P. A. Chacko S. J.
The world stands in need of peace and understanding. Enmities, urges for aggression and power hunger need to be dumped. Tall leaders need to stand up for righteousness. Men with ethical values should speak up and act without bias.
If nations are at war, if some do not want other people, communities, nationalities or nations to exist, if some countries want to grab and occupy other countries, peace and amity are sent to Gehennum.
We have examples of Israel wanting to occupy Palestine and wipe out the Palestinians; Russia destroying Ukraine; Hamas and such fundamentalist groups acting on their aggressive agenda.
World bodies like the UN and NATO are becoming spineless. Their resolutions and pronouncements are not at all taken seriously by warring factions.
The aggressive pronouncements of Trump, the intransigent thrust of Netanyahu, the muscle-flexing of Putin, North Korea’s nuclear threat and China’s arm-twisting tactics do not add up to world peace and international understanding. Peace does not come from the barrel of the gun.
When will sense and sensibilities prevail? Not as long as rogue nations and power-mad leaders of nations hold on to their aggressive postures. Not as long as religious fanatics create havoc. Not as long as the common people or the victims take a silent posture.
We need public opinion to rise. We need honest media to highlight events and activate serious thinking process in the general public.
We need unpolluted critical analysis of world and national events. We need honest and unbiased critique by right-thinking men and women to goad the contaminated ‘conscience’ of megalomaniacs and activate a process towards human fellowship and peaceful coexistence both in the world and within nations.
“If you want peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.”—Desmond Tutu