known for peace. Many of the great peacemakers (e.g., Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr.) have looked to Jesus for inspiration. Sometimes (Gandhi's example not withstanding) Christians talk as if Jesus is ours, as if we "own" Jesus. But do we? Jesus himself said, "blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God"...

Peace Quote of the Day - peace must start with the individual

“If peace is to be built, it must start with the individual.”

“Nothing is so vital – or painful – as recognizing the unpeace in our own lives and hearts. For some of us it may be hatred or resentment; with others, deceit, dividedness, or confusion; still others, mere emptiness or depression. In the deepest sense it is all violence and must therefore be face and overcome.”

Johann Arnold, Seeking Peace

This is a key observation. It resonates with my experience. I have been struck, in visiting Israel and the Occupied Territories, by the reality of peace in the lives of so many individuals - Israelis and Arabs, Jews, Christians and Muslims, who are working for peace. From a Sufi Muslim Sheikh to Rabbis for Human Rights to the Bereaved Parents Circle to Christian Peacemaker Team to the Quakers to Sabeel to Musalaha, and on and on, I have been overwhelmed by the spirit of women and men who have given their lives to protesting and working against violence and injustice, but are doing so without violence, inward or outward. 

I notice this, am struck by it, am deeply convicted, because what I see makes me angry, makes me want to do something. I feel violence (I hate to admit it) stirring within me, welling up, and recognize my lack of the kind of inner peace that Arnold is talking about. 

And I realize that it is not possible to make a positive contribution to peace (in the world, between people in conflict) without being at peace - again, in the way described by Arnold - within oneself.

And I know that I have much to learn, much to grow, much still to receive from the one I follow, Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

Peace Quote of the Day - Shalom

“Shalom [the Hebrew word for “peace”] means the end of war and conflict, but it also means friendship, contentment, security, and health; prosperity, abundance, tranquility, harmony with nature, and even salvation. And it means these things for everyone, not only a select few. Shalom is ultimately a blessing, a gift from God. It is not a human endeavor. It applies to the state of the individual, but also to relationships – among people, nations, and between God and man. Beyond this, shalom is intimately tied to justice, because it is the enjoyment or celebration of human relationships which have been made right.”

Johann Arnold, Seeking Peace

Peace Quote of the Day

“Darkness is the absence of light, but peace is not just the cessation of hostilities…[Peace] is more than the absence of war. Peace, in fact, is not the absence of anything, but rather the ultimate affirmation of what can be.”

Rabbi Kenneth L. Cohen

Peace Quote of the Day - as salaam alaykum

“I use Salaam alaikum as a daily greeting, but it does not just mean ‘Good morning’ or ‘Good afternoon.’ It means more: ‘The peace and blessings of God be upon you.’ When I say this, I feel that you are at peace with me, and I with you. I am extending a helping hand to you. I am coming to you to give you peace. And in the meantime, until we meet again, it means that I pray to God to bless you and have mercy upon you, and to strengthen my relationship to you as a brother.”

(Muhammad Salem Agwa, NYC Imam, quoted in Johann Arnold, "Seeking Peace")

Peace Quote of the Day - force

"Force is as pitiless to the man who possesses it, or thinks he does, as it is to its victims; the second it crushes, the first it intoxicates" (Simone Weil)

And the result of the actions while under the intoxicating influence of force, to those who think they possess it / who act upon it, are brutal.

Words and thoughts that lead to peace (or not)

"...no one is born a terrorist. We are all born human beings." (Naim Ateek)

"In the eyes of the Creator there is as much difference between Jews and non-Jews as between non-Jews and animals" (the journal of the French Lubavitch, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group)

"...the most potent stimulus of aggression and violence...[is] insult and humiliation. In other words, the most effective way, and often the only way, to provoke someone to become violent is to insult him." (Herbert E. Thomas)

"In order to understand the violence around us...we must confront the pain we cause each other" (Herbert E. Thomas)


First you think of someone else (e.g., the Palestinian Arab) as less human than you are; then you treat them as less human, with daily insult and humiliation; then you reap what you have sown, finding yourself in a downward spiral of destruction.

How we view and then treat others is a key element of whether we can find peace with them.

Peace quote of the day - pick your poison (i.e., your preferred type of violence)

"All violence is wrong, and violence can never contribute to peace. Even though some glorify violence or piously disguise it, it must always be exposed and repudiated."

"It is interesting to compare modern warfare and suicide bombings. Due to sophisticated technology, war has become 'impersonal.' Bombs are fired from long distances. While reeking devastation and killing hundreds of people, distant soldiers do not see the enemy nor do they observe the wreckage. Christ Hedges has described 'the impersonal slaughter of modern industrial warfare.' Viewers do not generally see the atrocities of warfare on television, but they do see the devastation wrought by a suicide bombing. How can they condemn the latter and not the former? How can people not be repulsed by the destruction of a helicopter gunship or an F-16 fighter jet, which kill many more people than a suicide bomber ever could? Our wars have become more vicious because they have become more impersonal. Suicide bombing, on the other hand, is a very personal thing, which makes it more revolting to people. B'Tselem, an Israeli peace organization, reported that in 2006 Palestinians killed 17 Israeli civilians (including 1 minor) and 6 Israeli soldiers; in the same period, Israeli forces killed 660 Palestinians, half of whom were not taking part in hostilities, and the number included 141 minors."

