Peace and Love

 

" No sane individual wants war. But there is no peace. There will never be peace in the struggle between good and evil. That there is a peace to maintain is a complete illusion. When we focus on this as an issue, we have the illusion that we have a choice, and we seek to understand the alternatives. But the choice is an illusion, too. And the discussions about these "choices" are meaningless words. And all the alternatives we conceive of (in this frame of mind) are wrong.

Evil has its forceful methods. Good counters in a form of love that draws a line which it will not allow to be crossed. It is not good for anybody for it to be crossed. Firm resolve (with the underpinning of this special form of love) is the only thing that has ever restrained bullies. All other methods lead to either more bullying from the same bully or to the establishment of a bigger bully that overcomes the original bully.

The "peace movement" is more sympathetic, generally—there may be exceptions—with the methods of the bully. It is not love drawing a firm line not to be crossed. It cajoles. It works guilefully. In its arrogance, it thinks that ends justify these means. It has no faith in God. In what does it have faith? And what does this faith represent! It is not a pretty picture. [...]

In the divine order of things, weakness draws to itself the circumstances needed for growth to overcome weakness. Through this "good stress" we grow."

[C.J. Nichols, 2003-02-02]