In the Christian Church’s calendar we are in the week of Peace.

If you read the news like I have to there is precious peace going on. In fact has the world ever seen complete peace?

The answer is No it hasn’t. From the time of the very first animals on earth there has never been peace.

Animals learnt the only thing they can do to survive is to kill another animal.

There are far fewer vegetarian animals than meat eaters.

And if there is only one animal to eat and twelve want it there will be a fight.

So when people shout for World Peace they are crying for something that is not attainable.

Religious people fought religious wars.

On the website Plant Knight there is an article titled “World peace will never be achieved”

Humans have been fighting wars with each other long before humans formed complex societies. Future will be no different for the planet. Wars are always raging on the planet and there are more times of war than there are times of peace. There will always be wars for as long as there are humans alive. Not to mention too that not only humans fight wars. Ants, bees, wasps, termites and other organisms also fight wars over natural resources for survival. There have been wars raging on the planet long before the evolution of humans and other primates. Wars happen but there are also long periods of peace for some regions. Other regions have long periods of war with hardly any peace ever. Everyone is connected with the wars whether directly or indirectly. Without the wars that happen the current scientific and technological progress would not be possible. World peace the idea where all nations, cultures, political power groups, religions and all the different peoples unite together for common peace will never be achieved. There are a number of reasons why world peace will never prevail on the planet. That doesn’t mean that more peace can’t be achieved on the planet as a whole and that the number of wars reduced.

Recently there has been an increase in conflicts occurring. Population is currently growing and as more people are born there will more people to feed. There is currently enough food to feed everyone on the planet. 1.02 billion still go hungry everyday. Farmers with the help of technology can continue to grow the food that feeds the growing population on the planet. Economic, political and climatic factors contribute to global food insecurity.Where there is hunger wars result between groups over limited resources needed for survival. An increase in the number of hungry people will lead to more wars. Population growth will require more efficient agricultural systems so that enough food is grown to feed the billions of people and not all people are good farmers.

War is not always good for economy and in fact war can be damaging to the economy. Nations can go to war when there are economic problems. US lead invasion of Iraq in 2003 was for economic reasons. Saddam had no links to Al Qaeda and the US government know that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Saddam wanted to talk peace with the Americans but the Americans rejected his proposals for peacemaking. Invasion of Iraq was for economic reasons as the Americans wanted the oil and the building contracts. Whether the invasion made good economic sense is up for debate but the economic need resulted in war. Had the Germans not experienced the painful economic conditions that occurred just before WWII there may have never even been a war. Economic problems can lead to war even when war is not always good for the economy. Romans expanded territory to acquire economic wealth. Romans invaded the lands and taxed the conquered people in return for protection and infrastructure. Romans built roads to transport their armies and acquired economic wealth with the wars that they fraught. Romans also built up a massive economic debt with their armies and with their dysfunctional infighting which contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. Whether war is beneficial for the economy or not the idea of world peace cannot be achieved with the economic problems that contribute to war between groups with conflicting interests.

Nations and political power groups go to war over a number of political reasons. Sometimes politicians and leaders may want to win public support or nations may be playing complex political games. Russia and Ukraine land dispute started when European and Russian political fight for influence exploded into violent warfare between Russian rebels and the Ukrainian army. With conflicting political interests and game playing between nations and the power groups there will never be world peace. Poverty can be reduced and the more that is focused on reducing poverty will also reduce wars from occurring. People with jobs and lives don’t want to fight stupid wars. There will always be poverty especially with the global economic system and even with the best efforts to reduce poverty will not eradicate global poverty. Hard economic times can lead to extreme poverty and the war that can result can be bloody. When masses of people don’t have jobs and the basics for survival war prevails over peace.

Climate has always been changing. Farming was a response to the climatic changes that were occurring roughly about at the time of the beginning of the present interglacial period. Some climatic changes can actually be beneficial while other climatic changes can destroy crops and be responsible for wars. Current droughts not to mention other extreme climatic conditions can lead to severe famine and war over resources. Climate changes will contribute further to wars fraught over resources especially since there is such a large population living on the planet. Climate changes contribute to war and so there cannot be world peace as there are conflicting interests between groups as the climatic changes occur. Depletion of natural resources and the competition for natural resources is a major contributor to wars that occur all over the planet. Current wars in Central Africa were mainly over blood diamonds and the need for metals was major factor for the European colonization of the Americas. As natural resources are depleted the need and competition for those natural resources accelerates and then there are more wars. Competition for natural resources could contribute to new wars in the future.

Most religious groups don’t want wars and actually have philosophy to reduce wars from occurring. Millions of people did die in the past fighting religious wars. Future will be no different as religion, economics and politics are all interconnected. Some philosophers thought that science would eradicate religion. More questions that scientists ask and try to answer the more people feel insecure in everyday life. When religions go out of fashion among people then other religions replace them to help maintain social order. There will always be religious wars for as long as there are complex societies and religious groups. Science like religion is a major contributor to war. Science allows for new ways to fight wars.

SOURCE: http://plantknight.tumblr.com/post/132784506747/world-peace-will-never-be-achieved

When last Sunday many Christians lit the Candle for Peace. What were they lighting it for?

Like me, when we (Christians) light Advent Candle for Peace we acknowledge that peace does not reign in our world. The natural world around us is being destroyed. Wars rage between countries. Injustice exists in every nation. Violent conflicts erupt between friends. Children are abused right in our
neighborhoods. But that does not give us the right not to want peace. Not to pray for peace. No to hope for peace.

Jesus was the prince of Peace but he warned us there will be much fighting, much persecution, and many wars will be fought in HIS name.

It doesn’t make wanting peace wrong. Jesus showed us the way.

John Lennon wrote “Give Peace A Chance”. No one paid heed to him.

The first Advent Candle lit was Hope. And I will always Hope for Peace. Doesn’t that make sense?