What is Peace?

Sunday’s readings include several references to storms, wind, and even earthquakes.  Elijah was seeking the voice of God in the tumultuous wind, quakes and fire, but did not find Him until he heard a small, peaceful whisper.  Jesus walked across the roiling sea and commanded the sea to become calm and peaceful.  His authority was so great, He was able to calm the seas and He did it with a few simple words, not a show of power.   Jesus brought peace to the seas because He is the Son of God who reconciles heaven and earth.  The peace of Christ is received not through power and might, but by acceptance of the Word of God which is just and merciful.

Now, more than ever, our world needs to find a way to achieve peace.  Amidst the bluster of international politics that carries on with attempts to assuage the anger of Islamic aggressors, no one seems to understand the most basic elements that are necessary if there is ever to be peaceful coexistence among nations, and within sovereign countries.

Here’s how the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines peace:

“Peace is the consequence of justice and the sign of love put into action. Where there is peace, "every creature can come to rest in good order" (Thomas Aquinas). Earthly peace is the image of the peace of Christ, who reconciled heaven and earth. Peace is more than the absence of war, more than a carefully maintained balance of powers ("balance of terror"). In a state of peace, people can live securely with their legitimately earned property and freely exchange goods with one another. In peace the dignity and the right of self-determination of individuals and of peoples are respected. In peace human coexistence is characterized by brotherly solidarity.”  (CCC: 2302-2305)

“Peace is the consequence of justice.”  Clearly, radical Islamists fail to comprehend this, as they attempt to force people to adopt their religion or face death.  They will even kill other Muslims if they disagree with their radical ideology.  How does one reason with such injustice?  The current efforts of ISIS are a throwback to the 7^th century when Mohammed himself went from town to town killing or enslaving anyone who refused to accept his brand of religious belief.  This is how the Crusades began, as an effort to defend against radical Islam and to reclaim what had been lost.  Mohammed and his successors took possession of the cradle of Christianity, modern day Turkey, Syria, and Jerusalem, then moved west to take nearly all of North Africa and Spain.  They were on the verge of conquering Italy when a freak storm destroyed their fleet, and before they could rebuild, the Renaissance took place, giving Central Europe the economic power to successfully defend themselves, and defeat the Moslems in Spain.

Jimmy Carter advocated peace as a one term president who believed that Communism was here to stay and he advocated that we just had to accept it and move on.  Thank God, Ronald Reagan did not agree, and called out Russia for the evil empire that it was (is?).  Because of Ronald Reagan, tens of millions of people were released from the “Iron Curtain,” and the Communist empire was shattered.  Under our current president, tens of millions of people are coming under the control of another new evil empire.  If ISIS succeeds, they will establish a worldwide caliphate, hell-bent on obliterating Israel than setting their sights in the Western Europe and the Americas.  At the same time, Russia is on the move, expanding its territory in direct violation of the 1994 treaty it signed to honor the sovereignty of its neighboring countries.   Despite our agreement in that same treaty, to defend against such aggression, we stand idly by as Crimea is being taken by force.

Part of the above definition of peace includes “the freedom to live securely with legitimately earned property.”  ISIS has evicted more than a half million Christians from Iraq in just the past 2 months, taking away their homes and valuables in the process.  The Muslim Brotherhood had burned dozens of Churches and more than a million Christians have fled Egypt, Syria, and a host of small mid-eastern countries where the terrorism of radical Islam is advancing.  In the meanwhile, the focus of the press and our president has been on the Israeli war with Hamas.  He seems to be more concerned with preventing Israel from winning the war against the Hamas aggressors, than with the larger issue of the rapid spread of terrorism.  By abandoning Iraq, our president created the vacuum in which ISIS has taken control, using US military equipment we gave them in Syria and which they have appropriated in their recent Iraqi conquests.  All the while, our president has been insisting that it was up to the Iraqi to work out their differences among themselves.  He made no mention of his persistent denial of help to the Kurds who have been our allies for over a decade, as they face the growing threat from ISIS.   Only after being pressured by his own party to address the genocide in Iraq did our president finally agree to airstrikes.

Although I do not know the statistics, I am hopeful that there are many more peace-abiding Moslems who acknowledge the right to freedom of religion and decry the radical Islamists and their brutish tactics.  It is time for them and the rest of the world to call out injustice and defend freedom by whatever means is necessary.  As Pope Benedict XVI said in his Regensburg address 5 years ago, until all Moslems acknowledge the right to freedom of religion, there can never be peace in the world.

The third part of the definition of peace has to do with allowing people to “live with dignity and the right of self-determination.”  The greatest of these rights is the very right to life and the freedom to practice religion, both of which our president has repeatedly ignored and violated by spending federal funds on abortion and mandating that employers pay for contraception services, including abortion-inducing drugs and sterilization.  This injustice and violation of religious freedom has exacerbated the polarization of political parties.  For all the bluster and angst created by these injustices on both sides of the debate, no one seems to have an understanding that we can never be at peace unless we respect and acknowledge that small, still voice of God that whispers the truth of Natural Law to us in our quiet moments, if only we will silence ourselves and listen.  George Washington referred to it as “the Divine spark of Providence,” and we call it our conscience. 

It’s time to step back from all the rhetoric and finger-jabbing debate and listen carefully to what God defines as justice.  Justice demands that we stand up for freedom and defend it.  Edmond Burke famously said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing.” Unless we speak out and act decisively to defend freedom, there can never be peace in the world, or in our country.