possible peace?

a week ago now, president obama gave his acceptance speech for the nobel peace prize. (i'd suggest reading it - the link is above). i do appreciate having a president who is eloquent and who has clearly been wrestling with the irony of receiving a prize for peace while being the president of a country in the midst of two wars, one of which he's just escalated.

some of obama's speech was beautiful - "only a just peace based on the inherent rights and dignity of every individual can be truly lasting." word, obama, word. i like that he includes the need for economic justice and human rights in the pursuit of peace. and he speaks of needing diplomacy so that repressive regimes can move down a new path with "the choice of an open door." the opportunity for redemption, not just condemnation - this is true and humbly acknowledges that america alone cannot solve the problems of the world. towards the end of speech, he states "we do not have to think the human nature is perfect for us to still believe that the human condition can be perfected. we do not have to live in an ideal world to still reach for those ideals that will make it a better place." this, to me, relates to living into the kingdom of God as we wait for it to come in all its fullness. this is why i'm doing what i'm doing what i'm doing - today as i walked through my field placement, one of the large homeless shelters in the city for men, i had this sick-to-my-stomach feeling that this should not be, that this is not right, that men and women should not be homeless, crammed into a shelter. this is why i'm doing social work, this is why i desire to pursue social justice - because i believe that God calls us to be a part of bringing the kingdom in more and more fullness. i love this quote from dr. king that obama uses: "i refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. i refuse to accept the idea that the 'isness' of man's present condition makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal 'oughtness' that forever confronts him." he neglects, however, dr. king's frequent admonition that our means and our ends must be consistent - that the only way to true peace is through non-violence.

several times in his speech obama acknowledged dr. king and gandhi's lives and non-violent action, and he acknowledged that there is nothing "weak, passive, naiive" about their lives - and then comes the big word... "BUT..."

BUT, he says, he cannot follow this path. he is a world leader that must look at what is "practical," what is "possible," and this means the domination system, the idea that there is such a thing as redemptive violence, and that the violence of war is necessary to create peace.

i voted proudly for obama and have been excited about the energy and possibility that has surrounded his presidency in the past year, especially being here in d.c. this speech reminded me, however, that obama himself is still stuck in the midst of a system that buys into the myth of redemptive violence, that his position as president is tangled in a web of power that says that domination, power over the other, is the only way to be safe, that security means military strength. when looked at it this way, i suppose, can i really blame the president for his attempt to justify war in promoting peace?

is this what Jesus taught us, though? did he, with his life, death, and resurrection, confront power with violence, or with love, creative resistance, non-violence, peace?

we, as the church, do not need to be held back by the powers of domination. we have the freedom to stand up, to speak truth to those powers, to say, "we believe in a God who came to this earth and showed us that actually, violence cannot achieve ultimate victory. it is only when we face violence with justice, love, and non-violence that we can overcome it. this is the message of the cross and even more so of the resurrection - love is most powerful. non-violence is the way to life. and even if we have to absorb the violence into ourselves to expose its power as false, like Jesus did, we will. just like dr. ing, like gandhi, like others who have risked their lives to stand against violence and oppression with non-violence and love, we will follow the way of Jesus." and thanks be to God for advent, for the hope that Christ has come and is coming in fullness, that the way of Jesus will prevail.

give us the strength to trust in that Hope.