Active Peace

"Unwise wars and unenlightened political decisions can weigh heavily on society. It has to own up to its neglect and its atrocity, while at the same time proclaiming its highest values. A society is like an individual. In the face of a dark night it can either become defensive and avoid the challenge of new life, or it can reform itself and discover in the darkness where it has gone wrong."
-- Thomas Moore, Dark Nights of the Soul

Since this week is the second anniversary of U.S. command in Baghdad, it’s timely to consider Thomas Moore’s focus on peace. Last year Moore supported Dennis Kucinich because he was the only person Moore saw speaking directly for peace. Moore
said,"It just seems to me that the only way to follow the Gospel of Jesus is to clearly and unflinchingly work for peace. I don't accept the idea that you make peace by going to war." Last July, when Moore spoke at a political event in Cambridge MA, Rick Heller reported, "I was very impressed by Thomas Moore, a former Catholic monk and author of Care of the Soul. While [what] he shares is very much on the left politically, he spoke about overcoming polarization, and engaging in dialogue with people on the right of the political spectrum. He was touching on ... the way to get beyond angry political debate and bring people together to solve problems."
Moore has shared his views about nonviolence as the weapon of the brave. After 9/11 he wrote, "Peace is not the absence of violence. It is the positive condition in which we appreciate each other's ways sufficiently to need the other and wish for the other's prosperity." A thought for internal division and international conflict.