Our World

When I was in high school my US history teacher had a small sign in her room that read “What a great day it will be when the Education system has a billion dollar a year budget and the military has to have a bake sale to build a new tank.” I would often stare at that sign and wonder what that type of world would look like.

The reality is that I have no idea what that type of world would look like. I live in a land surrounded by guns. Every soldier, policeman, check point, and security guard is holding a gun in their hands. Rebel soldiers pile into stolen NGO trucks with rocket launchers hanging over review mirrors, hand grenades strapped to their belts, and AK-47 slung onto their soldiers. Military gun-ships patrol overhead while troop carriers rush down the street. This is land captivated and conquered by its own self destruction. And while some would be quick to point the finger at the Sudanese, Somali’s, or Afghanis, the fact is that we all live in the same prison.

I hate guns. I cannot emphasis this point strongly enough. You see a machine gun in the hands of a child more then once and you cannot think of these inventions as anything but evil. I have heard the arguments for guns all my life. “Our right, defense, sport, etc…” I no longer care. I give up my right, I will give up all sports, I will not defend myself…but the thing that grieves me most, the thing that is most troubling to me, is the fact that I can still not be a pacifist. I am too much of a realist. I know that guns have become an intricate part of humanity and the reality is they will not disappear. I know that in a world of guns evil people can only be stopped with more guns. I myself have argued that UN forces with a stronger more forceful mandate are needed here in Darfur. I advocate for the very thing I loath. And I am certain now that these words will be the saddest words I have ever written. What type Pandora’s Box have we opened that allows us to create something that’s sole purpose is our own destruction…

My mother is a grade school art teacher whose student won first prize in the area wide Peace Poster Contest. Many other art teachers don’t take the extra time required to promote a Peace Poster to their students…I suppose they have other things to do. The day the student was honored with the award happen to coincide with Veteran’s Day. During the ceremony a local veteran spoke on the courage and sacrifice of serving in the military…and a small child was given an award for celebrating peace. Peace at the point of a gun is not peace, it is prison no matter which way the guns are pointing. And my heart breaks for those who must hold the guns.

Why is it that we as humanity are so willing to dismiss peace as a wishful dream and leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King as once in a life time individuals never to be seen again. We glorify war in movies, TV, and toys…dress our children in military fatigues for Halloween…and play video games where the goal is to shoot every thing in sight. We live in a world that must set aside a special day once a year to get children to draw pictures of peace because they would never to it otherwise. I am ashamed of the world I live in…