War on Peace

Shopping malls, marathons, business buildings, schools. All these places, among many others, have been locations of mass chaos brought on not by nature but by human beings. Humans kill more humans than sharks do every year. Where does this cruelty come from? Aren't we all taught to be kind, to treat others how we wish to be treated? Don't we already experience enough heartache in life without wreaking havoc? It would make sense, right?

It seems that as long as mankind have been on this planet, that it is not the case. We have it recorded in The Bible that Cain killed Abel out of, what was it? Envy? Pride? That is the first recorded moment where another person killed one of their own species out of cold blood. Since then, there have been an incomprehensible amount of cruelties but not enough valid reasons to treat another being as such. We read about this in our storybooks, our scriptures, our history books. This has been our lives as we know it. Have we ever truly known a peaceful time? Has there ever been a point where we felt safe enough to raise children? 

As long as I have known it, we have been fighting The War on Terror. This is our side. We want to end the tortures and the broken hearts. It feels like we are fighting a losing battle because once we stop one attack, another begins. It feels as though the winning sight is fighting The War on Peace.

Just a day or so ago, France experienced a villainous display of terrorism across their country with suicide bombings and shootings, a myriad of destruction. War was declared to bring to pass justice. But how does that make sense? To fight disaster with more disaster. How does that bring peace? Maybe the two cancel each other out and peace is found, such was the case in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

There has to be something to stop this disaster from happening again. It isn't going to be to restrict gun control. All that would do is prevent honest citizens from protecting themselves from treacherous situations. It isn't going to be stopped by increasing security everywhere. If someone was to destroy other's lives, it will take a lot more than security guards to stop them from their end goal.

What is our solution? We can't turn away and say that it never happened. How, then, would we learn? How could anything become accomplished? If we admit that an event didn't happen, we wouldn't progress towards safety. That would be ignorance and ignorance does not accomplish anything. What are your ideas? How can we keep each other safe? How can we "end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to"?

I want to create a solution. I want to create peace. I want to do so much because the displays we have seen in the last few days have been horrifying. One individual heard a terrorist state that their desire would be to make others afraid of even going to the market. It is a War on Peace. It is a War on Security, on Safety, on Kindness, on Hope. While I do not have a solution, I can empathize with my people in France, I am reminded of a song that I know you must be feeling in your hearts:

Do you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men? It is the music of the people who will not be slaves again. When the beating of your heart echos the beating of the drums, there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes. Will you join in our Crusade? Who will be strong and stand with me, somewhere beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see? Then join in the fight that will give you the right to be free.