Gandhi, Deepak Chopra, the Dalai Lama, John Lennon: just a few of the prominent personalities that come to mind when dealing with the promotion of peace.
But anyone can be a peacewarrior, even you! Within every single one of us resides the power to change the world. It is just a matter of choosing to take action, getting involved, and adding your voice to the movement.
Peacewarriors are regular people who believe that staying silent in the face of injustice is a form of consent. This is why they actively struggle against oppression, using whatever non-violent means available to help create a more just society.
Building peace can be hard sometimes because it often means going against the grain. For too long we’ve had institutionalized violence in our world, and far too many minds have been indoctrinated with the false belief that war is inevitable.
This is where the ‘warrior’ aspect of building peace comes in: standing strong against the fears and hatred and ideologies which are preventing us from moving forward into a better world.
Most people want a world with more peace and love, but they fear being persecuted or ridiculed for saying so. They say a single boo will drown out a dozen cheers, and the same holds true when building peace. Too often the optimistic dreams of many can be deflated by a single pessimist spewing negative nonsense.
It is up to the brave Peacewarriors to take the lead and pave the path to peace. Courage is contagious, and so too is hope.
Inspiring in others a belief in the possibility of peace is perhaps the greatest contribution any of us can make to the peace movement. When enough people on earth recognize the real potentials for peace, we will be in a position to actually make it happen.
Fortunately, today’s peacebuilders have an unprecedented arsenal at their disposal. For one, the Internet, with its instant messaging and social networking, gives us great powers to coordinate and mobilize efforts from around the world. Peacewarriors, unite!
On top of this, we now have more channels than ever to spread pertinent information. Facts like how the world is the most peaceful it has ever been in modern history, or how extreme poverty is at an all time low, give us some great reasons to be optimistic.
As well, sharing knowledge about the trillion dollar war-machine known as the Military Industrial Complex will do wonders to demystify wars and help end institutionalized armed conflicts.
We’ve never been closer to world peace than we are right now, meaning there has never been a more crucial time to be a peacewarrior. So join the movement!
You will be helping to create world peace – something humankind has yet to accomplish. At the end of the day, what could possibly be a greater or more noble goal than this?
and inspiring others to follow suit.
