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What About the Peacemakers?
person
Don't believe everything you thinkThe liminal space Veteran
"Support our troops." "We live in a free country because of the sacrifice of all those willing to take up arms and fight for America." "What would the USA be without the wars we fought to maintain our freedom?"
Not asked so often is what would the USA be without the peacemakers fighting for women's sufferage, fighting for race equality, fighting for the homeless person or the down and out addict, fighting simply for the goodness in people's hearts.
Its not just the soldiers who make this country and any country in the world great, its the peacemakers that make the country worth protecting and fighting for.
Support our peacemakers.
Not asked so often is what would the USA be without the peacemakers fighting for women's sufferage, fighting for race equality, fighting for the homeless person or the down and out addict, fighting simply for the goodness in people's hearts.
Its not just the soldiers who make this country and any country in the world great, its the peacemakers that make the country worth protecting and fighting for.
Support our peacemakers.
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Comments
The soldier, sailor, airman, and marine's job surpasses those of the peacemaker's because it inherently carries with it the very real possibility of violent death at the hands of merciless bad men.
Some would argue, as I would that the soldier is indeed the greatest of peacemakers because his very presence has prevented annihilation of whole countries in places like South Korea, where 50 million people do not live in slavery because of the sacrifice of men 60 years ago.
if you don't understand by now that 'warmongering' on a Buddhist forum is going to have its fair share of dissenters, then that's why i cant be arsed to respond.....
And you are incorrect that it is "warmongering" to believe that the peaceful presence of troops in Korea actually prevents war.
ergo, your post should really be considered off-topic....
So I packed him and his brother into the car, drove 20 miles and visited the Springfield Armory Museum. They had guns up the chute ... muskets, rifles, machine guns, pistols ... it went on and on down through the ages. And there were swords too. While the boys ambled from case to case, I chatted idly with the park service officer who was in charge of the place. And at one point, he said something that stuck with me: "This place," he said without any special inflection or ax to grind, "represents a history of diplomacy."
At first, it struck me as an odd thing to say: Diplomacy was about discussing disagreements; weapons were a way of saying that diplomacy had failed. And then it occurred to me that that was exactly what he was saying and that the best anyone might hope is that those in a position to exercise diplomacy would do so with honesty and persistence ... because the alternative, as anyone who has been there will tell you, is both obscene and insane and has little or nothing to do with things called honor or freedom or democracy or justice.
I would give an equally honorable salute to the pure hearted soldiers out there protecting our country, and the civilians that fight from within to make it worth protecting.
What would there be worth protecting if it wasn't for these everyday people. I am however very disappointed at the citizens that will not do their part at the moment to fix what is broken inside our country. In the past decade I have become ashamed of our Government and the general laziness of it's civilian population, but I still will not abandon her in her time of greatest need.
Being in & around the military, the soldiers families, and all for 23+ years (still nearly all my family & friends are in someway military connected), I can with experience tell you everyone I know wants peace. They do their job with pure hearts (the soldiers, not the higher ups giving the orders) though it might be misguided, so that we the civilian citizens have the freedom to fight our fights.
Peacekeepers,peacemakers, whatever, but I am thankful for them.
Each country has its own national warpfield. No country in the world says "we're # 2...!" I remember going through the Canadian /American border once during Canadian thanksgiving (which is in October). The American border guard said it was a busy day of crossings.. then said "you must all be coming here to give thanks for your freedom". He may have, officially, been the biggest asshole I have ever encountered.
Peace keeping of the UN variety was the brainchild of Lester Pearson a Canadian Prime Minister.. and Canadians like to fancy themselves The Peacekeepers. ..but the reality is different and has been that way for a while. We had the good sense to keep out of the Iraqi adventure, but the trade-off with the Bush administration was combat deployment in Afghanistan.. which has been costly in Canadian blood.... . We didn't want to be "with the terrorists" by default. ... sorry ..off topic.
The Occupy movement seemed to fizzle ,and for good reasons probably, but awareness of economic and social injustice, and the urge toward popular movement and change represents IMO the best of the U.S.
I following them (and participate on some level) and cold weather has dropped down the physical presences for some parts of the country. Where I am they plan things every bit as much as when they started back in Sept., but we here never went for the constant presence here like they did @ Wall Street.
Also have you missed the organizations that have formed, such as the 99% declaration, there are others but that's the one I participate with? In case you don't know of it, the best way to describe it is a possible alternate to our current government, that could potentially replace it. They will be election 878 delegates in June, They are working on a draft of grievances to take to our current government (to be ratified the week of 4th of July in Philadelphia).
If it weren't for these group and organizations trying to do something I would be extremely depressed about our current state of affairs, but these things give me hope.
It is easier to find the warmongers.
The state of mind that accompanies war is about division - not unity. Claiming to "win peace" - "liberate the oppressed" - "bring democracy" are code words in a collective madness but what they ultimately mean is "creating more enemies". As Ekhart Tolle has said (in paraphrase) "the war against anything is destined to fail". The message is that the toll of war has never been worth the gain.
http://www.taphilo.com/history/war-deaths.shtml
There is no honor in the "wars" George Bush gave the world in Iraq and Afghanistan. There can be no victory either. Just the perpetuation of an ageless desire for revenge and retaliation. Along the way we insure that petroleum supplies are guaranteed in the Persian Gulf and discover massive unmined deposits of gold, copper and other minerals in the mountains of Afghanistan. If "freedom" equals "resources" than the brave soldiers that think they are fighting for freedom have something to believe in and can discard that they have been hoodwinked.
"Collateral damage", "atrocities", inexcusable deaths by "friendly fire", and the highest rate of military suicide in history due to depression and PTSD related grief, shame and guilt are tolerated as "the eggs needed to be broken to make an omelette".
http://news.yahoo.com/soldier-detained-afghanistan-over-civilian-casualties-060915360.html
Which is about those People that are "fighting" not in the sense of killing other, or physical confrontation, but trying to make the world a more peaceful place, tolerant, life equality, protecting the environment.... They are out there trying to do these thing with non-violent means so they aren't celebrated as being as important as those physically fighting, when they are every bit as important.