Blessed are the Peacemakers

"Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called children of God."
~ Matthew 5:9


I visited the Pentagon this week and discovered that the US Air Force has a plane called the B-36 Peacemaker that is capable of carrying 86,000 pounds of bombs.  During the Cold War it advanced the policy of "peace through strength" or nuclear deterrence with the Soviet Union.  Does this strike you as ironic that a plane capable of carrying enough explosives to destroy and maim thousands of people is called a peacemaker?

I doubt this is what Matthew had in mind when he said that peacemakers would be blessed and called children of God.  Thomas Merton sums it up best, "The "cold war" is simply the normal consequence of our corrupt idea of a peace based on a policy of "every man for himself" in ethics, economics and political life.  It is absurd to hope for a solid peace based on fictions and illusions!  So instead of loving what you think is peace, love other men and love God above all.  And instead of hating the people you think are warmakers, hate the appetites and the disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war.  If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed - but hate these things in yourself, not in another (New Seeds of Contemplation, 122).   

Although Merton wrote specifically concerning the cold war, his words seem to be timeless in that they could be applied to the most recent political jousting that occurred during the debt ceiling debate.  Both the GOP and the Democrats approached the problem with self-righteous, moral indignation declaring the other side to be completely wrong in what "the American people want their elected leaders to do."  Neither side could concede that perhaps the other might have something to offer and lacked the courage to trust, because in order to trust one must believe in God.  Let me unpack that statement...

"It is not only our hatred of others that is dangerous but also and above all our hatred of ourselves: particularly that hatred of ourselves which is too deep and too powerful to be consciously faced.  For it is this which makes us see our own evil in others and unable to see it in ourselves." (Merton, 112)

The ferocity and rhetoric around how best to lower the deficit without shredding the social safety net involved scapegoating everyone that is not "us." Many news reports stated, the "government is filled with fraud and abuse" or "tax the rich, they can afford it" or "it is the immigrants who are stealing our jobs and spending our healthcare dollars..." Yet, did anyone ever pause long enough to think that perhaps the problem isn't from outside of ourselves but within each of us? Including those who claim to be Christians? In fact, many of the most pernicious debates could be boiled down to this one issue.

• Gay Marriage - we fear that allowing gays to marry will somehow make our own marriages less legitimate.  During the hearing on the "defense of marriage act" many of the christian witnesses made the outrageous claim that legalizing gay marriage would open the floodgates to polygamy and undermine the nuclear family, when in fact allowing these unions would result in greater stability and financial security. 
• Abortion - we fear that allowing women the choice to have an abortion will result in many unborn children being killed.  Yet this ignores the fact that women every day around the world seek out unsanitary, unsafe abortions because they have no legal alternative.  Indeed, what about the rights of those already born? Those born into squalor because our greed has robbed them of basic food and shelter?
• Immigration - we fear that our way of life, our families and cultural traditions that we hold most dear will be overrun by outsiders.  We perceive "them" as a faceless horde at the gates, just waiting to rush in, steal jobs, use scarce healthcare services, refuse to learn English...  Yet, what about the many contributions immigrants have made to our country?

All of these issues could fairly be summed up as a fear of the other, of those who are not like "us." We do not see that gay couples are our neighbors and co-workers.  We fail to recognize that someone who seeks an abortion could easily be our sister, daughter, or friend.  We do not remember that our nation is great because it has welcomed immigrants who bring it cultural diversity and innovation.

In order to recognize these truths, we must be able to stop hating others and that is only possible when we stop hating ourselves.  We hate ourselves and everything we do that is unjust, selfish and terrible, but the only way to break this cycle of hatred is through forgiveness.  Not just a simple apology, but atonement, or completely wiping the scoreboard and starting anew.  The only way this is possible is through the forgiveness of Jesus Christ who takes away our sins and gives us a fresh start.

The message of Christ has been so perverted in our society, that this simple yet profound truth has often been completely obscured.  Yet, it is the only way that we as individuals and as a society can have any hope of moving forward.  We need salvation and the promise that though we continue to fail and make mistakes, we are not condemned to judgement for our past wrongs.   Jesus offers forgiveness and the opportunity to trust other failed humans, because we know that we too have failed.  Forgiveness provides the ability to break the cycle of evil and hatred, not through destroying it in another, but recognizing and accepting the healing we so desperately need.