Blessed are the Peacemakers

I wrote this letter to President Obama in 2013. I found it today when skimming through to clean up files.

Dear President Obama,
You asked in your speech what the world will think of us if we don’t respond to the gassing of 100s of children in Syria. I say the world would feel the same thing when we didn’t react to the raping and killing 10s of 1000s of women and children (and men) in Darfur. I think the world would feel the same thing if we didn’t intercede in a meaningful way to the knowledge and execution of planned genocides in Rwanda. What about when Iraq gassed Iran? I won’t go on. I think I made the point.

I’d guess that they won’t even notice — if we are not there. My question to you and Congress is, why now? Why didn’t we respond the first time Syria started openly waging war on its civilians, women, children, and infirm? Our job should be “to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.” We should not stomp around in other countries where we have a financial interest and beat our puffed-up chests. Our motives would not be pure if we went into Syria, which disturbs me the most of all of this.

Somebody pointed to an article that discusses our reasons for bombing Syria for the chemical warfare transgressions. It pointed out the Geneva Conventions and how they had developed to keep us from committing heinous acts of inhumanity against our brothers and sisters on earth. Yes, punishment is effective at times when dealing with reasonable offenders. How about when we used Agent Orange and napalm in Vietnam? Shouldn’t we also be punished if we use that argument?

We must stop sacrificing our sisters and brothers in the United States of America and other countries in the name of _______. Fill in the blank (War, punishment, financial interests, gas pipelines, religious views…)

I am a follower of Fareed Zakaria, and in my inflated opinion, he should be running the US or, better yet, the world…(but I’m sure the power would corrupt him like it does everyone else.) He suggests that there’s not much anyone can do to end the killing because, in Zakaria’s view, this is a painful but unstoppable process of re-balancing power the “sectarian re-balancing,” and it also means that the Assad regime is not sustainable and is desperately using chemicals on its way down. We are powerless to do anything meaningful about it — so let it go and accept that.

As someone who is often accused of being too wordy — I’ll stop here and say one last thing:

We should be concentrating on stopping abuse of our children (molesting and physical). (I wanted to point this one out separately from the consistently horrible and inequitable treatment of “classes and culture” within our own country.)

We should concentrate on cleaning out our government (BOTH PARTIES) of big business and corrupt officials.

We should be concentrating on and eliminating the systematic dumbing down of our people to build a powerful empire; too bad our country can’t be powerful without all the resources (read = sheeple). The dumbing down is one topic I could go on and on about, and it is why we do what we do.

Sincerely,
Your citizen who always claims to have given up on the US but still rears her ugly head when deeply challenged about humanity.

It should come as no surprise I received no response.

I have reposted it here in response to the Israel/Hamas centuries-old insane war. I see so many in the news and online — defending or attacking the purpose and actions of both sides. It’s a holy war, and each side’s religious beliefs give bias to supporters. I get it. It’s not just a religious issue but a humanity issue. Humans climbed to the top of the predator pyramid not because we are stronger, faster, or have sharper teeth but because we tribe and use our brains. In short, we survive because we learned the fittest way is together, not alone. And so the timeless quest for belonging — motivates our very core — survival. It’s a very strong attribute in many humans. Look at bigotry and racism — these continue because instinct causes us to reject those who are not the “same.”

With that said, the one thing I’ve learned since my return to belief in God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost is that humans have been consistent, if nothing else, throughout history. And we rarely learn from history (does that sound familiar?)

Jesus, while preaching on “the mount,” gave a stirring list of “Beatitudes.” In it, he carefully listed those who followed in his footsteps — the people who walk Christlike. The specific blessing I want to cover is in the verse: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5:9, NIV). I’m using the Bible as a reference. However, I feel confident all religions and non-religions follow this advice. The advice is to “always choose peace” over the warring sides. That means, in the simplest terms, we should not support either side. Rather, offer help to assist those who are helpless and condemn those who continue this futile exercise of “tribalism.”

As a well-trained veteran, I always give a solution when pointing out a problem. I have done so here, but many will say I have not. We cannot change other people. We can only change our reactions to them. Anyone who has been in therapy or is a Christian has learned this lesson.

It begins with me. I cannot change others, only me. Once we “collectively” understand this — we can live with the choice to do nothing in a war that has proven to serve no purpose other than to separate and kill each other.