War and Peace 1 - Introduction ...

Monday, Mar 22, 2010. War is a very modern topic. European states and the USA have been in several wars recently, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Serbia. There are various civil wars in Africa today. And there are states which suppress some part of their population and exercise some kind of cold war within their own country. The history of our countries is quite different, the attitudes towards war are different in the UK, in Germany, in the US or France. The experiences of the second world war still strongly influence the local politics. But we need to talk about war and need to find joint directions to act as an international community!

War is terrible

War is always terrible. What ever we think about the necessity of a particular war - it is and remains a dramatic and devastating event. There is no clean human war. When ever some people try to impose their will and direction onto others by force, in particular when they use military force, there are people hurt, people loose their life and die. War destroys.

War is terrible on many levels. Some people die - and death is the ultimate fate for everyone of us. But even for those who survive, war usually leaves traumatic experiences. Some come back badly hurt, loosing limbs or loosing abilities. They will never be what they have been before. Even worse are the traumatic wounds, which leave our life empty and without purpose. Who can heal those who have been a part of a war? Who is taking care of soldiers? Who is helping the traumatized children? Who could heal the experiences of destruction and absurdity of war? If we truely open our eyes to our reality, we are left speechless facing the full range of experiences which war brings … even today, in the middle of the modern Europe or America.

How to deal with war?

How should we deal with war? What would Jesus do? What can be our attitude today? What actions should we start? What are our precautionary measures to avoid or prevent war? How can we find peace? We need to touch the whole range of levels, from international politics, national politics, balance of power, parliaments, justice, globalization, to philosophy of life, religion, freedom of choice to live in a society and the chances which individuals have to live their life, to develop and prosper. War is something which develops in a complex environment. War has many causes.

We will go deeper into the topic of war and peace. But we will not leave it on the level of politics alone. It is not only a question of politics. The key question is how we can find peace personally - how everyone will find peace. And then the question is how to deal with those who do not want to find peace or who are not able to - for whatever reason. How do we guarantee freedom and peace at the same time. How do we allow people to live their way of life? How do we reach some joint understanding of the need of general rules and the need of individual freedom on many levels of life? Faith will play a central role in all of this, our understanding of how humans are and what they need. And we need to touch many hot topics of modern society …! ... more texts