Christian Peacemakers and the Failure of the Left

Awesome piece here. While upset that politicians throw others into the front lines of death for a cause instead of themselves, few anti-war people have gone to seek solidarity with the Iraqis. Being against war can't just be about protecting ourselves, our reputation, nor even the lives of our soldiers (though we are all precious). One must be FOR people, and in this case IRAQI people, before one is against war in principle. If our soldiers are really willing to die for Iraqis, and we want them to come home, perhaps it is time we took over the job of the soldiers, by bringing our bodies without weapons to stand in between occupied and occupier, between Sunni and Shia, between insurgent and soldier, between Iraqis and Coalition Forces.

Jesus said: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
Matthew 5: 44 (NIV)

CP asks the bold question: "What would happen if Christians devoted the same discipline and self-sacrifice to nonviolent peacemaking that armies devote to war?"

The simple answer is persecution, suffering, and following of Christ, while sitting at the right hand of the Father in Him who is our Savior. How hard it is to put oneself in the line of fire, yet how hard it is not to.

I found this quote very moving: "It's hard to count how many times I've seen CPT members get in between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians--often too young, old or infirm to protect themselves--and stop an act of violence that would have scarred both perpetrator and victim for the rest of their lives. Indeed, it is precisely because CPT acts on the recognition of and desire to preserve the humanity of both the occupier and occupied, that it has been able to work small miracles in the Occupied Territories, and why it has made many friends in Iraq despite its small presence."

http://electroniciraq.net/news/2221.shtml

We are led into violence as a last resort, because we often wait for the last resort to happen. In these moments, sometimes violence is our own suffering, and in this way I'm a just-war theorist. But as a pacifist, I believe that only by actively seeking peace can we avert the situations that lead us into "the last resort." It is by waiting for the last resort, by earnestly waiting for it because it offers such a simple answer, that we render it the "only resort."

God bless them and their work. I'm only sad I didn't come across it sooner. I pray that we consider what this means for our own lives, and how we can be a light to the world in this way. Again, as Aaron said, one always loves another at the cost of one's self.