Saturday, March 10, 2007

Waging Peace

{ image credit }
Social Networks are all the rage.

MySpace, FaceBook, Orkut, Gather, etc. Spaces where people of "like-mind" can meet and share.

So...

Up steps Ning, a site that lets you create your own Social Network.

So...

I created one: Waging Peace !

In the blog on that site, I posed an issue and got a surprising and slightly mind-blowing response:

Where Is Everyone?

Started by Alexander M Zoltai on Mar 9, 2007, 7:12am –


Peace is a good thing...
So, why do you think more people aren't supporting it?

Posted by
Dar Mar 10, 2007, 8:26am –


That is a very good question but the answer is as complex as people themselves. History is rife with war, many seemingly justifiable. Who among us would stand by, in the name of peace, and watch our livlihoods stripped from us, our homes taken from us and our families murdered? Who among us didn't feel we were watching honor and courage incarnate when we watched Mel Gibson in "The Patriot" or "The Lord of the Rings"? While the line between good and evil may seem black and white to some of us, that is only because we are comfortable and not living in war. Innumerable smaller situations innundate every day in chaos, making that line between black and white blur to gray. This is what has happened to so many of our soldiers in Iraq.It is the nature of all beings to survive. Humans have an extra piece to that; they want to survive and conquer- greed is inherent in human nature. If a war for greed can be disguised as a war for honor or homeland, more is the support for it. Attaching people's emotions to a cause is vital. It has always been those very qualities that we admired in William Wallace and Aragorn that, when combined with any number of personal belief systems can wreak havoc on the world. Some of the most heinous mass murderers in history went to their graves feeling much as William Wallace did-like they died fighting for a cause they knew to be true. The suffering and the glory are but 2 sides of the same coin. People are expert at rationalizing their beliefs--to the greater good or the greater peril--of us all. SO why don't people support peace? That is a question that will garner a billion individual answers.

Posted by
Alexander M Zoltai Mar 10, 2007, 8:37am –


Dar!!!!
Extremely insightful and poignant analysis!
Nearly poetic in its power!!
Worthy of prominent display!!!
~ Alex
P.S. Can I put it in my blog?

Reply by
Dar Mar 10, 2007, 8:58am –


Alex! You are so very kind! Of course--feel free to put it in your blog--I would be honored!!


A Gathering of Eagles

I've tried to be "global" in my approach to posts in this blog. Yet, I did define the theme as Spiritual Commentary on Current Events - from the Personal to the Global. This post is quite personal.

I'm a Veteran of the U.S. Navy.

I don't like the current war the U.S. is engaged in...

I respect the men and women who are "doing their duty", many of whom do it under duress, since to not do their "duty" would mean being locked up and the key getting misplaced...

If you look down two posts ago, you'll also see that I'm getting quite involved in non-violent solutions to world problems.

So...

I'm posting information from the Gathering of Eagles site. I don't agree with #9 in their mission statement but I really like the event they're currently promoting:

What: Gathering of Eagles

When: March 17th, 2007
0700-1600 (7 AM to 4 PM)

Where: The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall, Washington D.C.

Why: To stand silent guard over our nation's memorials, in honor of our fallen, and in solidarity with our armed forces in harm's way today. Read our mission statement.

Head Count:

Petition 1: Sign if you are attending on March 17th

Petition 2: Sign if you cannot attend but will be with us in spirit.