(Naim Stifan Ateek, A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation)

A common view among people in the Middle East that I've talked with is that the American government is as much "terrorist" as the suicide bombers are. I know that Americans have a hard time seeing this, but people here feel that the act of shooting missiles from a distance and killing large numbers of people, including noncombatants, can be described as nothing other than "terrorism." Certainly, people on the receiving end, who did not personally start any war with America, are terrorized by the American military machine. 

I am becoming more convinced that to be for peace, we must be radically for life, and against war, against killing of any kind.

Peace Quote of the Day - seeing & doing

"Once there is seeing, there must also be doing. Otherwise, what is the use of seeing."

(Thich Nhat Hanh, quoted in Johann Christoph Arnold, Seeking Peace)

Peace Quote of the Day - conflict resolution & spiritual growth

"Conflict provides an avenue for spiritual growth. To resolve conflict, by definition we must become more engaged, not less. Just when we want to 'tell the other person off,' we are forced to be quiet and listen to their complaint. Just when we are most eager to make ourselves understood, we must strive to understand. Just when we seek to air our grievances, we must labor to comprehend another's hurt. Just when we want to point out the fallacies and abusive behavior of someone else, we must ruthlessly evaluate our own offensive attitudes and behaviors."

(Gary Thomas, in Sacred Marriage)

I think that Thomas' view of (some of) what it takes to resolve conflict in marriage (his topic), is at the heart of any peacemaking process (as making peace will always necessitate resolving conflict). And as he sees this process in marriage as an avenue for spiritual growth - which I think he would define as growth as a person of moral character (and spirituality), and in relationship with God - so I think we can also see any conflict resolution in any peacemaking situation (whether Palestinians and Israelis, Muslims and Christians, or whoever) as an avenue for spiritual growth. (Note that Thomas sees practices of listening to others, striving to understand, laboring to comprehend another's hurt, and evaluating of one's own offensive attitudes and behaviors, as practices of spirituality. Call them something else if you like, but at the very least, they entail personal transformation.)

Peace Quote of the Day - overcoming evil

"I have often thought that the most important issue of our time is not racial prejudice or color prejudice or anything else. It is this question of how we overcome evil without becoming another form of evil in the process."

(Laurens van der Post, quoted by Naim Ateek in A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation)

Peace Quote of the Day - being radically "pro life"

“We are not pro-life simply because we are warding off death. We are pro-life to the extent that we are men and women for others, all others; to the extent that no human flesh is a stranger to us; to the extent that we can touch the hand of another in love; to the extent that for us there are no ‘others.’"

 (Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel)

Peace Quote of the Day

“To establish a more fundamental intercultural understanding, the foreign partner must acquire the host culture language.  Having to express oneself in another language means learning to adopt someone else’s reference frame.  It is doubtful whether one can be bicultural without also being bilingual... Without knowing the language one will miss a lot of the subtleties of a culture and be forced to remain a relative outsider.” (Hofstede)


I posted this on my "faith and culture" blog site.  I'm posting it here in response to a comment by AmelMag, "I think this is also a peace quote, in its way. Because, without learning to adopt each other's frames of reference (and languages) how can there be peace?"

peace quote of the day [response to injustice]

"Injustice done to you is not determinate of who you are." - Philip Endean

Is this true, or wishful thinking?  And in either case, what are the implications?  Plato declared that it was better to suffer injustice than commit it, because, while one distorted your soul, the other did not.  But while I agree with that, I wonder if we should hope, to some extent, that injustice done to us does determine who we are -- in so much are we are formed into individuals, and communities, committed to fight against it in all its manifestations.

Hoping to remain unchanged in the face of suffering seems to be a docetic denial of our embodied humanity, for we are not transcendent spirits, untouched by the world around us.  But we always have choices, and, where injustice is concerned, there seem to be two distinct responses: commit oneself to protecting one's own against such suffering, at all costs, or commit oneself to finding a new way to live -- one which does not require the oppression and suppression of Otherness.

This struggle is evident within feminism, where the divide runs deep between those who desire to gain power for women within the currently existing economy of presence and lack (an "us" vs. "them" which privileges the hitherto marginalized) and those who want to overthrow the whole phallocentric economy of power altogether.

And, of course, it is evident within the Israeli response to Palestinians in the shadow of the Holocaust.

Can we choose a new way forward?

Peace Quote of the Day

"When one has smashed everything around oneself, one has also smashed oneself" (Marie d'Agoult)

Peace Quote of the Day

“Only when you have made peace within yourself will you be able to make peace in the world” (Rabbi Simcha Bunim)

Peace Quotes from Rabbi Ascherman

* "Through you all peoples on the earth shall be blessed" (God to Abraham, Genesis 12:3)

* "If what is a blessing for us is a disaster for others, that’s a problem - what is a blessing for us should be a blessing for others"

* THE STATE OF ISRAEL … will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. (Israeli Declaration of Independence)

* "In a democratic society, some are guilty, but all are responsible" (Rabbi Heschel)

* "One who saves a single life – it is as if he has saved an entire world" (Jewish saying)

* "Never write anyone off. Never discount the possibility of the truth in our hearts speaking to others."

* "If you really want to break down stereotypes, there’s nothing like getting beaten up together"

* "This work is not fun!"

Peace Quote of the Day

"We have not sufficiently plumbed the wretchedness of man in general, nor our own in particular, when we are still surprised at the weakness and corruption of man" (Blaise Pascal)

Peace Quote of the Day

"It does not help anyone [for you outsiders] to be pro Palestinian or pro Israeli. If you can’t be part of the solution, just leave us alone!" (Robi Damelin, Parents Circle)