“Nonviolent action, the Negro saw, was the way to supplement, not replace, the progress of change. It was the way to divest himself of passivity without arraying himself in vindictive force.” –Martin Luther King, Jr., Wall Street Journal, November 13, 1962.
The Middle East continues to be a hot bed of violence and constant unrest. The big question is - not the question of political correctness, or the question of whose side are you on, or the question of where will the greatest financial as well as military support come from if you support which faction –but the real, naked truth as to why does this level of unrest continue?
It appears that war and bloodshed have been a part of man’s existence since the beginning of time. If we look back over our world paths, irrespective of the continent on which we dwell, historians would say that man has made tremendous progress from then to now. We live in an age where we no longer take weeks and months to cross the Atlantic, but in many cases only a matter of hours. We live in an age of progressive automation, a high-tech world where we can fight wars from a computer similar to popular computer games where simulated blood flows when the target is hit. We look and listen to news reports everyday about the number of deaths and the vast human and property destruction. It goes on and on and with all of the advancements that man has made, he is still too ignorant and greedy to find a permanent path to peace. It is not difficult to find at least a degree of peace that will slide the study of war to the back burner of our lives. It is not difficult to look at one’s fellow man, woman as being just as human as you are. It is not difficult to imagine that when my throat is parched from the heat that I like you thirst for water. It is not hard to visualize that when my babies cry for food and shelter that I would seek to provide those needs just as you would. It is not far reaching to assist the elderly and the poor when they weep to be cared for. Man is more primitive than dogs when it comes to taking just what they need, not too much, just enough to take care of their needs. Dogs that have been socialized will give space to one another to eat and drank from the bowl prepared by their masters. Men on the other hand will eat in privacy to prevent sharing with someone who is hungry. War is about greed. War is about coveting. War is about control. War is about hatred and dominance. War is about destruction. War is about population control. War is about the preservation of the established elite. War is about killing the children of men and women we have never heard of — the unknowns in the society, those who bravely carry patriotism in their hearts without questioning the motives of those in authority. War is about the isolation of one’s soul where the heart is commanded to act without feeling and when and if the soul returns home - it will many times return without feeling to family and most of all - self.
Vindictive force will never be the sign of peace, it will never lift up the bright flame of love, it will never cement a call to brotherhood, it will never extinguish the embers of hate.
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