Mennonite Church Peace Resources for Youth

This is an section from a paper I wrote for Bible Class. "Revenge is a vicious cycle that never leads to fulfillment or satisfaction. Killing or hurting others will never fill the gap left in one's life. The only way to keep hatred from destroying one's life is to forgive and move on. Forgiveness is the only way to preserve the memory of what one has lost. Forgiveness is really the only option in the case of September 11 and its aftermath, because eventually, America will run out of people to kill. Americans have the mistaken belief that forgiving means forgetting what happened and the lives that were taken, that it is disrespectful to to the victims and their families. However, sending out service men and women to foreign countries to up the body count probably isn't showing respect for the sacredness of the lives of the victims and is only adding to the grief of the nation. The idea of justice being served is not being ridiculed, rather, it is being suggested that killing uninvolved innocents is not a very effective form of justice. The war being fought right now is not a war of justice, but a war of revenge, and where has that gotten the world?"

Well, Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And for some of us it is just a nice break from the grind of work or school. But we should also take time on Monday to remember the wonderful man who refused to use violence to fight against the injustice that African Americans were forced to deal with from racist people. This man gave up his life for his peace. The only way his enemies could hurt him was through violence. And they hurt his family and the country with his death as well. This day is to commemorate his life and premature death.

"Peace on earth, goodwill to men." Let us all pray for peace this Christmas season and remember the people who are not as fortunate as we are. Sadly, many people serving overseas are separated from their families during this joyful time of year. I ask that we pray for them and their loved ones.

Queen Elizabeth the second made a very interesting statement at a memorial service after 9/11. She said, "Grief is the price we pay for love." I think that is very true. Just ask the family members of those who have been killed in Iraq. What must it feel like to wake up every day and realize that your loved one is not living? There are thousands of families grieving right now, I ask you to pray for them and for the servicemen and women in Iraq, as well as their families.

I was watching a Modern Marvels episode last night and it contained some very frightening content. Did you know that the United States Army has developed a prototype war robot? Think of the implications, a machine that can kill without regret and without mercy. When you remove humanity from the equation of war, you remove an important element of war. Humanity helps keep the horror of war in the forefront of people's minds. Without people experiencing the pain and suffering, there is no reason to avoid war. War has just become a theoretical algorithm, a video game. Only, it isn't virtual, it is real and deadly. If we allow our government to continue producing robots to kill, we are allowing our government to say that moral and ethics are no longer important.