The beheadings of hostages over the past months, at the hands of various Iraqi insurgents, have been horrifying. But alarm must not be allowed to sway the world's resolve to find a just solution to the many problems facing that region of the world. In some quarters, people have taken the ruthless and lawless behavior of these groups as a reason for hopelessness. But a more constructive approach begins with the realization that rooting out such behavior can be part of freeing Iraqis to find their own path to stable government.

Most of us can't go to Iraq to help the process along. But there are a number of things each of us can do. To stop such barbaric acts, we need a resurgence of moral courage at every level, in every government, in every household. As Mary Baker Eddy put it in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: "Moral courage is requisite to meet the wrong and to proclaim the right. ...Reason is the most active human faculty. Let that inform the sentiments and awaken the man's dormant sense of moral obligation..." (p. 327).

We firmly believe that individual prayers, prayers affirming that reason is more powerful than blind hatred and that each one of us does have power from God to think clearly—to truly be an intelligent thinker instead of a "reactor"—can help destroy the power of terrorists anywhere in the world. Terrorists have mesmerized themselves and their followers into thinking that brutality, and even blasphemy toward their own religion, make them powerful and wise. Perpetrators intend each videotaped murder to be as effective as the stereotypical hypnotist's watch, swinging back and forth in front of its victim. But even a skilled hypnotist admittedly cannot sway the one who resists. And the individual's prayerful resistance is vital in promoting a widespread collective resistance, so that peace-loving people everywhere can unite to nullify the terrorists' destructive strategy.

Beyond prayers for the victims, further prayers for all the governments involved are needed to empower nations to take firmer stands against terrorist acts, instead of silently indulging them out of moral blindness, self-centeredness, or willfulness. Each government has good and intelligent people within it—people who can act intelligently, and who can see beyond the short term. Prayer, realizing that each son and daughter of God has from Him an inherent spiritual nature and responsiveness to Principle, can help strengthen people to act courageously on behalf of peace in the whole Mideast region, and Iraq specifically.

One excuse given for some governments' behavior is that decapitation, in some regions of the world, is a common form of execution. But this does not excuse the deliberate murder of the innocent. Some argue that the beheadings are justified because of American actions. A Reuter's report cites a Tunisian, a Yemeni, and a Jordanian political analyst who said, "A certain percentage [of Arabs]... feel vindicated because of [US] killings in Iraq." Yet terrorist acts were not cited as an exception to the Bible commandment "Thou shalt not kill" (Ex. 20:13). And this commandment is one of the ten given by the one God who unites Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

Each reader of this magazine can pray daily for that divinely inspired moral courage "to meet the wrong and to proclaim the right"—not just in daily life and in one's own community but also in promoting peace in the world. This specific prayer must help overturn the unjust conditions that inflame terrorist tribes, must strengthen the forces of good, must increasingly bring evil actions to naught.

Staying the course spiritually in this way does require the resolve to reject terrorism, through faith in the power of good over evil. This may be difficult, particularly for those who have loved ones in danger zones. But it is the best path to a long-term solution and lasting peace.