Editorial April 29, 1991 Issue

Issues of peace and war

Michael D. Rissler

While it's not possible to know how everyone may feel about any particular issue, it seems safe to say that everyone must be deeply grateful to see the cessation of open warfare in the Persian Gulf area. The outpouring of prayer that we've all read about in this magazine, and in every major news organ in this country, has been extraordinary and a sign of the deep spiritual roots of people's lives. While it may appear that we live in an age of almost total materialism, people feel—even if they can't always explain what it is and why they have such feeling—that there is a benevolent divine power that ultimately governs the destiny of mankind.

War tragically imposes itself on humanity as the only possible solution under certain conditions. But when war begins, the cost in people's lives makes clear that war cannot be a glorious or good thing. We come to the realization that war is a terrible detour on the road to peace and reconciliation.

Before this recent tragedy is distanced from our memories and from daily news reports, we all need to consider the extent to which our continuing prayers can forward us in the aftermath of conflict. Racial, religious, political, economic, and historical reasons can be cited for all wars. But the multiplicity of explanations that is needed to understand the complex issues of human life can't be allowed to obscure what is within reach of us all. And that is the spiritual capacity to love, to desire justice for others as much as we cherish it for ourselves, and in the final analysis to be as earnest and persistent in peace as we are in defense.

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