peace and justice

Most people are of the assumption that peace and justice go hand in hand. It would almost seem as if they have to but I want you consider the quote I found on the internet today. I am not sure who said/wrote it, so if any one knows, please tell me so I can properly quote them..

“If one believes that the only way to prevent injustice and create justice is by force, then one believes that justice requires hostilities, which precludes peace”

It’s an amazing thought really. Think about all that we do in the name of justice:

The death penalty
War
Torture
Riots

The actions, as the quote says, “preclude peace.” How can we truly be a peaceful nation if we are using violence as means of justice?

The plain answer is, we cannot.

We cannot, as I have said before, continue to go through the same motions, in every situation; reacting the same way to everything; and expect a different result.

This goes back to my fundamental point of a mental shift, and the extreme need for it.

If every time a foreign government does something we do not agree with, we, in the name of justice, send troops and missiles to handle the situation, can there ever be peace?

We have to find a way to bring about justice without imposing brute force. The fact that this can be done is evident when one looks at Gandhi’s struggle to free India, and more recently with the disarmament of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions through diplomacy.

The same can be said for all aforementioned ideas.

When I talk about rioting and protesting I do not mean that we as a people should simply keep our mouths shut and let the politicians do as they please. You will NEVER hear me say that. But it can be done in a manner which does not bring about violence.

Pelting rocks at police offers, screaming, and calling names is counterproductive to the goal of the protestors, and more often than not just makes them look silly.

Compare the actions of Dr. Martin Luther King during the 60’s when he fought so peacefully for equal rights for blacks, and the actions of those who participated in the Los Angeles riots. Who accomplished more?

Clearly, when it comes to the idea of torture, there are few who will defend it as an effective means of intelligence gathering. Proof of this can be found by talking to Army Col. Stuart Herrington, a military intelligence specialist who conducted interrogations in Vietnam, Panama and Iraq during Desert Storm, and who was sent by the Pentagon in 2003 to assess interrogations in Iraq.

Herrington says, torture is "not a good way to get information." In his experience, nine out of 10 people can be persuaded to talk with no "stress methods" at all. Asked whether that would be true of religiously motivated fanatics, he says that the "batting average" might be lower: "perhaps six out of ten." But what of the remaining four? Herrington says, “They'll just tell you anything to get you to stop."

The death penalty is a much more complicated subject; to complicated to dive into today; but which will perhaps be my next blog. I can say this though; I do not see it, nor is there any evidence, that it is an effective deterrent to violent crime.

Justice in America seems to be equated with revenge. In my opinion, this is just flat out wrong.

Locking Osama Bin Laden in prison for planning the attacks of 9/11/2001 would be justice. Killing him would be revenge and not even a little peaceful.

I hope someday our society may learn the difference and began to make a change, but clearly that change cannot come over night. It comes from people speaking out against the causes of violence and not allowing their actions to undermine peace in the name of justice.