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Showing posts from December, 2009

Opposing War is not the same as Making Peace

Reflections on President Obama's Speech on the Afghan War Soon after listening to the President's speech, and even before, I found messages in my email from organizations objecting to his decision to send more troops into Afghanistan. I, too, am deeply saddened by this turn of events. I, too, had hoped that somehow our new President would find a way out of the fighting and bring our troops home from both Iraq and Afghanistan. However, I have come to the conclusion that objecting to war is not the same thing as building for peace. I consider myself a pacifist, but I do not feel called to object to the war or even to the increased deployment of troops. I have a vision of a more nuanced and perhaps more difficult approach. I am still opposed to war, and I am deeply grieved for those who will go or return to the arena of war. With all that in mind, I have come to the belief that as a pacifist, my job is to build for peace, to consistently prepare in a steady and methodical way for